As many as 48 hostages – including foreigners – are thought to have died at the site near the town of In Amenas.
About 20 captives remain unaccounted for after the four-day siege, which ended on Sunday.
The militants said they took hostages in retaliation for French intervention against Islamists in Mali.
[youtube hLqy7Y7hBKA]
DNA, which carries our genetic code, is more familiar to us as a double helix.
But researchers tell the journal Nature Chemistry that the “quadruple helix” is also present in our cells, and in ways that might possibly relate to cancer.
They suggest that control of the structures could provide novel ways to fight the disease.
“The existence of these structures may be loaded when the cell has a certain genotype or a certain dysfunctional state,” said Prof. Shankar Balasubramanian from Cambridge’s department of chemistry.
“We need to prove that; but if that is the case, targeting them with synthetic molecules could be an interesting way of selectively targeting those cells that have this dysfunction,” he said.
It will be exactly 60 years ago in February that James Watson and Francis Crick famously burst into the pub next to their Cambridge laboratory to announce the discovery of the “secret of life”.
What they had actually done was describe the way in which two long chemical chains wound up around each other to encode the information cells need to build and maintain our bodies.
Today, the pair’s modern counterparts in the university city continue to work on DNA’s complexities.
Shankar Balasubramanian’s group has been pursuing a four-stranded version of the molecule that scientists have produced in the test tube now for a number of years.
It is called the G-quadruplex. The “G” refers to guanine, one of the four chemical groups, or “bases”, that hold DNA together and which encode our genetic information (the others being adenine, cytosine, and thymine).
The G-quadruplex seems to form in DNA where guanine exists in substantial quantities.
And although ciliates, relatively simple microscopic organisms, have displayed evidence for the incidence of such DNA, the new research is said to be the first to firmly pinpoint the quadruple helix in human cells.
The team, led by Giulia Biffi, a researcher in Shankar Balasubramaninan’s lab, produced antibody proteins that were designed specifically to track down and bind to regions of human DNA that were rich in the quadruplex structure. The antibodies were tagged with a fluorescence marker so that the time and place of the structures’ emergence in the cell cycle could be noted and imaged.
This revealed the four-stranded DNA arose most frequently during the so-called “s-phase” when a cell copies its DNA just prior to dividing.
Prof. Shankar Balasubramaninan said that was of key interest in the study of cancers, which were usually driven by genes, or oncogenes, that had mutated to increase DNA replication.
If the G-quadruplex could be implicated in the development of some cancers, it might be possible, he said, to make synthetic molecules that contained the structure and blocked the runaway cell proliferation at the root of tumors.
“We’ve come a long way in 10 years, from simple ideas to really seeing some substance in the existence and tractability of targeting these funny structures,” he said.
“I’m hoping now that the pharmaceutical companies will bring this on to their radar and we can perhaps take a more serious look at whether quadruplexes are indeed therapeutically viable targets.”
Hundreds of thousands are expected in Washington for the event, which will feature music from Beyonce, parades, black tie balls and tight security.
They will crowd on to the Washington Mall to see the president take the oath of office on the steps of the Capitol.
Barack Obama was officially inaugurated in a small White House ceremony on Sunday, as the US Constitution requires the president be sworn in by January 20.
In the famous Blue Room, Barack Obama rested his hand on a Bible used for many years by his wife’s family and vowed “to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States”.
He will repeat those words at Monday’s public inauguration, in which he is also expected to use part of his address to outline his plans for the next four years.
Speaking at a reception for supporters late on Sunday, Barack Obama suggested he would dwell on the “common good” and the “goodness, the resilience, neighborliness, the patriotism” of Americans.
“What we are celebrating is not the election or the swearing-in of the president,” Barack Obama said.
“What we are doing is celebrating each other and celebrating this incredible nation that we call home.”
By the end of Monday, Barack Obama will have taken the oath four times – as many as President Franklin D Roosevelt.
Four years ago, Barack Obama had to repeat the oath privately to make sure all constitutional obligations were met after he tripped over the words.
Following Monday’s ceremony outside Congress, Barack Obama will have the traditional lunch with US lawmakers in the building’s Statuary Hall.
The president is then expected to follow the recent tradition of walking through the crowds for at least some of the way in the procession back to the White House.
Vice-President Joe Biden, who was also sworn in on Sunday, will repeat his oath publicly as well.
Thousands of workers and volunteers prepared Monday’s celebrations. White tents, trailers and generators are set up along the Washington Mall parade route, while nearby buildings have been adorned with red, white and blue bunting.
In 2009, nearly two million people crammed into Washington to witness President Barack Obama’s first inauguration.
Inauguration Day schedule:
11:30 EST : Official ceremony begins at the West Front of US Capitol
11:55 EST: Barack Obama is publicly sworn in as president by Chief Justice John Roberts
12:00 EST: Barack Obama delivers inaugural address
12:39 EST: Barack Obama signs nomination papers for his Cabinet
13:00 EST: Inaugural lunch in Statuary Hall at the US Capitol
14:36 EST: Inaugural parade on Pennsylvania Avenue, ending at the White House.
[youtube AH2DwJkSyDk]
In 2012 researchers found evidence that our planet had been struck by a blast of radiation during the Middle Ages, but there was debate over what kind of cosmic event could have caused this.
Now a study suggests it was the result of two black holes or neutron stars merging in our galaxy.
This collision would have hurled out vast amounts of energy.
The research is published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Last year, a team of researchers found that some ancient cedar trees in Japan had an unusual level of a radioactive type of carbon known as carbon-14.
In Antarctica, too, there was a spike in levels of a form of beryllium – beryllium-10 – in the ice.
These isotopes are created when intense radiation hits the atoms in the upper atmosphere, suggesting that a blast of energy had once hit our planet from space.
Using tree rings and ice-core data, researchers were able to pinpoint that this would have occurred between the years AD 774 and AD 775, but the cause of the event was a puzzle.
