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Gbagbo forces descend on Ivory Coast neighborhood.

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Security forces loyal
to incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo opened
fire Tuesday as they drove through a
neighborhood where supporters of the election's
internationally recognized winner said they had
killed two police officers.
The U.N. peacekeeping force sent nine vehicles to
the scene, where dozens of young men
screaming and shouting had erected a roadblock
out of a table and sticks. The peacekeepers turned
around and started leaving the area.
The military trucks arrived in the neighborhood
hours after residents described attacking two
officers who had been conducting raids in the
area known as PK 18. The district
overwhelmingly voted for Alassane Ouattara,
who the U.N. said won the Nov. 28 election.
Gbagbo, who refuses to cede power despite
mounting international pressure and a possible
regional military ouster, maintains control of the
country's military. Human rights groups accuse
his security forces of abducting and killing
hundreds of political opponents since the vote.
Marco Boubacar, head of the New Forces rebels
who are allied to Ouattara, said people attacked
the police officers with their bare hands.
"We were able to take down two men in
uniform," he said.
The two deaths could not be independently
confirmed, but other witnesses said they also had
seen the police officers' bodies.
The area is not far from the site where Charles
Ble Goude, the leader of a pro-Gbagbo youth
group, is expected to hold a rally Tuesday
afternoon. Some describe the hardline Young
Patriots as an armed militia.
Goude, who was placed on a United Nations
sanctions list in 2006 for his role in inciting
violence, has been leading daily rallies, gathering
thousands of pro-Gbagbo youth to warn that
there will be no peace if Gbagbo is forced out.
"They shouldn't kid themselves and imagine that
they can come and remove (Gbagbo) like some
sort of orphan ... Because in every Ivorian there
is a Gbagbo," Goude told The Associated Press in
a sit-down interview Monday. "Do they want to
govern an Ivory Coast cemetery?"
Meanwhile Tuesday, the U.N. refugee agency said
25,000 Ivorian civilians have now fled to
neighboring Liberia since the disputed election. A
spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner
for Refugees said 600 more refugees are
arriving in Liberia daily.
Adrian Edwards told reporters in Geneva on
Tuesday that the United Nations is setting up a
refugee camp for 18,000 people in the eastern
Liberian town of Bahn.

Source: Http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/7375773.html

Assange due in UK court over Swedish extradition.

LONDON (Reuters) - WikiLeaks' founder Julian
Assange is due to appear in a London court
Tuesday as lawyers draw the battle lines in his
fight to avoid extradition to Sweden for
questioning about alleged sex crimes.
The mainly procedural hearing at the top
security Belmarsh Magistrates' Court, due to start
at 1000 GMT, is likely to confirm the date for a
full extradition hearing which is expected in early
February.
The 39-year-old Australian computer expert,
who has infuriated Washington by releasing
details of secret U.S. diplomatic cables on his
website, has protested his innocence over claims
of sexual misconduct against two women.
"The hearing Tuesday is to ensure that the real
issues in the case are identified and that
preparation of the case is progressing in a timely
fashion," said a spokesman for Britain's courts
service.
It will also decide elements of the legal process,
such as which documents the prosecutors and
defense lawyers should provide and whether
any witnesses should be called up.
British police arrested Assange last month on a
European warrant issued by Sweden following
allegations made by two WikiLeaks' volunteers.
After spending nine days in jail, he was released
on bail on December 16 after his supporters
raised a surety of 200,000 pounds ($312,000).
As part of his bail conditions, Assange must stay
at a mansion in eastern England, abide by a
curfew, report to police daily and wear an
electronic tag. Assange has described the curbs
on him as "hi-tech house arrest."

Source: Http://us.mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7096RQ20110111?ca=rdt

Nine die as 'instant tsunami' hits Australia town.

BRISBANE, Australia - Rescuers raced Tuesday to reach people
trapped on roofs after a flash flood hurled a tsunami-like wall of
water through Australia's waterlogged east, tossing cars like toys,
killing at least eight people and leaving 72 missing.
The violent surge near the town of Toowoomba after a fresh
storm Monday escalated Australia's 2-week-old flood crisis in
Queensland state and brought the overall death toll to 18. Until
then, the flooding had unfolded slowly as swollen rivers burst
their banks and inundated towns while moving downstream
toward the ocean.
Emergency services officers plucked more than 40 people from
houses isolated overnight by the torrent that hit the Lockyer Valley
on Monday. But thunderstorms and more driving rain hampered
efforts to send helicopters to help an unknown number of other
people still in danger Tuesday.
Thousands were being evacuated from flood-prone areas, and
residents in some sections of Brisbane — Australia's third-largest
city — were being urged to move to higher ground as water from
Toowoomba's flash flooding worked its way toward the coast.
Images, real-time updates on the flooding from
breakingnews.com
Queensland state Premier Anna Bligh said four children were killed
and there were "grave concerns" for at least 11 of the 72 missing.
Many of those still stranded or unaccounted for are families and
young children, she said.
"This has been a night of extraordinary events," Bligh told
reporters. "We've seen acts of extreme bravery and courage from
our emergency workers. We know they're out on the front line
desperately trying to begin their search and rescue efforts, and we
know we have people stranded and people lost."
She said the death toll stood at eight, but that "we expect that
figure to rise and potentially quite dramatically."
Queensland has been in the grip of its worst flooding for more
than two weeks, after tropical downpours across a vast area of
the state covered an area the size of France and Germany
combined. Entire towns have been swamped, more than 200,000
people affected, and coal and farming industries virtually shut
down.
"The power of nature can still be a truly frightening power and
we've seen that on display in this country," Prime Minister Julia
Gillard said.
Monday's flash flooding struck without warning in Toowoomba, a
city of some 90,000 people nestled in mountains 2,300 feet (700
meters) above sea level. Bligh said an intense deluge fell over a
concentrated area, sending a 26-foot (eight-meter), fast-moving
torrent crashing through Toowoomba and smaller towns further
down the valley.
Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson described the events Monday
as "an inland instant tsunami, with a massive wall of water that's
gone down through the Lockyer Valley."
On Tuesday, the water was still pushing its way downstream,
flooding river systems as it moved toward the coast. Thousands
were being evacuated from communities in the water's predicted
path, and officials closed roads and highways to some areas at
high risk of being inundated. Residents in low-lying regions of the
state capital of Brisbane were urged to sandbag their homes and
later told to move to higher ground.
"We have a grim and desperate situation," Bligh said. "This took
everybody so unawares that there was no opportunity in most
cases for people to get to safety."
Rescue workers were battling more bad weather Tuesday. Heavy
rain and thunderstorms were forecast for the region for most of
the day, which could lead to more flash flooding, the Bureau of
Meteorology warned.
Deputy Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said rescue efforts were
concentrated on towns downstream of Toowoomba, including
hardest-hit Murphy's Creek and Grantham, where about 30 people
sought shelter in a school isolated by the floodwaters.
News video from late Monday showed houses submerged to the
roof line in raging muddy waters, with people clambering on top.
A man, woman and child sat on the roof of their car as waters
churned around them with just inches (centimeters) to spare.
Among the dead were a mother and her two children whose car
was swept away in the floodwaters, Bligh said. Two other
children also were killed, she said.
In Toowoomba, the waters disappeared almost as fast as they
arrived, leaving debris strewn throughout downtown and cars
piled atop one another.
The flooding in recent weeks has cut roads and rail lines across
Queensland, the state's coal industry has been virtually shut
down, and cattle ranching and farming across a large part of the
state are at a standstill.
Queensland officials have said the price of rebuilding homes,
businesses and infrastructure, coupled with economic losses,
could be as high as $5 billion.
On the other side of Australia, hot, dry conditions have sparked a
wildfire that has destroyed at least four homes. Around 150
firefighters were battling a blaze about 70 miles (110 kilometers)
south of the Western Australia state capital of Perth on Tuesday.
There have been no reported injuries.

Source: Http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40996681/ns/world_news-asiapacific/

NKorea accuses SKoreans of hacking into website.

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea is accusing
South Korean Internet users of hacking into one
of its websites, calling the behavior a provocation
aimed at undermining its national dignity.
The North's government-run Uriminzokkiri
website said Tuesday that South Korean Internet
users recently deleted articles on the site and
posted messages slandering the North's dignity.
It accuses the South Korean government of being
behind the cyber attacks and urges it to
apologize.
Anti-North Korea articles and pictures were
reportedly posted on the site over the weekend,
with one image showing leader Kim Jong Il and
his son and heir-apparent Kim Jong Un kneeling
down before what appears to be a Chinese
emperor.
Saturday was believed to be Kim Jong Un's 28th
birthday.
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Source: Http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/11/2010242/nkorea-accuses-skoreans-of-hacking.html

Simon Withdraws $4.5 Billion Offer for CSC.

Simon Property said Tuesday that it was
dropping its offer to acquire Capital Shopping
Centres after CSC, a British mall owner, refused to
allow it to conduct due diligence, and persisted in
a side deal that Simon deems harmful to
shareholders.
The collapse of the offer marks the second time in
a year that Simon, the largest operator of malls in
America, has seen its deal hopes crushed. Its
takeover bid for General Growth, a smaller
American rival, was rejected last year when the
latter chose to remain independent.
“The CSC board has refused to share any due
diligence information with Simon,” the company
said, without which a firmer bid could not be
made. In addition, Simon “continues to oppose
the value-destructive Trafford Centre transaction
and urges its fellow CSC shareholders to vote
against it. ”
Simon was offering 425 pence per CSC share,
valuing the company at £2.9 billion, well below
what the British company ’s board demanded.
“The CSC’s board’s belief in ‘potential net asset
value of up to 625p [per CSC share]’ represents,
in Simon’s view, wishful thinking and was
designed to frustrate Simon’s offer,” the
American company said.
CSC shares fell 14.4 pence, or 3.67 percent, to
378.1 pence in London on Simon ’s
announcement.
CSC has forged ahead with a £1.6 billion bid for
the Trafford Centre, a mall in Manchester, even
after Simon asked it to discard the transaction and
consider its own offer. The acquisition of Trafford
appears to have priced CSC out of the range
Simon is willing to pay.
Dropping the bid means that Simon will be
prohibited, under British law, from making
another bid for six months — and the likelihood
of a second bid will largely depend on whether or
not shareholders approve the Trafford
transaction.
The CSC board has approved the £747.6 million
($1.16 billion) deal for Trafford already, and it will
be put to a shareholder vote on January 26.
Simon, which owns 5.11 percent of CSC, has
urged its fellow shareholders to vote it down.
If shareholders approve the all-stock deal, Peel
Group, which owns Trafford, could end up with
24.9 percent of CSC. That, alongside the holdings
of the Gordon family of South Africa, would
effectively give opponents to the Simon offer a
blocking share.

