One of the biggest winners in the sweeping Democratic victories in Senate races this month was a woman whose name appeared on no ballot: Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.).
With a low-key style that contrasts with some of the Senate’s camera hogs, Murray may be the most powerful senator a whole lot of people have never heard of outside of the two Washingtons where she lives and works.
TOKYO: A Japanese government survey has found less than one in five people feel positively towards China, a record low as the countries are embroiled in a bitter territorial row, reports said Saturday.
Eighteen per cent of people polled said they had a positive view of China, the lowest figure since the survey was first conducted in 1978, Jiji Press and Kyodo News agencies said.
It was 8.3 percentage points down from last year, the agencies said.
Japan's ties with China have soured due to a row over disputed islands in the East China Sea, which Tokyo controls and calls the Senkakus but Beijing claims as the Diaoyus.
Tokyo nationalised some of the islands in mid-September, sparking a wave of sometimes violent anti-Japanese demonstrations across China that targeted Japanese businesses.
Jiji quoted the foreign ministry as saying the poor poll result was believed to have stemmed from the anti-Japan rallies as well Chinese ships repeatedly entering waters near the islands.
Japan has also been at odds with South Korea over a group of Seoul-controlled islets between the two countries, called Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan.
The survey found the number of people who feel friendly towards South Korea dived 23 points to 39.2 per cent, the reports said.
The poll, conducted between September 27 and October 7, quizzed 3,000 adults across Japan, of whom 61.3 per cent gave valid answers.
- AFP/fa
Namdhari was the main conspirator in the shootout, the police said. He has been charged with attempt to murder.
Namdhari has been sent to 5 days' police custody by the court in connection with the November 17 shootout case.
In a sudden turn of events in the Ponty-Hardeep Chadha shootout case, Sukhdev Singh Namdhari was arrested on Friday from his Bajpur home in Udham Singh Nagar district, Uttarakhand.
Namdhari carried a licensed pistol with him when the shootout occurred. He had rushed Ponty to the hospital and had also given a statement ; but after that he was not in touch with the cops.
Udham Singh Nagar SSP Anant Shanker Takwale said Namdhari, who was untraceable ever since he was sacked as chairman of Uttarakhand Minorities Commission, was arrested around 11am by a six-member team of Delhi Police.
Police said Namdhari came in contact with the Chadha brothers with the help of Uttarakhand BJP leaders such as Kashipur MLA Harbhajan Singh Cheema and Congress MLA from Kapurthala Rana Gurjeet Singh. A senior Uttarakhand IPS officer said soon after he came in contact with the Chadha brothers, he managed to become a partner in their booming real estate and stone quarrying business.
Bansal also said that of the 14 cases of heinous crimes, including murder, dacoity and kidnapping, registered against Namdhari in Uttarakhand since 1995, he had been acquitted in 12 cases while two cases are still on against him. These two cases belong to Udham Singh Nagar district.
(Inputs from PTI)
Orbiting at the frozen edges of our solar system, the mysterious dwarf planet Makemake is finally coming out of the shadows as astronomers get their best view yet of Pluto's little sibling.
Discovered in 2005, Makemake—pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh after a Polynesian creation god—is one of five Pluto-like objects that prompted a redefining of the term "planet" and the creation of a new group of dwarf planets in 2006. (Related: "Pluto Not a Planet, Astronomers Rule.")
Just like the slightly larger Pluto, this icy world circles our sun beyond Neptune. Researchers expected Makemake to also have a global atmosphere—but new evidence reveals that isn't the case.
Staring at a Star
An international team of astronomers was able for the first time to probe Makemake's physical characteristics using the European Southern Observatory's three most powerful telescopes in Chile. The researchers observed the change in light given off by a distant star as the dwarf planet passed in front of it. (Learn how scientists found Makemake.)
"These events are extremely difficult to predict and observe, but they are the only means of obtaining accurate knowledge of important properties of dwarf planets," said Jose Luis Ortiz, lead author of this new study and an astronomer at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, in Spain.
It's like trying to study a coin from a distance of 30 miles (48 kilometers) or more, Ortiz added.
Ortiz and his team knew Makemake didn't have an atmosphere when light from the background star abruptly dimmed and brightened as the chilly world drifted across its face.
"The light went off very abruptly from all the sites we observed the event so this means this world cannot have a substantial and global atmosphere like that of its sibling Pluto," Ortiz said.
If Makemake had an atmosphere, light from the star would gradually decrease and increase as the dwarf planet passed in front.
Coming Into Focus
The team's new observations add much more detail to our view of Makemake—not only limiting the possibility of an atmosphere but also determining the planet's size and surface more accurately.
"We think Makemake is a sphere flattened slightly at both poles and mostly covered with very white ices—mainly of methane," said Ortiz.
"But there are also indications for some organic material at least at some places; this material is usually very red and we think in a small percentage of the surface, the terrain is quite dark," he added.
Why Makemake lacks a global atmosphere remains a big mystery, but Ortiz does have a theory. Pluto is covered in nitrogen ice. When the sun heats this volatile material, it turns straight into a gas, creating Pluto's atmosphere.
Makemake lacks nitrogen ice on its surface, so there is nothing for the sun to heat into a gas to provide an atmosphere.
The dwarf planet has less mass, and a weaker gravitational field, than Pluto, said Ortiz. This means that over eons of time, Makemake may not have been able to hang on to its nitrogen.
Methane ice will also transform into a gas when heated. But since the dwarf planet is nearly at its furthest distance from the sun, Ortiz believes that Makemake's surface methane is still frozen. (Learn about orbital planes.)
And even if the methane were to transform into a gas, any resulting atmosphere would cover, at most, only ten percent of the planet, said Ortiz.
The new results are detailed today in the journal Nature.
Larry Hagman, who emerged in the 1960s as the slightly befuddled astronaut in "I Dream of Jeannie," then became a major star in the 1980s primetime soap "Dallas," playing evil oil baron J.R. Ewing, has died. He was 81.
Hagman's cause of death was due to complications related to his battle with cancer according to his family.
Linda Gray, who played Hagman's on-screen wife on "Dallas" was at the actor's bedside when he died.
"He brought joy to everyone he knew. He was creative, generous, funny, loving and talented, and I will miss him enormously. He was an original and lived life to the fullest," Gray said in a statement released through her publicist.
Warner Bros."Dallas" executive producers Cynthia Cidre and Michael M. Robin, and the show's cast and crew released the following statement today: "Larry Hagman was a giant, a larger-than-life personality whose iconic performance as J.R. Ewing will endure as one of the most indelible in entertainment history. He truly loved portraying this globally recognized character, and he leaves a legacy of entertainment, generosity and grace. Everyone at Warner Bros. and in the "Dallas" family is deeply saddened by Larry's passing, and our thoughts are with his family and dear friends during this difficult time."
Hagman inherited the acting gene from his mother, Broadway musical legend Mary Martin. He'd had roles in television programs 20 years prior to "Dallas," including "I Dream of Jeannie" from 1965-70.
"Dallas," which debuted in 1978 on CBS and had an astonishing 13-year run, centered on the Ewings, a family of Texas oil barons who had money, cattle, and more scandals and power struggles than the Kardashians.
AP Photo/Dr. Scott M. Lieberman
The original strategy behind "Dallas" was to focus on the newly-married Bobby and Pam Ewing. But Hagman made his role more than the producers had intended, and he quickly became the focus of the program.
When TNT revived the program earlier this year, he was the undisputed power villain.
"All of us at TNT are deeply saddened at the news of Larry Hagman's passing. He was a wonderful human being and an extremely gifted actor," TNT officials said in a statement. "We will be forever thankful that a whole new generation of people got to know and appreciate Larry through his performance as J.R. Ewing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this very difficult time.
VIEW: "Dallas" Then and Now
But though he may be best known as a villain, Hagman used his fame to try to give back.
In addition to actively supporting charities like the National Kidney Foundation and, in what might seem an irony, efforts to develop solar power, Hagman just last month announced the formation The Larry Hagman Foundation, to fund education programs promoting the fine arts and creative learning opportunities for economically disadvantaged children in Dallas.
Hagman began his acting career in the late 1950s, but it wasn't until "I Dream of Jeannie" premiered in 1965 that he found himself a star. He played Anthony Nelson, an astronaut who during a mission finds an unusual bottle, and when he opens it, out pops a genie named Jeannie -- Barbara Eden.
Through the series' five-year run, Jeannie found new ways to make Hagman's life difficult, as she tried to serve her "master."
Though Hagman continued to work regularly after "I Dream of Jeannie" ended in 1970, it wasn't until "Dallas" hit the air in 1978, that he again struck a chord with audiences.
The show was originally only supposed to be a five-episode miniseries, but the show caught on so quickly, that it was extended and eventually became a series that would become the highest rated TV show of all time.