The possibility of a supernova – an exploding star – was put forward, but then ruled out because the debris from such an event would still be visible in telescopes today.
Another team of US physicists recently published a paper suggesting that an unusually large solar flare from the Sun could have caused the pulse of energy. However some others in the scientific community disagree because they do not think that the energy produced would tally with the levels of carbon-14 and beryllium-10 found.
Now, German researchers have offered up another explanation: a massive explosion that took place within the Milky Way.
One of the authors of the paper, Professor Ralph Neuhauser, from the Institute of Astrophysics at the University of Jena, said: “We looked in the spectra of short gamma-ray bursts to estimate whether this would be consistent with the production rate of carbon-14 and beryllium-10 that we observed – and [we found] that is fully consistent.”
These enormous emissions of energy occur when black holes, neutron stars or white dwarfs collide – the galactic mergers take just seconds, but they send out a vast wave of radiation.
Prof. Ralph Neuhauser said: “Gamma-ray bursts are very, very explosive and energetic events, and so we considered from the energy what would be the distance given the energy observed.
“Our conclusion was it was 3,000 to 12,000 light-years away – and this is within our galaxy.”
Although the event sounds dramatic, our medieval ancestors might not have noticed much.
If the gamma-ray burst happened at this distance, the radiation would have been absorbed by our atmosphere, only leaving a trace in the isotopes that eventually found their way into our trees and the ice. The researchers do not think it even emitted any visible light.
Observations of deep space suggest that gamma ray-bursts are rare. They are thought to happen at the most every 10,000 years per galaxy, and at the least every million years per galaxy.
Prof. Ralph Neuhauser said it was unlikely Planet Earth would see another one soon, but if we did, this time it could make more of an impact.
If a cosmic explosion happened at the same distance as the 8th Century event, it could knock out our satellites. But if it occurred even closer – just a few hundred light-years away – it would destroy our ozone layer, with devastating effects for life on Earth.
However, this, said Prof. Ralph Neuhauser, was “extremely unlikely”.
[youtube UkI0NFn1bgs]
December’s launch – condemned by its neighbors as a banned missile test – successfully put North Korea’s first satellite in space.
International sanctions prevent North Korea importing advanced technology.
Correspondents say the discovery it was able to produce the “vast majority” of the parts without foreign help will be a cause for concern.
North Korea says the rocket carried a communications satellite into space, but the US and North Korea’s neighbors have long believed such operations represent attempts by Pyongyang to develop long-range missiles.
South Korean military and space experts salvaged 10 pieces of the rocket which it shed into the sea as it took off, including its first-stage engine, and its fuel and oxidizer tanks.
In its report, the South Korean Defence Ministry said: “North Korea is believed to have made a majority of components itself, although it used commercially available products imported from overseas.”
North Korea has conducted two long-range rocket launches since Kim Jong-un came to power in December 2011. The launch in April failed, but December’s attempt was an apparent success.
The US, Japan and South Korea are seeking a response in the UN Security Council, which banned North Korea from missile tests after nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
A South Korean diplomat said a draft resolution calling for tougher sanctions was being circulated at the UN, with a vote in the Security Council expected on Tuesday or Wednesday, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reports.
[youtube F-1hkMGBipY]
[youtube rGUNOtzqaYY]
Michelle Kwan – a two-time Olympic medalist – and Clay Pell exchanged vows at the First Unitarian Church in Providence on Saturday.
About 250 guests attended the ceremony, including Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee and his wife, Stephani, as well as Olympic champions Brian Boitano, Dick Button and Dorothy Hamill, according to People Magazine.
“You could feel the love Michelle and Clay have for each other,” a guest told the magazine’s website.
“They are truly a perfect match.”
Clay Pell, a 31-year-old JAG lawyer and Coast Guard lieutenant, works on the White House’s national security staff.
He is the grandson of the late Rhode Island Sen. Claiborne Pell, who reportedly established Pell Grants to assist college students with in paying their tuition 40 years ago.
Michelle Kwan is a public policy envoy with the U.S. State Department and the most decorated figure skater in American history.
She won 43 championships, including five World titles, nine national crowns, as well as the silver medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics and bronze at the 2002 Games.
Fans of Michelle Kwan’s performance at the 2002 Winter games might have recognized a certain nostalgic touch from Saturday.
During those Salt Lake City games, Michelle Kwan skated her routine to Sting’s song, Fields of Gold.
She once again utilized the tune for her wedding, incorporating it, according to People, into the day’s proceedings.
Uniformed police officers stood guard outside the church as the 32-year-old Michelle Kwan and her bridesmaid emerged from a club across the street from the church, The Providence Journal reports.
She engaged to marry Clay Pell September 3, and shortly thereafter told People, “I never was one who believed in love at first sight, but I have to admit it happened for us.
“I felt there was a magnetic connection between us,” Michelle Kwan explained of their April 2011 initial meeting.
“I thought he was the one from the beginning.”
“It was a simple decision and it made sense, that’s what’s so exciting to me,” she elaborated in an interview with People.
“We are working together as a team, like in [pair skating].”
Back in September, Clay Pell proposed on Block Island, off the coast of Rhode Island.
[youtube Aw9Pko5wxZA]
It had initially been unclear whether the bodies found were those of hostage-takers or staff at the facility.
A search is continuing at the In Amenas gas plant, where as many as 20 hostages remain unaccounted for.
Five suspected Islamist attackers were reportedly arrested on Sunday.
The Algerian authorities had said on Saturday that all 32 hostage-takers had been killed. The suspected organizer of the attack, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, has said in a statement that 40 militants took part.
The siege was ended in a raid by troops on Saturday. Officials say a definitive death toll will be released later.
Officials said the army launched its assault after Islamist militants began killing foreign hostages.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama have blamed “terrorists” for the hostages’ deaths.