Source: Http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/01/11/simon-withdraws-4-5-billion-offer-for-csc/

Ivory Coast crisis needs a new approach.

The response of Laurent Gbagbo to electoral
defeat was predictable. Indeed, the only
surprising aspect of the elections in Ivory Coast
was that he failed to manipulate the polls
sufficiently to ensure victory.
Ivory Coast was the case study I used to illustrate
the problems of political violence and electoral
manipulation in my recent book Wars, Guns and
Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places. As I
pointed out there, despite his decade of power,
Gbagbo has never been in a position to win an
election conducted freely and fairly. Presumably,
he lost sight of this obvious point, succumbing to
the over-confidence which is the achilles heel of
long-tenured autocrats surrounded by
sycophants.
After the supine response of southern Africa's
governments to Mugabe, Gbagbo must be
astonished by what has hit him: West African
governments have been united, clear and tough.
Following their lead, the international community
has also behaved creditably. Nevertheless,
Gbagbo is still in power, albeit circumscribed. The
question now is how to oust him.
As President Outtara said recently, Gbagbo will
only step down in the face of force, or the
credible threat of force. Where is such force to be
found? The governments of West Africa are
discussing the mustering of a regional military
force to mass on the border of Ivory Coast, and
this could prove effective. The international
community should be ready to assist such a
military operation with finance and logistics.
But there is an alternative, much less demanding
approach along the lines I suggested in my book.
That is to generate a credible threat of force from
the government's own army. In much of Africa,
the national army is the force most feared by
presidents. Leaders go to considerable lengths to
keep the army happy, but coups are still
common. Because neither African governments
nor the international community want to
encourage coups, they have taken the line that
the military should simply stay out of politics at all
costs. This is understandable, but misguided: it's
better to set guidelines as to the very limited
circumstances under which the ousting of an
incumbent ruler would be legitimate.
Gbagbo's attempt to remain in power, recognised
as illegitimate by the regional authorities, is such
an instance. Of course, Gbagbo has taken care to
get the army onside: currently it is keeping him in
power. But his control of the army is inevitably
fragile. Were army officers requested by regional
authorities – supported by the international
community and Outtara – to remove Gbagbo in
an orderly fashion, his position might start to look
precarious. After all, a coup can come from
many different levels in the military hierarchy.
It is the senior officers who are closest to
Gbagbo, but they would know that a coup from
lower-ranking officers would spell their own
doom – and that lower-ranking officers would
find this an attractive strategy for accelerating
their careers. If junior officers ousted Gbagbo,
their reward would not be an unstable and high-
risk presidency, but secure senior military
positions.
Therefore, senior army officers might find it safer
to pre-empt such a risk, while quietly being
reassured by Outtara that they would keep their
positions. Gbagbo himself would be able to work
all this out. He would see that since the officer
core had an incentive to oust him that he could
not credibly counter, it would be safer to settle for
a lucrative exile.
As a result of international smart sanctions,
Gbagbo will realise there is an important
difference between exile after being ousted
through an internationally sanctioned coup, and a
voluntary exile as part of an agreed package. As
an affluent exile, he needs to be able to access his
foreign bank accounts: they are currently frozen
and will remain so unless he reaches a
settlement. Hence, I'd suggest supplementing
regional sabre-rattling with the encouragement of
action by the national army.
While getting Gbagbo out is now the key
objective, the ethnic divisions underlying the
Ivorian election, which are typical of Africa, raise
deeper issues. Rule by the majority breaks down
if it implies permanent exclusion of some groups
from power.
Nigeria has developed a reasonable de facto
constitutional solution: the alternation of power
between the major ethnic groups. The
democratic contest is then limited to a choice as
to whom, within the ethnic group whose turn it
is, should be president. Kenya may find a similar
approach helpful: the one decent Kenyan election
occurred when, by chance, both candidates were
Kikuyu.
Alternating power turns governance into a
"repeat play" game. One of the robust results of
game theory is that such games generally
produce satisfactory outcomes: conduct while in
power is disciplined by the strategy of tit-for-tat.
If one ethnic group abuses its turn in power, if
can anticipate that the other ethnic group will do
the same when it is next in power. Typically,
players quickly learn that they do best be using
their turn for the common good. This, rather
than the frustrating attempts at "power-sharing",
might be Africa's way to functioning
democracies.

Source: Http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/jan/11/ivory-coast-elections-laurent-gbagbo-ousting

Redevelopment plans threatened by CA budget cuts.

Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to eliminate
redevelopment agencies and enterprise zones
baffled city and county officials who have relied
on the two programs for decades to spur
economic growth and development in depressed
areas.
Critics said the move will exacerbate the state's
flailing economy, push jobs out of California and
take important tools away from local
governments looking to eliminate blight and
improve job prospects in underserved
communities. They also expressed confusion
about which projects will be impacted.
New projects impacted
Although Brown emphasized that his proposal
will only affect new redevelopment projects, not
"bonds or commitments that have been
contractually entered into," redevelopment
officials said Monday they are still sorting out
exactly which projects would be impacted.
In Oakland, for example, city officials planned to
use redevelopment funds for a new Athletics
ballpark and transit village at the MacArthur BART
Station. Their ability to do so is now in doubt.
And San Francisco redevelopment director Fred
Blackwell said a number of planned projects in
that city, including some phases of the Hunters
View revitalization, development of affordable
housing on former freeway parcels, and
redevelopment of the Hugo Hotel at Sixth and
Howard streets, are now in jeopardy. Blackwell
called the situation "dire."
"Right now we have more questions than we
have answers," said Oakland City Councilwoman
Jane Brunner. "We need to see how exactly this is
going to work."
$2.7 billion savings
Eliminating the two programs will save the state's
general fund nearly $2.7 billion over the next 18
months, money Brown plans to use to stave off
deeper cuts to health care, trial courts and local
services. In future years, the funding - which will
increase as redevelopment projects are
completed - will be given directly to schools,
cities and counties as part of the new governor's
plan to bring government services closer to the
people. To replace redevelopment funds, the new
governor also wants to allow cities and counties
to raise some taxes with the approval of 55
percent of voters.
Mark Hill, a program budget manager with the
state Department of Finance, said cities and
counties will be able to move forward with
projects in the future - they will just have to
decide whether they want to use the former
redevelopment funds for those purposes, or ask
voters to approve taxes.
Still, Bay Area development leaders warned of
dire consequences. They said eliminating
redevelopment as an option for counties and
cities will have a long-term impact on blight, jobs
and housing. According to the California
Redevelopment Association, redevelopment
activities support more than 304,000 jobs in the
state, contribute tens of billions of dollars to the
economy and generate $2 billion in taxes every
year.
"It's cannibalizing local government," said San
Pablo City Councilman Leonard McNeil. "This is a
weak-kneed response to the budget crisis -
absconding with the economic engine that fuels
hundreds of cities across the state."
There are dozens of redevelopment projects
under way or in the pipeline in the Bay Area. San
Pablo is relying on city and county
redevelopment funds to build a 19-acre site for
retail, housing and a Doctors Medical Center clinic.
In Richmond, the city is using redevelopment
funds for downtown revitalization, a new BART
parking garage and a slew of affordable housing
projects, parks, retail areas and community
centers.
Mid-Market on hold
Most of those projects are probably far enough
along to escape the ax. But Blackwell said future
projects - such as the possible redevelopment of
San Francisco's squalid Mid-Market area - will
now be impossible to move forward.
California's redevelopment program has, since
the 1950s, allowed local governments to develop
blighted areas by borrowing against future
property taxes in those zones. In San Francisco, it
has enabled the city to build more than 25,000
units of housing and transform areas such as
Yerba Buena Center in the South of Market
neighborhood from a series of rundown
buildings and vacant lots to a cultural center and
vibrant public park.
Enterprise zones
In his budget proposal, Brown argued that the
mechanism has taken billions in revenue away
from schools, public safety and other local
programs by earmarking property tax revenues
that otherwise would have flowed to state and
local coffers. He also contended that the private
development that has occurred in redevelopment
areas would often have taken place even without
the program.
Enterprise zones, created in 1984, allow local
governments to offer tax credits to businesses
that invest in underserved and low-income areas
that meet certain requirements. There are
currently 42 of these zones in California, including
a number in the Bay Area. In San Francisco, for
example, an "enterprise zone" covering a huge
swath of the city gives businesses $36,000 in tax
breaks for every hard-to-hire worker employed.

