Dominique Strauss-Kahn and housemaid look to settle out of court - The Guardian

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former IMF chief. Photograph: Action Press/Rex Features

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former International Monetary Fund chief, is said to have reached a settlement with the hotel maid who accused him of trying to rape her, likely ending a legal saga that forced the onetime French presidential contender's resignation.

Details of the deal, which comes after prosecutors dropped related criminal charges in 2011, were not immediately known on Thursday and may be subject to a confidentiality agreement.

Lawyers for Strauss-Kahn and the housekeeper, Nafissatou Diallo, made the as-yet-unsigned agreement within recent days, with Bronx supreme court Justice Douglas McKeon facilitating that and a separate agreement to end another lawsuit Diallo filed against the New York Post, said a person familiar with the case. A court date was expected next week.

Lawyers for both sides did not comment.

Diallo, 33, and Strauss-Kahn, 63, crossed paths when she arrived to clean his luxury Manhattan hotel suite. She told police he chased her down, tried to yank down her pantyhose and forced her to perform oral sex.

The allegation let loose a spiral of accusations about the sexual conduct of Strauss-Kahn, a married diplomat and economist who had long been dubbed the "great seducer". He faces separate charges linking him to a suspected prostitution ring in his home country.

With DNA evidence showing a sexual encounter and Diallo providing a gripping description of an attack, the Manhattan district attorney's office initially said it had a strong and compelling case. But within six weeks prosecutors' confidence began to ebb as they said Diallo had lied about her past including a false account of a previous rape and her actions after leaving Strauss-Kahn's room.

The district attorney's office dropped the charges in August 2011, saying prosecutors could no longer ask a jury to believe her.

Diallo had sued Strauss-Kahn in the meantime. Strauss-Kahn called the lawsuit defamatory and countersued her for $1m.

Her lawsuit against the Post concerned a series of articles that called her a prostitute and said she sold sex at a hotel where the Manhattan DA's office had housed her during the criminal case. The News Corp newspaper has said it stands by its reporting; a spokeswoman declined to comment on Thursday.

In France judges are to decide by 19 December whether charges linking him to a suspected prostitution ring run out of a luxury hotel in Lille can go ahead. He acknowledges attending "libertine" gatherings but denies knowing that some women present were paid.

In August a separate case against Strauss-Kahn, centered on allegations of rape in a Washington DC hotel, was dropped after French prosecutors said the accuser, an escort, changed her account to say she wasn't raped.

Soon after Strauss-Kahn's arrest in New York last year, the French writer Tristane Banon accused him of attempting to rape her during an interview in 2003, a claim he called imaginary and slanderous. Prosecutors said they believed the encounter qualified as a sexual assault but the legal timeframe to pursue her complaint had elapsed.

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Egypt power struggle: Assembly backs draft constitution - BBC News

30 November 2012 Last updated at 02:56 ET

Egypt's Islamist-dominated constituent assembly has approved a draft constitution, as the judiciary threatens to dissolve it amid a power struggle with President Mohammed Morsi.

The draft will now be sent to Mr Morsi, who is expected to call a referendum.

It was approved days before the Supreme Constitutional Court rules on whether the assembly should be dissolved.

Senior judges have been in a stand-off with the president since he granted himself sweeping new powers.

An emergency decree issued last week said Mr Morsi's decisions could not be revoked by any authority, including the judiciary, until the new constitution had been ratified and fresh parliamentary elections held.

It also stated that the courts could not dissolve the constituent assembly.

The president insists the powers he has taken are meant to be temporary and will protect the transition to a constitutional democracy, but their breadth has raised fears that he might become a new strongman and triggered mass opposition protests across the country.

'Nonsensical'

Continue reading the main story

• Sharia remains the main source of legislation
• Egypt's most respected Islamic institution, al-Azhar, to be consulted on "matters related to sharia"
• Christianity and Judaism to be the main source of legislation for Christians and Jews
• Religious freedom to be limited to Muslims, Christians and Jews
• Limits president to two four-year terms of office

The assembly backed all the 234 articles of the draft after a marathon session that began on Thursday and continued through the night.

Its aim was clearly to pre-empt any challenge by the courts, which are in a confrontation with Mr Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood which backs him, says the BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo.

Liberal, left-wing and Christian members of the constitutional assembly boycotted the vote, accusing the Islamists of trying to impose their vision.

According to Egyptian state TV, the articles passed stipulate that Islam is the religion of the state, and the principles of Sharia, or Islamic law, are the "main source of legislation".

This is unchanged from the previous constitution under Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled as president last year.

Salafists and some members of the Muslim Brotherhood failed to have "principles" replaced by "rules".

The draft also says that Christianity and Judaism will be the "main source of legislation" for Egyptian Christians and Jews, state TV reported.

The assembly also adopted a new article that al-Azhar mosque and university, authorities on Sunni Muslim jurisprudence, must be consulted on "matters related to sharia".

The president will be limited to two four-year terms of office.

The opponents of the draft voiced concern that some clauses - such as the importance of promoting family values - could be used to restrict freedom of speech.

They also said that there was no specific article establishing equality between men and women.

Opposition figure and former Arab League chief Amr Moussa told Reuters news agency: "This is nonsensical and one of the steps that shouldn't be taken, given the background of anger and resentment to the current constitutional assembly."

Another opposition leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei, said the document would be consigned to the "garbage bin of history", and would only sharpen the current divisions in Egypt.

The Supreme Constitutional Court ruling is expected on Sunday.

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Lord Leveson recommends a new independent system of press regulation - BBC News

29 November 2012 Last updated at 09:53 ET

For editors, publishers and - not least - newspaper proprietors, this is a damning report.

Lord Justice Leveson not only recommends statutory 'underpinning' for a new independent system of press regulation - rejecting the industry's own proposal for a new body as "not going nearly far enough" to demonstrate independence from publishers.

He also delivers withering verdicts on the behaviour of many journalists and editors, "wholly rejecting" the suggestion that these are "aberrations and do not reflect on the culture, practices or ethics of the press as a whole"

He says parts of the press acted as if its own code simply did not exist and "wreaked havoc" with the lives of innocent people. Ordinary members of the public, caught up in tragic events, had their experiences "made much much worse by press behaviour that, at times, can only be called outrageous".

He goes on: "There has been a recklessness in prioritising sensational stories, almost irrespective of the harm that the stories may cause and the rights of those who would be affected, like the Dowlers, the McCanns and Abigail Witchalls."

Lord Justice Leveson is particularly critical of the publishers of the News of the World, over their response to the conviction of the paper's royal correspondent for hacking into phone messages.

He writes: "Most corporate entities would be appalled that employees were involved in the commission of crime in order to further their business. Not so at the News of the World. When the police sought to execute a warrant, they were confronted and driven off by the staff of the newspaper."

But it wasn't only the News of the World that behaved unethically, he says: "Too many stories in too many newspapers were the subject of complaints from too many people, with too little in the way of titles taking responsibility or considering the consequences for the individuals involved."

There had been a "reckless disregard for accuracy."

So how does he propose it should be put right?

Lord Justice Leveson says the Press Complaints Commission has failed and must be replaced. Newspapers should not be allowed "to mark their own homework".

He says: "The press needs to establish a new regulatory body, which is truly independent of industry leaders and of government and politicians. It must promote high standards of journalism and protect both the public interest and the rights of individuals. The chair and other members of the body must be independent and appointed by a fair and open process."

He says the new body would handle complaints and there could be sanctions for papers that broke the code, including the power to levy fines of up to 1% of a paper's turnover, to a maximum of £1m

But - and this is where his proposal will be opposed by many newspapers - he also says it must be set up by law: "There should be legislation to underpin the independent self-regulatory system."

He says the new law would enshrine for the first time a legal duty on the government to protect the freedom of the press, and provide an independent process to recognise the new self-regulatory body.

In the "regrettable event" that any major publisher refused to join such a scheme, he suggests that one option would be for Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator, to act as a backstop regulator, though he does not recommend this.

Lord Justice Leveson insists that "this is not, and cannot be characterised, as statutory regulation of the press".

But one newspaper senior executive I've spoken to says "this is sophistry".

The press will continue to oppose the state having any role in its regulation. This is where the political battle lines will now be drawn.

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Palestine UN vote reaction: US calls new status 'counterproductive' - Telegraph.co.uk

An historic resolution that enhanced the Palestinians' position at the UN from "permanent observer" to "non-member observer state", a status also held by the Vatican, passed the General Assembly by a resounding 138 votes to 9, with 41 countries abstaining, including Britain.

Five nations did not register a vote. The no votes were US, Israel, Canada, Czech Republic, Palau, Panama, Nauru, Mirconesia and Marshall Islands.

The United States and Israel immediately condemned the vote, which US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called "counterproductive."

The Palestinian Authority's Foreign Minister, Riyad al-Maliki, said that his administration's decision whether to report Israel to the International Criminal Court, one of the international agencies to which the new non-member state now has access, lies in their hands.