And on Sunday French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian described the hostage-taking as an “act of war”.
“What strikes me the most is that we’re saying <<hostage-taking>> but when there are so many people concerned, I think this is an act of war,” he told French TV.
As Western leaders condemned the kidnappings, Algerian Energy Minister Youcef Yousfi said Algeria would boost security at its energy installations without outside help.
“It is out of the question to allow foreign security forces to handle the security of our oil facilities,” he said, quoted by Algeria’s APS news agency.
During a visit to the affected plant, Youcef Yousfi said it would resume production within two days.
The private TV channel Ennahar said security forces had discovered the bodies of 25 hostages as they searched the complex for booby-traps and mines.
The militants had threatened to blow up the site and kill their hostages, officials said.
Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who is not thought to have been among the actual attackers, said his group had carried out the attack. He was speaking in a video message carried by the Mauritanian website Sahara Media.
The website said the video had been recorded on January 17 while the siege was still going on but not posted on the website.
It shows Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who has convictions in absentia for murder, kidnapping and terrorism, saying he was prepared to negotiate with Western and Algerian leaders if operations against Islamists in Mali were stopped.
In other developments:
State news agency APS said 685 Algerian workers and 107 out of 132 foreigners working at the plant had been freed, citing interior ministry figures.
The nationalities of some of the hostages killed are still not known.
The crisis began on Wednesday when militants attacked two buses carrying foreign workers to the remote site in south-eastern Algeria. A Briton and an Algerian reportedly died in the incident.
The militants then took Algerians and expatriates hostage at the complex, which was quickly surrounded by the Algerian army.
A statement from the kidnappers said the assault on the gas plant was launched in retaliation for French intervention against Islamist groups in neighboring Mali.
However, France only decided last week to intervene militarily in Mali. Analysts say the assault on the gas facility was well-planned and would have required advance research, as well as possibly inside help.
[youtube Rf3NzF7ohWk]
[youtube B7rRJ1HCHhI]
A council spokesman said the sign was a joke and that local libraries could not arbitrarily reclassify books.
Last week Lance Armstrong ended years of denial by admitting he used performance-enhancing drugs during all seven of his Tour de France wins.
Lance Armstrong, 41, confessed during an interview with chat show host Oprah Winfrey that was watched around the world.
“This was a prank, it happened on Saturday and a member of the public has taken a photo and posted it on social media and it’s gone viral on social media,” said Chris Parsons of Manly Council.
“However you can’t simple reclassify books from fiction to non-fiction,” he said, explaining that classifications were decided at a central level.
Local reports said the sign was posted by a student working part-time in the library. Chris Parsons did not confirm this but said a “little review” would take place at the library.
“It’s a big, busy library and someone has played a practical joke – it’s gone unnoticed for a while and once staff noticed they changed it,” he said.
Pictures of the sign – which ends with a smiley face – have been widely circulated on social media, with many commentators congratulating the library on its stance.
“Librarians do have a sense of humor,” said one Twitter user.
“Awesome. Slow clap Manly Beach Library,” said another.
[youtube Vq8NgepsFg8]
The Social Democrats and the Greens won a single-seat majority in the state legislature, a region of 8 million people in north-western Germany.
The election is seen as a bellwether for national elections in September.
The Lower Saxony defeat has set alarm bells ringing for the chancellor.
Angela Merkel’s CDU coalition has lost a number of state elections as she seeks a third term as Germany’s chancellor.
Sunday night’s knife-edge finish saw the SPD and Greens winning a combined 46.3% of the vote to the centre right’s 45.9%.
David McAllister, the incumbent leader of Lower Saxony’s government and close ally of Chancellor Merkel, had been hoping for re-election.
He was born in Berlin to a German mother and a Scottish father and is seen as a possible successor to Chancellor Merkel as CDU leader.
The Social Democrats (SPD) enjoyed a comfortable lead over the incumbents in the run-up to the poll, but it evaporated as polling day approached.
The SPD leader in Lower Saxony, Stephan Weil, said before the result that a victory in the state polls as a sign that his party will be taken seriously in September’s national elections.
Since Angela Merkel’s re-election as chancellor in 2009, the CDU has suffered setbacks in recent state elections, and have lost power to the SPD and Greens in four other states.
There was also concern that the CDU’s coalition partners, the Free Democrats, would not win enough votes to maintain the coalition.
They require 5% of the vote to gain seats in the state legislature – exit polls suggested they had 10%.
Angela Merkel appeared several times on the campaign trail with David McAllister, who has played heavily on his Scottish roots.
Known as “Mac”, he used bagpipes in his election broadcasts. He speaks English with a broad Scottish accent.
[youtube vhRbcQjZLRw]
Barbara Walters, 83, only suffered a cut to her head, but has been hospitalized “out of an abundance of caution”, according to ABC News’ spokesperson.
Because of her injury, the veteran newswoman will not contribute to Monday’s second inauguration of President Barack Obama.
Barbara Walters was in Washington to cover the inauguration events and tripped last night on a step at the residence of Britain’s U.S. ambassador, Sir Peter Westmacott, Politico’s Mike Allen first reported.
ABC News spokesman Jeffrey Schneider said that the fall left Barbara Walters with a cut on her forehead.
Jeffrey Schneider said today that “out of an abundance of caution”, Barbara Walters was taken to a hospital to get the cut treated and to receive a full examination.
He said Barbara Walters is alert “and telling everyone what to do”, which is “a very positive sign”.
It’s unclear when Barbara Walters might be released from the hospital, which ABC hasn’t identified.
According to TV Newser, Barbara Walters will not contribute to Monday’s ceremony and could be off the air for several days.
As it stands, Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos will anchor the day’s events for the network.
Barbara Walters was TV news’ first female superstar, making headlines in 1976 as a network anchor with an unprecedented $1 million annual salary.