Source: Http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2011%2F01%2F11%2FMN2P1H6U2L.DTL

High-powered Ducks run out of gas.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- LaMichael James enjoyed a
rare moment of unimpeded progress as he
walked through the tunnels of University of
Phoenix Stadium toward the Oregon team bus
late Monday night.
"It's so quiet," he said with a wistful smile.
Like a funeral.
The lasting image from Auburn's 22-19 victory
over Oregon in the BCS Championship Game
was freshman running back Michael Dyer's 37-
yard run after everyone in the building thought
he had been tackled, setting up Auburn's winning
field goal.
But the lasting image for James, coach Chip Kelly
and Ducks quarterback Darron Thomas was of
an offense that never materialized.
Oregon led the nation in points per game (49.1)
and plays per minute this season.
But a combination of Auburn's defensive front
and Oregon's critical mistakes produced the
second-lowest scoring game of Kelly's Oregon
tenure and the lowest rushing total of James'
season (49 yards).
"The matchup with our offensive line against their
defensive line was really the changing point in
that football game," Kelly said. "I will give Auburn
credit. They've got a great front four. Nick Fairley
proved he was the best defensive lineman in the
country. It was a tough matchup for us."
It was also a familiar feeling.
With extra time to prepare for the Ducks' high-
flying offense, Ohio State shut Oregon down in a
26-17 Rose Bowl victory last season.
The Tigers did the same, holding Oregon to a
field goal on one red-zone trip, stuffing them on
fourth-and-goal on another, burying James in the
end zone for a safety and turning a presumed
offensive battle into a showcase for their defense.
There were times when Auburn's defense
appeared gassed by Oregon's pace of play, so
Tigers coach Gene Chizik used his timeouts as
breathers.
After scoring their first touchdown at the 10:58
mark of the second quarter, the Ducks went the
better part of three quarters without another
before breaking through with a touchdown drive
and 2-point conversion to tie the score 19-19 with
2:33 left, threatening to erase a game's worth of
trends and render Heisman Trophy winner Cam
Newton a goat after his costly fumble.
The comeback was short-lived, as the Tigers
quickly responded with the help of Dyer's bizarre
big gain to drive down for Wes Byrum's game-
winning 19-yard field goal. But the outcome was
determined just as much by Auburn's ability to
manhandle the Ducks up front, leaving the
nation's No. 4 rusher with no clear lanes to create
the big plays he had all season.
"It is really tough to get around those guys,"
James said. "They just have great defenders."
Thomas tried to pick up the slack by throwing for
career highs in yards (363), completions (27) and
attempts (40). But he also equaled his season
high with two interceptions.
"They didn't stop us, we stopped ourselves,"
Thomas insisted. "Those two plays (the
interceptions) stick in my head. We still could
have won the game."
But the Ducks did not.
There was much discussion of Oregon's speed
advantage in the weeks leading up to the game. It
was never in evidence Monday.
There was much attention paid to Kelly's
offensive creativity – the razzle-dazzle plays, the
gambles and the pace. It didn't produce results.
When it really mattered, Oregon couldn't do the
good, old-fashioned things it needed to do to
crown this season with a most meaningful win.
It couldn't match Auburn's physical, fundamental
brand of football.
As a result, Kelly is 0-2 in BCS bowl games and
the Ducks are still a program hovering outside
college football's upper echelon.
"I said in my first game when I was the head
coach, one game doesn't define you as a person
or as a football player," Kelly said. "The same
thing still holds true."

Source: Http://www.foxsportsarizona.com/01/10/11/High-powered-Ducks-run-out-of-gas-/landing.html?blockID=388799&feedID=3698

People Who Recovered From H1N1 Offer Clues to Better Vaccine.

They appeared to develop
antibodies against many
strains, study finds
MONDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDay News) -- The H1N1
swine flu pandemic last winter offers clues about
how to create a vaccine that can protect people
against multiple strains of influenza, U.S.
researchers say.
They found that people who were infected with
the H1N1 virus and recovered had a special
immune response, producing antibodies that
protect against a wide variety of flu strains.
The virus matched typical influenza strains only in
components that are vital for the virus to
function, and the immune response to those
components overlapped prior influenza
exposures, explained the research team, from the
University of Chicago and Emory University in
Atlanta.
Creating a vaccine that triggers an immune
response against these critical flu virus
components, they said, could eliminate the need
to predict seasonal flu strains and quickly mass-
produce a vaccine every year.
The finding is "something like the Holy Grail for flu
vaccine research," according to Patrick Wilson, an
assistant professor of medicine at the University
of Chicago.
"It demonstrates how to make a single vaccine
that could potentially provide immunity to all
influenza," Wilson said in a University of Chicago
Medical Center news release. "The surprise was
that such a very difficult influenza strain, as
opposed to the most common strains, could lead
us to something so widely applicable."
The study was published in the Jan. 10 issue of
the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
The H1N1 flu pandemic during the winter of
2009-2010 infected about 60 million people and
led to the hospitalization of more than 250,000
people in the United States.
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases has more about influenza.

Source: Http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/648675.html

Disaster declared as Australia flood death toll rises to 9.

Brisbane, Australia (CNN) -- Rescuers
searching for dozens of people missing in
floodwater west of Brisbane, Australia, have
found another body, taking the death toll from
recent torrential rain to nine.
Fifty-nine people remain missing after a wall of
water swept through the town of Toowoomba,
about 125 kilometers (80 miles) west of Brisbane,
on Monday afternoon, overturning cars and
swamping homes with little warning
By late Tuesday, three quarters of Queensland
had been declared a disaster zone as the rain
continued to fall and overwhelm creeks and
rivers in the state's south-east.
iReport: Are you there? Share your photos, video
The Brisbane River, which runs through the
capital, broke its banks as residents were warned
to brace themselves for the worst flooding since
1974.
More than 6,500 homes were at
risk of flooding in the next two
days, according to forecasts issued
by Brisbane City Council.
People in low-lying areas of the city
were being urged to move to
higher ground Tuesday, and
residents were being offered
sandbags to protect their property
against potential damage.
An evacuation center has been set
up in the city center to house
people forced to abandon their
homes.
In January 1974, 14 people died
after the Brisbane River burst its
banks after three weeks of heavy
rain, flooding more than 6,000
homes.
"This flood event continues to
develop and change at a frightening
pace," Queensland Premier Anna
Bligh told reporters Tuesday.
"As more rain continues to fall,
local and state-level disaster management
personnel are working to ensure the
preparedness and safety of the community," she
said.
Monday's disaster in Toowoomba was being
described as an unprecedented event, where
residents received little or no warning of the wall
of water racing towards them.
Amateur video showed a fast-flowing brown
river of water tossing cars down the main street.
Four of the nine victims were children who were
trapped inside cars with their mothers.
"It was almost like a movie scene - I went to a car
park, it's a council car park - and we had cars
stacked on top of each other," Toowoomba
regional councillor Joe Ramia told national
broadcaster, ABC.

Source: Http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/01/11/australia.floods/

Iran Nuclear Delays Defer Military Action, Gates Says.

Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Technical glitches and
sanctions that have delayed Iran ’s nuclear
program give the U.S. and its partners more time
to exert pressure without resorting to military
action, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.
“As we say, all options are on the table and we
prepare for all options,” Gates said today in an
interview with Bloomberg Television during a
visit to China. “But I think that if we have bought
some additional time, that it does give greater
opportunity to the political-economic strategy.”
The defense chief also praised the Chinese
government for its “constructive” role in trying to
restrain North Korean belligerence. The Obama
administration has been pushing China to rein in
its communist ally after two attacks on South
Korea last year killed 50 people.
China and the U.S. “have a common interest,
going forward, in trying to get ahead of these
provocations, prevent them from happening
again in the future and put the relationship
between the North and the South on a more
positive track, ” Gates said.
The U.S. has aimed for years to persuade leaders
in Tehran to give up development of technology
that could produce a nuclear weapon. The
Obama administration last year won support
from China, Russia and the European Union to
intensify financial and economic sanctions.
Possible Sabotage
Reports indicate that possible sabotage has
hindered Iran ’s efforts to enrich uranium, a
process necessary to produce an atomic bomb.
Iran last month began reducing three-decade-old
energy subsidies worth as much as $50 billion as
restrictions from the United Nations, the U.S. and
Europe took their toll.
The possible delays won’t hurt U.S. efforts to
keep up the pressure on Iran, Gates said.
Sanctions are “evidence of the international
community’s belief that these kinds of pressures
are the best way to deal with this problem,” he
said.
Israel’s outgoing head of intelligence, Meir Dagan,
said last week Iran wouldn’t be able to produce a
nuclear weapon before 2015, three or four years
later than earlier Israeli estimates. U.S. Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton yesterday cited the effect of
sanctions and technical problems.
“Their program from our best estimate has been
slowed down, so we have time, but not a lot of
time, ” Clinton said at a town hall meeting at Abu
Dhabi’s Zayed University.
Suspected Sabotage
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said
Nov. 29 that several centrifuges used to enrich
uranium were affected by malicious computer
software. Symantec Corp., the world ’s largest
maker of computer security software, said in a
Nov. 12 study that the Stuxnet virus may have
been created to sabotage Iran.
Iran’s leaders say their program is meant for
peaceful means, including power generation and
medical research.
Gates is in the midst of a three-day stop in
Beijing, where he is seeking to improve military
ties with China and support for U.S. efforts to
curb Iran and North Korea ’s nuclear programs.
China’s top foreign policy official, Councilor Dai
Bingguo, last month met with North Korea leader
Kim Jong Il, whose regime on Jan. 8 called for
unconditional talks with South Korea to ease
tensions. South Korean President Lee Myung
Bak ’s government has yet to agree and in
December threatened a more immediate and
severe response to attacks, including air raids.
‘A Sea Change’
“There’s been a sea change in attitude on the part
of the South Koreans in terms of their willingness
to tolerate these kinds of provocations, ” Gates
said.
He is due to meet President Hu Jintao later today
after holding talks with Defense Minister Liang
Guanglie and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.
Liang yesterday agreed to consider a proposal to
begin regular strategic security talks, a year after
China cut military relations to protest U.S. arms
sales to Taiwan. Liang didn ’t commit to a
timeframe for starting such talks nor for reaching
agreement on a structure for more regular
contacts.
Hu will visit the U.S. next week, where his
schedule will include a Jan. 19 state dinner at the
White House. Hu and U.S. President Barack
Obama have tasked their militaries with
establishing more regular dialogue to reduce the
risk of miscalculation that could escalate into a
crisis.