Unlike many TV stars, who find themselves playing variations on the same character over and over, the Hagman viewers saw in J.R. Ewing was worlds away from Major Nelson.
While the astronaut was always at wits end, trying to keep Jeannie a secret and trying to prove to the base psychiatrist that he was sane, Ewing was a man who seemed completely in control of his world, wheeling and dealing, backstabbing and cheating on his wife.
Politicians tasked with negotiating a deal next month to avoid the “fiscal cliff” can be thankful that their talks are taking place immediately after a clarifying national election that laid out exactly how the public wants Washington to deal with debt and deficits.
Or not.
JAKARTA : Singapore's Chinese TV dramas are being well-received in Indonesia - a country where many people do not speak the language.
More than half a million households subscribe to MediaCorp's Channel 8i, carried by Indonesia's top pay-TV operator IndoVision.
That makes up almost a third of its subscriber base, which is the largest in Indonesia.
Some TV stars such as Jeanette Aw and Tay Ping Hui descended on Jakarta to meet fans and celebrate Channel 8i's first anniversary.
Actress Jeanette Aw said: "It is very rare we get to go and meet the fans from overseas, especially when our dramas are being shown over there...It makes me feel that all my hard work was worth it, especially when it has gone beyond the shores of Singapore."
Actor Tay Ping Hui commented: "In Singapore, we have our Malay friends and our Indian friends and they actually watch our shows. I am really glad that the crowd in Indonesia likes us."
To date, more than half a million households in Indonesia are paying to watch Singapore's Chinese dramas on IndoVision - Indonesia's top pay-TV operator.
Rudy Tanoesoedibjo, CEO of PT MNC Sky Vision, said: "This is half a million homes - not including hotels, apartments and commercial places. So 8i is seen by so many millions of eyeballs."
8i is IndoVision's first all-Chinese drama channel that runs 24 hours a day.
Mr Rudy said: "We will be launching the pay-per-view very soon. And we would like MediaCorp to take part in it by giving us the best and latest content."
Buoyed by its success in Indonesia, MediaCorp is looking at bringing 8i to other countries in the region.
Chang Long Jong, Deputy CEO of MediaCorp, said: "Immediately, we are looking at our other regional markets in ASEAN. For example, markets like Thailand, Vietnam, even Myanmar."
Obviously, it is the universal appeal of drama that has and will continue to draw viewers, regardless of language or nationality. And that has been the main ingredient of MediaCorp's success.
Familiarity was one other reasons cited for Channel 8i's success in Indonesia. Tens of thousands of Indonesians visit Singapore regularly. Nationals from Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar have also made Singapore one of their favourite destinations, and they too love TV dramas.
- CNA/ms
"It has done good work in the last few years and we must appreciate it. We must give credit to you for this but sometimes you do something in over-anxiety," a bench headed by Justice D K Jain said.
The bench was hearing a plea filed by Election Commission challenging order of Gujarat High Court which had quashed it's orders for cash seizure above Rs 2.5 lakh saying that it was unconstitutional.
The bench, however, did not pass any order and adjourned the hearing for Monday.
The High Court, on a PIL filed by Bhagyoday Jan Parishad and Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry, had on November 9 said that EC's directive to randomly search and seize 'in-transit' cash above Rs 2.5 lakh in poll-bound Gujarat was "unconstitutional" and directed it to immediately stop such operations.
"The instructions by the EC which empower its officers to randomly search any vehicle and seize cash above Rs 2.5 lakh is ultra vires (beyond powers) being violative of Article 21 of the Constitution, and also beyond the powers conferred on the EC," the High Court had said.
"We direct the EC that (such) instructions shall not be implemented and there shall not be any indiscriminate or random search or seizure of any vehicle, unless there is any reliable or credible information with the EC," it had said.
The Election Commission directive, dated October 3, followed announcement of the state Assembly elections.
EC had deployed 587 static surveillance teams (SSTs) and 182 flying squads in the state, which have so far seized Rs 22.56 crore of unaccounted money, of which Rs 22.20 crore was handed over to the Income Tax department.
The search and seizure drive had caused a lot of resentment in the business community.
Orbiting at the frozen edges of our solar system, the mysterious dwarf planet Makemake is finally coming out of the shadows as astronomers get their best view yet of Pluto's little sibling.
Discovered in 2005, Makemake—pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh after a Polynesian creation god—is one of five Pluto-like objects that prompted a redefining of the term "planet" and the creation of a new group of dwarf planets in 2006. (Related: "Pluto Not a Planet, Astronomers Rule.")
Just like the slightly larger Pluto, this icy world circles our sun beyond Neptune. Researchers expected Makemake to also have a global atmosphere—but new evidence reveals that isn't the case.
Staring at a Star
An international team of astronomers was able for the first time to probe Makemake's physical characteristics using the European Southern Observatory's three most powerful telescopes in Chile. The researchers observed the change in light given off by a distant star as the dwarf planet passed in front of it. (Learn how scientists found Makemake.)
"These events are extremely difficult to predict and observe, but they are the only means of obtaining accurate knowledge of important properties of dwarf planets," said Jose Luis Ortiz, lead author of this new study and an astronomer at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, in Spain.
It's like trying to study a coin from a distance of 30 miles (48 kilometers) or more, Ortiz added.
Ortiz and his team knew Makemake didn't have an atmosphere when light from the background star abruptly dimmed and brightened as the chilly world drifted across its face.
"The light went off very abruptly from all the sites we observed the event so this means this world cannot have a substantial and global atmosphere like that of its sibling Pluto," Ortiz said.
If Makemake had an atmosphere, light from the star would gradually decrease and increase as the dwarf planet passed in front.
Coming Into Focus
The team's new observations add much more detail to our view of Makemake—not only limiting the possibility of an atmosphere but also determining the planet's size and surface more accurately.
"We think Makemake is a sphere flattened slightly at both poles and mostly covered with very white ices—mainly of methane," said Ortiz.
"But there are also indications for some organic material at least at some places; this material is usually very red and we think in a small percentage of the surface, the terrain is quite dark," he added.
Why Makemake lacks a global atmosphere remains a big mystery, but Ortiz does have a theory. Pluto is covered in nitrogen ice. When the sun heats this volatile material, it turns straight into a gas, creating Pluto's atmosphere.
Makemake lacks nitrogen ice on its surface, so there is nothing for the sun to heat into a gas to provide an atmosphere.
The dwarf planet has less mass, and a weaker gravitational field, than Pluto, said Ortiz. This means that over eons of time, Makemake may not have been able to hang on to its nitrogen.
Methane ice will also transform into a gas when heated. But since the dwarf planet is nearly at its furthest distance from the sun, Ortiz believes that Makemake's surface methane is still frozen. (Learn about orbital planes.)
And even if the methane were to transform into a gas, any resulting atmosphere would cover, at most, only ten percent of the planet, said Ortiz.
The new results are detailed today in the journal Nature.
HERE for Full Coverage of Black Friday
"I'm here because my mom is making me, because she said I couldn't eat any of the Thanksgiving food if I didn't hold her place in line," Alex Horton told ABC News station WLS-TV in Chicago Thursday.
Many critics panned the early start this year, saying it cuts into quality time that should be spent with family and friends.
Chicago resident Claudia Fonseca got creative and took Thanksgiving to go.
"We brought a plate, but that's about it, we've been here since 11 a.m. And that's it," Fonseca told WLS Thursday.
Black Friday makes headlines every year, but not always for the right reason as violence has become linked to the day after Thanksgiving tradition.
Bloomberg via Getty Images
In Los Angeles, police aren't taking any chances with the LAPD deploying dozens of extra officers around the city to make sure things don't get out of hand.
Ontario Mills shopping mall in Los Angeles opened at midnight last year, but decided to give excited shoppers a two-hour head start to get their hands on the cut-rate deals, especially for electronics.
"This is my first year," Gabriela Mendoza told ABC News station KABC-TV Thursday. "I tried to stay away from this but I've heard it's really exciting so, I'm looking forward to it."
Things have been relatively calmer compared to the incident last year when a woman was accused of unleashing pepper spray on other shoppers in a dash for electronics at Walmart in Los Angeles.
The Black Friday madness kicked off Thursday when a south Sacramento, Calif., Kmart opened its doors at 6 a.m. Thursday. A shopper in a line of people that had formed nearly two hours earlier reportedly threatened to stab the people around him.
At two Kmarts in Indianapolis, police officers were called in after fights broke out among shoppers trying to score vouchers for a 32-inch plasma TV going for less than $200, police told ABC News affiliate RTV6. No injuries or arrest were made.
Stores have taken preventive measures in hopes of shoppers and tempers at ease, where safety is the main concern for everyone involved.
Mall of America has tightened its Black Friday policies and will bar unaccompanied minors from the megamall all day today. After a chair-throwing melee last year after Christmas, which was captured on smartphones and posted online, the mall is taking steps to prevent any repeat.