During more than thirty years at ABC, and before that at NBC, Barbara Walters’ exclusive interviews with rulers, royalty and entertainers have brought her celebrity status.
In 1997, Barbara Walters created The View, a live weekday talk show that became an unexpected hit.
Barbara Walters had heart surgery in May 2010 but returned to active duty on The View that September, declaring: “I’m fine!”
Even at her age, Barbara Walters continues to keep a busy schedule, including appearances on The View, prime-time interviews and her annual special, 10 Most Fascinating People.
George Church, a genetics professor at Harvard Medical School, believes he can bring back the extinct ancestor of modern man after more than 33,000 years.
Contrary to popular belief, Neanderthals were in fact a highly intelligent race and Prof. George Church believes they could be recreated through modern medicine.
Prof. George Church, 58, told German magazine, Der Spiegel: “I have already managed to attract enough DNA from fossil bones to reconstruct the DNA of the human species largely extinct. Now I need an adventurous female human.
“It depends on a lot of things, but I think it can be done. The reason I would consider it a possibility is that a bunch of technologies are developing faster than ever before.
“In particular, reading and writing DNA is now about a million times faster than seven or eight years ago.
“Another technology that the de-extinction of a Neanderthal would require is human cloning.
“We can clone all kinds of mammals, so it’s very likely that we could clone a human. Why shouldn’t we be able to do so?”
Prof. George Church is a pioneer in synthetic biology, which aims is to create synthetic DNA and organisms in the laboratory.
During the 1980s, he helped initiate the Human Genome Project that created a map of the human genome.
George Church admits his project may have shades of Frankenstein about it, but he believes recreating Neanderthals would benefit mankind.
He added: “Neanderthals might think differently than we do. We know that they had a larger cranial size. They could even be more intelligent than us.
“When the time comes to deal with an epidemic or getting off the planet or whatever, it’s conceivable that their way of thinking could be beneficial.
“They could maybe even create a new neo-Neanderthal culture and become a political force. The main goal is to increase diversity. The one thing that is bad for society is low diversity.
‘This is true for culture or evolution, for species and also for whole societies. If you become a monoculture, you are at great risk of perishing.
“Therefore the recreation of Neanderthals would be mainly a question of societal risk avoidance.”
He also explains how the process could theoretically be carried out.
“The first thing you have to do is to sequence the Neanderthal genome, and that has actually been done.
“The next step would be to chop this genome up into, say, 10,000 chunks and then synthesize these. Finally, you would introduce these chunks into a human stem cell.
“If we do that often enough, then we would generate a stem cell line that would get closer and closer to the corresponding sequence of the Neanderthal.
“We developed the semi-automated procedure required to do that in my lab.
“Finally, we assemble all the chunks in a human stem cell, which would enable you to finally create a Neanderthal clone.”
The missing puzzle in his plan is a surrogate mother for the project, who would be a human female.
According to experts, Prof. George Church’s plan is technically possible.
Many of his suggestions formed the central plot-line of the 1993 Steven Spielberg film Jurassic Park, in which dinosaur DNA that had been embedded in chunks of amber was extracted to recreate the monsters that once dominated Earth.
Neanderthals are named after the site in the Neander Valley, Germany, where archaeologists first discovered the species in 1856 – three years before Charles Darwin published his On The Origin Of Species.
The reports came a day after the Algerian authorities said all 32 hostage-takers had been killed at the In Amenas gas installation.
At least 25 bodies were found at the complex on Sunday, reports say.
It is unclear whether they were captors or captives. Officials say a definitive death toll will be released later.
On Saturday officials said least 23 staff at the facility had died during the four-day siege, with some Western workers still unaccounted for.
The siege was ended in a raid by troops on Saturday.
Officials said the army launched its assault after Islamist militants began killing foreign hostages.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama have blamed “terrorists” for the hostages’ deaths.
And on Sunday French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian described the hostage-taking as an “act of war”.
“What strikes me the most is that we’re saying <<hostage-taking>> but when there are so many people concerned, I think this is an act of war,” he told French TV.
“Five terrorists were found still alive this morning,” said the private Ennahar TV channel, quoted by AFP news agency.
The agency said residents of the nearby town of In Amenas were staying indoors, amid rumors that the army operation to end the siege was not over.
Algerian Communications Minister Mohammed Said said earlier that the militants were from six different countries, “nationals of Arab and African countries, and of non-African countries”.
Mohammed Said added that a final death toll would be released in the coming hours.
Mauritanian website Sahara Media says Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the suspected organizer of the siege, has claimed responsibility for it in a video message.
The website said the video – recorded on January 17 while the siege was still going on but not posted on the website – showed the militant leader saying he was prepared to negotiate with Western and Algerian leaders if operations against Islamists in Mali were stopped.
Three Britons are confirmed dead, and a further three are missing, feared dead.
UK officials were “working hard” to locate the missing, said Foreign Secretary William Hague.
“Everything seems to indicate” that a Colombian citizen resident in the UK is among the dead, the Colombian president has said.
But he added that information about Carlos Estrada, who worked for BP, was “not 100%”.
Japanese officials said they had no confirmation of the fate of 10 nationals who remained unaccounted for, despite reports that nine had died.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Yoshihide Suga said a government aircraft would be sent to bring home seven others who had survived.
Two Malaysians are unaccounted for, as are five Norwegians.
State news agency APS said 685 Algerian workers and 107 out of 132 foreigners working at the plant had been freed, citing interior ministry figures.
The nationalities of some of the hostages killed are still not known.
The crisis began on Wednesday when militants attacked two buses carrying foreign workers to the remote site in south-eastern Algeria. A Briton and an Algerian reportedly died in the incident.
The militants then took Algerians and expatriates hostage at the complex, which was quickly surrounded by the Algerian army.
A statement from the kidnappers said the assault on the gas plant was launched in retaliation for French intervention against Islamist groups in neighboring Mali.