Source: Http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-01-11/iran-nuclear-delays-defer-military-action-gates-says.html

Sideshow: Douglas exults: Tumor gone.

In his first TV chat since being treated for throat
cancer, Michael Douglas says he's "relieved"
that the tumor that plagued him for months has
disappeared.
"I feel good, relieved. The tumor is gone,"
Douglas tells Matt Lauer in a chat set to air
Tuesday on Today.
"But, you know, I have to check out on a
monthly basis now to maintain. I guess there's
not a total euphoria." Catherine Zeta-Jones'
hub adds, "It's been a wild six-month ride."
Douglas' treatment hasn't all been fun and games:
There are side effects. "Salivary ducts have been
closed down as a result of the radiation, probably
for at least a year or two," says the thesp. But his
appetite is back.
"I'm eating like a pig," he says. "I'm still - I lost
about 32 pounds. And I've put about 12 back. But,
I mean, I got another 20, 25 to go."
Douglas says he's ready to go back to work. "I
think the odds are . . . that I've got [the cancer]
beat," he says.
Fresh Prince to spice up 'X Factor'?
Yes. No. Maybe. Prob'ly not.
Rumors piled on contradictory rumors Monday
about an earlier rumor that Overbrook High alum
Will Smith had signed to be a judge on Simon
Cowell's latest dastardly plot to bleed America's
talent pool, The X Factor.
"Simon is desperate to make the U.S. X Factor the
biggest show in the world and trounce American
Idol," an Anonymous Source tells London's
Daily Mirror.
Frankly, we can't imagine Mr. Smith, whose next
big project is the 3-D sequel Men in Black III, ever
being a party to desperation.
So, apparently, does gossip fact-checker
GossipCop.com, which cites a Smith rep saying
there is "no truth" to the story.
First Posh, now Marion
What a week! On Sunday, Victoria and David
Beckham announced they are expecting a wee
bairn. Now comes news that French muse
Marion Cotillard, 35, who won an Oscar for the
Edith Piaf biopic La Vie en Rose, is carrying
actor-director beau Guillaume Canet's child.
The couple have been dating for three years. It's
their first child.
Even Owen Wilson, 42, is getting in on the
action: UsMagazine.com says Wilson's baby with
his belle, Jade Buell, is "due any day."
Speaking of creating life, Britney Spears' new
child, the single "Hold It Against Me," debuted
Monday morning on Ryan Seacrest's website.
But, alas, by 5 p.m., the link was down. Was it
the high demand? Or because the song so
offended fans' intelligence, as in this lyric: "If I said
I wanted your body now, would you hold it
against me?"
Meanwhile, the New York Post reports that there
are rumors that Khloe Kardashian and
husband, Los Angeles Lakers star Lamar Odom,
are expecting a baby. Her rep has declined to
comment.
Wanton BlackBerry-ing?
An Anon Tipster tells Gawker.com that political
journalism sex symbol Arianna Huffington on
Saturday was "escorted off a plane by Port
Authority police - for wanton, unsafe BlackBerry-
ing." The flight was from Washington to New
York's LaGuardia. Huffington's rep has yet to
comment.
Katie seething over Anne's mimesis?
London's reliable news source, the tabloid Daily
Mail, says lovebirds Tom Cruise and Katie
Holmes are sooo upset by the apparent
savagery of Anne Hathaway's Katie-
impersonation on Saturday Night Live in
November, they plan to boycott the Academy
Awards because Anne is one of the presenters. A
source tells the tab Kate and Anne "used to be
friends and [Kate] took Anne to a Tina Turner
concert in 2008."
Tidbits 'n' pieces
Gretsch Guitars is releasing a limited-run duplicate
model of the Gretsch Duo Jet that Beatles
guitarist George Harrison played early in his
career at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. . . . Off the
Map star Mamie Gummer says she doesn't get
acting tips from her mum, who happens to be a
relatively successful thesp. "We don't really talk
shop," Gummer says of her relationship with
Meryl Streep. "It's not like we own a chain of
pizza joints and there's a secret ingredient to the
sauce." . . . Former jailbird and rehab inmate
Lindsay Lohan is back to normal life: The actress
and pal Pascal Mouawad were spotted at
Sunday's New York Knicks-Los Angeles Lakers
game in Lalaland. . . . In other LiLo news, TMZ
says Inception's Tom Hardy is counseling the
recovering addict in her recovery.
Sending Hatch back to jail?
Survivor winner Richard Hatch, who in '06 was
sentenced to 51 months in jail for failing to pay
tax on his $1 mil winnings, may end up back in
jail. U.S. District Judge William Smith said
Monday in Providence, R.I., that Hatch has
violated terms of his supervised release because
he has failed to refile his 2000 and 2001 tax
returns. The IRS says Hatch owes $1.7 mil in
taxes, including interest and penalties. The judge
will pass sentence after reviewing arguments
from Hatch's lawyers.
Awards, awards, awards, awards . . .
The Directors Guild of America has announced
nominees for its top feature award, to be handed
out Jan. 29: Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan,
David Fincher for The Social Network, Tom
Hooper for The King's Speech, Christopher
Nolan for Inception, and David O. Russell for
The Fighter.
MTV Networks and Comedy Central have decided
that there just aren't enough awards shows. The
cablers have created the Comedy Awards, to
honor top writers, directors, actors, and stand-up
performers, ostensibly for being funny.
Nominees will be chosen by a board of directors
that includes Will Ferrell, Billy Crystal,
Whoopi Goldberg, and Seth MacFarlane. The
first awards will be televised March 26.
Salma Hayek to get 'Wicked'
Variety says demigod Salma Hayek and ABC are
partnering to adapt the Broadway show Wicked
as an eight-hour mini-series. The show is a
retelling of The Wizard of Oz from the Wicked
Witch's point of view.
Source: Http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20110111_Sideshow__Douglas_exults__Tumor_gone.html

Long queues in south on 3rd day of Sudan vote.

JUBA, Sudan — Southern Sudanese flocked to the
polls once again on Tuesday, the third day of
voting in the referendum on independence for the
south, bringing the region a step closer to
nationhood.
Long queues formed outside the main polling
stations in Juba, the southern capital, by the time
they opened at 8:00 am (0500 GMT).
The scale of the turnout on the first of the seven
days of voting has already put the south well on
the way to reaching the 60-percent threshold it
needs for the referendum to be valid, with large
numbers also queuing on Monday to cast their
ballot.
The South Sudan Referendum Commission said
on Monday that nearly 20 percent of the 3.93
million registered to vote in the landmark poll --
the vast majority of them in the south -- had
done so on Sunday, the first day of polling.
Southerners have until Saturday to vote on
whether to remain united with north Sudan or
secede, as agreed under a 2005 peace deal. The
south is widely expected to choose
independence, after decades of conflict with the
north that left some two million people dead.
The massive referendum turnout and scenes of
euphoria in the south have been overshadowed
by a flare-up of violence in the disputed Abyei
district on the north-south border.
Armed Misseriya Arab tribesmen killed 10 south
Sudanese civilians and wounded 18 near the
border as they were returning from the north,
southern internal affairs minister Gier Chuang said
Tuesday.
"A convoy of returnees coming from the north to
the south were ambushed yesterday (Monday) at
about 5:00 pm (1400 GMT) by armed Misseriya.
Ten were killed and 18 were wounded," Chuang
told a news conference.

Source: Http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hu4lZRonW8jNJbhedwtwtVPlOajQ?docId=CNG.9af8774bd6e7ae5cbb91bbee978a28b6.731

Identifying the violent mentally ill is a challen.