"I hope that they will understand that the formula has changed, the reality has changed and we are not really threatening right now to go immediately to anywhere," said Mr al-Maliki.

"We will give them time for them to comprehend, to re-correct their policies and their actions and if they behave in the way, according to international law, then we don't see ourselves in need to go to anywhere."

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Internet Still Down In Syria - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty

The Internet is down across Syria and telephone communications have been disrupted as fighting between government troops and rebels against President Bashar al-Assad's regime intensifies.

Two U.S.-based Internet tracking services have confirmed that all Internet traffic stopped on November 29.

The government and the rebels blame each other for the outage.

It is the first nationwide Internet blackout since the 20-month-long uprising began.

Activists say the government appears to be preparing for a major offensive against rebel strongholds around Damascus.

On November 29, intense fighting outside the capital blocked the highway to the international airport.

The government later said troops had cleared the highway of "terrorists" but the rebels said the fighting was continuing.

The fighting prompted two airlines -- Emirates and EgyptAir -- to suspend flights to Damascus. 
 

Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP

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Obama Surprises GOP With an Opening Fiscal Cliff Offer They Hate - New York Magazine

For weeks Republicans and Democrats have been at a standoff over the fiscal cliff, and on Thursday President Obama made the first move. According to the Wall Street Journal, Timothy Geithner delivered a proposal to John Boehner that calls for $1.6 trillion in tax increases over the next 10 years, $50 billion in infrastructure spending next year, and extensions of the payroll tax cut and emergency unemployment benefits, among other measures the president has already said he supports. Plus, Obama added a new demand:  An end to congressional control over the debt ceiling. In return, he offered $400 billion in savings from Medicare and other entitlement programs over the next decade, with no guarantees, though Republicans have said they want the figure to be twice as high. The GOP immediately rejected the offer, and seemed taken aback by the fact that the president basically listed what he wants out of the deal, without really offering them anything.

Though Boehner had said earlier in the week that he was optimistic about reaching a compromise, after his meeting with Geithner he said, "The Democrats have yet to get serious about real spending cuts," adding, "No substantive progress has been made in the talks between the White House and the House over the last two weeks." Mitch McConnell told the Weekly Standard that he "burst into laughter" as Geithner outlined the one-sided plan.

The only really unexpected aspect of the proposal is the change to raising the federal debt limit. According to the Washington Post, Obama wants to avoid future debt ceiling showdowns by giving the White House the power to raise the limit unilaterally. Congress could pass a resolution to block an increase, but the president would be able to veto their resolution. Then Congress would need two-thirds vote to override the veto and prevent the limit from going up.

Otherwise, the proposal just shows that the president feels he has the upper hand and is willing to put pressure on the Republicans. In the Post Ezra Klein writes that Obama used to "offer plans that roughly tracked where he thought the compromise should end up," but after a few years in the White House he's learned that he shouldn't be "negotiating with himself." It's obvious that the president didn't expect the GOP to happily sign off on his initial proposal, but he wants them to have to push for their unpopular demands — though, as Politico reported on Thursday, both sides have an idea of what the deal will probably look like. "There's the public choreography, then there is the real choreography," Rep. Rob Andrews tells the Wall Street Journal. "To reach a deal, it has to look like there was a lot of fighting before the deal was reached."

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Powerball officials: Record jackpot has been won - CBS News

Updated at 4:02 a.m. ET

CHICAGO Powerball officials say tickets sold in Arizona and Missouri matched all six numbers to win the record $587.5 million jackpot. Now the hunt for the winners begins.

Early Thursday morning, Sue Dooley, a production coordinator for the Multi-State Lottery Association, told CBS Radio News that one winning ticket had been bought in each state.

The numbers drawn Wednesday night were:

Dooley told CBS Radio News that the jackpot increased to $587.5 million by the time of the drawing, making the cash option $384 million, which will be split equally.

An additional 8,924,123 players won smaller prizes, including about 60 who each won a million-dollar prize for matching five numbers, Dooley said.

It was not clear whether the winning tickets belonged to individuals or were purchased by groups. Arizona lottery officials said early Thursday morning they had no information on that state's winner or winners but would announce where it was sold during a news conference later in the day. Lottery officials in Missouri did not immediately respond to phone messages and emails seeking comment.

Americans went on a ticket-buying spree in recent days, the big money enticing many people who rarely, if ever, play the lottery.

Play Video

Powerball advice: What to do if you win

CBS News correspondent Anna Werner reports the odds of winning were 1 in 175 million. Still, that didn't deter Americans from purchasing a shot at the second-largest payout in U.S. history and the highest-ever Powerball game. More than 160 million tickets were sold, going at a rate of 130,000 a minute nationwide on Wednesday. At one point, Florida was selling 200,000 tickets per minute.

Dooley said 563 million tickets were sold for Wednesday night's drawing, which she believes is a record.

"Starting on Saturday we will start our jackpot over again at $40 million and work it up again," Dooley told CBS Radio News.

The jackpot had already rolled over 16 consecutive times without a winner, but Powerball officials said earlier Wednesday they believed there was a 75 percent chance the winning combination will be drawn this time.

Past winners of mega-lottery drawings and financial planners had some sound advice for those holding the winning tickets: Stick to a budget, invest wisely, learn to say no and be prepared to lose friends while riding an emotional roller-coaster of joy, anxiety, guilt and distrust.

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The dark side of the lottery

"I had to adapt to this new life," said Sandra Hayes, 52, a former child services social worker who split a $224 million Powerball jackpot with a dozen co-workers in 2006, collecting a lump sum she said was in excess of $6 million after taxes. "I had to endure the greed and the need that people have, trying to get you to release your money to them. That caused a lot of emotional pain. These are people who you've loved deep down, and they're turning into vampires trying to suck the life out of me."

The single mother kept her job with the state of Missouri for another month and immediately used her winnings to pay off an estimated $100,000 in student loans and a $70,000 mortgage. She spent a week in Hawaii and bought a new Lexus, but six years later still shops at discount stores and lives on a fixed income — albeit, at a higher monthly allowance than when she brought home paychecks of less than $500 a week.

"I know a lot of people who won the lottery and are broke today," she said. "If you're not disciplined, you will go broke. I don't care how much money you have."

Play Video

Powerball mania sweeps the nation

Lottery agencies are keen to show off beaming prize-winners hugging oversize checks at celebratory news conferences, but the tales of big lottery winners who wind up in financial ruin, despair or both are increasingly common.

There's the two-time New Jersey lottery winner who squandered her $5.4 million fortune. A West Virginia man who won $315 million a decade ago on Christmas later said the windfall was to blame for his granddaughter's fatal drug overdose, his divorce, hundreds of lawsuits and an absence of true friends.

The National Endowment for Financial Education cautions those who receive a financial windfall — whether from lottery winnings, divorce settlements, cashed-out stock options or family inheritances — to plan for their psychological needs as well as their financial strategies. The Denver-based nonprofit estimates that as many as 70 percent of people who land sudden windfalls lose that money within several years.

"Being able to manage your emotions before you do anything sudden is one of the biggest things," said endowment spokesman Paul Golden. "If you've never had the comfort of financial security before, if you were really eking out a living from paycheck to paycheck, if you've never managed money before, it can be really confusing. There's this false belief that no matter what you do, you're never going to worry about money again."

David Gehle, who spent 20 years at a Nebraska meatpacking plant before he and seven ConAgra Foods co-workers won a $365 million Powerball jackpot in 2006, used some of his winnings to visit Australia, New Guinea and Vietnam. He left ConAgra three weeks after he won, and now spends his time woodworking and playing racquetball, tennis and golf.

But most of his winnings are invested, and the 59-year-old still lives in his native Lincoln. He waited for several years before buying a $450,000 home in a tidy neighborhood on the southern edge of town.

"My roots are in Nebraska, and I'm not all that much different now than I was before," Gehle said. "I'm pretty normal. I never was the kind of guy who went for big, expensive cars or anything like that. I just want something that runs."

In the first year after he won, Michael Terpstra would awaken many nights in a panic. Had he slept in? Was he late to work the night shift?

"At times I'd wake up and this would all seem like a dream," the 54-year-old said. "I'd have to walk around the house and tell myself, I did win. I'm not working anymore, and I do live here. I didn't get drunk, break into someone's house and go to sleep. This is where I'm supposed to be."

His new home is a roomy, two-story house in south Lincoln with a big-screen television and paintings of Jesus on the walls. He no longer uses alarm clocks and spends his days taking his 92-pound black lab, Rocco, on walks.

He was terrified when he first won, convinced that he would lose all of the money and have to return to work. So he lives carefully off the interest from conservative investments, with help from accountants and lawyers. He bought the new house and a truck, but struggles to name any extravagant purchases.

"I can't buy a super yacht. I can't buy a Gulfstream," he said. "Then again, I don't think I'd use either one, so why would I buy one?"