However, France only decided last week to intervene militarily in Mali. Analysts say the assault on the gas facility was well-planned and would have required advance research, as well as possibly inside help.
The leader of the hostage-takers was a veteran fighter from Niger, named as Abdul Rahman al-Nigeri by the Mauritanian news agency ANI, which had been in contact with the militants.
[youtube Ywuk8Cly7JU]
[youtube EGtrK1A1e-k]
The car was bought by Rick Champagne, a logistics company owner from Phoenix, Arizona.
Rick Champagne, 56, who was just 10 when the high-camp TV series began in 1966, said it “was a dream come true”.
The Batmobile design was based on a 1955 Lincoln Futura, a concept car built in Italy by the Ford Motor Company.
It was the first time that car had come up for public sale since it was bought in 1965 by car-customizer George Barris, who transformed it in 15 days, at the cost of $15,000, into the superhero’s famous vehicle.
It had a V-8 engine, arguably one of the first in-car phones, and parachutes, which were deployed to help Batman turn sharp corners.
George Barris told reporters at the auction: “The car had to be a star on its own. And it became one.”
Since the show was cancelled in 1968, he has toured the Batmobile and was eventually housed in a private showroom in California.
Adam West, now 84, played the caped crusader in 120 episodes in four years of programming, with Burt Ward starring as the “boy wonder” Robin and comedian and actor Cesar Romero as Batman’s arch nemesis, The Joker.
The 60s show was camp in its portrayal of Batman. More recent incarnations of billionaire Bruce Wayne and his alter-ego – such as British director Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy – have had a much darker tone.
The newer Batmobiles have reflected the more brutal portrayal of Gotham City’s savior, such as the “Tumbler” of 2005’s Batman Begins, starring Christian Bale.
[youtube TNIpjHy7500]
Some 60% voted to keep the draft with 40% in favor of setting up a purely professional army, in early results.
The issue has divided politicians in the coalition government, and voters.
Supporters of change said a professional army would be more effective – critics said it would put Austria’s cherished neutrality at risk.
Austrian men must serve six months in the army or nine months in civilian service when they reach 18.
Increasingly few European countries demand compulsory military service. France abandoned conscription in 1996, and Germany in 2011.
Calls for an end to conscription are growing in Austria’s neighbor, Switzerland, which is also neutral.
Currently, some 22,000 men are drafted into military service each year.
Those who do not want to serve must spend nine months working in community jobs, such as ambulance drivers and in senior citizens’ homes.
The centre-left Social Democrats say the current make-up of the armed forces does not work for the 21st Century, arguing that a professional army is needed to work more effectively with other European armies.
Defence Minister Norbert Darabos called the current force outdated in an era of “counter-terrorism, cybercrime… [and] failed states”.
But the conservative People’s Party argued against change. Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said the current system “fits Austria like a glove and is the best guarantee for all future challenges”.
Opponents feared the move will not only prove more costly, at a time when Austria is trying to cut spending, but would also push the country towards membership of NATO and the abandonment of neutrality they have observed since 1955.
Army Chief of Staff Gen Edmund Entacher also warned that changes to the current set-up would lead “irreversibly to a drop in quality, numbers and ability”.
Mandatory conscription in Europe:
NATO members:
Non-NATO members:
Although the US Constitution requires the oath of office to be taken by noon on January 20, that falls on a Sunday so the public inauguration will take place on Monday.
Barack Obama took his official oath in the White House’s Blue Room.
The public ceremony with pomp and circumstance will follow on Monday.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office to Barack Obama, witnessed by First Lady Michelle Obama and their daughters Sasha and Malia as well as some family members and reporters.
Resting his hand on a bible used for many years by his wife’s family, Barack Obama vowed “to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States”.
He will repeat those words during Monday’s public inauguration, in which he will set out his plans for the next four years.
Vice-President Joe Biden was sworn in for a second term at a small ceremony at his official residence earlier on Sunday morning.
Joe Biden, 70, will also repeat his oath publicly on Monday.
Thousands of workers and volunteers have been working to finish construction for Monday’s celebrations, with white tents, trailers and generators being set up along the Washington Mall’s parade route as nearby buildings were adorned with red, white and blue bunting,
For his part, Barack Obama rolled up his sleeves and donned gloves to spend Saturday sprucing up a school with other volunteers, as part of a National Day of Service kicking off the inauguration ceremonies – similar to the way he spent the day before his first presidential inauguration in 2009.
He urged volunteers to honor the memory of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, whose birthday, a national holiday, falls on Monday. This year is the 50th anniversary of King’s march on Washington.
President Barack Obama’s second term work will be more of a challenge than Saturday’s school work, trying to change America’s gun laws, reforming immigration and dealing with the country’s debt.
In 2009, nearly two million people crammed into Washington to witness President Barack Obama’s first inauguration.
Four years on, the mood is unlikely to match that excitement.
But the second inauguration of America’s first black president is a moment many will not want to miss.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected in Washington for that event – a smaller number than the 1.8 million who flocked for the swearing-in in 2009.
They will crowd onto the Mall leading to Congress wrapped up against the cold, to see their president take the oath of office on the steps of the flag-draped Capitol and listen to his speech.
The day will include music from Beyonce and Fun, parades, black tie balls and very tight security.
[youtube _eCHE8Vswrk]
[youtube cXTK6JVeQ5Y]
The interview is the first time ever that Drew Barrymore has opened up her home she shares with husband Will Kopelman to cameras, and it’s only fitting she did it for her neighbor.
Oprah Winfrey and Drew Barrymore both own homes in the posh Santa Barbara, California enclave of Montecito.
“In Drew’s backyard swing,” Oprah Winfrey posted on her Twitter account last week.
“Just discovered we live less than 2 miles from each other.”
Drew Barrymore talked about how she plans to shape her new career as a mother as well as troubles with her own, whom she didn’t invite to her wedding in 2012.