At the Arden Fair Mall in Sacramento, Calif., security planned to place barricades at the mall entrance to control the crowds and officials planned to double the number of security officers.
ABC News' John Schriffen and Sarah Netter contributed to this report.
JAKARTA: Thousands of Indonesian workers have marched towards the Presidential Palace, demanding higher minimum pay and better employment benefits.
Nearly 20,000 police and soldiers were deployed to watch over the demonstration, organised by Indonesian labour unions.
The protest march began with the Indonesian national anthem, as disgruntled workers displayed patriotism in an ongoing struggle that has lasted for years.
Thousands of workers under the Confederation of Indonesian Workers' Union have gathered at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to conduct a long march to the Presidential Palace.
The workers blocked a stretch of road from Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to the Presidential Palace about two kilometres away.
The workers support a social security law, requiring employers to pay for their health insurance.
But they are unhappy about their wages, which they say is too low... and about having to pay for a national pension fund.
They are also against a move by the Association of Entrepreneurs to contest recently a revised regulation on outsourcing at the State Administrative Court.
Said Iqbal, Chairman of the Confederation of Indonesian Workers' Union (KSPSI - Konfederasi Serikat Pekerja Seluruh Indonesia) said: "We've asked that outsourcing be restricted to five types of jobs. We're aware the Manpower and Transmigration minister issued a ministerial decree on outsourcing so (entrepreneurs) should not file a judicial review. If they continue with it, it will trigger a harsh reaction from their labour workers."
Under the decree, outsourcing will only be limited to cleaning services, security, driving, support services on mining sites and catering.
Companies will also be given six months to alter the status of contract workers to permanent staff.
The Jakarta governor has already agreed to increase the monthly minimum wage by over 40 percent to US$224 a month.
Analysts argue that the move could trigger inflation and discourage investment.
Businessmen say the wage hike would mean higher costs which could result in layoffs, and possibly even force some companies to close.
But protest leaders are not convinced.
Andi Gani Nena Wea, President of the Confederation of Indonesian Workers' Union (KSPSI), said: "We call on President Yudhoyono and Vice President Boediono to not take this labour movement lightly as it will likely escalate if the government does not hear the majority of labour workers' aspirations."
Workers say if their demands are not met, they will hold even bigger national protests which could stall production for three consecutive days.
- CNA/de
Mamata Banerjee's party moved the motion as soon as Parliament met for the winter session but Speaker Meira Kumar disallowed it as it could not muster the required support of 50 members.
The motion, first in the current Lok Sabha, was moved by Trinamool Congress parliamentary party leader Sudip Bandopadhyay and was supported by BJD.
However, it lacked the support of the required 50 members as only TMC's 18 members and BJD's three members supported.
Moving the motion, Bandopadhyay said, "This House expresses want of confidence in the Council of Ministers over its decision to allow 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail as it is going to harm millions of small businesses."
The Speaker asked all those supporting the motion to stand up.
Amidst chants of "shame shame" from Congress benches, TMC members stood up and there was a verbal clash too.
On seeing the lack of adequate support, the Speaker said, "The motion does not have the leave of the House."
The Speaker asked all those supporting the motion to stand up. Amidst chants of "shame shame" from Congress benches, TMC members stood up and there was a verbal clash too.
On seeing the lack of adequate support, Kumar said, "The motion does not have the leave of the House".
Before the House assembled, Trinamool MPs held dharna outside Parliament House.
Pressing for a discussion on FDI in retail under a rule that entails voting, leader of the opposition Sushma Swaraj said the government has shown contempt for the assurances given by then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee who is now the President of India.
Swaraj said a vote on the issue would show that people of the country were against the move which would affect small traders.
She accused the government of committing "gross insult" of Parliament by not fulfilling its assurance of taking the House into confidence on the issue.
The day saw two adjournments of the Lok Sabha while the Rajya Sabha called it a day after one adjournment.
Agitated members of SP, BSP and Trinamool Congress stormed the well in the Lower House and BSP and Trinamool in the Upper House.
Members of Mamata Banerjee's party, which was part of the Congress-led UPA till two months back, also raised anti- government slogans and chanted "corrupt government go" and "withdraw decision on FDI".
Left members staged protests in the aisles on the FDI issue.
Orbiting at the frozen edges of our solar system, the mysterious dwarf planet Makemake is finally coming out of the shadows as astronomers get their best view yet of Pluto's little sibling.
Discovered in 2005, Makemake—pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh after a Polynesian creation god—is one of five Pluto-like objects that prompted a redefining of the term "planet" and the creation of a new group of dwarf planets in 2006. (Related: "Pluto Not a Planet, Astronomers Rule.")
Just like the slightly larger Pluto, this icy world circles our sun beyond Neptune. Researchers expected Makemake to also have a global atmosphere—but new evidence reveals that isn't the case.
Staring at a Star
An international team of astronomers was able for the first time to probe Makemake's physical characteristics using the European Southern Observatory's three most powerful telescopes in Chile. The researchers observed the change in light given off by a distant star as the dwarf planet passed in front of it. (Learn how scientists found Makemake.)
"These events are extremely difficult to predict and observe, but they are the only means of obtaining accurate knowledge of important properties of dwarf planets," said Jose Luis Ortiz, lead author of this new study and an astronomer at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, in Spain.
It's like trying to study a coin from a distance of 30 miles (48 kilometers) or more, Ortiz added.
Ortiz and his team knew Makemake didn't have an atmosphere when light from the background star abruptly dimmed and brightened as the chilly world drifted across its face.
"The light went off very abruptly from all the sites we observed the event so this means this world cannot have a substantial and global atmosphere like that of its sibling Pluto," Ortiz said.
If Makemake had an atmosphere, light from the star would gradually decrease and increase as the dwarf planet passed in front.
Coming Into Focus
The team's new observations add much more detail to our view of Makemake—not only limiting the possibility of an atmosphere but also determining the planet's size and surface more accurately.
"We think Makemake is a sphere flattened slightly at both poles and mostly covered with very white ices—mainly of methane," said Ortiz.
"But there are also indications for some organic material at least at some places; this material is usually very red and we think in a small percentage of the surface, the terrain is quite dark," he added.
Why Makemake lacks a global atmosphere remains a big mystery, but Ortiz does have a theory. Pluto is covered in nitrogen ice. When the sun heats this volatile material, it turns straight into a gas, creating Pluto's atmosphere.
Makemake lacks nitrogen ice on its surface, so there is nothing for the sun to heat into a gas to provide an atmosphere.
The dwarf planet has less mass, and a weaker gravitational field, than Pluto, said Ortiz. This means that over eons of time, Makemake may not have been able to hang on to its nitrogen.
Methane ice will also transform into a gas when heated. But since the dwarf planet is nearly at its furthest distance from the sun, Ortiz believes that Makemake's surface methane is still frozen. (Learn about orbital planes.)
And even if the methane were to transform into a gas, any resulting atmosphere would cover, at most, only ten percent of the planet, said Ortiz.
The new results are detailed today in the journal Nature.
With a tenuous cease-fire in place and no rocket fire between Israel and Hamas for the first time in more than a week, Palestinians have begun to clean up rubble and damage inflicted by Israeli missiles.
People in Gaza filled the streets Thursday morning, inspecting damage to homes and businesses. Overnight, gunfire erupted in the crowded streets of the Palestinian enclave to celebrate the announcement of a cease-fire in the bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant political group in de facto control the Gaza Strip.
FULL COVERAGE: Israel-Gaza Conflict
"It's a nice message from Palestinians - don't mess with Palestinians," said Jalal Marzen Wednesday night during a celebration outside Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital. He and others pointed to the targeting of Tel Aviv by Hamas rockets as a shifting in the balance of power, arguing Israel's calculations would be forced to change ahead of the next flare-up. "It's huge, it's huge for us!" Marzen exclaimed.
Later, however, Israeli officials said several missiles from Gaza flew into Israel after the cease-fire. Israel did not respond with the air srikes that have blanketed Gaza in the past week.
Hamas has declared Nov. 22 a national holiday and said it would be celebrated every year.
"We call on everyone to celebrate, visit the families of martyrs, the wounded, those who lost homes," Hamas said.
A sense of normalcy returned to Gaza Thursday morning, with traffic again clogging busy intersections and stores opening for business.
PHOTOS: Israel, Hamas Fight Over Gaza
"For first time, the Israeli people felt what bombs mean, what rockets mean, what war means, what killing people means," said clothing store owner Bassem Diazeda, who said he only became a supporter of Hamas since the escalation.
The fighting came to an end after a meeting between Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary. Clinton, who said Egypt and the U.S. would help support the peace process going forward.
The eight days of fighting left more than 160 Palestinians and five Israelis dead.