That said, some mega-winners still can't resist the lure of big jackpots, at least not the two-buck chances. On Tuesday, former ConAgra worker Dung Tran, a Vietnamese immigrant, walked into the same Lincoln U-Stop where he purchased the winning ticket six years ago and bought 22 more from the very employee who sold him the first prize-winner, said cashier Janice Mitzner.

"We joked about it," she said. "I told him, 'Wouldn't it be something if you won again?'"

Hayes is also hoping to strike rich again — she bought 10 tickets at a Dirt Cheap liquor store on her way home Tuesday while speaking with an Associated Press reporter. Unlike many big winners, she has kept a visible public profile instead of going underground, appearing on a 2007 reality TV show ("Million Dollar Christmas"), writing an online Life After the Lottery blog and self-publishing a short book, "How Winning the Lottery Changed My Life."

"We have this drawing ... and if somebody wins, God bless them," she said. "They're going to need those blessings."

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White House, Congress to talk as fears increase that government heading ... - Minneapolis Star Tribune

WASHINGTON - Amid increasing anxiety that the White House and top Republicans are wasting time as the government slides toward an economy-rattling "fiscal cliff," administration officials are heading to Capitol Hill for talks with congressional leaders.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and senior White House aide Rob Nabors were to visit separately Thursday with the four leaders of the House and Senate to discuss how to avert a series of tax increases and spending cuts due to begin in January. Republicans complain that the White House is slow-walking the talks and has yet to provide specifics on how President Barack Obama would curb the rapid growth of benefit programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

There's been little evident progress in negotiations between the White House and the lead GOP negotiator, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio. Boehner's lieutenants say the White House has been slow to engage.

"We have not seen any good-faith effort on the part of this administration to talk about the real problem that we're trying to fix," said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va.

Obama is mounting a public campaign to build support and leverage in the negotiations, appearing at the White House with middle-class taxpayers and launching a campaign on Twitter to bolster his position.

"Right now, as we speak, Congress can pass a law that would prevent a tax hike on the first $250,000 of everybody's income," Obama said. "And that means that 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small businesses wouldn't see their income taxes go up by a single dime."

Obama is insisting that tax rates go up on family income exceeding $250,000; Boehner is adamant that any new tax revenues come from overhauling the tax code, clearing out tax breaks and lowering rates for all.

Republicans are also demanding significant cuts to so-called entitlement programs like Medicare, such as an increase in the eligibility age for the program from 65 to perhaps 67.

"It's time for the president and Democrats to get serious about the spending problem that our country has," Boehner said at a news conference Wednesday in the Capitol. Boehner, like Obama, expressed optimism that a deal could be reached.

At issue are steep, across-the-board cuts to the Pentagon and domestic programs set to strike the economy in January as well as the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts on income, investments, married couples and families with children. That combination of tax increases and spending cuts would wring more than half a trillion dollars from the economy in the first nine months of next year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

No one anticipates a stalemate lasting that long, but many experts worry that even allowing the spending cuts and tax increases for a relatively brief period could rattle financial markets.

From their public statements, Obama and Boehner appear at an impasse over raising the two top tax rates from 33 percent and 35 percent to 36 percent and 39.6 percent. Democrats seem confident that Boehner ultimately will have to crumble, but Obama has a lot at stake as well, including a clear agenda for priorities like an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws.

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Bombings kill Shias in Iraq cities of Hilla and Karbala - BBC News

29 November 2012 Last updated at 04:09 ET

At least 31 people have been killed in bomb attacks on predominantly Shia Muslim areas south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, officials say.

A double bombing in the city of Hilla killed 26 people and wounded scores more.

A car bomb also exploded in the nearby shrine city of Karbala, killing at least five people.

No group has said it carried out the attacks but Sunni militants have targeted the Shia majority in the past.

Pilgrims flock to Karbala each year for Ashura commemorations, the climax of the holy month of Muharram.

Initial reports said the two bombs in Hilla exploded near a restaurant. The dead included two women, three children, two medics and a civil defence member, police and medics said.

Witnesses said Iraqi security forces cordoned off the area of the blasts and set up checkpoints in the city.

In Karbala, a parked car exploded near one of the city gates, a police officer quoted by AP news agency said.

Those who died were civilians but policemen were among more than 20 wounded, he added. The blast also damaged nearby buildings.

A recent upsurge in such attacks has sparked fears of a return to the sectarian conflict that beset Iraq in the years after the 2003 US-led invasion.

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Manning still on witness list in WikiLeaks trial - WTVC

Manning still on witness list in WikiLeaks trial
November 29, 2012 08:13 GMT

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) -- Pfc. Bradley Manning remains on the list of prospective witnesses for a pretrial hearing on charges he gave classified documents to WikiLeaks.

The hearing at Fort Meade enters its third day Thursday. Manning's lawyers argue that all charges should be dismissed due to what they called officials' needlessly harsh treatment of the prisoner during his nine months of confinement in a Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Va.

Other potential witnesses include a military psychiatrist who examined Manning at Quantico, and the former commander of the confinement facility at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to which Manning was later moved.

Manning faces 22 counts, including aiding the enemy, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. He is charged with sending Wikileaks hundreds of thousands of classified war logs and diplomatic cables.

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UN to vote on Palestinian enhanced status - BBC News

29 November 2012 Last updated at 04:02 ET

The UN General Assembly is set to vote on upgrading the Palestinian status from observer entity to observer state.

Palestinians say the bid, which would give it the same "non-member state" status as the Vatican, is an attempt to rescue the Middle East peace process.

Analysts say the application is likely to win approval in the 193-member body when it is put to a vote, because it needs only a simple majority to pass.

The bid is strongly opposed by Israel and the US. The UK may abstain.

According to the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), more than 130 countries now grant the Palestinians the rank of a sovereign state.

They chose the "International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People" for the vote, which is set to take place at 21:00 GMT and will be preceded by a number of speeches focusing on the rights of the Palestinians.

European Union 'split'

The Palestinians are seeking UN recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, the lands Israel captured in 1967.

Opponents of the bid say a Palestinian state should emerge only out of bilateral negotiations.

Continue reading the main story

Palestinian UN statehood bid

• Palestinians currently have permanent observer entity status at the UN
• They are represented by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO)
• PLO officials now want an upgrade so that a state of Palestine has full member status at the UN
• They seek recognition on 1967 boundaries - in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza
• Enhanced observer member status could be an interim option

Israel and the US say the Palestinians are trying to seek full statehood via the UN, rather than through negotiation as set out in the 1993 Oslo peace accords under which the Palestinian Authority was established.

Israel's UN Ambassador Ron Proser said: "Trying to circumvent direct negotiations, it will raise frustrations, raise expectations, will change nothing on the ground."

The Palestinians say the move is not meant to replace negotiations but improve their leverage and define the territory they want for a state, which has been eroded by Israeli settlement building.

"It is a very important step in trying to save the two-state solution, maybe last time to save the two-state solution," said Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour.

France, Spain and Norway are among those urging the General Assembly to raise the Palestinians' UN status. Germany is set to abstain.

Strong European support would strengthen the diplomatic clout of the bid, says the BBC's Barbara Plett in New York: the European Union is split but so far more than a dozen countries have said they will vote "Yes".

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has said the UK will back the resolution, but only after receiving a number of assurances, principally that the Palestinians would seek negotiations with Israel "without pre-conditions".

He told parliament on Wednesday that the Palestinians must also agree not to seek membership of International Criminal Court (ICC), as any move to extend the jurisdiction of the court over the occupied territories could derail any chance of talks resuming.

"However, in the absence of these assurances, the UK would abstain on the vote," he said.

"This would be consistent with our strong support for the principle of Palestinian statehood, but our strong concern that the resolution could set the peace process back."

Palestinian diplomats said they had rejected the "unrealistic" demands.

Entering peace talks without any strings attached meant abandoning the key demand that the construction of settlements on the West Bank must be frozen, Palestinian ambassador to the UK Manuel Hassassian told the BBC.

The request not to join the ICC was "absolutely unworkable", he added.

Change in tone?

While the move is seen as a symbolic milestone in Palestinian ambitions for statehood, a "Yes" vote would also have a practical diplomatic effect, adds our UN correspondent:

Continue reading the main story

How will key countries vote?

• Nations in favour of or likely to support the bid: France, Spain, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Turkey, China, Russia, India, Brazil, South Africa, Nigeria
• Nations against or likely to oppose the bid: Israel, US, Germany, Netherlands,
• Nations set to abstain: UK (needs assurances that the Palestinians would seek negotiations with Israel "without pre-conditions"), Australia, Belgium, Colombia

It would allow the Palestinians to participate in debates at the UN and improve their chances of joining UN agencies and bodies like the International Criminal Court.

Last year Mr Abbas applied for full UN membership, but that got bogged down at the Security Council amidst US opposition, she says.