“She was not there, which was very hard,” the actress said.
“We both discussed it and thought it would be best to keep her away from the ceremony.”
Drew Barrymore and her mother had a tumultuous past, anchored mostly in Drew’s rebellious childhood in which she started abusing drugs and alcohol from an early age.
She had her first drink at 9, began smoking marijuana at 10, and took cocaine at 12.
Drew Barrymore had multiple stints in rehab in her early teens and at 15, she moved into an LA apartment on her own after being granted an emancipation decree from her parents.
Oprah Winfrey asked Drew Barrymore specifically what she could learn from her childhood – a question that brought the star nearly to tears.
“As a kid what I craved the most was just believing that [my mom] was going to be there,” she said.
“I think the world offers so many wonderful varieties of obstacles, but that shouldn’t be one for kids – is the worry that <<my parents won’t be there>>.”
Oprah Winfrey also asked her about how she plans on telling her daughter about her own series of missteps – especially in the world of Google.
“I will absolutely instill in her that you cannot be ashamed of the journey that it took to get where you are if you are proud of yourself.
“But I will also try to instill on her that I did not have guidance and that is why I lived my life that way.”
Drew Barrymore continued, with the most telling bit of advice: “There is no option for her to take that path because she has guidance.”
The full hour long interview is set to air on OWN on Sunday.
The state is currently controlled by German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) in coalition with the pro-market Free Democrats.
But opposition parties are hoping to make gains ahead of national elections in September.
Opinion polls suggested the race would be close.
David McAllister, the current leader of Lower Saxony’s government and close ally of Chancellor Merkel, will be hoping for re-election.
He was born in Berlin to a German mother and a Scottish father, and is seen as a possible successor to Chancellor Merkel as CDU leader.
But polls now put his CDU-led coalition neck-and-neck with the opposition Social Democrats (SPD).
The SPD have seen a previously comfortable lead over the incumbents evaporate as polling day approached.
The SDP leader in Lower Saxony, Stephan Weil, said a victory in the state polls would ensure that his party was taken seriously in September’s national elections.
A CDU defeat in Lower Saxony would set alarm bells ringing for Angela Merkel, who is seeking a third term as chancellor in September.
Since Angela Merkel’s re-election as chancellor in 2009, the CDU has suffered set backs in recent state elections, and have lost power to the SDP and Greens in four other states.
There is also concern that the CDU’s coalition partners, the Free Democrats, will not win enough votes to maintain the coalition.
They require 5% of the vote to gain seats in the state legislature.
Angela Merkel has appeared several times on the campaign trail with David McAllister, who has played heavily on his Scottish roots.
Known as “Mac”, David McAllister has used bagpipes in his election broadcasts, and speaks English with a broad Scottish accent.
[youtube YrWy-IG2F1w]
Britney Spears, 31,was looking rosy – and braless – in a pink halter dress as she strolled through the entrance of a posh Los Angeles hotel.
The singer was accompanied by a burly bodyguard who kept onlookers at bay, but low and behold her top started to slide inwards and exposed a generous side view of her boob.
Carrying a grey wrap bundled in her arms, Britney Spears suddenly realized the wardrobe malfunction and quickly pulled the garment back into place before it caused her any more embarrassment.
Britney Spears continued on her way, stepping lightly in brown ankle platform boots.
She was wearing her blonde hair in a high ponytail and shielded her eyes in tinted sunglasses.
Britney Spears wore the slightest hint of make-up including neutral lip gloss.
In spite of the fact that she just broke up with her fiancé Jason Trawick, Britney Spears looked fresh-faced and healthy.
Khloe Kardashian, 28, spoke about her impressive weight loss of 30 pounds in 2009 thanks to taking Quick Trim pills, but she revealed that even though she triumphed in some sense, she still found herself being criticized by others.
The reality star told the February 2013 issue of Glamour magazine: “A few years ago I lost 30 pounds, and people still wanted to criticize. And honestly, I’m happy with myself if I’m a little heavier.”
Khloe Kardashian, who is married to basketball player Lamar Odom, admitted that she now feels comfortable no matter what the scales say.
She continued: “I realized: Why am I trying to conform to someone else’s idea of beauty? I think I’m beautiful either way.”
While her sisters’ new Keeping Up With The Kardashians spinoff show starts on E! this weekend, Khloe Kardashian has been balancing housewife duties with her recent hosting stint on The X Factor.
She said about splitting time in the kitchen making meals for husband Lamar Odom and being in the TV studio: “I’ll be so busy, but I’ll make his favorite meal. Those little things, he appreciates them so much.”
Khloe Kardashian, who denied feelings of “jealousy over my sisters’ lives” in her blog rant this week – has embraced the differences between her and her sisters.
Khloe Kardashian, who has previously spoken about being labeled “the ugly one”, told Glamour: “I’m a little more silly than they are. I like to do designs on the side of my face, or cut out foil stickers from the crafts store and put them on my forehead.”
The documents suggested Fed Governor Ben Bernanke wanted to hold off from addressing rising panic in the markets.
Ben Bernanke said in December 2007 that he did not “expect insolvency or near insolvency among major financial institutions”.
Yet many US banks and other financial firms had to be rescued in 2008.
With most of the country’s major lenders discovering billion-dollar losses linked to bad mortgage debt as the US housing market collapsed, investment banks such as Bear Stearns needed government funds ahead of being sold off cheaply, while another, Lehman Brothers, was ultimately closed down.
In 2008, the US government also had to bailout the federal mortgage agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Although the financial crisis started as a result of the sharp downturn in the country’s housing market, it quickly spread around the world as US mortgage debt had been repackaged and sold to banks and other financial institutions around the globe.
The released Fed documents from 2007 also suggest current US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner underestimated the crisis.