The concern now among top diplomats is whether the cease-fire will hold while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders work on a long term solution for peace. Israel is demanding an end to rocket fire from Gaza, while Hamas wants an end to Israel's blockade of Gaza and targeted assassinations, the kind that launched Israel's operation "Pillar of Defense."
Hamas was not the only group firing rockets from Gaza into Israel. Other militant groups in Gaza, such as Islamic Jihad, fired rockets during the eight-day assault. A splinter Palestinian group took responsibility for Wednesday's bus bombing in Tel Aviv that wounded 23 people.
So the question is whether Hamas can control the more rogue groups in Gaza and stake out a real leadership role.
Clinton said that Egypt and the U.S. would help support the peace process going forward.
"Ultimately, every step must move us toward a comprehensive peace for people of the region," Clinton said.
An Israeli official told ABC News that the cease-fire would mean a "quiet for quiet" deal in which both sides stop shooting and "wait and see what happens."
"I agree that that it was a good idea to give an opportunity to the cease-fire ... in order to enable Israeli citizens to return to their day-to-day lives," Netanyahu said.
SINGAPORE: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law K Shanmugam will make his first official visit to Timor-Leste from 22 to 24 November 2012.
During his visit, Mr Shanmugan will call on President Taur Matan Ruak, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, Foreign Minister Jose Luis Guterres, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources Alfredo Pires, Minister of Justice Dionisio Babo-Soares and Opposition leader Mari Alkatiri.
Mr Shanmugam will also be hosted to an official dinner by Mr Guterres.
While in Timor-Leste, Mr Shanmugam will take the opportunity to meet the Singaporean community there.
Mr Shanmugam will be accompanied by his wife Dr Seetha Shanmugam, Singapore's Non-Resident Ambassador to Timor-Leste, Mr Lee Chiong Giam, and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- CNA/de
Pakistan national Mohammad Ajmal Kasab was the enduring image of the bloody assault, which traumatized the nation and raised fears of copycat attacks on foreign cities. Pictures of the young gunman wearing a black T-shirt and toting an AK-47 rifle as he strode through Mumbai's train station were published around the world.
Kasab was hanged on Wednesday morning amid great secrecy, underscoring the political sensitivity of the November 26, 2008, massacre, which still casts a pall over relations between nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India. The hanging was kept so secret that home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said that even Prime Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi didn't know about Kasab hanging, according to TV reports.
"All the police officers and personnel who lost their life in the battle against the terrorists have today been served justice," home minister said after Kasab was hanged in a jail in Pune, southeast of Mumbai.
It was the first time a capital sentence had been carried out in India since 2004. There was celebration on the streets of Mumbai and other cities as news of the execution spread, but militant groups in Pakistan reacted angrily.
People set of fireworks and handed out sweets. Some held up photos of Kasab with a rope noose superimposed over his head.
Attack survivor Vishnu Zende, who was working at Mumbai's train station where nearly 60 people were killed, said the execution brought it all back.
"When I heard the news of Kasab's execution today, I remembered those horrifying moments of the attack," Zende said.
"My eyes were filled with tears."
A senior commander of Pakistan's Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group, which India blames for the assault on Mumbai, called Kasab a hero and said he would inspire more attacks.
"To die like Kasab is the dream of every fighter," the commander told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.
The Pakistan Taliban said they were shocked by the hanging.
"There is no doubt that it's very shocking news and a big loss that a Muslim has been hanged on Indian soil," Taliban spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan told Reuters.
Kasab was buried inside the prison where he was hanged, officials said. He was quiet and seemed nervous before the execution, a prison guard told the NDTV network. He prayed and asked if his family had been informed, which they had.
Government said it would hand over the body to Pakistan if asked. Talking to Reuters from Kasab's home village, his aunt said she was proud of him and wanted his body back.
This year, Saudi Arabia extradited an Indian-born militant accused of being one of the masterminds of the Mumbai attacks. Police say Sayeed Zabiuddin Ansari, also known as Abu Jindal, helped coordinate the attack from a "control room" in the Pakistani city of Karachi and also helped to train the gunmen.
In August, the Supreme Court upheld Kasab's 2010 death sentence over the attacks. President Pranab Mukherjee rejected his plea for clemency on November 5, although this was not made public until Tuesday night.
The timing of the execution, shortly before a series of state elections, may be beneficial for the government, which opposition leaders accuse of being soft on national security.
Narendra Modi, the opposition chief minister of Gujarat state, which goes to the polls in December and borders Pakistan, said on Twitter the government should move faster to execute Afzal Guru, convicted of a 2001 attack on parliament.
'Foot soldier'
Ten militants arrived on the Mumbai shoreline in a dinghy on November 26, 2008, before splitting into four groups and embarking on a killing spree. They held off elite commandos for up to 60 hours in two luxury hotels and a Jewish centre in the city.
India says Islamabad is failing to act against those behind the raids, including LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, who has a $10 million US bounty on his head. Pakistan admits the attacks were planned on its soil, but denies official involvement.
It says seven suspects are being prosecuted for their role.
"Kasab was a foot soldier, the generals are in Islamabad, in Pakistan, and full justice will be done when they are brought to justice," Gopalapuram Parthasarathy, a former ambassador to Pakistan, told Reuters.
Improving relations with Pakistan is a keystone of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's foreign policy. Singh, who was born in present-day Pakistan when it was still part of British India, has repeatedly postponed visiting the country because of lack of progress on convicting the Mumbai suspects.
However, India and Pakistan's relations have gradually improved since the attacks, with progress made on trade and economic ties.
Possibly because of the planned execution, India on Tuesday asked Pakistan to postpone a visit this week by Interior Minister Rehman Malik, saying the dates were "not suitable for us". Malik was due to put the final seal on a deal to ease visa restriction for travellers.
Kasab's execution happened very quickly for India's usually glacial justice system. Three people convicted of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi are still on death row, 21 years after he was killed by a suicide bomb.
In Pakistan, many said the hanging happened quickly only because of his nationality. People questioned whether Kasab was really guilty, despite the video evidence.
"We have images of him but do we have any other evidence? Is that enough?," said Jehan Zulqarnain, a primary school teacher in Islamabad.
Pakistan was informed beforehand about Kasab's execution, said a Pakistani foreign ministry official who asked not to be identified. "If all judicial procedures were followed, then the decision is acceptable," the official said.
Before the big dinner, debunk the myths—for starters, the first "real" U.S. Thanksgiving wasn't until the 1800s—and get to the roots of Thanksgiving 2012.
Thanksgiving Dinner: Recipe for Food Coma?
Key to any Thanksgiving Day menu are a fat turkey and cranberry sauce.
An estimated 254 million turkeys will be raised for slaughter in the U.S. during 2012, up 2 percent from 2011's total, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service. Last year's birds were worth about five billion dollars.
About 46 million turkeys ended up on U.S. dinner tables last Thanksgiving—or about 736 million pounds (334 million kilograms) of turkey meat, according to estimates from the National Turkey Federation.
Minnesota is the United States' top turkey-producing state, followed by North Carolina, Arkansas, Missouri, Virginia, and Indiana.
These "big six" states produce two of every three U.S.-raised birds, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
U.S. farmers will also produce 768 million pounds (348 million kilograms) of cranberries in 2012, which, like turkeys, are native to the Americas. The top producers are Wisconsin and Massachusetts.
The U.S. will also grow 2.7 billion pounds (1.22 billion kilograms) of sweet potatoes—many in North Carolina, Mississippi, California, and Louisiana—and will produce more than 1.1 billion pounds (499 million kilograms) of pumpkins.
Illinois, California, Pennsylvania, and Ohio grow the most U.S. pumpkins.
But if you overeat at Thanksgiving dinner, there's a price to be paid for all this plenty: the Thanksgiving "food coma." The post-meal fatigue may be real, but the condition is giving turkeys a bad rap.
Contrary to myth, the amount of the organic amino acid tryptophan in most turkeys isn't responsible for drowsiness.
Instead, scientists blame booze, the sheer caloric size of an average feast, or just plain-old relaxing after stressful work schedules. (Take a Thanksgiving quiz.)
What Was on the First Thanksgiving Menu?
Little is known about the first Thanksgiving dinner in Plimoth (also spelled Plymouth) Colony in October 1621, attended by some 50 English colonists and about 90 Wampanoag American Indian men in what is now Massachusetts.
We do know that the Wampanoag killed five deer for the feast, and that the colonists shot wild fowl—which may have been geese, ducks, or turkey. Some form, or forms, of Indian corn were also served.
But Jennifer Monac, spokesperson for the living-history museum Plimoth Plantation, said the feasters likely supplemented their venison and birds with fish, lobster, clams, nuts, and wheat flour, as well as vegetables, such as pumpkins, squashes, carrots, and peas.
"They ate seasonally," Monac said in 2009, "and this was the time of the year when they were really feasting. There were lots of vegetables around, because the harvest had been brought in."