The US and especially Israel had suggested the Palestinians would suffer financial sanctions for this lesser upgrade, although Israel seems to have moderated its tone. Officials now say they will wait to see how the Palestinians use their new status.

As senior US diplomats travelled to New York on Wednesday in a last-bid attempt to get Mr Abbas to reconsider, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterated the US position that the Palestinian move was misguided.

"The path to a two-state solution that fulfils the aspirations of the Palestinian people is through Jerusalem and Ramallah, not New York," she said. "The only way to get a lasting solution is to commence direct negotiations."

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Logjam ends: Parliament set to debate with voting on FDI - Hindustan Times

BJP dares govt to go for voting on FDI

The four-day logjam in Lok Sabha over the FDI in retail ended on Thursday with Speaker Meira Kumar allowing a discussion on the subject under a rule that entails voting. "I have received 30 notices for discussion on FDI in multi-brand retail under Rule 184. I have admitted the motion to allow the discussion. The date and the time will be decided later," the Speaker announced in the House.

Her observation came minutes after the Leader of the House Sushilkumar Shinde, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamalnath and Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj met her in her chamber before the House met for the day.

The government on Thursday made clear its readiness for a debate that entails voting on the FDI issue in Rajya Sabha also.

This was conveyed by parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath to Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari.

"I have said our party and the government is in favour of running both the Houses of Parliament and whatever decision in whatever rule is taken by the Chairman should be towards running the House," he told reporters outside Parliament House.

To a question, he said, "If the Chairman decides to have a discission by vote, well, we have to be ready for a vote."

The minister's remark came shortly after Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar allowed a discussion on the subject under a rule that entails voting, bringing an end to the four-day logjam in the Lower House over the issue.

The government had on Wednesday itself given clear signals that it has no problem in having a discussion on FDI under a rule that entails voting after Nath held consultations with Swaraj and her Rajya Sabha counterpart Arun Jaitley.

Swaraj welcomed the decision of the Speaker. "I welcome the decision. I assure you smooth functioning of the House," she said immediately after the Speaker allowed it.

Parliament has not been functioning since Winter Session began on November 22 with the Left and the Right making a common cause on the demand for a discussion under a rule that entails voting.

An indication of a resolution to the logjam was available in the morning itself when Kamalnath told reporters that he was hopeful that Parliament will run smoothly.

Yielding to Opposition pressure, government agreed to the measure to discuss the issue under Rule 184 to ensure "smooth
functioning" of the House as opposition parties stuck to their demand.

Parliament failed to transact any business for four consecutive days 22 despite government's efforts to break the logjam over FDI through an all-party meeting.

The all- party meeting on Monday saw SP and BSP providing comfort to the government by not insisting on voting. UPA constituent DMK, which has been opposing FDI in multi-brand retail, also finally agreed to vote with the government.

Trinamool Congress, which had given a notice for no-confidence motion last week over FDI issue, had sprung a surprise by not pressing for vote during the meeting.

TMC MPs, however, protested against FDI at Parliament gate on Thursday and shouted slogans against the UPA government over its measures like FDI in multi-brand retail and proposed pension reforms.

However, Rajya Sabha was on Thursday adjourned till noon, and later for the day, after uproar by opposition NDA which demanded discussion on allowing FDI in retail sector, under a rule that allows voting.

As the House met for the day, NDA members led by senior BJP members M Venkaiah Naidu and Ravi Shankar Prasad were on their feet raising the issue. Some members shouted slogans against allowing FDI in retail sector.

Minister of state for parliamentary affairs V Narayanasamy said the opposition could raise the issue during Zero Hour.

SP members too were on their feet opposing a bill to provide reservation to SCs and STs in promotions in government jobs.

Ansari asked members to take their seats to that Question Hour could be taken up. "Please allow Question Hour to proceed." With members adamant, he adjourned the House till noon.

Ansari had convened a meeting of leaders of all parties to find a solution to the House impasse on the opposition demand for a discussion on FDI in retail with voting provision.

Sources said the meeting has now evolved a solution on the lines of the decision made in Lok Sabha to have a vote on the discussion on FDI.

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Boy, 6, dies in Hempstead bus-house crash - Newsday

Originally published: November 27, 2012 10:29 PM
Updated: November 28, 2012 3:03 AM
By ELLEN YAN AND BILL MASON  ellen.yan@newsday.com, bill.mason@newsday.com

Photo credit: Howard Schnapp | A NICE bus crashed into a house in Hempstead, resulting in multiple injuries and at least one death, officials said. (Nov. 27, 2012)

A Nassau County bus hit a pedestrian before crashing into a multifamily house in Hempstead Tuesday night, killing a 6-year-old boy in a front bedroom and injuring his 7-year-old brother and 11 passengers, authorities said.

The bus driver was heading west on Fulton Avenue at about 9:15 p.m., when he saw a pedestrian crossing the four-lane road and honked his horn, Nassau police said.

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Damascus car bombs kill at least 20 - Irish Times

irishtimes.com - Last Updated: Wednesday, November 28, 2012, 08:44

At least 20 people were killed in Syria when two car bombs exploded in the eastern Damascus district of Jaramana today, activists and Syrian media said.

Addounia television, which said the blasts occurred shortly after 4.30am Irish time,  roadcast footage of firefighters hosing down the blackened hulks of two vehicles.

Debris from neighbouring buildings had also crushed several other cars.

State news agency Sana described the blasts as "terrorist bombings", a label it reserves for the mainly Sunni Muslim rebel fighters who have been battling to overthrow Dr Assad, a member of Syria's Alawite minority which is linked to Shia Islam.

Sana said the car bombs caused serious damage as well as deaths and injuries. Two smaller bombs also exploded in Jaramana at around the same time.

Addounia television broadcast footage of firefighters hosing down the blackened hulks of two vehicles. Debris from neighbouring buildings had also crushed several other cars.

The television channel quoted a reporter on the scene as saying at least 20 people had been killed. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group which has monitored the violence throughout Syria's 20-month-old uprising, said 29 people were killed and dozens wounded.

Reuters 

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Obama pushes tax agenda, Congress in stand-off - Reuters

Darkness sets in over the U.S. Capitol building hours before U.S. President Barack Obama is set to deliver his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington January 24, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst

By Richard Cowan and Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON | Wed Nov 28, 2012 3:41am EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday launched a public relations push for his bid to raise taxes on wealthy Americans, but U.S. lawmakers remained deadlocked over dramatic, year-end tax increases and spending cuts known as the "fiscal cliff."

At the White House, small business leaders emerged from a one-hour meeting with Obama to voice support for his goal of extending low tax rates for the middle class beyond the end of the year, while letting rates rise for wealthier taxpayers.

The business owners urged Obama "to fight to keep the middle-class tax cuts," said Lew Prince, co-founder of Vintage Vinyl, an independent music store in St. Louis, Mo.

"What grows jobs in America is consumers spending money, and the average person needs that two or three thousand dollars a year in his pocket to help drive the economy," Prince told reporters at the White House.

Republicans want to extend low tax rates - enacted a decade ago under the administration of former Republican President George W. Bush - for all taxpayers, including households earning more than $250,000 a year.

Raising tax rates on the wealthy would discourage investment and hiring at a time of high unemployment, Republicans say.

Congressional Democrats allied with the president showed no sign of backing down from his stance on raising taxes for the wealthy. But both sides have softened on some long-held positions: Republicans have been showing a willingness to consider new revenue increases while Democrats have relaxed their hard line against new savings to the costly government-run Medicare and Medicaid healthcare programs.

With just a month left before the Bush tax cuts expire and automatic spending cuts begin to take hold, markets were anxious about predictions that falling off the "fiscal cliff" could trigger another recession.

"There remains no clarity on the ultimate status on the Bush tax cuts, which have to be resolved before you can move forward with the remainder of the fiscal cliff," said Chris Krueger, an analyst at Guggenheim Securities' Washington Research Group.

MARKETS DOWN MODESTLY

Stock prices declined modestly despite government reports that planned U.S. business spending rose again in October and that single-family home prices rose again in September.

Despite a mild sell-off in stocks, the Dow Jones industrial average closed at about 12,878, up 14 percent from a year ago.

Brian Gardner, an analyst at financial firm Keefe Bruyette & Woods, said a limited deal would likely be struck to avert the fiscal cliff, with larger fiscal issues pushed into 2013.

"Fiscal cliff headlines could have the biggest impact on the market," he said. "Over the coming weeks, we expect many headlines that will raise and then dash investors' hopes ... The next three weeks could be a bumpy ride."

Fresh from his November 6 re-election, Obama was set to hold another meeting with business executives from larger companies on Wednesday and then to travel to a toy factory in Pennsylvania on Friday to press his case on taxes.

Chief executives from Goldman Sachs, Deloitte LLP, Caterpillar Inc, Yahoo Inc, and Comcast Corp were among the group of leaders set to meet with the president, the White House said.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell ripped into Obama for planning to take his agenda on the road. "Rather than sitting down with lawmakers of both parties and working out an agreement, he's back out on the campaign trail," McConnell roared on the Senate floor.