Timothy Geithner, who at the time was president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, said in August 2007: “We have no indication that the major, more diversified institutions are facing any funding pressure.”
Meanwhile in October 2007 Janet Yellen, another member of the Fed’s most senior committee, the Federal Open Market Committee, said: “I think the most likely outcome is that the economy will move forward toward a soft landing.”
The Fed did, however, take some action in 2007 to try to resolve the growing problems in the financial sector, cutting US interest rates three times.
In September 2007 it reduced its core rate to 4.75% from 5.25%, where it had been for more than a year. Two other rate cuts followed by the end of the year, before numerous further reductions in 2008.
And Janet Yellen said in December that “the possibilities of a credit crunch developing and of the economy slipping into a recession seem all too real”.
US rates currently stand at between 0% and 0.25%, where they have been since December 2008.
The protest, which brought together Greeks and immigrants, was part of a day of anti-racism events.
Golden Dawn, exploiting public anger over the financial crisis, won 18 seats in parliament last June.
One of the most right-wing parties in Europe, it is accused of anti-immigrant attacks, but denies violent activity.
The coffin of a Pakistani immigrant murdered by suspected right-wing extremists was also put on display.
Shehzad Luqman, 27, was stabbed to death by two men who had been riding a motorcycle as he rode his bicycle to work in the Athens neighborhood of Petralona in the early hours of Wednesday.
More than 80% of immigrants to the European Union enter via Greece.
This was a day designed to show the other side of Greece, drowning out the racism of the minority.
Greek hospitality is well-known – but the financial crisis is changing the nation with elements lurching to the right and fearing both the future and the outsider.
Away from Athens, campaigners used a more artistic means of spreading the word: a children’s play with a social message was staged, telling the story of a Greek family that meets Iranians and a Pakistani on holiday, and of initial fears subsiding as the group learns to live together.
The play’s director, Vassilis Koukalani, said: “The play is about prejudice, about racism, about xenophobia and it shows how we can overcome these things with common sense, with a sense of humour, with a sense of justice above all.”
[youtube 6xalL26S244]
Some of Hollywood’s biggest recording artists, from Usher to Katy Perry, Alicia Keys and Fun., gathered at the Washington Convention Center in DC entertain hundreds of DC-area children and spouses of service members.
Dressed in a casual yet chic ensemble consisting of a while loose blouse cinched at the waist with a vibrant belt paired with ankle-length trousers, Michelle Obama appeared on stage accompanied by her daughters. President Barack Obama was not in attendance at the gala.
“Inauguration is a really big deal. There’s balls. Everybody dress up and dances,” Michelle Obama told the children.
“Let me tell you: I love every single minute of it. Every single minute. But I have to tell you that my very favorite part of this entire weekend is being right here with all of you.”
Usher performed his hit song OMG after Yeah and Without You, while Katy Perry put on a patriotic show with Firework set to a slideshow of President Obama shaking hands and talking on the phone.
Far East Movement and a gospel fusion group called Soul Children of Chicago performed as well, but neither Stevie Wonder nor Smokey Robinson, who were both originally reported to be in the lineup, made an appearance.
The night’s entertainment also included Mindless Behavior and members of the cast of the Fox series Glee.
The concert continues a tradition started at the 2009 inauguration by honoring the nation’s military families. It’s being hosted by Michelle Obama and the vice president’s wife, Jill Biden, and emceed by Nick Cannon.
But the Kids’ Inaugural Concert was not the only glamorous event in town Saturday night.
To continue the weekend’s festivities, the Texas State Society hosted the Black Tie & Boots Inaugural Ball at the Gaylord National Resort in DC.
The western-themed gala featured performances from several country acts, including legendary signer Charley Pride, Rodney Foster, Jack Ingram, with a special appearance by actor Jamie Foxx.
This year’s ball continues a tradition that has been in place for more than 30 years.
The glamorous variety show featuring musical performances, a presidential puppet show and speeches from dignitaries came just hours after the first family took part in the National Day of Service.
On the brink of a second term, the president invoked Martin Luther King Jr.’s commitment to service Saturday.
“I think we’re on the cusp of some really great things,” Vice President Joe Biden predicted for a country still recovering from a deep recession.
The president made only a glancing reference to race as he spoke at an elementary school not far from the White House after he and first lady Michelle Obama stained a bookcase as part of a national service event organized by the inaugural committee.
“We think about not so much the inauguration, but we think about this is Dr. King’s birthday we’re going to be celebrating this weekend,” the president said.
The National Day of Service and the night’s star-studded event set the stage for a weekend of festivities to mark the beginning of Barack Obama’s second term in office.
Freshly built inaugural stands at the Capitol gleamed white in the sun, and hundreds of chairs for special guests were set out on the lawn that spills down toward the National Mall as the president and vice president began their inauguration weekend.
Officials estimated that as many as 800,000 people will attend Monday’s public ceremonies. That’s more than live in the city, if far fewer than the 1.8 million who were at Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009.
Because the date for inauguration set in the Constitution, January 20, falls on a Sunday this year, Barack Obama and Joe Biden were to be sworn in for second terms in separate, private ceremonies on Sunday.
The public ceremonies are set for Monday, when Barack Obama will take the oath of office at noon, then deliver an inaugural address before a large crowd and a national television audience in the millions.
American Idol alum Kelly Clarkson will perform My Country Tis of Thee, James Taylor will sing America the Beautiful and long-time Barack Obama supporter Beyonce will entertain the crowd with her rendition of the national anthem.
The traditional lunch with lawmakers in the Capitol follows, and the inaugural parade down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the White House.
There, a reviewing stand was adorned with the presidential seal and equipped with seats enough for Barack Obama and other dignitaries to watch in relative comfort as military units, marching bands, floats and thousands of participants go past. A pair of inauguration balls will cap the day, including one with a guest list that runs to 40,000 names.