In the best of times and most favorable of
circumstances, it's tricky business to identify
whether a person who is mentally ill might
become violent, so that those in his path can be
protected from potential harm and he can get the
treatment he needs.
But with community mental health services
stretched taut by budget cuts and growing need,
these are not the best of times, say many experts
at the intersection of mental health and public
safety. Nor were circumstances ideal to single out
Jared Lee Loughner — the suspect in Saturday's
Tucson shooting rampage — as a clear-cut case
of someone about to become violent.
Loughner's increasingly bizarre and mistrustful
pronouncements, combined with his age — 22 —
suggest to many mental health professionals a
flowering of mental illness marked by delusional
thinking. People diagnosed with schizophrenia,
for instance, most often begin showing signs of
the illness in their late teens or early 20s, when
they suffer episodes of hallucinations and become
preoccupied with delusions — for instance, of
persecution or conspiracy.
Loughner's apparent embrace of notions such as
mind control, a new currency and "conscience
dreaming" — all mentioned in a YouTube posting
he reportedly made — speak to a troubled mind
but reveal little actual propensity for violence, said
Dr. Mark A. Kalish, a forensic psychiatrist who
teaches at UC San Diego.
The mentally ill, Kalish noted, are no more likely
to engage in violent behavior than members of
the general population.
Nonetheless, the shooting has already stirred
debate about how to protect the public from
violence perpetrated by some among the
mentally ill.
Some activists, citing Loughner's apparent early
signs of instability, suggest that state laws need to
be broadened to allow involuntary commitment
of the potentially violent mentally ill. Most states
require that a mental health professional find an
individual not only to be severely disabled by
mental illness but also to be an imminent danger
to himself or others before allowing involuntary
commitment to a psychiatric facility.
Others, including many mental health
professionals, just as forcefully note that no laws
will ensure safety from the violent mentally ill
unless state and community mental health
services are in place to find them and treat them.
"It isn't that we don't know how to get people to
help. We're just not doing it," said Robert
Bernstein, executive director of the Bazelon Center
for Mental Health Law in Washington.
"Community-based programs are so
underfunded they don't have the resources to
respond appropriately" to evidence that a person
may be teetering on the edge of violence, he
added. "Every day, people with mental illness are
failing to receive services, and every day, people
experience preventable crises — are taken to the
emergency room or arrested and jailed."
In many ways, Arizona provides the perfect
venue for a new round of debate on violence and
mental illness.
In recent years, the state has relaxed the
standards that must be satisfied for the
involuntary commitment and treatment of the
mentally ill. Its laws are now looser than
California's, for example.
Officials in Arizona would have had the latitude to
commit Loughner to involuntary psychiatric
treatment only by showing that he was
"persistently and acutely disabled" by mental
illness, said Brian Stettin of the Treatment
Advocacy Center in Arlington, Va. The center has
strongly lobbied for laws that would make it
easier to commit people to psychiatric care
against their wishes.
In California, by contrast, officials would have to
show "grave" disability and also make a
persuasive case that the person posed a danger
to himself or others.
In Loughner's case, the process could have been
set in motion if someone — perhaps
administrators from Pima Community College —
had called a county hotline and prompted the
dispatch of a mobile crisis outreach team. Such a
team could have urged Loughner to accept care,
or evaluated whether care needed to be imposed
upon him against his wishes, Stettin said.
But at the same time, Arizona's budget crisis —
among the worst in the nation — has prompted
deep cuts in community mental health services.
According to Tim Schmaltz, chief executive of
Protecting Arizona's Family Coalition, some
14,000 residents who earn too much to receive
Medicaid have lost access to all mental health
services, except medications, in the budget cuts.
"You don't want to be seriously mentally ill in
Arizona, unless you're very poor or very sick,"
Schmaltz said.
Money and law aside, gauging someone's
likelihood of acting aggressively requires skill,
patience and a bit of timing, experts said.
"When it comes to long-term predictions of risk
for violence, all bets are off," said Dr. Steven E.
Pitt, a forensic psychiatrist who consults with the
Phoenix Police Department and teaches
psychiatry at the University of Arizona School of
Medicine.
A skilled mental health professional may have
better luck at predicting a person's likelihood of
acting violently in the near term, Pitt said. But "the
assessment is only as good as the information
that is being shared with you and that is at your
disposal, coupled with your clinical judgment," he
added.
And for Jared Lee Loughner, who appeared to
have been growing increasingly mistrustful, that
information may have been both scant and
ambiguous.
Among the red flags a forensic psychiatrist might
look for to predict violence are extensive
substance abuse, gun ownership, whether a
person has a specific target in mind and whether
he or she has thought through details of an
attack, Kalish said.
But, said Pitt, although these are useful signposts
to psychiatrists who are trained in such
evaluations, a checklist of the risk factors for
violent behaviors will draw in too many people
unnecessarily.
"There are thousands who satisfy those
conditions, but the majority will never engage in
a violent act," he said.

Source: Http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-mental-health-20110111,0,2679941.story

Chinese Stealth Fighter Appears to Make First Test Flight.

BEIJING—Images and witness accounts posted
online Tuesday appeared to show that China's
stealth fighter prototype had made its first test
flight, even as Robert Gates, the U.S. Defense
Secretary who has downplayed China's stealth
aircraft capability, was meeting Chinese civilian
leaders in Beijing.
The J-20, which has been undergoing runway
tests for the last two weeks or so, took off from
an airstrip at the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute
just before 1 p.m. local time and flew for about 20
minutes, according to several witness accounts
posted by Chinese bloggers.
Photographs of the twin-engine plane in flight
appeared on several unofficial Chinese defense-
related websites, which have also posted dozens
of still and video images of the J-20 making the
runway tests over the last fortnight.
The accounts couldn't immediately be directly
confirmed. China's Defense Ministry, Air Force
and the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute have all
declined to comment on previous J-20 images,
and their representatives were not immediately
available for further comment Tuesday.
But Chinese authorities, who routinely delete
politically sensitive material and detain those who
produce it, have allowed the J-20 images to be
circulated in what military experts say is a clear
sign that the People's Liberation Army wanted
them made public.
The images suggest that China is making faster-
than-expected progress in developing a potential
rival to the U.S. F-22 —currently the world's only
fully operational stealth fighter.
The images and accounts of the apparent test
flight Tuesday were also re-produced by
xinhuanet.com, the more commercial arm of the
state-run Xinhua news agency, and by
huanqiu.com, the website of the state-run Global
Times newspaper.

Source: Http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704428004576075042571461586.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

No respite from Australia's deadly floods.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – Military helicopters
searched Tuesday for scores of people missing
after a tsunami-like wall of water ripped through
an Australian valley, tossing cars like toys in the
deadliest episode of a weekslong flood crisis.
At least nine people were killed and officials held
grave fears for 66 others still missing almost 24
hours after the flash flood hurled untold millions
of gallons of water down Queensland state's
Lockyer Valley on Monday, state Premier Anna
Bligh said.
The valley funneled rain from a freak storm —
forecasters estimated up to 6 inches (150
millimeters) fell in half an hour fell near
Toowoomba city — into a stream that formed a
path of destruction, lifting houses from
foundations.
The torrent slowed and spread out as it moved
downstream toward the state capital of Brisbane,
Australia's third-largest city with some 2 million
people.
The Brisbane River overflowed its banks Tuesday
and officials warned that dozens of low-lying
neighborhoods and parts of the downtown area
could be inundated by Thursday.
The violent surge near Toowoomba on Monday
escalated Australia's flood crisis in Queensland
state and brought the overall death toll to 19. Until
then, the flooding had unfolded slowly as swollen
rivers burst their banks and inundated towns
while moving downstream toward the ocean.
Emergency services officers plucked more than
40 people from houses isolated overnight by the
torrent that hit the Lockyer Valley, and thousands
were being evacuated. In one small community
in the path of the floodwaters, Forest Hill, the
entire population of about 300 was being airlifted
to safety in military helicopters, Bligh said.
The search and rescue effort was being
hampered by thunderstorms and more driving
rain.
Brisbane Mayor Campbell Newman said
authorities were preparing for about 6,500
properties to be flooded in the city in the next few
days, affecting about 15,000 people in 80
suburbs. The flood peak was expected on
Thursday, when parts of downtown were
expected to be awash.
The city is protected by a large dam built
upstream after floods devastated downtown in
1974. But the reservoir was full, and officials had
no choice but to release water that would cause
low-level flooding in the city, Newman said. The
alternative was a much worse torrent.
Bligh said four children were among those killed
and that many of those still stranded or
unaccounted for are families and young children.
On Tuesday morning, she said the death toll was
eight and the missing numbered 72. Later, she
confirmed another death and said five of the
missing had been accounted for.
Queensland has been in the grip of its worst
flooding for more than two weeks, after tropical
downpours across a vast area of the state
covered an area the size of France and Germany
combined. Entire towns have been swamped,
more than 200,000 people affected, and coal and
farming industries virtually shut down.
"The power of nature can still be a truly
frightening power and we've seen that on display
in this country," Prime Minister Julia Gillard said.
Monday's flash flooding struck without warning
in Toowoomba, a city of some 90,000 people
nestled in mountains 2,300 feet (700 meters)
above sea level. Bligh said an intense deluge fell
over a concentrated area, sending a 26-foot
(eight-meter), fast-moving torrent crashing
through Toowoomba and smaller towns further
down the valley.
Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson described the
events Monday as "an inland instant tsunami."
As the water was pushed its way downstream,
officials closed roads and highways and told
residents in low-lying area of Brisbane to sandbag
their homes and then move to higher ground.
"We have a grim and desperate situation," Bligh
said. "This took everybody so unawares that
there was no opportunity in most cases for
people to get to safety."
Heavy rain continued Tuesday, and the Bureau of
Meteorology warned that more flash floods could
occur.
Deputy Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said
rescue efforts were concentrated on towns
between Toowoomba and Brisbane, including
hardest-hit Murphy's Creek and Grantham, where
about 30 people sought shelter in a school
isolated by the floodwaters.
News video from late Monday showed houses
submerged to the roof line in raging muddy
waters, with people clambering on top. A man,
woman and child sat on the roof of their car as
waters churned around them.
In Toowoomba, the waters disappeared almost
as fast as they arrived, leaving debris strewn
throughout downtown and cars piled atop one
another.
Queensland officials have said the ultimate cost of
the weekslong flooding could be as high as $5
billion.

Source: Http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/01/10/dead-new-flood-australias-crisis-worsens/

Earnings hopes help European stocks bounce back.

PARIS (Reuters) - European stocks rose in early
trade on Tuesday, bouncing back from the
previous session's losses, as forecast-beating
results from U.S. aluminum major Alcoa ( AA.N)
sparked hopes for the upcoming earnings
season.
Investors were also cheered by news that Japan
was considering buying about 20 percent of
euro zone bonds to be jointly issued later in
January to raise funds to support debt-swamped
Ireland. [ID:nL3E7CB076]
At 0807 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 (.FTEU3)
index of top European shares was up 0.5
percent at 1,139.08 points, rebounding after a 1
percent drop on Monday.
"The focus is switching to companies' results
this week, with earnings due from big U.S.
names such as JPMorgan ( JPM.N), but the euro
zone debt fears will remain in the backdrop and
could continue to weigh on banking stocks," said
Geraud Missonnier, trader at Saxo Banque in
Paris.
Banking stocks were among the top gainers on
Tuesday, reversing recent losses, with Barclays
( BARC.L) up 3.4 percent, Credit Agricole
(CAGR.PA) up 2.5 percent and HSBC (HSBA.L)
up 2.3 percent.

Source: Http://us.mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70A14P20110111?ca=rdt

Arizona Suspect Could Face Death for Attack.