Much of what we consider traditional Thanksgiving fare was unknown at the first Thanksgiving. Potatoes and sweet potatoes hadn't yet become staples of the English diet, for example. And cranberry sauce requires sugar—an expensive delicacy in the 1600s. Likewise, pumpkin pie went missing due to a lack of crust ingredients.
If you want to eat like a Pilgrim yourself, try some of the Plimoth Plantation's recipes, including stewed pompion (pumpkin) or traditional Wampanoag succotash. (See "Sixteen Indian Innovations: From Popcorn to Parkas.")
First Thanksgiving Not a True Thanksgiving?
Long before the first Thanksgiving, American Indian peoples, Europeans, and other cultures around the world had often celebrated the harvest season with feasts to offer thanks to higher powers for their sustenance and survival.
In 1541 Spaniard Francisco Vásquez de Coronado and his troops celebrated a "Thanksgiving" while searching for New World gold in what is now the Texas Panhandle.
Later such feasts were held by French Huguenot colonists in present-day Jacksonville, Florida (1564), by English colonists and Abnaki Indians at Maine's Kennebec River (1607), and in Jamestown, Virginia (1610), when the arrival of a food-laden ship ended a brutal famine. (Related: "Four Hundred-Year-Old Seeds, Spear Change Perceptions of Jamestown Colony.")
But it's the 1621 Plimoth Thanksgiving that's linked to the birth of our modern holiday. To tell the truth, though, the first "real" Thanksgiving happened two centuries later.
Everything we know about the three-day Plimoth gathering comes from a description in a letter wrote by Edward Winslow, leader of the Plimoth Colony, in 1621, Monac said. The letter had been lost for 200 years and was rediscovered in the 1800s, she added.
In 1841 Boston publisher Alexander Young printed Winslow's brief account of the feast and added his own twist, dubbing the 1621 feast the "First Thanksgiving."
In Winslow's "short letter, it was clear that [the 1621 feast] was not something that was supposed to be repeated again and again. It wasn't even a Thanksgiving, which in the 17th century was a day of fasting. It was a harvest celebration," Monac said.
But after its mid-1800s appearance, Young's designation caught on—to say the least.
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving Day a national holiday in 1863. He was probably swayed in part by magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale—the author of the nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb"—who had suggested Thanksgiving become a holiday, historians say.
In 1941 President Franklin Roosevelt established the current date for observance, the fourth Thursday of November.
Thanksgiving Turkey-in-Waiting
Each year at least two lucky turkeys avoid the dinner table, thanks to a presidential pardon—a longstanding Washington tradition of uncertain origin.
Since 1947, during the Truman Administration, the National Turkey Federation has presented two live turkeys—and a ready-to-eat turkey—to the President, federation spokesperson Sherrie Rosenblatt said in 2009.
"There are two birds," Rosenblatt explained, "the presidential turkey and the vice presidential turkey, which is an alternate, in case the presidential turkey is unable to perform its duties."
Those duties pretty much boil down to not biting the President during the photo opportunity with the press. In 2008 the vice presidential bird, "Pumpkin," stepped in for the appearance with President Bush after the presidential bird, "Pecan," had fallen ill the night before.
The lucky birds once shared a similar happy fate as Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks—a trip to Disneyland's Big Thunder Ranch in California, where they lived out their natural lives.
Since 2010, however, the birds have followed in the footsteps of the first President and taken up residence at George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens.
After the holiday season, however, the two 40-pound (18-kilogram) toms won't be on public display. These fat, farm-fed birds aren't historically accurate, unlike the wild birds that still roam the Virginia estate.
Talking Turkey
Pilgrims had been familiar with turkeys before they landed in the Americas. That's because early European explorers of the New World had returned to Europe with turkeys in tow after encountering them at Native American settlements. Native Americans had domesticated the birds centuries before European contact.
A century later Ben Franklin famously made known his preference that the turkey, rather than the bald eagle, should be the official U.S. bird.
But Franklin might have been shocked when, by the 1930s, hunting had so decimated North American wild turkey populations that their numbers had dwindled to the tens of thousands, from a peak of at least tens of millions.
Today, thanks to reintroduction efforts and hunting regulations, wild turkeys are back. (Related: "Birder's Journal: Giving Thanks for Wild Turkey Sightings.")
Some seven million wild turkeys are thriving across the U.S., and many of them have adapted easily to the suburbs—their speed presumably an asset on ever encroaching roads.
Wild turkeys can run some 10 to 20 miles (16 to 32 kilometers) an hour and fly in bursts at 55 miles (89 kilometers) an hour. Domesticated turkeys can't fly at all.
On Thanksgiving, Pass the Pigskin
For many U.S. citizens, Thanksgiving without football is as unthinkable as the Fourth of July without fireworks.
NBC Radio broadcast the first national Thanksgiving Day game in 1934, when the Detroit Lions hosted the Chicago Bears.
Except for a respite during World War II, the Lions have played—usually badly—every Thanksgiving Day since. For the 2012 game, the 73rd, they take on the Houston Texans.
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
For a festive few, even turkey takes a backseat to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, originally called the Macy's Christmas parade, because it kicked off the shopping season.
The tradition began in 1924, when employees recruited animals from the Central Park Zoo to march on Thanksgiving Day.
Helium-filled balloons made their debut in the parade in 1927 and, in the early years, were released above the city skyline with the promise of rewards for their finders.
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, first televised nationally in 1947, now draws some 44 million viewers—not counting the 3 million people who actually line the 2.5-mile (4-kilometer) Manhattan route.
Thanksgiving weekend also boasts the retail version of the Super Bowl—Black Friday, when massive sales and early opening times attract frugal shoppers.
A National Retail Federation survey projects that up to 147 million Americans will either brave the crowds to shop on 2012's Black Friday weekend or take advantage of online shopping sales, a slight dip from last year's 152 million shoppers.
Planes, Trains, and (Lots of) Automobiles
It may seem like everyone in the U.S. is on the road on Thanksgiving Day, keeping you from your turkey and stuffing.
That's not exactly true, but 43.6 million of about 314 million U.S. citizens will drive more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) from home for the 2012 holiday, according to the American Automobile Association. That's a small 300,000-person increase from last year.
An additional 3.14 million travelers will fly to their holiday destination and 1.3 million others will use buses, trains, or other modes of travel. These modestly rising Thanksgiving travel numbers continue to rebound slowly from a steep 25 percent drop precipitated by the onset of the 2008 recession.
Thanksgiving North of the Border
Cross-border travelers can celebrate Thanksgiving twice, because Canada celebrates its own Thanksgiving Day the second Monday in October.
As in the U.S., the event is sometimes linked to a historic feast with which it has no real ties—in this case explorer Martin Frobisher's 1578 ceremony, which gave thanks for his safe arrival in what is now New Brunswick.
Canada's Thanksgiving, established in 1879, was inspired by the U.S. holiday. Dates of observance have fluctuated—sometimes coinciding with the U.S. Thanksgiving or the Canadian veteran-appreciation holiday, Remembrance Day—and at least once Canada's Thanksgiving occurred as late as December.
But Canada's colder climate eventually led to the 1957 decision that formalized the October date.
A bomb exploaded on an Israeli bus near the nation's military headquarters in Tel Aviv, wounding at least 10 people, Israeli officials said today.
The bus exploded about noon local time Wednesday in one of the city's busiest areas, near the Tel Aviv museum. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said authorities were investigating whether the bomb had been planted and left on the bus or whether it was the work of a suicide bomber. This is the first terror attack in Israel since 2006.
Upon landing in Cairo to meet with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released a statement condemning the attack.
"The United States strongly condemns this terrorist attack and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and the people of Israel. As I arrive in Cairo, I am closely monitoring reports from Tel Aviv, and we will stay in close contact with Prime Minister Netanyahu's team. The United States stands ready to provide any assistance that Israel requires," she said.
Overnight, the violence between Israel and the neighboring Gaza Strip continued as Israeli aircraft pounded Gaza with dozens of strikes, hitting government ministries, underground tunnels, a banker's empty villa and a Hamas-linked media office. Gaza health officials said there were no deaths or injuries.
The Israeli Defense Force said they've now destroyed 50 underground rocket launching sites in Gaza. The IDF also said that two rockets were fired from Gaza toward densely populated areas in Israel, but were intercepted by the "Iron Dome" missile shield.
In Gaza at least four strikes within seconds of each other pulverized a complex of government ministries the size of a city block, rattling nearby buildings and shattering windows. Hours later, clouds of acrid dust still hung over the area and smoke still rose from the rubble.
In downtown Gaza City, another strike leveled the empty, two-story home of a well-known banker and buried a police car parked nearby in rubble.
Clinton met with Palestinian President Abbas in Ramallah early Wednesday to try to help broker a truce between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip to end a week of tit-for-tat missile and rocket fire.