"We already know the president is a very good campaigner. What we don't know is whether he has the leadership qualities necessary to lead his party to a bipartisan agreement."

Obama last met with congressional leaders on November 16. A follow-up session was not expected this week, but could come next week, congressional aides said.

In the interim, little progress was made over the holidays in meetings between the staffs of the White House and Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner, aides said.

LEADERS CANVAS RANKS

Ron Bonjean, a former aide to Republican leaders in the House and Senate, said leaders were still checking with their rank-and-file members to gauge what concessions they might be able to stomach. In a week or so, Bonjean said, "the level of intensity will go up" with more meetings.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said he was disappointed there has been "little progress" on a deal to avoid the "fiscal cliff" and warned that "we only have a couple weeks to get something done.

Despite frustration, Reid said he was optimistic lawmakers would avoid plunging off the "cliff," a convergence of an estimated $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts. "I'm extremely hopeful, and I do not believe that the Republicans are going to allow us to go over the cliff," he said.

While Republicans have not shifted from their opposition to tax rate increases, a few have publicly disavowed a no-new-taxes pledge to which most of them have adhered for years, putting tax revenues, if not higher rates, on the negotiating table.

Also on Tuesday, Dick Durbin, a senior Senate Democrat and close Obama ally, urged fellow liberals to consider reforming Medicare and Medicaid, signaling possible compromise in an area where Democrats have steadfastly resisted change.

"Progressives should be willing to talk about ways to ensure the long-term viability of Medicare and Medicaid" for the elderly and poor, Durbin said in excerpts from a speech.

But he added that Medicare and Medicaid should not be part of the current negotiations on averting the fiscal cliff. On that front, Durbin stood firmly with Obama, urging extension of middle-class tax cuts for 98 percent of Americans.

(Additional reporting by Thomas Ferraro, Kim Dixon, Patricia Zengerle, Lucia Mutikani and Mark Felsenthal, with Adam Kerlin in New York. Writing by Kevin Drawbaugh. Editing by Karey Wutkowski, Jackie Frank, Vicki Allen and Paul Simao)

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Israel tries to downplay Palestinians' UN bid - Ynetnews

Jerusalem has accepted it won't be able to stop General Assembly from upgrading PA's status. "There will be fireworks in Ramallah, but the settlements will stay in place,' official says

Itamar Eichner

Israel has accepted it cannot stop the Palestinians from going forward with their UN status upgrade bid on Thursday. The General Assembly is set to approve Mahmoud Abbas' bid to upgrade the Palestinian Authority's status to from observer to non-member state.

"I wouldn't overstate the importance of the UN vote," a senior Israeli official said. "True, we're going to see fireworks in Ramallah but the settlements will remain exactly where they are and the IDF will continue to operate in the same areas."

Related stories:

  The forum of top nine ministers has yet to decide what steps to take in response but it appears Israel will keep a low profile so as not to turn the focus away from the Palestinian move which clearly violates the Oslo Accords.

On Tuesday, France officially announced it would be endorsing the Palestinian bid. It is estimated that most Asian and African nations will also vote in favor of the status upgrade.

Britain is set to abstain as will Italy, Australia and Germany. Israeli officials estimate that other than Israel itself, the US, Canada, Micronesia and Guatemala will vote against the bid.

Having realized the battle has been lost, Israeli officials are trying to downplay the move. "We won't be passive and sit idly by," a state official said, "but there's no need to issue statements. We'll respond when the time is right."

Though Israel is accusing the Palestinians of grossly violating the Oslo Accords it has announced it will continue to honor them herself.

However, it has been revealed that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has recommended deducting the NIS 750 million owed by the PA to the Israel Electric Corp. from the tax money Israel transfers to the Palestinians every month, in accordance with 1994 Paris Agreement.

The state official also dismissed Palestinians threats to try Israeli statesmen and officers over settlement construction in the International Criminal Court. "We need not fear this," he said.

Meanwhile, Israel is stepping up its criticism of Abbas. A senior official said Tuesday that the Palestinian president is no longer relevant and that his UN bid is meant to guarantee his personal political survival.

Abbas is a corrupt leader, he said, who has postponed the West Bank elections for more than two years as he knows he will lose to Hamas.

Sources in Ramallah, on their part, said that Abbas is under heavy pressure by the US and some European nations to withdraw his bid. "But he has no choice, had he withdrawn his bid he would not have been able to return to Ramallah and keep his seat."

The Palestinian leader is heading to New York with full backing from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.

Itamar Eichner is a Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth correspondent

Roni Shaked contributed to this report

 

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Republican senators say Rice meeting just leaves more questions unanswered - Fox News

Republican senators finally got their opportunity Tuesday for a face-to-face talk with UN Ambassador Susan Rice about the events surrounding the fatal attacks on U.S. outposts in Benghazi, Libya, but said they left feeling more confused and "disturbed" than before the meeting.

"I am more disturbed now than before," said South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who met with Rice for about 90 minutes on Capitol Hill.

Graham was joined at the meeting by acting CIA Director Michael Morell and Sens. Kelly Ayotte, of New Hampshire, and John McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"I'm significantly troubled by the answers we got and didn't get," said McCain, R-Ariz.

The lawmakers said the meeting covered questions about security at the U.S. Consulate and CIA annex in Benghazi before the Sept. 11 attacks, in which U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed, and about Rice's comments afterward.

Rice, U.S. envoy to the United Nations, went on network television five days after the attacks to say the strikes were "spontaneous" and seemed to grow out of a protest of an anti-Islamic video.

However, reports later revealed no evidence of a protest outside the Consulate, and U.S. intelligence officials later said the strike appeared to be a pre-planned terrorist attack.

Rice has maintained that she was using talking points provided to her from unclassified intelligence reports based on the best available information.

She acknowledged Tuesday that information was not accurate.

"In the course of the meeting, we explained that the talking points provided by the intelligence community, and the initial assessment upon which they were based, were incorrect in a key respect: There was no protest or demonstration in Benghazi," Rice said in a written statement.

"Neither I nor anyone else in the administration intended to mislead the American people at any stage in this process, and the administration updated Congress and the American people as our assessments evolved."

Rice continues to be discussed as one of the top candidates to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she steps down next year.

However, the senators said after the meeting they needed more information about the attacks and the aftermath before making a decision on how they might vote on a potential Rice nomination.

Clinton has said she will step down as soon as her replacement is ready.

Rice and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., have been the top names discussed for the job.

The three Republican senators have been the most vocal in demanding Rice be held accountable for her public explanation of events.

"I am more troubled today and after meeting with acting Director Morrell and Susan Rice," Ayotte said.

The New Hampshire senator also said Rice's responsibility to the American public is to "go well beyond the talking points."

Rice and Morell met later in the day with Connecticut Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman, and Rice is scheduled to meet Wednesday with Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins. She also is expected to meet soon with Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker.

"It's only fair to her," Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Government Affairs Committee, said about Rice's trip to Capitol Hill. "There's a lot of rumoring going on."

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Record $500 million Powerball jackpot drives ticket-buying frenzy - Reuters

Wed Nov 28, 2012 3:59am EST

Nov 28 (Reuters) - Dreams of vast riches from a record Powerball jackpot of at least half-a-billion dollars drove enthusiastic ticket-buying across the United States ahead of the Wednesday night draw, and continued heavy sales could nudge the payout higher, authorities said.

Powerball has not had a winner for two months, and the pot has already grown by nearly $175 million due to brisk ticket sales after no one won the top prize in Saturday's drawing.

The next draw for the prize on Wednesday night would dish out a whopping $327.4 million and counting if paid as a lump sum. Alternatively, the $500 million can be paid out in an annuity over three decades.

"It's been crazy," said Chris Lewis, manager of a 7-Eleven convenience store in Westminster, Colorado, that sold 2,000 tickets in 11 hours on Tuesday. "I'm worn out because it's been so busy today. Amazing."

Powerball is sold in 42 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. There have been nearly 300 jackpot winners over the past 20 years, taking home payouts of over $11.6 billion.

Among dreamers lining up at an Arizona grocery store in Tucson for a shot at Wednesday's prize was metal shop worker Errol Simmons, 54, entrusted with a list of lucky numbers by a dozen or so co-workers.

"I've got to get this right," he said as he checked through the list. "I don't want to be the guy who lost us half a billion dollars because I couldn't count.

"If we win, I'll buy a new truck," he said. "For each day of the week."

Looking sharp in a blue pin striped suit, Portland, Oregon, financial adviser Aaron Pearson, 36, said he was taking care to pick his own numbers for the first time - although he was unsure what he would do with the huge jackpot should he win.

"I have no idea. I'd invest it and live off of it. I'd give to charities. I'd start a foundation," he mused.