PHOENIX -- The 22-year-old loner accused of
trying to assassinate a U.S. congresswoman and
killing six others, appeared in court and looked on
impassively as a judge told him he could face the
death penalty for the shooting rampage that
shocked the nation.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords lay about a 100 miles away
in an intensive care unit, gravely wounded after
being shot through the head but able to give a
thumbs-up sign that doctors found as a reason
to hope.
Thirteen other people were wounded in the
bursts of gunfire at the Democratic
congresswoman's outdoor meeting with
constituents Saturday outside a Tucson, Arizona,
supermarket. Loughner was tackled to the
ground minutes after the shooting began,
authorities said. He has been silent ever since.
The shootings, which claimed the lives of six
people, including a federal judge, a congressional
aide and a nine-year-old girl, have prompted
outrage throughout the U.S. and sparked a
debate over gun control measures and whether
toxic political rhetoric fueled the incident.
Jared Loughner, his head shaved, a cut on his
right temple and in handcuffs, stared vacantly at
the packed courtroom before sitting down to
listen to whispered instructions from his newly
appointed attorney, Judy Clarke. A veteran of
death cases, the San Diego attorney succeeded in
negotiating a guilty plea and a life sentence for the
"Unabomber," Theodore Kaczynski.
Loughner seemed impassive and at one point
stood at a lectern in his beige prison jumpsuit. A
U.S. marshal stood guard nearby.
The judge asked if he understood that he could
get life in prison -- or the death penalty -- for
killing federal Judge John Roll, in the shooting
rampage.
"Yes," he said. His lawyer stood beside him as the
judge ordered Loughner held without bail.
Throngs of reporters and television news crews
lined up outside the federal courthouse, where
the hearing was moved from Tucson. The entire
federal bench In Tucson recused itself because
Roll was the chief judge there.
President Barack Obama will travel to Tucson on
Wednesday to speak at a memorial service for
the victims at the University of Arizona.
Earlier in the day, the nation observed a moment
of silence for the victims, from the South Lawn of
the White House and the steps of the U.S. Capitol
to legislatures beyond Arizona and the planet
itself. At the International Space Station, Giffords'
brother-in-law, Scott Kelly, the commanding
officer, spoke over the radio as flight controllers in
Houston fell silent.
"As I look out the window, I see a very beautiful
planet that seems very inviting and peaceful," he
said. "Unfortunately, it is not.
"These days, we are constantly reminded of the
unspeakable acts of violence and damage we can
inflict upon one another, not just with our
actions, but also with our irresponsible words,"
he said.
"We're better than this," he said. "We must do
better."
On a frigid morning outside the White House,
Obama and first lady Michelle Obama stood side
by side, each with their hands clasped, heads
bowed and eyes closed. On the steps of the U.S.
Capitol, congressional staff and other employees
did the same.
At the Supreme Court, the justices paused for a
moment of silence between the two cases they
were hearing Monday morning.
The president called for the country to come
together in prayer or reflection for those killed and
those fighting to recover.
"In the coming days, we're going to have a lot of
time to reflect," he said. "Right now the main
thing we're doing is to offer our thoughts and
prayers to those who've been impacted, making
sure we're joining together and pulling together
as a country."
Later Monday, a moment of silence was held at
the BCS national college football championship
between Oregon and Auburn in Glendale,
Arizona.
The shooting highlighted tensions that have been
running high between conservatives and liberals
in the United States, where activists and talk show
radio hosts have been employing increasingly
violent language in their criticisms of the Obama
administration.
In 2009, a protester was discovered carrying a
gun at a Giffords rally and there were signs the
congresswoman was becoming concerned
about the strident tone of the political debate in
the U.S.
The day before Giffords was wounded, she sent
an e-mail to a Republican friend discussing how
to "tone our rhetoric and partisanship down."
In the message, obtained by The Associated
Press, the Democratic congresswoman wrote to
Republican Kentucky Secretary of State Trey
Grayson to congratulate him on his new position
at Harvard University.
"After you get settled, I would love to talk about
what we can do to promote centrism and
moderation," she wrote.
Giffords, narrowly managed reelection to a third
term in 2010, in Arizona a conservative state
known for its loose gun control laws and which
made headlines last year after it passed a
draconian anti-immigration law allowing police to
stop those they suspected of being in the country
illegally.
Giffords was a vocal opponent of the law and a
supporter of Obama's healthcare law widely
opposed by conservatives.
Loughner is charged with one count of attempted
assassination of a member of Congress, two
counts of killing an employee of the federal
government and two counts of attempting to kill
a federal employee. Those are federal charges.
State prosecutors, meanwhile, are researching
whether they have to wait until after the federal
case is resolved, or if they can proceed with local
charges at the same time, an official said.
A Mass for all the victims was scheduled Tuesday
at St. Odelia's Parish in Tucson.
Among the dead was 9-year-old Christina Taylor
Green, who was born on the day of the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks. Her funeral is Thursday.
It was unclear when funerals will be held for the
other victims, including one of Giffords' aides.
Giffords, 40, was shot in the head at close range.
She was in critical condition at Tucson's
University Medical Center. Two patients were
discharged Sunday night. Seven others remained
hospitalized.
Recent CT scans showed no further swelling in
Giffords' brain, but doctors were guarded.
"We're not out of the woods yet," her
neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Lemole said. "That
swelling can sometimes take three days or five
days to maximize. But every day that goes by
and we don't see an increase, we're slightly more
optimistic."
After Saturday's operation to temporarily remove
half of her skull, doctors over the past two days
had Giffords removed from her sedation and
then asked basic commands such as: "Show me
two fingers."
"When she did that, we were having a party in
there," said Dr. Peter Rhee, adding that Giffords
has also managed to give doctors a thumbs-up
and has been reaching for her breathing tube,
even while sedated.
"That's a purposeful movement. That's a great
thing. She's always grabbing for the tube," he
said.
Giffords' family is by her side and is receiving
constant updates from doctors. Her doctors have
declined to speculate on what specific disabilities
Giffords may face.
With few new details emerging at the hearing,
questions remained about what could have
motivated someone to arm himself with a pistol
and magazines carrying 33 bullets each, and rain
gunfire on a supermarket parking lot crowded
with men, women and children.
Comments from friends and former classmates
bolstered by Loughner's own Internet postings
have painted a picture of a social outcast with
almost indecipherable beliefs steeped in mistrust
and paranoia.

Source: Http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/01/11/arizona-suspect-face-death-rampage/

Auburn's Newton claims redemption, and a national title.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Cam Newton walked onto the
field, hours before the game, headphones on,
rocking his head back and forth to an apparently
delicious beat.
Then, he stopped suddenly and bent down. He
touched the grass. It was a quick brush, as if he
were saying: I'm here. It's real. This is it.
Newton arrived on the college football scene and
his greatness was sealed with a Heisman Trophy.
The national championship game against
Oregon? It was more about redemption. It was
personal.
Newton wasn't great in this game won by
Auburn 22-19. No one was. Somewhere, TCU
was shaking its head in disgust. The Horned
Frogs could have taken either one of these teams.
A supposed track meet never happened; instead,
we got a wheelbarrow race. The Oregon offense,
for most of the night, was physically
outmatched. The Auburn defense was in full
beast mode but gave up a late score.
Newton was error prone and sloppy at times,
more War Beagle than War Eagle. He didn't look
like the best player in the country.
But he won. He won. And this night was about
him.
Near the same spot where he reached for terra
firma, after the game, as confetti fell around his
head, and teammates danced nearby, Newton
raised his hands high and smiled. He looked
more relieved than ecstatic. He did a victory lap
and went into the stands.
But it seems nothing comes easy to Newton. He
seriously injured his lower back late in the game.
As he left the field, he grabbed his lower back
with his right hand and walked with a noticeable
limp.
It's unknown how bad the injury is, but it didn't
look good.
Initially, the Auburn staff wanted Newton to get
the back X-rayed immediately, but Newton went
to speak with the media first. Other players
already were on the podium talking when
Newton arrived. After taking a handful of
questions, he went via cart to a different area of
the stadium to have the back examined by
medical personnel.
"I don't want [anyone] to feel sorry for me," he
said, "because throughout this year [no one felt]
sorry for Auburn. We got the last laugh."
His career -- and life -- will go down as one of the
more interesting turnaround stories in college
sports history. Because of a misguided father
with an alleged hand out, Newton's life went
under a microscope. There were the stories
about his past, other unproven accusations, and
he faced a nation of smirks. Since the SEC
sometimes stands for Send Extra Cash, many
assume Newton and his dad were in on the
alleged con together.
The father was convicted by the NCAA. The son
was found guilty by a public whose confidence in
the integrity of the system has been stripped
bare.
This isn't to portray Newton as a victim. We'll
never know his entire role in the sordid affair. But
his story, in many ways, is essentially American.
The allegations. The comeback. The winner. The
champion. If Mike Vick or Eliot Spitzer or Bill
Clinton or Ben Roethlisberger or Brett Favre or
Tiger Woods can be resurrected, why can't
Newton?
"We really appreciate Cam [for what] he went
through the whole season and things that were
being said about him," Auburn's Michael Dyer
said. "He kept his head up and played great
games. He kept us winning. He ran hard tonight.
He came out there and he just played Auburn
football. He is the Auburn man and we learned a
lot. Tonight, I kind of picked it up for him because
I knew he was in pain and hurt and the
frustration. But he still played. He didn't quit. He
didn't have any reason. He [didn't] say, 'My back
hurts so I couldn't do this or that.' He just said
I'm going to suck it up and keep going and he
kept fighting for us. Our whole town and nation,
we really appreciate what Cam Newton does for
us."
Newton finished 20 of 34 for 265 yards and two
scores. He was intercepted once and was sacked
twice. The Oregon defense was able to slow
Newton and that Auburn offense.
In the game, you saw some of Newton's
brilliance. Some throws were very accurate and
his speed is incredible for a player so big. Newton
looks like he could play power forward in the
NBA. He ran around Oregon defenders. He also
ran through them.
You also saw the weaknesses. He missed a wide-
open receiver late in the game on a play that
could have blown the contest wide open.
If Newton returns next season it would be a
miracle, and he will leave as one of the more
prolific players in SEC history. He became only
the 14th player in NCAA history to win the
Heisman and a national championship. He has a
school-record 51 touchdowns.
He'll be remembered as a great player, a
legendary player who found trouble, and escaped
it.
In other words, typical American story.

