Once-conjoined NY twins make debut at Pa. hospital

Monday, 31 December 2012

Philadelphia, Dec 31 : More than nine months after they were born joined at the lower chest and abdomen, twin girls made their public debut at the hospital where they were separated.

Allison June and Amelia Lee Tucker, clad in animal-striped shirts and flowered headbands, were introduced during a news conference at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Both girls still have nasal tubes but appeared rosy-cheeked and alert as they were held by their parents, Shellie and Greg Tucker, of Adams, N.Y., about 300 miles north of Philadelphia near Lake Ontario.

Allison, described by doctors and her parents as the smaller but feistier twin, was discharged from the hospital. Her sister Amelia, who's larger and more reserved, needs a little more recovery time and will remain in the hospital into the new year.

"We totally expect them to have full, independent lives," said pediatric surgeon Dr. Holly Hedrick, who led a 40-person medical team in the complex seven-hour operation on Nov. 7.

The twins shared a chest wall, diaphragm, liver and pericardium, the membrane around the heart.

Shellie Tucker was about 20 weeks into her pregnancy when she learned she was carrying conjoined twins. Prenatal screening tests at Children's Hospital, including ultrasound imaging and MRI, determined that they would be good candidates for separation.

Planning for the separation surgery began months before the twins were delivered by cesarean section on March 1. Shortly after they were born, plastic surgeons inserted expanders under the girls' skin to increase the skin surface available to cover exposed organs after their separation.

Shellie Tucker described the past year as a "roller coaster ride" but said she was relieved now that her daughters are doing so well.

"The burden is completely gone, and I am very, very happy," she said.

The surgery was the 21st successful separation of conjoined twins performed at the hospital. The first was in 1957.

According to statistics provided by the hospital, conjoined twins occur once in every 50,000 to 60,000 births and about 70 percent are female. Most conjoined twins are stillborn.

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Soyuz capsule docks with space Station

Almaty, Dec 31 : A Soyuz capsule packed with three astronauts successfully docked with the International Space Station, taking the size of the full crew at the orbiting laboratory to six.

American Tom Marshburn, Russian Roman Romanenko and Canadian Chris Hadfield traveled two days in the capsule before linking up with the space station's Russian Rassvet research module.

The docking took place around 255 miles (410 kilometers) above the capital of Kazakhstan.

Almost three hours passed before pressure was equalized between the capsule and the space station, allowing for safe entrance.

As the hatches were unlocked, the arriving trio was welcomed by NASA astronaut Kevin Ford and Russian colleagues Oleg Novitsky and Yevgeny Tarelkin.

The six colleagues exchanged hugs and posed for photos as they floated in the weightless atmosphere of the station.

Minutes after entry, Hadfield could be heard saying in English: "I love what you've done with the place."

Hadfield flew to the space station in 2001, when he spent 11 days at the facility and performed two spacewalks. He will take over as the space station's first ever Canadian commander in its fourteen year history when the crew now onboard prepares to leave in March.

Family members spoke for the first since the launch with the astronauts in a linkup from the Korolyov space center outside Moscow.

"It was just a heck of a ride for the three of us. It's like being on a crazy dragster, just a fun, crazy zip up to space," Hadfield said, speaking to his son.

The incoming crew will spend nearly five months at the space station before returning to earth.

Their mission began with a launch from the Russian-leased Baikonur space port in southern Kazakhstan.

The International Space Station is the biggest orbiting outpost ever built and can sometimes be seen from the Earth with the naked eye. It consists of more than a dozen modules built by the U.S., Russia, Canada, Japan and the European Space Agency.

The astronauts will conduct some 50 scientific experiments including a test for a system aimed at predicting natural calamities.

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Bears were used in test flights of world’s first supersonic jet bomber

Washington, Dec 31 : When the U.S. Air Force was designing its first supersonic jet bomber in the 1950s, it turns out bears were an essential part of the process, helping to test the plane’s new ejection seats during the Cold War, according to i09.com.