Israel and the Hamas militant group seemed to edge closer to a ceasefire Tuesday to end a weeklong Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, but after a day of furious diplomatic efforts, a deal remained elusive and fighting raged on both sides of the border.
Israeli officials told ABC News that a window of opportunity for a deal could close, if Hamas refuses to agree to a long-term ceasefire. That ceasefire would be measured in years, not months. Hamas is demanding that Israel loosen its iron grip on Gaza's borders and ease its maritime blockade.
On Tuesday, Clinton met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for more than two hours behind closed doors, saying she sought to "de-escalate the situation in Gaza." Clinton hinted it would take some time to finally reach an agreement.
The meeting came amid statements from Hamas earlier in the day that a ceasefire would soon be announced.
Netanyahu said he would prefer to use "diplomatic means" to find a solution to the fighting, but that Israel would take "whatever actions necessary" to defend its people.
Clinton relayed a message from President Obama, reinforcing America's commitment to Israel's security and calling for an end to the rockets coming from "terrorist organizations in Gaza."
Ariane Tschumi has spent more than a year in government as a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF), taking on challenging assignments at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) designed to develop her leadership skills and give her a window into how government operates.
She has worked alongside health-care experts designing model programs intended to better health care and lower costs, and with attorneys in the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), who are trying to prevent waste, fraud and abuse in the health-care system.
"So far, we have arrested nine persons in connection with ransacking the clinic of Abdul Dhada. We are looking for some more people," SP Thane rural Ravindra Sengaokar told PTI.
Shaheen said police was polite to her and she had no complaints against any police personnel. "I have apologised for the post," she said adding that whatever happened was unfair.
However, Shaheen said she would never use the social media network henceforth. She had no comments to offer on whether she had done anything wrong. She described Thackeray as a "great guy" whom she "truly respected".
Shaheen had allegedly commented on Facebook that one should not observe bandh for Thackeray's funeral. "We should remember Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev," the post said.
Her friend Renu, who was arrested for 'liking' the post, felt that she was "wrongfully" arrested.
Renu said, "I regret what I did. This should not have happened. I never dreamt that I would be in court. What we did was not a crime. Now I will think twice before posting anything on Facebook."
She further said, "The arrest was not necessary. Police treated us well. I was amazed at what was happening to me."
Their advocate Sudhir Gupta said both were arrested under section 505(2) IPC (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) following a police complaint lodged by a local Sena leader.
Police sources said a FIR has been registered against more than 50 people including some Shiv Sainiks who have been named in the report following the attack.
Also, a probe has been ordered into whether the contents of the Facebook post constituted an offence and even if the offence was registered why were the arrests made, Maharashtra Police's IG (law and order) Deven Bharti said.
Abdul Dhada, whose clinic was ransacked, said, "For our security they have posted the police because what has gone wrong should not happen again...we don't have any complaint against anybody and treatment we received from the police station is absolutely fine".
TOI had reported in its edition dated November 19 that Shiv Sainiks, angered by Shaheen Dhada's post on a social networking site, vandalized a clinic in Palghar owned by her uncle.
On Sunday, Shaheen Dhada (21) posted a comment on her Facebook page questioning the shutdown (following Bal Thackeray's death). Local Shiv Sainiks in Palghar objected and asked her to apologize, which she allegedly refused to initially. Despite her later posting of an apology, a big mob of activists vandalized the Dhada orthopaedic hospital belonging to her uncle Dr Abdul Dhada and manhandled staff and patients.
Under Sainiks' pressure, police detained Shaheen and her friend Rini Srinivasan (21, who had 'liked' Shaheen's comment on FB) late at night and arrested them on Monday morning for "hurting religious sentiments." The charge was later reduced and the two girls granted bail on surety of Rs 15,000 each.
(With PTI inputs)
An unusual high-tech oil-drilling rig that's been at work off the coast of Cuba departed last week, headed for either Africa or Brazil. With it went the island nation's best hope, at least in the short term, for reaping a share of the energy treasure beneath the sea that separates it from its longtime ideological foe.
For many Floridians, especially in the Cuban-American community, it was welcome news this month that Cuba had drilled its third unsuccessful well this year and was suspending deepwater oil exploration. (Related Pictures: "Four Offshore Drilling Frontiers") While some feared an oil spill in the Straits of Florida, some 70 miles (113 kilometers) from the U.S. coast, others were concerned that drilling success would extend the reviled reign of the Castros, long-time dictator Fidel and his brother and hand-picked successor, Raúl.
"The regime's latest efforts to bolster their tyrannical rule through oil revenues was unsuccessful," said U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in a written statement.
But Cuba's disappointing foray into deepwater doesn't end its quest for energy. The nation produces domestically only about half the oil it consumes. As with every aspect of its economy, its choices for making up the shortfall are sorely limited by the 50-year-old United States trade embargo.
At what could be a time of transition for Cuba, experts agree that the failure of deepwater exploration increases the Castro regime's dependence on the leftist government of Venezuela, which has been meeting fully half of Cuba's oil needs with steeply subsidized fuel. (Related: "Cuba's New Now") And it means Cuba will continue to seek out a wellspring of energy independence without U.S. technology, greatly increasing both the challenges, and the risks.
Rigged for the Job
There's perhaps no better symbol of the complexity of Cuba's energy chase than the Scarabeo 9, the $750 million rig that spent much of this year plumbing the depths of the Straits of Florida and Gulf of Mexico. It is the only deepwater platform in the world that can drill in Cuban waters without running afoul of U.S. sanctions. It was no easy feat to outfit the rig with fewer than 10 percent U.S. parts, given the dominance of U.S. technology in the ultra-deepwater industry. By some reports, only the Scarabeo 9's blowout preventer was made in the United States.
Owned by the Italian firm Saipem, built in China, and outfitted in Singapore, Scarabeo 9 was shipped to Cuba's coast at great cost. "They had to drag a rig from the other side of the world," said Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado, a University of Nebraska professor and expert on Cuba's oil industry. "It made the wells incredibly expensive to drill."
Leasing the semisubmersible platform at an estimated cost of $500,000 a day, three separate companies from three separate nations took their turns at drilling for Cuba. In May, Spanish company Repsol sank a well that turned out to be nonviable. Over the summer, Malaysia's Petronas took its turn, with equally disappointing results. Last up was state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA); on November 2, Granma, the Cuban national Communist Party daily newspaper, reported that effort also was unsuccessful.
It's not unusual to hit dry holes in drilling, but the approach in offshore Cuba was shaped by uniquely political circumstances. Benjamin-Alvarado points out that some of the areas drilled did turn up oil. But rather than shift nearby to find productive—if not hugely lucrative—sites, each new company dragged the rig to an entirely different area off Cuba. It's as if the companies were only going for the "big home runs" to justify the cost of drilling, he said. "The embargo had a profound impact on Cuba's efforts to find oil."
Given its prospects, it's doubtful that Cuba will give up its hunt for oil. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that the waters north and west of Cuba contain 4.6 billion barrels of oil. State-owned Cubapetroleo says undiscovered offshore reserves all around the island may be more than 20 billion barrels, which would be double the reserves of Mexico.
But last week, Scarabeo 9 headed away from Cuban shores for new deepwater prospects elsewhere. That leaves Cuba without a platform that can drill in the ultradeepwater that is thought to hold the bulk of its stores. "This rig is the only shovel they have to dig for it," said Jorge Piñon, a former president of Amoco Oil Latin America (now part of BP) and an expert on Cuba's energy sector who is now a research fellow at the University of Texas at Austin.
Many in the Cuban-American community, like Ros-Lehtinen—the daughter of an anti-Castro author and businessman, who emigrated from Cuba with her family as a child—hailed the development. She said it was important to keep up pressure on Cuba, noting that another foreign oil crew is heading for the island; Russian state-owned Zarubezhneft is expected to begin drilling this month in a shallow offshore field. She is sponsoring a bill that would further tighten the U.S. embargo to punish companies helping in Cuba's petroleum exploration. "An oil-rich Castro regime is not in our interests," she said.
Environmental, Political Risks
But an energy-poor Cuba also has its risks. One of the chief concerns has been over the danger of an accident as Cuba pursues its search for oil, so close to Florida's coastline, at times in the brisk currents of the straits, and without U.S. industry expertise on safety. The worries led to a remarkable series of meetings among environmentalists, Cuban officials, and even U.S government officials over several years. Conferences organized by groups like the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and its counterparts in Cuba have taken place in the Bahamas, Mexico City, and elsewhere. The meetings included other countries in the region to diminish political backlash, though observers say the primary goal was to bring together U.S. and Cuban officials.