Source: Http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/14535032/auburns-newton-claims-redemption-and-a-national-title

Cross hairs: Crossroads for Palin?

In her more than two years on
the national stage, former
Alaska governor Sarah Palin
has proven to be a master of
attention-grabbing quotes and
vivid images. As a result, she
finds herself at the center of a
political and media
controversy - unfairly in the
estimation of her allies - after
Saturday's shootings in
Tucson.
The controversy, which may
have caught the Republican by
surprise, is the kind of test
candidates commonly face in
a presidential campaign. How
she navigates it, several
Republican strategists said
Monday, could be a defining
moment for her politically.
What makes her challenge
unique is that it comes as a
result of a national tragedy in
which there is no known
connection between anything
Palin said or did and the
alleged actions of Jared
Loughner, who is accused of
fatally shooting six and
severely wounding Rep.
Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.)
and 13 others.
"It's absurd to point fingers at
Palin, and people who are
doing that are just as guilty of
politicizing this tragedy as
anyone else," said Todd
Harris, a Republican
strategist. "At the same time,
to the degree that this is a so-
called learning moment for
the country, I think the public
looks to its leaders and pretty
quickly decides who has
something to teach and who
has something to learn. I think
that Palin is missing an
opportunity to show that she
can be a leader at a higher
level than she's been viewed
before."
Part of Palin's political success
owes to her knack for frontier
imagery and provocative
sound bites, as in the health-
care debate when she tweeted
after the bill had passed
Congress, "Don't Retreat,
Instead - RELOAD!" But Palin is
on the defensive at this
moment because of her
decision to make Giffords,
who remains in critical
condition after being shot in
the head, one of 20 Democrats
marked for defeat in the 2010
midterm elections.
Palin set up a Web site called
"Take Back the 20," which
included a map of the United
States with cross hairs on
congressional districts of
Democratic candidates she
had singled out for defeat.
The map drew immediate
criticism. Among those who
voiced disapproval was
Giffords.
"We're on Sarah Palin's
targeted list, but the thing is
that the way she has it
depicted has the cross hairs of
a gun sight over our district,"
Giffords told MSNBC at the
time. "When people do that,
they've got to realize there's
consequences to that action."
On Sunday, the issue of
whether Palin was partly to
blame for the tragedy in
Tucson became the top
question asked on Facebook.
Criticism of Palin escalated
across the Internet.
Palin has had little to say
since the shootings. Her first
response was a brief note of
condolence posted Saturday
on her Facebook page. On
Monday, Glenn Beck told his
radio audience that Palin sent
him a message in which she
said:
"I hate violence. I hate war.
Our children will not have
peace if politicos just
capitalize on this to succeed in
portraying anyone as inciting
terror and violence. Thanks
for all you do to send the
message of truth and love and
God as the answer."
The controversy gathered
force when Rebecca Mansour,
an adviser to Palin, told radio
host Tammy Bruce that the
criticism of Palin and her list
was "obscene." She added
that the target list was not
meant as a reference to guns.
"We never ever, ever
intended it to be cross hairs,"
she said.
Her explanation overlooked
the fact that Palin had earlier
described the symbol as a
bull's-eye.
The "Take Back the 20" Web
site was removed over the
weekend.
Palin advisers were asked
Monday for comment by the
former governor, but Palin did
not respond. On her Facebook
page, a lively debate about
the controversy erupted, with
more than 10,000 comments.
Palin may be more aggressive
in her language than some
other politicians, but she is
hardly the only person to use
martial rhetoric or imagery in
the heat of a political
campaign. Such talk is
common on both sides and is
one reason there have been
calls since Saturday for
restraint and a change in the
discourse.
Last fall, to show his
separation from President
Obama, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-
W.Va.) aired a television
commercial that included
footage of him firing a rifle
shot into a copy of the cap-
and-trade energy bill that was
pinned, targetlike, on a tree.
On Monday, Manchin said he
probably wouldn't use the ad
in today's post-Tucson
environment and called for
the nation to come together.
About the ad, he said, "The
act of a deranged madman
who commits a horrific act
should not and cannot be
confused with a metaphor
about a piece of legislation. I
have never targeted an
individual, and I never would."
But Palin is a lightning rod for
criticism, especially from the
left, almost no matter what
she says. Keith Appell, a
Republican strategist who
works closely with
conservative organizations,
said the fact that Palin has
found herself enveloped in
this controversy combines "a
predisposition on the left to
feel threatened by her" and
the media's exploitation of her
celebrity status to attract
readers or viewers.
He said Palin needs allies who
can "point out repeatedly that
the cross hairs are irrelevant.
The only thing that's relevant
is what Jared Loughner was
influenced by, and according
to his posting and his videos,
there's not an iota of evidence
that he was even aware of
these things. So you need
allies out there saying that."
He also said Palin could help
herself by calling on people
"to take a breath and let the
investigation proceed" as a
way to lower temperatures
and put the focus back on the
suspect.
Politico's Jonathan Martin
wrote Monday that Palin may
soon have to decide "whether
she wants to be Ronald
Reagan or Rush Limbaugh" as
she contemplates her future.
Palin allies point to language
and imagery used by some
critics on the left as evidence
of a double standard. But John
Weaver, a GOP strategist, said
Palin is being held to a
different standard precisely
because she may have
presidential aspirations.
"You can't put the actions of
this insane person on her
doorstep or anyone's
doorstep," he said in Palin's
defense. But, he added,
"having said that, there's a
difference between how
people judge the conduct of a
blogger and a political leader
or someone who may want to
run for president of the United
States."

Source: Http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/10/AR2011011006695.html

Singles file for the week of Jan. 11: New Britney Spears and Middle Brother.

Britney Spears: "Hold It
Against Me" Is it a Gaga
slayer? Probably not, but the
first track from Spears's
upcoming don't-call-it-a-
comeback disc mixes the best
of Gaga, RiRi and mid-'00s
electro-inspired Europop.
Middle Brother: "Me Me Me"
The leaders of Delta Spirit,
Dawes and Deer Tick form a
blog-baiting supertrio with an
unexpectedly raucous debut
single that's equal parts early
Guided by Voices and vintage
Big Star.
Curren$y featuring Sir
Michael Rocks and Tabi
Bonney: "Fly Out (Part Tres)"
The ever-prolific Spitta enlists
Bonney and half of the Cool
Kids for this super-funky,
Michael Jordan-dissing new
track.
Second City Rhythm: "You Got
Me" Chicago DJ Adulture and
British remixer Ghosts of
Venice unite for this disco
house scorcher, the maiden
single from their upcoming EP.
Villagers: "Old Man" (Neil
Young cover) Ireland's
greatest one-man band essays
an uncannily good, essentially
faithful cover of Young's
" Harvest" classic for Mojo
magazine's upcoming tribute
disc, "Harvest Revisited."

Source: Http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/10/AR2011011006518.html

Mourners to hold 'community healing' Mass after Arizona shooting.

Tucson, Arizona (CNN) -- Mourners will gather
at a memorial Mass Tuesday for victims of the
weekend shooting outside an Arizona
supermarket that killed 6 people and wounded 14
others.
The Mass will be held at 7 p.m. (9 p.m. ET) at St.
Odiilia Church in Tucson, Arizona -- where 9-
year-old shooting victim Christina Green had her
First Communion a year ago.
"Right now it is important as a community to pull
together and to reach out in care and concern to
all who have been affected by this tragedy,"
Bishop Gerald Kicanas wrote Monday in a letter to
the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson.
The alleged shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, 22,
appeared in a Phoenix courtroom Monday to
formally hear the charges against him -- including
two counts of murder, two counts of attempted
murder and one count of attempting to kill a
member of Congress.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, critically injured in the
shooting after a gunman's bullet went through
her brain, was in stable condition Monday,
doctors said. And authorities' investigation was
"winding down," Pima County Sheriff Clarence
Dupnik said.
But details were still emerging from those who
survived the deadly attack, those who lost loved
ones in the shooting and those who knew the
alleged gunman.
Former classmate Don Coorough said Loughner's
demeanor immediately struck him the first time
they met.
"He would use inappropriate emotional reactions.
He would laugh at things that were sad. He just
didn't seem to be aware of what was going on,"
Coorough told CNN.
Former classmate Steven Cates remembered
Loughner frequently grinning and clenching his
fists -- an expression that he said was similar to
the mug shot photograph released by authorities
Monday.
"That same look was the look that made people in
class uncomfortable," he said.
Dr. Steven Rayle, who was at the political meet-
and-greet Saturday when gunfire broke out, said
he caught a glimpse of the gunman's face.
"He seemed very determined," he said.
Court documents released Sunday show that
investigators found a letter from Giffords in a safe
at the house where Loughner lived with his
parents, thanking him for attending a 2007 event,
similar to Saturday's meet-and-greet.
"Also recovered in the safe was an envelope with
handwriting on the envelope stating 'I planned
ahead,' and 'my assassination' and the name
'Giffords,' along with what appears to be
Loughner's signature," the affidavit states.
A law enforcement official said Loughner asked
Giffords a question at the 2007 event and was
unhappy with her response.
"He never let it go," the source said. "It kept
festering."
Hours after Saturday's attack, Dupnik suggested
that "vitriolic rhetoric" in political debates could
have deadly consequences.
"When you look at unbalanced people, how they
respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain
mouths about tearing down the government, the
anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this
country is getting to be outrageous.
Unfortunately, Arizona, I think, has become sort
of the capital," he said. "We have become the
mecca for prejudice and bigotry."
His comments have fueled debate among
politicians, calls for toning down rhetoric and
concern about lawmakers' safety.
Longtime Giffords adviser Mike McNulty has
faulted Giffords' opponents in last year's elections
for stirring up emotions in the campaign to an
unacceptable level.
"She is not just a centrist; she is the center. She is
the fulcrum of American politics. She is what
people fear there is no more of. People are fleeing
the left and the right, and Gabby Giffords stands
staunchly in the center. And here we have
somebody who put a bullet in her brain. The
center is in trouble," he told CNN's John King on
Monday.
But John Green, the father of Christina Green --
the youngest victim of Saturday's attack -- said
the shooting had nothing to do with politics.
"I think it's a random act of violence. I think some
of it is media-driven, because people have begun
to learn they can solve their problems and make
a big splash," he said. "I don't want to politicize
this thing. I want to remember our daughter. I
want the country to remember our daughter."
His wife, Roxanna Green, said she wanted people
to know that her daughter was brave and
intelligent, and hoped others would follow her
example.
"I hope people will look for hope, for change, for
peace. That's what Christina would want. She
wouldn't want us to be sad. She would just be
like, 'Let's do something. Let's make this never
ever happen again, so no one else has to get
hurt,'" she said.