The website has put together a summary of the role bears played in testing the supersonic Convair B-58 Hustler. Apparently, because Himalayan and American black bears are reasonably close in size to humans, they were deemed acceptable substitutes, after a team of humans died in an early ejection test.

So, while Chief Warrant Officer E.J. Murray became the first human to successfully eject from a B-58 at nonsupersonic speeds on Feb. 28, 1962, it was a 2-year-old, female black bear that made it into the history books for the first successful supersonic ejection from the aircraft. That occurred about a month later, on March 21.

The bear was ejected from the plane at 35,000 feet above Edwards Air Force Base at a speed of Mach 1.3. It took nearly eight minutes for the capsule containing the bear to reach the ground safely.

Io9 describes the ejection system: “In the new system, a pre-ejection handle yanked the pilot's legs in close and closed a scalloped shell that enclosed him while still allowing rudimentary control of the plane. The actual ejection handle sent the capsule up with a rocket burst, automatically deploying a parachute. The capsule was designed to float, and contained food and survival supplies.”

Statistically, the bears actually fared better than their human counterparts: While a team of humans died in an early ejection test of the B-58, no bears died during the later test runs. However, in an extremely unsettling twist, the bears were euthanized so their bodies could be examined after the ejection tests.

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EU to give Spain, France more time to cut deficit

Madrid, Dec 31: The European Commission will propose giving Spain, France and several other euro zone states more time to cut their public deficits below the target limit of 3 percent of GDP, newspaper El Pais said.

Citing senior Spanish and European Union sources, the Madrid-based daily said France could get an extra year, allowing it to narrow its fiscal gap by 2014, while Spain would be given one or two more years beyond that date.

France said that it would maintain its deficit-reduction goal for 2013 regardless of any softer line from Brussels. A Commission spokeswoman declined to comment on the report.

Spain's fiscal targets are to be reassessed in February, EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said last month. No additional austerity efforts are needed until 2014, he added, when more structural reforms are likely to be required.

France does not appear to need additional belt-tightening and may have room for a "softer adjustment", the commissioner also said in an interview with France's Le Monde newspaper.

But France said it planned to stick to its 3 percent goal for next year. "Our public finance path remains unchanged as it was fixed in the autumn," an aide to Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said.

The French government's 2013 budget is based on a 0.8 percent growth forecast for the year - more optimistic than the flat economic output predicted by Brussels and the International Monetary Fund.

European and Spanish sources had said earlier this month that Spain's fiscal path was likely be loosened to offset the country's second recession in three years.

Such decisions need a formal discussion between the 27 European commissioners as well as a political green light from euro zone finance ministers.

Spain sought support from its European partners this year for its ailing banks, hit by a burst property bubble.

Recession is also undermining government efforts to keep the public debt burden in check, and financial markets expect Madrid to seek sovereign aid sometime next year.

Madrid is to unveil new curbs on index-linked pension payouts and accelerate increases to the retirement age. Both EU demands must be met for Spain to tap international aid, lower its debt costs and fix its stricken economy.

According to El Pais, the Commission has agreed on a new Spanish deficit path of 7 percent of economic output in 2012 and 6 percent in 2013. That compares to current targets of 6.3 percent for 2012 and 4.5 percent for 2013.

Senior Spanish officials said this month the deficit would probably come in at around 7 percent at year end.

Spain's 17 highly devolved autonomous regions are broadly on course to meet their deficit target of 1.5 percent of GDP, while the central government is heading for a deficit close to 5.5 percent, including social security spending.

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Modest discounts, fiscal cliff deter last-minute shoppers

New York, Dec 31 : Retailers may not see a sales surge this weekend as ho-hum discounts and fears about imminent tax hikes and cuts in government spending give Americans fewer reasons to open their wallets in the last few days before Christmas.