EDF led a delegation last year to Cuba, where it has worked for more than a decade with Cuban scientists on shared environmental concerns. The visitors included former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator William Reilly, who co-chaired the national commission that investigated BP's 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster and spill of nearly 5 million barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico. (Related Quiz: "How Much Do You Know About the Gulf Oil Spill?") They discussed Cuba's exploration plans and shared information on the risks.
"We've found world-class science in all our interactions with the Cubans," said Douglas Rader, EDF's chief oceans scientist. He said, however, that the embargo has left Cubans with insufficient resources and inexperience with high-tech gear.
Although the United States and Cuba have no formal diplomatic relations, sources say government officials have made low-profile efforts to prepare for a potential problem. But the two nations still lack an agreement on how to manage response to a drilling disaster, said Robert Muse, a Washington attorney and expert on licensing under the embargo. That lessens the chance of a coordinated response of the sort that was crucial to containing damage from the Deepwater Horizon spill, he said.
"There's a need to get over yesterday's politics," said Rader. "It's time to make sure we're all in a position to respond to the next event, wherever it is."
In addition to the environmental risks of Cuba going it alone, there are the political risks. Piñon, at the University of Texas, said success in deepwater could have helped Cuba spring free of Venezuela's influence as the time nears for the Castro brothers to give up power. Raúl Castro, who took over in 2008 for ailing brother Fidel, now 86, is himself 81 years old. At a potentially crucial time of transition, the influence of Venezuela's outspoken leftist president Hugo Chávez could thwart moves by Cuba away from its state-dominated economy or toward warmer relations with the United States, said Piñon.
Chávez's reelection to a six-year term last month keeps the Venezuelan oil flowing to Cuba for the foreseeable future. But it was clear in Havana that the nation's energy lifeline hung for a time on the outcome of this year's Venezuelan election. (Chávez's opponent, Henrique Capriles Radonski, complained the deal with Cuba was sapping Venezuela's economy, sending oil worth more than $4 billion a year to the island, while Venezuela was receiving only $800 million per year in medical and social services in return.)
So Cuba is determined to continue exploring. Its latest partner, Russia's Zarubezhneft, is expected to begin drilling this month in perhaps 1,000 feet of water, about 200 miles east of Havana. Piñon said the shallow water holds less promise for a major find. But that doesn't mean Cuba will give up trying.
"This is a book with many chapters," Piñon said. "And we're just done with the first chapter." (Related: "U.S. to Overtake Saudi Arabia, Russia As Top Energy Producer")
This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is headed to the Middle East with the hope that she can help bring an end to the escalating violence that has gripped the region for the last week.
Clinton is scheduled to arrive in Jerusalem later tonight to meet with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes. Clinton will also meet with Palestinian officials in Ramallah before heading to Cairo to meet with leaders in Egypt.
A senior Israeli government official told ABC News that Netanyahu has decided to hold off on a ground invasion for a "limited time" in favor of a diplomatic solution.
Overnight, Israeli jets hit more than 100 targets, killing five people. Gaza militants blasted more than 60 rockets in retaliation, with one of them hitting a bus in southern Israel.
Click HERE for Photos from Airstrikes and Rocket Attacks in the Middle East
An Israeli man armed with an axe and knife stabbed a guard at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv. The guard was wounded in the attack, but expected to live. Police apprehended the man at the scene, police said.
The man, in his early 40s, attacked the guard outside the embassy gates, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told The Associated Press. He said the man's motive was unknown, but political motives were not suspected and the incident had nothing to do with Israel's battle with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
"It's in nobody's interest to see this escalate," Rhodes said at a press conference in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where President Obama is attending the East Asia Summit.
Clinton, who was with Obama on his trip to Southeast Asia, hastily departed from Cambodia for the Middle East following the announcement.
A State Department official tells ABC News that Clinton's visit "will build on American engagement with regional leaders over the past days."
A White House official said they believe face-to-face diplomacy could help, but no concrete details were offered.
President Obama was on the phone until 2:30 a.m. local time with leaders in the region trying to de-escalate the violence, Rhodes told reporters. The president spoke with Netanyahu and Egyptian President Morsi on Monday as well.
"To date, we're encouraged by the cooperation and the consultation we've had with the Egyptian leadership. We want to see that, again, support a process that can de-escalate the situation," Rhodes said. "But again, the bottom line still remains that Hamas has to stop this rocket fire."
Rhodes insisted that Palestinian officials need to be a part of the discussions to end the violence and rocket fire coming out of the Hamas-ruled territory.
"The Palestinian Authority, as the elected leaders of the Palestinian people, need to be a part of this discussion," Rhodes said. "And they're clearly going to play a role in the future of the Palestinian people—a leading role."
With the death toll rising, Egypt accelerated efforts to broker a cease-fire Monday. Anger boiled over in Gaza as the death toll passed 100 and the civilian casualties mounted. Volleys of Palestinian militant rockets flew into Israel as Israeli drones buzzed endlessly overhead and warplanes streaked through the air to unleash missile strikes.
An Israeli strike on a Gaza City high-rise Monday killed Ramez Harb, one of the top militant leaders of Islamic Jihad, the Palestinian militant group said.
It is also the second high profile commander taken out in the Israeli offensive, which began seven days ago with a missile strike that killed Ahmed Jibari, Hamas' top military commander.
ABC News' Reena Ninan, Dana Hughes, Mary Bruce and Matt Gutman contributed to this report.
RANGOON, Burma — For 15 years, Aung San Suu Kyi waited in her lakeside villa, confined to the small plot of land under house arrest, dreaming of her return to the world.
On Monday, the world, or a big piece of it, came calling on her.
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's parliament has ordered the country's top judge to attend an impeachment hearing on Friday after rejecting her appeal for more time to prepare a defence.
An 11-member parliamentary panel dominated by members of President Mahinda Rajapakse's coalition declined Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake's request for six weeks to respond to 14 charges in the impeachment motion.
"The PSC (Parliamentary Select Committee) in a majority decision asked the Chief Justice to be present at the opening of a hearing on Friday at the parliament," an MP who declined to be named told AFP on Monday.
The 54-year-old chief justice has already denied financial wrongdoing alleged in the impeachment case brought by the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance. She has vowed to remain in office and defend her name.
The charge sheet, first presented to parliamentary Speaker Chamal Rajapakse who is also the president's eldest brother, was formally handed over to Bandaranayake last week.
Legal sources said she has refused to step aside pending the end of the impeachment process.
The impeachment move followed a decision last month by the Supreme Court to effectively scupper a bill giving more powers to the economic development minister, who is the president's younger brother Basil.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, last week urged Colombo to "reconsider" the impeachment of Bandaranayake, the island's first woman chief justice.
"I urge the Sri Lanka government to take immediate and adequate measures to ensure the physical and mental integrity of members of the judiciary," Knaul said.
The United States has also raised concerns over the impeachment while Sri Lankan lawyers have united in urging the authorities to ensure "due process" in any action against judges.
Rights groups have said the impeachment motion was the latest sign of efforts by President Rajapakse to tighten his grip on power after crushing the Tamil Tiger separatist rebels in 2009 at the end of a decades-long war.
The ruling party has more than the required 113 votes in parliament to sack the chief justice.
- AFP/lp
Reacting to a TOI report that had said that a woman had been arrested for protesting against the shut down in Mumbai on the occasion of Thackeray's death on social networking site facebook Katju said it was "absurd" to say that protest would hurt religious sentiment.
Katju said that the arrest was a criminal act since under sections 341 and 342 it is a crime to wrongfully arrest or wrongfully confine someone who has committed no crime.
"Hence if the facts reported are correct, I request you to immediately order the suspension, arrest, chargesheeting and criminal prosecution of the police personnel (however high they may be) who ordered as well as implemented the arrest of that woman, failing which I will deem it that you as chief minister are unable to run the state in a democratic manner as envisaged by the Constitution to which you have taken oath, and then the legal consequences will follow," he added.
The tide may be turning for the rare subspecies of giant tortoise thought to have gone extinct when its last known member, the beloved Lonesome George, died in June.
A new study by Yale University researchers reveals that DNA from George's ancestors lives on—and that more of his kind may still be alive in a remote area of Ecuador's Galápagos Islands.
This isn't the first time Chelonoidis nigra abingdoni has been revived: The massive reptiles were last seen in 1906 and considered extinct until the 1972 discovery of Lonesome George, then around 60 years old, on Pinta Island. The population had been wiped out by human settlers, who overharvested the tortoises for meat and introduced goats and pigs that destroyed the tortoises' habitat and much of the island's vegetation.
Now, in an area known as Volcano Wolf—on the secluded northern tip of Isabela, another Galápagos island—the researchers have identified 17 hybrid descendants of C.n. abingdoni within a population of 1,667 tortoises.
Genetic testing identified three males, nine females, and five juveniles (under the age of 20) with DNA from C.n. abingdoni. The presence of juveniles suggests that purebred specimens may exist on the island too, the researchers said.