Source: Http://edition.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/01/11/arizona.shooting/

Gates back in China for military talks.

BEIJING - One of China's top
generals said Monday that it
was up to the United States to
change its policies if it wants
better ties with China's
military, and he offered a
lukewarm endorsement of
U.S. programs designed to
bring the two sides closer
together.
Chinese Minister of Defense
Liang Guanglie made the
comments after two hours of
talks with U.S. Secretary of
Defense Robert M. Gates, who
is on his first trip to China
since 2007. Gates is on a
mission to restore high-level
military contacts with the
People's Liberation Army after
Beijing's decision to cut those
ties a year ago, when the
United States announced a
$6.4 billion arms sale to
Taiwan .
Liang also denied that China's
military modernization - and
its development of systems
such as an aircraft-carrier-
killing ballistic missile, anti-
satellite weapons and a new
stealth fighter - posed a
threat to the United States.
"We cannot call ourselves an
advanced military country,"
Liang told reporters. "The gap
between us and advanced
countries is at least two to
three decades."
Liang reacted tepidly to
Gates's proposal that the U.S.
and Chinese militaries engage
in a wide-ranging strategic
dialogue on nuclear posture,
cyberwarfare and North
Korea, saying the PLA was
"studying it."
He did announce that one of
China's most senior generals,
Chen Bingde, the chief of the
PLA's general staff, would
travel to the United States
during the first half of this
year. But, contrary to the
wishes of Liang's American
counterparts, he did not
specify a date for the trip.
Liang also reiterated the PLA's
commitment to pursuing joint
work with the U.S. military on
counterterrorism,
counterpiracy, humanitarian
assistance and disaster relief.
But those issues had been
agreed upon already during
the last high-level meeting
between the two sides in
October 2009.
Despite Liang's responses,
Gates - who has dealt with
China for decades and, as a
senior CIA official, was one of
the architects of an earlier,
very productive intelligence
relationship with Beijing -
pronounced himself pleased
with the talks.
"I am confident," Gates said,
"that we are on the road to
fulfilling the mandate that our
two presidents have given us
to strengthen the military-to-
military relationship."
Asked whether he had
changed his position that the
PLA was the main impediment
to better military ties, Gates
said he was "optimistic" that
the PLA "is as committed to
fulfilling the mandate of our
two presidents as I am."
Liang's lukewarm reaction to
Gates's proposals reflects a
continued uncertainty within
the PLA about whether to
embrace better ties with the
United States; it also
underscores the sense that
the PLA was strong-armed by
China's political leadership
into welcoming Gates on this
trip.
Gates was rebuffed by the PLA
in June when he tried to come to Beijing.
But Chinese President Hu
Jintao travels to Washington
next week for his second - and
probably last - summit with
President Obama and, as part
of his legacy, needs to have
military ties restored. Hu is
expected to step down in 2012,
making way for a new
generation of leaders.
Gates and others in the U.S.
government have long argued
that the United States and
China need to improve
military ties in order to lessen
the possibility that
miscalculation or
misunderstanding could lead
to war.
The Obama administration got
a taste of the potential
dangers less than two months
after coming into office when
Chinese merchant ships
menaced and then narrowly
missed ramming a U.S. Navy
reconnaissance vessel in
international waters off
China's southern coast.
For years, U.S. officials also
have sought talks with China's
military on its nuclear
weapons and other sensitive
issues, including contingencies
on the Korean Peninsula.
For example, should the North
Korean government collapse,
U.S. officials have argued, it
would be critical for
Washington and Beijing to
understand each other as U.S.
troops moved north or China's
soldiers moved south. To this
end, Gates will visit the
headquarters of China's
strategic rocket forces, called
the 2nd Artillery, on
Wednesday as part of his
ongoing efforts to persuade
China to engage in talks.
But the PLA seems conflicted
about such a dialogue and has
chosen twice over the past
three years - in 2008 and 2010
- to suspend military ties after
Washington announced arms
sales to Taiwan.
When it broke ties the second
time last January, the PLA laid
out three conditions that
Washington had to fulfill if it
wanted the suspension lifted.
The United States, it said, had
to stop weapons sales to
Taiwan, end its naval and air-
based surveillance activities
off China's coast and do away
with laws and regulations that
restrict U.S. interaction with
China's military.
Washington has done none of
the above, but thanks to Hu's
political exigencies, ties have
been restored anyway. Still,
Liang put the onus on the
Pentagon if it wants further
progress. And he refused to
rule out additional suspensions
if Washington sells another
batch of weapons to Taiwan.
"We hope," Liang said, "that
the U.S. side will pay sufficient
attention to the concerns of
the Chinese side and take
measure to gradually remove
or reduce obstacles that stand
in the way of our military-
military relations."

Source: Http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/10/AR2011011006158.html

Google’s Android Is Likely to Lose Out as Verizon Sells IPhone.

Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc. may lose
business as Verizon Wireless starts selling Apple
Inc. ’s iPhone, giving the carrier’s customers a
new alternative to smartphones running the
Android operating system.
Verizon is set to announce plans in New York
today to bring the iPhone to its network,
according to a person familiar with the matter. A
Verizon iPhone may cannibalize about 2 million
Android phone shipments a year, said Dan Hays,
partner at management consultant firm PRTM.
Gartner Inc. says 20.5 million Android devices
were sold in the third quarter.
“A lot of people who bought Android phones
were buying it in lieu of an iPhone because they
couldn ’t get one on the Verizon network,” said
Charlie Wolf, a Needham & Co. analyst in New
York.
At AT&T Inc. -- now the exclusive U.S. iPhone
carrier -- the device accounted for 80 percent of
smartphone purchases in the third quarter, said
Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos. in
Minneapolis. If that ’s any indication, many
Verizon Wireless customers will pick the iPhone
over Android- based devices. Even Verizon ’s
existing Android users may switch, he said,
estimating that as many as half may opt for the
iPhone.
Apple would ship about 9 million iPhones this
year through a partnership with Verizon, Munster
predicted. That ’s in addition to 11 million units
through AT&T. He estimated that AT&T shipped
15.6 million of the devices last year.
While Apple manufactures and maintains strict
control over the handsets that run its software,
Google supplies Android to a range of phone
makers, such as Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.
and Samsung Electronics Co.
First-Quarter Sales
Android has become a top-seller in the U.S.,
according to ComScore Inc., accounting for 26
percent of the smartphone market in November,
compared with 25 percent for the iPhone.
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. was
first with more than 33 percent.
Tero Kuittinen, an analyst with MKM Partners LP,
said sales of Android phones at Verizon in the
first quarter may be cut in half as a result of a
Verizon iPhone introduction. Still, he doesn ’t
expect the impact to last because the carrier will
likely begin promoting its faster long-term
evolution network in the second quarter.
Several Android-based LTE-compatible phones
are set for release in the first half. An iPhone on
the LTE network may not be available until later,
said analysts including Kuittinen.
For now, “most of the LTE marketing spend will
go to Android,” Kuittinen said.
Trading Up
Apple may do a better job than Google in helping
get more Verizon users to switch to a
smartphone for the first time, said Carl Howe, an
analyst at the Yankee Group, a consulting firm in
Boston. About 38 percent of AT&T customers
use a smartphone, compared with about 30
percent of Verizon’s, he said. IPhone users’ bills
are about $120 a month, compared with about
$40 to $80 for users of a regular feature phone,
according to Howe.
“If they can get people who are currently on
feature phones to upgrade, that would be huge
because smartphone users pay a lot more, ”
Howe said.
Google representatives didn’t immediately
respond to requests for comment outside regular
business hours.
Google would benefit if AT&T starts to more
heavily promote Android devices after losing its
exclusivity with the iPhone, Kuittinen said. This
quarter, Motorola will roll out through AT&T its
Android-based smartphone that sports a so-
called dual- core processor, capable of handling
more tasks simultaneously. The new handset is
likely to be heavily promoted, he said.
AT&T’s Response
“Now that AT&T has an incentive to promote
Android more than it’s done until now, Android
there will grow,” Kuittinen said. “It’s going to
compensate for much of the decline at Verizon.”
AT&T has been cutting prices for the iPhone and
upgrading its network to keep customers from
switching to Verizon. The company reduced the
price of the iPhone 3GS, a generation behind the
current version, to $49 last week. The company
suffered from customer complaints about
dropped calls and slow speeds as traffic from the
device overwhelmed parts of its network.
Even if iPhone software gains ground in the U.S.,
it may lose share globally as consumers abroad
snap up Android-based phones, said Will
Stofega, program director at research firm IDC in
Framingham, Massachusetts.
--With assistance from Olga Kharif in Portland,
Douglas MacMillan in San Francisco and Amy
Thomson in New York. Editors: Lisa Wolfson,
Tom Giles.

Source: Http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-01-11/google-s-android-is-likely-to-lose-out-as-verizon-sells-iphone.html

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