The acrimonious debate in Washington over how to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff" is one of a number of concerns weighing on shoppers, experts said, as consumers head to malls ahead of the holiday - typically one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

"I don't think we're going to get a great pickup in the last few days here," said Ron Friedman, retail practice leader at consulting firm Marcum LLP, explaining how the uncertainty related to the "cliff" was weighing on American minds.

"That whole fiscal cliff thing is a bit nerve-wracking, and we're trying to save a bit of money for some (home construction) projects next year," Emma Carrington, 43, said while shopping at the Westfield Old Orchard Mall in Skokie, Illinois.

The mother of three, who was at a Barnes & Noble store to buy her husband a Nook e-reader, said she was spending less than last year.

"We just try to stay on a budget. We're not going crazy," said Tom Chowinski, a market researcher at Nielsen, who was shopping with his wife for their four adult children at a Wal-Mart store in Westbury, New York.

U.S. consumer sentiment plummeted in December as Americans were unnerved by ongoing negotiations. The University of Michigan's final reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment tumbled to 72.9 from 82.7 in November, worse than forecasts for 74.7. It was the lowest level since July.

"Whenever you introduce anxiety, it will have an impact on shoppers' spending," especially those who shop on credit, said Kevin Regan, senior manager director at FTI Consulting.

Some, like New Yorker Linda Hampton, shopping at a Best Buy store, hope lawmakers will somehow avert the "cliff."

"It would be a disaster. Our taxes will go up. But I think our president will step in," Hampton said.

Talks to avoid the fiscal cliff stalled when Republican lawmakers rejected House Speaker John Boehner's proposal aimed at winning concessions from President Barack Obama.

"What could have been a merry Christmas is going to turn to a ho-hum Christmas, and we can thank our, you know, politicians for getting in the middle of it all," NPD analyst Marshal Cohen said. "This great unknown puts a big damper on the consumer feeling confident to go out and spend more."

Malls from New York to Illinois to California had modest crowds, but experts said shoppers could simply be procrastinating. Unlike the past couple of years, when Christmas fell on a weekend, the holiday falls this year, giving last-minute shoppers more breathing room.

Also, many retailers were still offering free shipping and promising to deliver items by Christmas Eve.

"The traffic you see out and about may not necessarily give you the full picture," said Ramesh Swamy, an analyst at Deloitte.

Shoshana Pucci, senior marketing manager at Glendale Galleria in Southern California, said she expected these shoppers to even make multiple visits rather than do all their last-minute shopping in one go.

The holiday quarter can account for about 30 percent of annual sales and half of profit for many chains.

More than 60 percent of U.S. consumers have already finished more than three-quarters of their holiday shopping, according to a poll released here. This means retailers will have to bait shoppers with big discounts to get them to open their wallets in the last lap of the holiday race.

While Cohen and Friedman expected retailers to pull out all the stops this weekend to woo last-minute shoppers, some others expected discounts to be less aggressive since retailers did a better job of managing inventory this year.

"Customers will not be finding deals as good as last year," said Scott Tuhy, a vice president at Moody's. "I haven't seen 60-70 percent off sales as much."

While Barnes & Noble offered 25 percent off on any one item except Nook products, Ann Inc's Loft chain offered 50 percent off on everything except new arrivals. Gap offered 40 percent off on all denims, while Victoria's Secret advertised $5 lacie panties and $10 off some yoga wear.

Stores of Macy's and Nordstrom were some of the busiest at Roosevelt Field mall in Garden City, on New York's Long Island, but crowds were moderate at the J.C. Penney store.

This week, research firm ShopperTrak lowered its sales forecast for November and December and now expects sales to be up 2.5 percent, rather than up 3.3 percent.

Many retailers reported record traffic on Thanksgiving Day and the subsequent weekend, but several, including Macy's Inc and Saks Inc, lost a lot of business in early November because of Superstorm Sandy.

Sales for the November-December holiday season look set to rise 4.1 percent to $586.1 billion this year after a 5.6 percent increase in 2011, according to the National Retail Federation.