"Even the parents of some of the older individuals may still be alive today, given that tortoises live for so long and that we detected high levels of ancestry in a few of these hybrids," Yale evolutionary biologist Danielle Edwards said.
(See pictures of Galápagos animals.)
Galápagos Castaways
How did Lonesome George's relatives end up some 30 miles (50 kilometers) from Pinta Island? Edwards said ocean currents, which would have carried the tortoises to other areas, had nothing to do with it. Instead, she thinks humans likely transported the animals.
Crews on 19th-century whaling and naval vessels hunted accessible islands like Pinta for oil and meat, carrying live tortoises back to their ships.
Tortoises can survive up to 12 months without food or water because of their slow metabolisms, making the creatures a useful source of meat to stave off scurvy on long sea voyages. But during naval conflicts, the giant tortoises—which weighed between 200 and 600 pounds (90 and 270 kilograms) each—were often thrown overboard to lighten the ship's load.
That could also explain why one of the Volcano Wolf tortoises contains DNA from the tortoise species Chelonoidis elephantopus, which is native to another island, as a previous study revealed. That species is also extinct in its native habitat, Floreana Island.
(Related: "No Lovin' for Lonesome George.")
Life After Extinction?
Giant tortoises are essential to the Galápagos Island ecosystem, Edwards said. They scatter soil and seeds, and their eating habits help maintain the population balance of woody vegetation and cacti. Now, scientists have another chance to save C.n. abingdoni and C. elephantopus.
With a grant from the National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration, which also helped fund the current study, the researchers plan to return to Volcano Wolf's rugged countryside to collect hybrid tortoises—and purebreds, if the team can find them—and begin a captive-breeding program. (National Geographic News is part of the Society.)
If all goes well, both C.n. abingdoni and C. elephantopus may someday be restored to their wild homes in the Galápagos. (Learn more about the effort to revive the Floreana Galápagos tortoises.)
"The word 'extinction' signifies the point of no return," senior research scientist Adalgisa Caccone wrote in the team's grant proposal. "Yet new technology can sometimes provide hope in challenging the irrevocable nature of this concept."
More: "Galápagos Expedition Journal: Face to Face With Giant Tortoises" >>
The new Lonesome George study was published by the journal Biological Conservation.
Israeli aircraft struck crowded areas in the Gaza Strip on Monday, driving up the civilian death toll and in one case devastating several homes belonging to one clan — the fallout from a new tactic in Israel's six-day-old offensive meant to quell Hamas rocket fire on Israel.
Escalating its bombing campaign, Israel on Sunday began attacking homes of activists in Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza. These attacks have led to a sharp spike in civilian casualties, killing 24 civilians in less than 24 hours, a Gaza health official said. Overall, the offensive that began Wednesday killed 91 Palestinians, including 50 civilians.
The rising civilian toll was likely to intensify pressure on Israel to end the fighting. Hundreds of civilian casualties in an Israeli offensive in Gaza four years ago led to fierce international condemnation of Israel.
Hamas fighters, meanwhile, have fired hundreds of rockets into Israel in the current round of fighting, including 12 on Monday, among them one that hit an empty school.
The new airstrikes came as Egypt was trying to broker a cease-fire, with the help of Turkey and Qatar. The Turkish foreign minister and a delegation of Arab foreign ministers were expected in Gaza on Tuesday. However, Israel and Hamas appeared far apart in their demands, and a quick end to the fighting seemed unlikely.
In Monday's violence, a missile struck a three-story home in the Gaza City's Zeitoun area, flattening the building and badly damaging several nearby homes. Shell-shocked residents searching for belongings climbed over debris of twisted metal and cement blocks in the street.
The strike killed two children and two adults, and injured 42 people, said Gaza heath official Ashraf al-Kidra.
Residents said Israel first sent a warning strike at around 2 a.m. Monday, prompting many residents in the area to flee their homes. A few minutes later, heavy bombardment followed.
Ahed Kitati, 38, had rushed out after the warning missile to try to hustle people to safety. But he was fatally struck by a falling cinderblock, leaving behind a pregnant wife, five young daughters and a son, the residents said.
Sitting in mourning with her mother and siblings just hours after her father's death, 11-year-old Aya Kitati clutched a black jacket, saying she was freezing, even though the weather was mild. "We were sleeping, and then we heard the sound of the bombs," she said, then broke down sobbing.
Ahed's brother, Jawad Kitati, said he plucked the lifeless body of a 2-year-old relative from the street and carried him to an ambulance. Blood stains smeared his jacket sleeve.
Another clan member, Haitham Abu Zour, 24, woke up to the sound of the warning strike and hid in a stairwell. He emerged to find his wife dead and his two infant children buried under the debris, but safe.
Clan elder Mohammed Azzam, 61, denied that anyone in his family had any connections to Hamas.
"The Jews are liars," he said. "No matter how much they pressure our people, we will not withdraw our support for Hamas."
Late Sunday, an Israeli missile killed a father and his eight-year-old son on the roof of their Gaza City home. The father, a Hamas policeman, was on the roof to repair a leaking water tank, his relatives said.
Then-defense secretary Robert M. Gates stopped bagging his leaves when he moved into a small Washington military enclave in 2007. His next-door neighbor was Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time, who had a chef, a personal valet and — not lost on Gates — troops to tend his property.
Gates may have been the civilian leader of the world’s largest military, but his position did not come with household staff. So, he often joked, he disposed of his leaves by blowing them onto the chairman’s lawn.
DAMASCUS: Syria on Sunday slammed as "hostile" a French decision to host an ambassador from the opposition National Coalition, as regime forces bombarded southern districts of the capital and clashes raged nationwide.
France on Saturday invited the group to send an envoy to Paris, after President Francois Hollande met National Coalition leader Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib.
"France is acting like a hostile nation," National Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar told AFP on a visit to key ally Tehran. "It's as if it wants to go back to the time of the occupation," he added, referring to the French mandate in Syria after World War I.
Haidar was speaking as Tehran prepared to host talks between Syrian officials and opposition groups tolerated by President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
No National Coalition representatives were invited to the Iran talks.
"Invitations were extended to all those who accept dialogue, not to those who refuse to talk as a matter of principle," Haidar said.
The opposition coalition, formed in Doha on November 11, is committed to building a transitional government composed of representatives of all ethnic and religious groups in conflict-ridden Syria.
But it refuses to engage with the Damascus regime before Assad's departure.
Despite the French offer to host an envoy, Paris remained cautious on the issue of supplying weapons to Syrian rebels amid fears of the conflict spreading.
Israeli artillery responded early on Sunday after gunfire from Syria hit an army vehicle but caused no casualties, Israel's military said, in the latest spillover of violence from the bloody civil war raging across the ceasefire line.
"Shots were fired at IDF (Israeli army) soldiers...in the central Golan Heights," an army spokeswoman told AFP, adding that the Syrian fire hit "a vehicle."
"Soldiers responded with artillery fire towards the source of the shooting... a direct hit was identified," she said of the latest in several exchanges over the past week.
Israel has complained repeatedly to the United Nations over the incidents.
In Damascus, government artillery bombarded the southern district of Al-Hajar al-Aswad, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Britain-based watchdog, which relies on a network of activists and medics in civilian and military hospitals to compile its tolls, said one civilian was killed and several wounded.
Aleppo and its environs in the north also saw heavy combat, the Observatory said, reporting fierce clashes at regime Base 46 in the province, which has been besieged for weeks.
Artillery fire also hit the provinces of Daraa in the south and Deir Ezzor in the east, where rebels on Saturday said they had seized the key regime airport of Hamdan, a base for helicopter gunships.
The Observatory said at least two rebels were killed in a government ambush in the central province of Hama.
Sunday's fighting came a day after at least 142 people were killed nationwide, according to the Observatory, which has put the death toll in more than 20 months of conflict at upwards of 39,000.
The post of National Coalition envoy to France is to be filled by academic Monzer Makhous, although it was unclear if this would happen before a planned provisional government is formed.
Coalition chief Khatib in Paris on Saturday repeated the group's promise to build a government of technocrats rather than politicians.
"There is no problem. The coalition exists and we will launch a call for candidates to form a government of technocrats that will work until the regime falls," he told reporters.
But he appeared to have made little progress on his call for the West to arm the insurgency.
"The (rebel) Syrians need military means but the international community also has to exercise control," Hollande said.
He acknowledged that France could not act without agreement from its European Union partners -- the EU has a strict embargo on arms deliveries to Syria.
EU foreign ministers are due to discuss the embargo at talks in Brussels on Monday.
France on Tuesday became the first Western power to recognise the the opposition coalition as the sole representative of the Syrian people.
Turkey and the Gulf Arab states have also officially recognised it, and Britain's foreign minister William Hague said on Friday London was considering following suit.
- AFP/xq
Copyright © News princock. All rights reserved.
Design 
And Business Directories