A select few – those who donated as much as $1 million to defray inauguration expenses – received special access to public as well as invitation-only receptions and parties.
Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton headlined a National Day of Service gathering under a tent on the National Mall, where she said she had been inspired by her grandmother, as well as her famous parents. She urged her audience to become part of a “chain of service” by helping the less fortunate.
Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, spent time at an armory pitching in as volunteers packed 100,000 care kits for deployed members of the military, wounded warriors, veterans and first responders.
Joe Biden credited former President George H. W. Bush, a Republican, for starting the “Points of Light” program, which was a sponsor of the event. He said service was an antidote to “the coarsening of our culture. We’ve got to get back to reaching out to people”.
[youtube yfdoMW5pOCs]
[youtube KM6l4IJyAAQ]
Although the US Constitution requires the oath of office to be taken by noon on January 20, as that falls on a Sunday the public inauguration will take place on Monday.
Barack Obama will take his official oath in the White House’s Blue Room.
The public ceremony with pomp and circumstance will follow a day later.
Thousands of workers and volunteers have been working to finish construction for Monday’s celebration, with white tents, trailers and generators being set up along the Washington Mall’s parade route as nearby buildings were adorned with red, white and blue bunting,
For his part, Barack Obama rolled up his sleeves and donned gloves to spend Saturday sprucing up a school with other volunteers, as part of a National Day of Service kicking off the inauguration ceremonies – similar to the way he spent the day before his first presidential inauguration in 2009.
Barack Obama urged volunteers to honor the memory of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, whose birthday, a national holiday, falls on Monday. This year is the 50th anniversary of Luther King’s march on Washington.
In 2009, nearly two million people crammed into Washington to witness President Barack Obama’s first inauguration.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected in Washington for that event – a smaller number than the 1.8m who flocked for the swearing-in of the nation’s first black president in 2009.
They will crowd onto the Mall leading to Congress wrapped up against the cold, to see their president take the oath of office on the steps of the flag-draped Capitol and listen to his speech.
The day will include music from Beyonce and Fun, parades, black tie balls and very tight security.
[youtube EgBbACG3wo]
[youtube yfdoMW5pOCs]
SCA Promotions insured bonuses paid to Lance Armstrong when he claimed his fourth, fifth and sixth Tour de France wins.
Lance Armstrong has admitted using performance-enhancing drugs for all seven of his Tour de France wins.
“We will likely file that lawsuit as soon as next week unless we get a satisfactory response from Armstrong’s camp,” SCA lawyer Jeff Tillotson said.
The insurance policy was taken out by Tailwind Sports, owner of the US Postal team, to cover performance bonuses payable to Lance Armstrong if he claimed his fourth, fifth and sixth Tour victories.
SCA initially refused to pay out money covering the bonus for Lance Armstrong’s sixth Tour win in 2004, totalling $5 million, because it argued Armstrong was not a clean rider.
Lance Armstrong took the company to an arbitration hearing in Dallas in 2005 and won, because the contract between the parties stipulated the insurance money would be payable if Armstrong was the “official winner” of the Tour.
But, after Lance Armstrong’s confession of doping to Oprah Winfrey this week, Jeff Tillotson said his client would be looking to recover the money, now assessed at $12 million because of legal costs and interest.
The Dallas attorney gave his reaction to the Armstrong interview with Winfrey, saying he found it “jaw-dropping” that Lance Armstrong had admitted all the things he denied in the arbitration hearing in 2005.
“Every question in his testimony that he answered no to when I asked him, he answered yes to Oprah Winfrey,” he said.
“So it was pretty clear from the first few minutes of the interview he was admitting that he had committed perjury in our legal proceedings in the US.
“From our perspective we were somewhat floored by how quickly he admitted that.”
Jeff Tillotson said Lance Armstrong was yet to get in touch with him personally, or SCA Promotions.
There have been suggestions that Lance Armstrong could also be charged with perjury for lying under oath in 2005 but Jeff Tillotson admits this is unlikely to happen.
Mega, a web-based service that lets people upload and store files of any kind, is a sequel to the Megaupload system that was shut down last January.
Police raids on the offices and home of Kim Dotcom led to the closure of Megaupload.
The Mega site went online at dawn on Sunday, with Kim Dotcom due to hold a gala at his New Zealand mansion later.
Kim Dotcom has said the new site complies with the law and warned that attempts to take it down would be futile.
“This is not some kind of finger to the US government or to Hollywood,” Kim Dotcom told Reuters on Saturday.
“Legally, there’s just nothing there that could be used to shut us down. This site is just as legitimate and has the right to exist as Dropbox, Boxnet and other competitors.”
Hours after the site was launched, Kim Dotcom tweeted that it had received 250,000 user registrations, although limited server capacity meant Mega was unreachable to many.
In a series of earlier tweets Kim Dotcom said every customer would have 50 gigabytes of free storage – far more than is offered by rival services such as Dropbox or Microsoft’s SkyDrive.
Mega will be encrypted so only those who upload data have access to it.
Data is also being held in the cloud to make it easy for users to get and share files.
The 2012 raids on Megaupload were carried out because, said US law enforcement, many users of Megaupload were engaged in pirating content and illegally sharing it.
They accused Kim Dotcom and other managers at Megaupload of profiting from piracy.
KIm Dotcom has rebuffed the accusations and is fighting a legal battle to stay in New Zealand from where he ran Megaupload.
A hearing on whether he is can be extradited to the US is due to be held in March.
The case has generated controversy in New Zealand over the way the police and intelligence services gathered evidence before the raid and won an apology to Kim Dotcom from the country’s prime minister.
KIm Dotcom has also won support from prominent computer pioneers such as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
The raid on Megaupload put 25 petabytes of data uploaded to it by its 50 million members into a legal limbo.
In one message, Kim Dotcom said he was working with lawyers and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which campaigns on digital rights issues, to get access to that seized data and return it to users.