"Retailers are going to be pretty challenged this year in trying to get beyond all this," Cohen said, referring to a string of events this holiday season that have weighed on U.S. shoppers including the hurricane, gridlock in Washington and the December 14 shooting at an elementary school in Connecticut.

NRF sees 2013 retail sales rising about 2 to 2.5 percent if the fiscal cliff is averted. If not, sales would be essentially flat for the year, the trade group estimated in a study with Macroeconomic Advisers.

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Hyundai Heavy Ind. Group wins orders worth $1.05 billion

Seoul, Dec 31 : Hyundai Heavy Industries  announced that the company and its affiliated shipyard have obtained orders totaling $1.05 billion to build five liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.

Hyundai Heavy said in a statement it had won an order for one 155,000-cubic-metre LNG carrier worth $210 million from Brunei Gas.

The company's affiliated shipyard, Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries, also won a contract for four 174,000-cubic-metre LNG carriers valued at $840 million from Greece's Maran Gas. The contract included an option exercisable by the owner for two additional same-class LNG carriers, Hyundai added.

The LNG carriers, scheduled to be delivered between 2015 and 2016, will feature the so-called dual fuel diesel engine system (DFDE) which allows the ships to run either on diesel fuel or natural gas, according to the company.

Since its first LNG carrier order in 1991, Hyundai Heavy Industries has built 40 such carriers while Hyundai Samho Heavy has won orders for 10 LNG vessels since 2011.

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ICE's NYSE swoop creates derivatives giant

London, Dec 31 : Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE) agreed as part of its $8.2 billion takeover of NYSE Euronext (NYX) to pay the New York Stock Exchange operator a termination fee of $750 million if it fails to gain antitrust clearances, suggesting a high level of confidence the deal will go through.

Big Board parent NYSE could get out of the arrangement for a fee of $300 million if a sweeter deal were to come along, according to a regulatory filing.

ICE failed last year to buy NYSE in a joint bid with Nasdaq OMX Group (NDAQ). At the time, NYSE was involved in year-long pursuit to sell itself to Frankfurt's Deutsche Bourse (DB1.DE). In the end, regulators killed both deals, saying they would be anti-competitive.

On its own, Atlanta-based ICE lacks the massive equities operations of Nasdaq or Deutsche Bourse, so there is less overlap between the two exchanges, antitrust lawyers said, making regulatory approval far more likely.

Some in the industry have suggested that CME Group (CME) could table a competing offer for NYSE, but they said that would not be likely for several reasons, including the break-up fee.

People familiar with the deal said other issues include potential antitrust concerns and the fact that under the latest agreement, NYSE's Liffe business will do all its clearing through ICE regardless of whether the deal goes through.

"The clearing deal they signed is like a second break-up fee," one of the people said.

Also, CME has not been known for making large deals. "It does not seem to be in its DNA," said Adam Sussman, director of research at Tabb Group.

NYSE CEO Duncan Niederauer acknowledged a higher bid could come along, but that NYSE would not chase after a deal unless it was almost certain it would pass regulatory muster.

"If we did that for another year and at the end we are told, 'we are not going to allow you to do this because of the overlap of your businesses,' we would look beyond foolish," he said in an interview.

The deal, announced, would give 12-year old commodities and energy bourse ICE a powerful presence in Europe's lucrative financial derivatives market through control of NYSE Liffe, Europe's second-largest futures exchange, and a major advantage over U.S.-based rivals CME and Nasdaq.

All three want to challenge Deutsche Boerse's European dominance. A shake-up in banking regulation is expected to increase demand sharply for clearing financial derivatives through such exchanges.

"The deal would place a bigger and more aggressive competitor on Deutsche Boerse's doorstep," said Richard Perrott, an analyst at Berenberg Bank.

Regulatory changes in the wake of the financial crisis are forcing banks to channel derivatives business through clearing houses and regulated exchanges to ensure their risk positions can be better monitored than they were when bank dealers were trading complex contracts directly among themselves.

The reforms are expected to be fully operational in Europe in 2014.