The chance of winning the jackpot are about one in 175 million, compared to about one in 280,000 for being struck by lightning.

Despite the long odds, the record payout has drawn interest from around the world, said Mary Neubauer, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Lottery, where Powerball is based. Lottery officials have received calls and emails from people outside the United States asking if they can buy a ticket from afar. They cannot.

"Sales across the country are just through the roof. It means lots of people are having fun with this, but it makes it difficult to keep up with the (jackpot) estimate."

The previous top Powerball prize of $365 million was won in 2006 by ConAgra slaughterhouse workers in Nebraska.

In March, three winning tickets shared the largest U.S. lottery jackpot, the $656 million Mega Millions drawing. (Reporting by Teresa Carson in Oregon,; Keith Coffman in Colorado,; Paul Ingram in Tucson and Jonathan Kaminsky in Washington state; Writing by Tim Gaynor; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Vicki Allen)

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Seeming Retreat by Egypt Leader on New Powers - New York Times

Tara Todras-Whitehill for The New York Times

Egyptians at a burned-out school in Cairo on Monday before the funeral of an activist who was injured in a clash and died Sunday.

CAIRO — With public pressure mounting, President Mohamed Morsi appeared to pull back Monday from his attempt to assert an authority beyond the reach of any court. His allies in the Muslim Brotherhood canceled plans for a large demonstration in his support, signaling a chance to calm an escalating battle that has paralyzed a divided nation.

After Mr. Morsi met for hours with the judges of Egypt's Supreme Judicial Council, his spokesman read an "explanation" on television that appeared to backtrack from a presidential decree placing Mr. Morsi's official edicts above judicial scrutiny — even while saying the president had not actually changed a word of the statement.

Though details of the talks remained hazy, and it was not clear whether the opposition or the court would accept his position, Mr. Morsi's gesture was another demonstration that Egyptians would no longer allow their rulers to operate above the law. But there appeared little chance that the gesture alone would be enough to quell the crisis set off by his perceived power grab.

Protesters remained camped in Tahrir Square, and the opposition was moving ahead with plans for a major demonstration on Tuesday.

The presidential spokesman, Yasser Ali, said for the first time that Mr. Morsi had sought only to assert pre-existing powers already approved by the courts under previous precedents, not to free himself from judicial oversight.

He said that the president meant all along to follow an established Egyptian legal doctrine suspending judicial scrutiny of presidential "acts of sovereignty" that work "to protect the main institutions of the state." The judicial council had said Sunday that it could bless aspects of the decree deemed to qualify under the doctrine.

Mr. Morsi had maintained from the start that his purpose was to empower himself to prevent judges appointed by former President Hosni Mubarak from dissolving the constituent assembly, which is led by his fellow Islamists of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party. The courts have already dissolved the Islamist-led Parliament and an earlier constituent assembly, and the Supreme Constitutional Court was widely expected to rule against this one next week.

But the text of the original decree had exempted all presidential edicts from judicial review until the ratification of a constitution, not just those edicts related to the assembly or justified as "acts of sovereignty."

Legal experts said that the spokesman's explanations of the president's intentions, if put into effect, would amount to a revision of the decree Mr. Morsi issued last Thursday. But lawyers said that the verbal statements alone carried little legal weight.

How the courts would apply the doctrine remained hard to predict. And Mr. Morsi's opposition indicated it was holding out for far greater concessions, including the breakup of the whole constituent assembly.

Speaking at a news conference while Mr. Morsi was meeting with the judges, the opposition activist and intellectual Abdel Haleem Qandeil called for "a long-term battle," declaring that withdrawal of Mr. Morsi's new powers was only the first step toward the opposition's goal of "the withdrawal of the legitimacy of Morsi's presence in the presidential palace." Completely withdrawing the edict would be "a minimum," he said.

Khaled Ali, a human rights lawyer and former presidential candidate, pointed to the growing crowd of protesters camped out in Tahrir Square for a fourth night. "The one who did the action has to take it back," Mr. Ali said.

Moataz Abdel Fattah, a political scientist at Cairo University, said Mr. Morsi was saving face during a strategic retreat. "He is trying to simply say, 'I am not a new pharaoh; I am just trying to stabilize the institutions that we already have,' " he said. "But for the liberals, this is now their moment, and for sure they are not going to waste it, because he has given them an excellent opportunity to score."

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Susan Rice Set to Meet GOP Critics - Wall Street Journal

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Investigators exhume Yasser Arafat's body - USA TODAY

There has been persistent speculation in the Arab world that Israel poisoned Yasser Arafat. Israel has denied such allegations.(Photo: Hussein Hussein, AFP)

Story Highlights

• International forensic experts are searching for clues to Arafat's death
• Arafat died in 2004 in a French military hospital, a month after falling ill
• Investigation was sparked by the discovery of polonium on clothing said to be his

3:05AM EST November 27. 2012 -

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian authorities on Tuesday exhumed the remains of their late leader Yasser Arafat, overriding cultural taboos against disturbing a gravesite to determine with the help from foreign experts whether he was poisoned, as relatives and political successors have claimed.

Arafat, an icon of Palestinian nationalism, died in a French military hospital in November 2004, a month after suddenly falling ill. The immediate cause of death was a stroke, but the underlying reasons were unclear, leading to widespread belief in the Arab world that Israel poisoned him — a claim Israel denies.

An investigation was launched at the time, but it then lay dormant for years, only to be revived this summer when a Swiss lab detected traces of a lethal radioactive substance in biological stains on his clothing.

On Tuesday morning, after several weeks of preparations, Arafat's remains were taken from his mausoleum in the West Bank city of Ramallah and moved to a nearby mosque, according to two Palestinian officials. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the exhumation with the media.

At the mosque, Palestinian physicians took samples from the remains and handed them to Swiss, French and Russian experts, the officials said. According to Islam, only Muslims can handle a Muslim's remains. The foreign experts will examine the samples in their home countries, the officials said. Earlier, samples were also taken from Arafat's bedroom, office and personal belongings, they said.

The Palestinian government had earlier covered parts of Arafat's mausoleum with a large sheet of blue tarpaulin to prevent any filming of the opening of the grave. Arafat was widely revered, and there were concerns that disturbing his grave could spark protests.

Public reaction in the West Bank was mixed.

Nidaa Younes, a Palestinian government employee, said it was unnecessary to dig up the remains. "Our religion forbids exhuming graves. It is not nice at all to do this, even if religion permits it in some cases," she said, adding that she believes Israel was responsible for Arafat's death.

Ramallah resident Tony Abdo said he supports the exhumation, expecting it to prove that Arafat did not die a natural death.

Accusations that Arafat was poisoned revived after the Swiss laboratory, featured in a televised investigation by Arab satellite TV channel Al-Jazeera, said it discovered elevated traces of polonium-210 on clothing said to be Arafat's.

Arafat's widow, Suha, had handed over his medical file and what she said was a duffel bag of his belongings, including a fur hat and a woolen cap with some of his hair, a toothbrush, and clothing with his urine and blood stains.

The laboratory, Switzerland's Institute of Radiation Physics, said the findings were inconclusive and that Arafat's bones would have to be tested for more concrete proof. That prompted a request to have his remains exhumed, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Arafat's successor, approved the request this summer.

But the exhumation and the testing of the remains might not resolve the mystery. Polonium-210 decomposes rapidly, and some experts say it is not clear whether any remaining samples will be sufficient for testing.

For decades, Arafat was the symbol of the Palestinians' struggle for an independent state. Since returning to the Palestinian territories in the early 1990s, as part of interim peace deals with Israel, he zigzagged between leading negotiations with Israel and condoning violence as a means of obtaining political goals.

A recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 for his commitment to work toward peace with Israel, Arafat later presided over the Palestinians as they waged a violent uprising against the Jewish state.

Israel accused him of ordering attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers, and confined him to his Ramallah compound. He stayed there for more than two years before falling ill. He was 75 when he died.

He was equally controversial among Palestinians, with some accusing his political circle of corruption and the pocketing of large amounts of aid. But he remains a widely revered figure in the Palestinian territories, and his portrait frequently appears in government offices and street posters.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Casey sets hearing on fiscal cliff - Philadelphia Inquirer

Jonathan Tamari, Inquirer Washington Bureau

Posted: Tuesday, November 27, 2012, 3:01 AM

WASHINGTON - In case anyone missed it, President Obama and his allies had a reminder for lawmakers returning to work Monday: the fiscal cliff is coming, and it will take a massive bite out of the middle class unless a deal is reached by Dec. 31.

The message was delivered anew by a White House report showing that looming tax hikes could cost middle-income families $2,200 and take a $200 billion chunk out of consumer spending, slowing economic growth. That warning will likely be amplified by Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.), who announced a forthcoming hearing on the fiscal cliff's impact on businesses and the middle class.

Combined, the report and Casey's announcement appeared aimed at amplifying pressure on Republicans to compromise on Obama's call to extend tax cuts for families making $250,000 or less, averting much of the impending tax pain for 98 percent of Americans. The move would also make it easier to increase rates on wealthier Americans, as Obama promised in his campaign.

"I would hope that Republicans would come together with us and say, 'Let's vote on what we agree on and let's vote to make sure that middle class families have their tax cuts in place,'" Casey said in an interview, echoing comments made by Obama and other Democrats, including Philadelphia Mayor Nutter.

Casey also called for extending an expiring payroll-tax cut, a provision that has garnered little attention but that could also affect take-home pay.

Republicans have resisted Obama's tax plan, saying that while they are open to raising revenues by closing loopholes or capping deductions, rate increases would harm the economy. GOP leaders want to extend existing tax rates for all incomes. Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) has issued a report saying that raising rates would cost 31,000 jobs in Pennsylvania.

From the News Desk

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The White House, though, warned that a stalemate resulting in higher tax rates for middle-income families would have its own damaging effects. The administration released its report on consumer spending just in time for the holiday shopping season and Congress' return to Washington after the Thanksgiving break.

A middle-class family of four could face a $2,200 tax hike if Congress doesn't avert the hikes looming at year's end, the report said. That would translate into less spending on dining out, cars, and household items, said the report by Obama's National Economic Council and Council of Economic Advisers.

Middle-class spending "is the pillar that holds up the U.S. economy," said Alan Krueger, chairman of Council of Economic Advisers.

The study looked at the effect of allowing income tax rates to rise on incomes of $250,000 and less, and of a failure to fix the Alternative Minimum Tax so that its reach doesn't expand by millions of taxpayers.

It did not factor in the expiring payroll-tax cut, which dropped the tax from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent. Many in Washington expect that break to vanish at year's end, but Casey said it should continue because it puts money back into paychecks and encourages consumer spending. "It's not the only factor but I think it's a substantial factor in getting monthly job growth," he said.

The expiring break would affect nearly 77 percent of tax filers and cost an average of $721 in 2013, the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center said.

Casey, chairman of Congress' Joint Economic Committee, scheduled a Dec. 6 hearing on the potential impact of the tax hikes and spending cuts known together as the fiscal cliff. The hearing will also serve to ratchet up scrutiny of the negotiations grinding back to life this week.

---

Contact staff writer Jonathan Tamari at jtamari@phillynews.com. Read his blog 'CapitolInq' at www.philly.com/CapitolInq.

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Joseph E Murray, transplant pioneer and Nobel prizewinner, dies at 93 - The Guardian

Dr Joseph E Murray, who performed the world's first successful kidney transplant and won a Nobel prize for his pioneering work, has died at 93.

Murray suffered a stroke at his suburban Boston home on Thursday, the Thanksgiving holiday, and died at Brigham and Women's Hospital on Monday, hospital spokesman Tom Langford said.

Since the first kidney transplants on identical twins, hundreds of thousands of transplants on a variety of organs have been performed worldwide. Murray shared the Nobel prize in physiology or medicine in 1990 with Dr E Donnall Thomas, who won for his work in bone marrow transplants.

"Kidney transplants seem so routine now," Murray told the New York Times after he won the Nobel. "But the first one was like Lindbergh's flight across the ocean."

Murray's breakthroughs did not come without criticism, from ethicists and religious leaders. Some people "felt that we were playing God and that we shouldn't be doing all of these, quote, experiments on human beings", he told the Associated Press in a 2004 interview in which he also spoke out in favor of stem cell research.

In the early 1950s, there had never been a successful human organ transplant. Murray and his associates at Boston's Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, now Brigham and Women's Hospital, developed new surgical techniques, gaining knowledge by successfully transplanting kidneys on dogs. In December 1954, they found the right patients, 23-year-old Richard Herrick, who had end-stage kidney failure, and his identical twin, Ronald Herrick.

Because of their identical genetic background, they did not face the biggest problem with transplant patients, the immune system's rejection of foreign tissue.

After the operation, Richard had a functioning kidney transplanted from Ronald. Richard lived another eight years, marrying a nurse he met at the hospital and having two children.

"Post-operatively the transplanted kidney functioned immediately with a dramatic improvement in the patient's renal and cardiopulmonary status," Murray said in his Nobel lecture. "This spectacular success was a clear demonstration that organ transplantation could be life-saving."

Murray performed more transplants on identical twins over the next few years and tried kidney transplants on other relatives, including fraternal twins, learning more about how to suppress the immune system's rejection of foreign tissue. One patient who received a kidney transplant from a fraternal twin in 1959, plus radiation and a bone marrow transplant to suppress his immune response, lived for 29 more years.

But it was the development of drugs to suppress the body's immune response, a less radical approach than radiation, that made real breakthroughs in transplants possible. In 1962, Murray and his team successfully completed the first organ transplant from an unrelated donor. The 23-year-old patient, Mel Doucette, received a kidney from a man who had died.

Murray continued a long career in plastic surgery, his original specialty, and transplants. He was guided by his own deep religious convictions. "Work is a prayer," he told the Harvard University Gazette in 2001. "And I start off every morning dedicating it to our Creator."

Murray told the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2004 he continued to get letters from patients he had helped years earlier and from relatives of those who died during the early efforts.

"They often say … that they are happy to have played some small part in the eventual success of organ transplants," he said, praising the courage of his patients and their families.

Murray was honoured at the 2004 Transplant Games, for athletes who have received organ transplants, along with Ronald Herrick, the man who had donated a kidney to his twin brother half-a-century earlier.

Murray continued to support and mentor others at Brigham and Women's Hospital after his retirement, the hospital president, Dr Elizabeth Nabel, said. An exhibit in the hospital's library housing his Nobel Prize is framed by his own words: "Service to society is the rent we pay for living on this planet."

Murray's interest in transplants developed during his time in the army during the second world war when he was assigned to Valley Forge General Hospital in Pennsylvania while awaiting overseas duty. The hospital performed reconstructive surgery on troops who had been injured in battle.

The burn patients, who were often treated with skin grafts from other people, intrigued Murray.

"The slow rejection of the foreign skin grafts fascinated me," Murray wrote in his autobiography for the Nobel prize ceremony. "How could the host distinguish another person's skin from his own?"

The hospital's chief of plastic surgery, Colonel James Barrett Brown, had performed skin grafts on civilians and noticed that the closer the donor and recipient were related, the slower the tissue was rejected. A skin graft between identical twins had taken permanently.

Murray said that was "the impetus" for his study of organ transplantation.

Murray was ever the optimist and kept on his desk a quotation, "Difficulties are opportunities," his son, Rick Murray, said.

"It reflects the unwavering optimism of a great man who was generous, curious, and always humble," he said in a statement released by the hospital.

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Euro zone, IMF secure deal on cutting Greek debt - Reuters

1 of 13. A Greek flag flutters in front of the moon in Athens November 26, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis

By Jan Strupczewski and Annika Breidthardt

BRUSSELS | Tue Nov 27, 2012 3:47am EST

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund clinched agreement on reducing Greece's debt on Monday in a breakthrough to release urgently needed loans to keep the near-bankrupt economy afloat.

After 12 hours of talks at their third meeting in as many weeks, Greece's international lenders agreed on a package of measures to reduce Greek debt by 40 billion euros, cutting it to 124 percent of gross domestic product by 2020.

In a significant new pledge, ministers committed to taking further steps to lower Greece's debt to "significantly below 110 percent" in 2022 -- the most explicit recognition so far that some write-off of loans may be necessary from 2016, the point when Greece is forecast to reach a primary budget surplus.

To reduce the debt pile, they agreed to cut the interest rate on official loans, extend their maturity by 15 years to 30 years, and grant Athens a 10-year interest repayment deferral.

"When Greece has achieved, or is about to achieve, a primary surplus and fulfilled all of its conditions, we will, if need be, consider further measures for the reduction of the total debt," German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said.

Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker said ministers would formally approve the release of a major aid installment needed to recapitalize Greece's teetering banks and enable the government to pay wages, pensions and suppliers on December 13.

Greece will receive up to 43.7 billion euros in stages as it fulfills the conditions. The December installment will comprise 23.8 billion for banks and 10.6 billion in budget assistance.

The IMF's share, less than a third of the total, will only be paid out once a buy-back of Greek debt has occurred in the coming weeks, but IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the Fund had no intention of pulling out of the program.

They promised to hand back 11 billion euros in profits accruing to their national central banks from European Central Bank purchases of discounted Greek government bonds in the secondary market.

They also agreed to finance Greece to buy back its own bonds from private investors at what officials said was a target cost of around 35 cents in the euro.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on leaving the talks: "I very much welcome the decisions taken by the ministers of finance. They will certainly reduce the uncertainty and strengthen confidence in Europe and in Greece."

BETTER FUTURE

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras welcomed the deal.

"Everything went well," he told reporters outside his mansion at about 3 a.m. in the morning.