ICE's takeover of NYSE Liffe will give it an advantage of existing presence in Europe over Chicago-based CME, owner of the world's largest futures market, and New York's Nasdaq, both of which plan to open their own London-based exchanges next year.

While the New York Stock Exchange, an enduring symbol of American capitalism, is NYSE Euronext's prestige business, London's Liffe is the real jewel in the crown.

With profits from stock trading significantly eroded by new technology and the rise of other places for investors to trade, the stock market businesses like NYSE are less valuable to ICE.

The company has said it will try to spin off NYSE's Euronext European stock market businesses in a public offering. This has generated speculation, which the company has denied, that it may also have little interest in the NYSE trading floor on Wall Street.

NYSE made an operating income of $473 million from Liffe in 2011 on revenues of $861 million compared to an income of $533 million on revenues of $1.3 billion from its equities business.

ICE's Jeff Sprecher will be CEO of the combined organisation and Duncan Niederauer, the NYSE Euronext CEO, will be president - a post he said he plans to remain in until at least 2014. The two are longtime friends.

ICE started out as an online marketplace for energy trading before Sprecher initiated a string of acquisitions, from the London-based International Petroleum Exchange in 2001, to the New York Board of Trade and, most recently, a handful of smaller deals, including a climate products exchange and a stake in a Brazilian clearing house.

A combined ICE-NYSE Euronext would leapfrog Deutsche Boerse (DB1.DE) to become the world's third largest exchange group with a combined market value of $15.2 billion. CME Group has a market value of $17.5 billion.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing is the world's largest exchange group, with a market cap of $19.5 billion.

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Japan's Abe heaps pressure on BOJ to set 2 percent inflation target

Tokyo, Dec 31: Japan's next premier, Shinzo Abe, renewed pressure on the central bank to adopt a 2 percent inflation target, saying that he will try to revise a law guaranteeing its independence if his demand is not met.

He also said he will pick someone who agrees with his views on the need for bolder monetary easing to succeed BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa when his term expires in April next year.

"At this month's policy meeting, the BOJ said it would examine (setting an inflation target) at its next meeting" in January, Abe said on television.

"If it doesn't, we'll revise the BOJ Law and set up a policy accord with the central bank to agree on an inflation target. We may also seek to have the BOJ held accountable for job growth."

The comments are the strongest warning to date on the possibility of revising the law guaranteeing the BOJ's independence from political interference. It is rare for a prime minister or a would-be premier to make explicit demands on what the BOJ should do at its policy-setting meetings.

Abe, who is set to become prime minister after his opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won this month's lower house election, has put the BOJ at the center of political debate, urging bolder monetary stimulus to beat deflation.

He wants the BOJ to share with the government a binding 2 percent inflation target, double the central bank's current goal, and ease policy "unlimitedly" to achieve it. There is no specific time frame.

Under pressure, the central bank loosened policy for the third time in four months by boosting asset purchases. It also said it would consider setting a higher inflation target at its next policy-setting meeting on January 21-22.

Some central bank policymakers, notably the conservative Shirakawa, have been reluctant to set a 2 percent inflation target in a country which has been mired in grinding deflation for more than a decade.

But they may have little choice but to meet Abe's demand given explicit threats to the BOJ's independence.

Abe's LDP and coalition partner hold a two-thirds majority in the powerful lower house that allows them to overrule bills turned down in the upper house - including one to revise the BOJ Law.

"Countries around the world are printing more money to boost their export competitiveness. Japan must do so too" to keep the yen from rising, Abe said. "It makes a big difference whether the yen is at 80 to the dollar, or at 90 to the dollar."

Abe's new government will have the power to nominate a new BOJ governor when Shirakawa's term ends in April next year. The nomination, unlike other legislation, needs approval by both houses of parliament.

That means Abe needs support from other parties to pass through the nomination in the upper house, where his coalition doesn't hold a majority.