"Tomorrow, a new day starts for all Greeks."

However, the biggest opposition party, Syriza, dismissed the deal and said it fell short of what was needed to make the country's debt sustainable.

The euro strengthened against the dollar after news of the deal and commodities and Asian shares also rose.

Greece, where the euro zone's debt crisis erupted in late 2009, is the currency area's most heavily indebted country, despite a big "haircut" this year on privately-held bonds. Its economy has shrunk by nearly 25 percent in five years.

Negotiations had been stalled over how Greece's debt, forecast to peak at 190-200 percent of GDP in the coming two years, could be cut to a more sustainable 120 percent by 2020.

The agreed figure fell slightly short of that goal, and the IMF was still insisting that euro zone ministers should make a firm commitment to further steps to reduce the debt stock if Athens implements its adjustment program faithfully.

The key question remains whether Greek debt can become sustainable without euro zone governments having to write off some of the loans they have made to Athens.

Germany and its northern European allies have hitherto rejected any idea of forgiving official loans to Athens, but EU officials believe that line may soften after next year's German general election.

DEBT RELIEF "NOT ON TABLE"

Schaeuble told reporters earlier that debt forgiveness was legally impossible, not just for Germany but for other euro zone countries, if it was linked to a new guarantee of loans.

"You cannot guarantee something if you're cutting debt at the same time," he said. That did not preclude possible debt relief at a later stage if Greece completed its adjustment program and no longer needs new loans.

At Germany's insistence, earmarked revenue and aid payments will go into a strengthened "segregated account" to ensure that Greece services its debts.

A source familiar with IMF thinking said a loan write-off once Greece has fulfilled its adjustment program would be the simplest way to make its debt viable, but other methods such as forgoing interest payments, or lending at below market rates and extending maturities could all help.

The German banking association (BDB) said a fresh "haircut" or forced reduction in the value of Greek sovereign debt, must only happen as a last resort.

The ministers agreed to reduce interest on already extended bilateral loans from the current 150 basis points above financing costs to 50 bps.

No figures were announced for the debt buy-back in an effort to avoid triggering a rise in market prices in anticipation of a buyer. But before the meetings, officials had spoken of a 10 billion euro buy-back, that would achieve a net reduction of about 20 billion euros in the debt stock.

German central bank governor Jens Weidmann has suggested that Greece could "earn" a reduction in debt it owes to euro zone governments in a few years if it diligently implements all the agreed reforms. The European Commission backs that view.

An opinion poll published on Monday showed the Syriza party with a four-percent lead over the Conservatives who won election in June, adding to uncertainty over the future of reforms.

(Additional reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek, Ethan Bilby, Luke Baker in Brussels, Reinhardt Becker in Berlin; Writing by Paul Taylor; Editing by Luke Baker and Anna Willard)

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Fiscal cliff: Will liberals jump? - The Star-Ledger - NJ.com

Call them the cliff jumpers.

A growing bloc of emboldened liberals say they're not afraid to watch defense spending get gouged and taxes go up on every American if a budget deal doesn't satisfy their priorities.

(PHOTOS: Fiscal cliff's key players)

Here's what these progressives fear: an agreement that keeps lower tax rates for the wealthy, hits the social safety net with unpalatable cuts and leaves Pentagon spending unscathed. In other words, they'd rather walk the country off the cliff than watch President Barack Obama cave on long-held liberal priorities.

"If the Republicans can't see their way to significant additional revenues targeted toward the people who are best off and targeted toward passive income and other things like that, then we're better off going over the cliff and readdressing this with a better Congress in January," Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said. "And we would have plenty of time to fix it."

Bolstering the Democrats' strategy is the belief that the "fiscal cliff" is actually shaped more like a "slope" where the economic effects will be felt gradually, not immediately. That theory gives Congress some time at the beginning of 2013 to set tax rates and configure budget cuts in a different political environment and with a new class of lawmakers.

But underlying the tough talk is also a sense of liberal angst -- the left feels like it was burned by the last extension of the Bush tax rates and didn't get much of what it wanted in the 2011 debt-limit deal.

If tax rates snap back to the higher levels from the 1990s and painful budget cuts start to hit the Pentagon, these Democrats -- led by Washington Sen. Patty Murray -- believe they would wield more leverage over the GOP to enact a budget compromise on their terms. And with a January deal, Republicans would technically avoid violating the no-new-taxes pledge that most of them have signed because they would then be voting to cut taxes.

Republicans would most likely bear most of the public blame if policymakers deadlock. The Pew Research Center found that 53 percent of Americans would fault GOP lawmakers if Washington fails to avert the fiscal cliff; only 29 percent would point the finger at Obama.

"This is very, very important that we hang in there to essentially get the revenue component," said Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.). "I favor an agreement before Jan. 1, but I'm skeptical that our leadership may be able to reach one. If it's necessary to wait to get a good deal, let's do that."

Murray declared in a speech this summer that she would push budget negotiations into 2013 if Republicans don't cave on taxes for the rich. The fourth-ranking Senate Democrat repeated the threat in a Nov. 11 interview on "This Week."

"If the Republicans will not agree with that, we will reach a point at the end of this year where all the tax cuts expire, and we'll start over next year," Murray said. "And whatever we do will be a tax cut for whatever package we put together. That may be the way to get past this."

The fiscal cliff is a $503 billion mix of tax increases and spending cuts that experts predict will shock the economy in 2013 unless Washington devises a solution to avert it before the end of the year. The cliff includes not only the Bush-era tax cuts and the automatic budget cuts known as the "sequester" but also the payroll tax cut, jobless benefits and reimbursement rates for doctors who serve Medicare patients.

The White House wants to end the Bush-era tax rates on income above $250,000, but Republicans say all rates should be extended because doing otherwise would harm the economy.

The brunt of the cliff could be delayed, however.

For instance, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service could wait to adjust withholding tax tables, which determine how much money is taken out of paychecks. Tax rates could also be fixed retroactively. And the spending cuts to defense and domestic programs may be phased in over time rather than crashing down all at once at the beginning of January.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, one of the earliest espousers of the fiscal slope theory, said in April that entering 2013 without a budget deal would "not produce an economic calamity" as long as lawmakers reach an agreement within the first few weeks of the new year.

With the bad taste of recent budget deals still lingering in their mouths, liberals have particular reason to be concerned. Obama infuriated progressives in 2010 when he struck a deal with Republicans to extend all Bush-era tax rates for two more years, and last year's agreement to raise the debt ceiling contained no new revenues, angering them again.

But this time, Democrats believe voters handed them a clear directive on taxes. Obama centered his campaign on ending tax breaks for the rich and was reelected, while Democrats strengthened the party's majority in the Senate and boosted its numbers in the House.

Liberals on Capitol Hill are already drawing their line. For instance, West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller and Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin have circulated a letter urging Obama to shield entitlement programs from benefit cuts and demand $1 in revenue for every $1 in spending cuts.

"The worry is that Democrats will continue the failed strategy of the past, which is refusing to fight," said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. "To do so after the huge mandate of 2012 is absurd."

But that tough stance has led Republicans to claim Democrats are all too eager to trigger a recession. With a poster of a scene from the 1991 film "Thelma and Louise" behind him, Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch said in a floor speech this summer that -- much like the movie's title characters -- Democrats were planning to drive the economy straight over the edge to get tax increases.

"Rather than stop the country from going over the fiscal cliff and preventing the expiration of the 2001 and 2003 tax relief, they are prepared to Thelma and Louise the American economy right over the cliff," said Hatch, the top Republican on the Finance Committee. "That is an astonishing admission."

And other Democrats aren't so keen on pushing the showdown past 2012. When asked whether he could let the year-end deadline lapse without a deal under any circumstances, Michigan Rep. Sander Levin, the House's top Democratic tax-writer, said: "It's such a bad idea that we ought to do it now."

"As long as people on the left and the right believe that there's not going to be any consequences of the intransigent positions, this is not going to be resolved," said Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), former chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.

Some Democrats off Capitol Hill are also skeptically eyeing the strategy.

"Markets are going to go into an absolute tailspin, and I don't think we want to risk that, especially with leadership right now trying to find a deal," said Gabriel Horwitz, director of the economic program for Third Way, a centrist think tank. "I think the market reaction is going to happen immediately."

Top negotiators won't explicitly endorse the tip-off-the-cliff method. The White House has repeatedly said an agreement must be reached, though it has drawn its own hard line: Obama will veto any bill that keeps the Bush-era tax rates for the highest earners. When asked about Murray's tactic in July, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters: "Patty Murray knows what she's talking about."

"I don't think it's my role to go to the table with a threat," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in an interview with ABC. "I think it's my role to go to the table with some ideas, to be receptive to what we can come to agreement on."

But rank-and-file Democrats calling for a so-called balanced deal are getting ready for that alternative.

"If there's a better opportunity to deal with that in January," said Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), "then that last option is something that Democrats need to prepare for."

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