"I'd like to have someone who agrees with our view (on monetary policy)," Abe said on Shirakawa's successor. "There are parties that share my view" which should be willing to cooperate with the LDP in passing the nomination through the upper house, he said.

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MF Global trustee announces settlement deals key to cash payouts

New York, Dec 31 : The trustee for the failed MF Global Inc announced two key agreements that are expected to accelerate cash payouts to clients and creditors of the failed futures brokerage.

James Giddens, trustee for the MF Global estate, said in a statement he has negotiated deals to resolve disputes with the company's former British affiliate and the parent company, MF Global Holdings Ltd.

As a result of the UK agreement, Giddens estimated between$500 million and $600 million could be returned to the MF Global estate if the deal is finalized.

Giddens, whose job is to recover as much money as possible for customers, has returned about 80 percent of the money in customer trading accounts.

Giddens said claims by MF Global's securities customers could be fully restored. Commodities customers could get "significant additional distributions," he said.

The estate has a hearing scheduled for January 31, 2013 before the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, the first step toward getting the UK agreement approved.

"The trustee's goal is still to return 100 percent to the commodities customers, and we will be going before the court in an attempt to achieve that," Kent Jarrell, a spokesman for Giddens, said.

MF Global improperly used customer money to plug liquidity gaps as the brokerage was in freefall last year, creating a roughly $1.6 billion gap in customer accounts, according to a June report by Giddens. The company filed for bankruptcy in October 2011.

As a result of money changing hands during MF Global's chaotic collapse, various company affiliates have been fighting over who owes money to whom.

Earlier this month, Giddens released a report saying more than 28,000 claims have been filed by the brokerage's commodities and securities customers, all but 200 have been fully resolved.

So far, Giddens has returned approximately $4.7 billion to commodities customers hit by the brokerage's collapse.

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Leopard strays into Gulmarg weather office

Srinagar, Dec 31: A leopard has strayed into an observatory of weather office in the famous ski resort of Gulmarg in held Kashmir, causing scare among the staff posted there, officials said.

 The staff of the observatory noticed the leopard this morning in the building when they went to record the minimum temperature this morning, the officials said.

 They said the panic-stricken employees left the building and informed the police and wild life department, the officials said, adding the leopard fled into the nearby forest before the arrival of the wild life team.

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In winter, Shaher-e-Khaas turns hub of delicious Harissa

Srinagar, Dec 31 : A soothing aroma of steaming spices fills cold air in a congested lane leading to Aali Kadal area of Shaher-e-Khaas. Braving bone chilling cold, people in small groups jostle through dense fog in wee hours and swarm around a unique shop.

 Forgetting their worldly problems for some moments, they sit around a steaming earthen pot warmed by firewood in the shop and keenly watch every movement of a man laced with a big wooden spoon called Dhagun in local parlance.

 Diligently skimming contents in the pot and intermediately mixing different varieties of spices, the man finally smiles. Harissa the traditional mutton delicacy is ready to be relished. This brings cheers on faces of everybody in the shop.

 With sharp dip in temperature, Harissa is the most preferred delicacy in winter in Srinagar. Surviving the onslaught of junk food, Shaher-e-Khaas is dotted with many Harissa shops but famous among them are mostly located in Aali Kadal and adjoining areas.

 30-year old Ajaz Ahmad Bhat is carrying on with his over 150 year old family business of Harissa making in his neatly decorated shop near Jamalatta near Zia Masjid along the Aali Kadal road.
 “My forefathers were masters of Harissa making. I am proud to carry forward our family business more importantly a tradition of Srinagar,” Ajaz said as customers irrespective of age throng his shop.

 The customers sit in a line and order Harissa in different quantities. A kilogram of Harissa costs Rs 500. However customers mostly prefer to eat plateful in the shop which costs from Rs 50 to Rs 100.

 “This rate is economical if our hard work and cost behind Harissa making into taken into consideration. We mostly have to use firewood to prepare Harissa which costs around thousand per quintal. Besides spices are also costly. Harissa making is an arduous task rather an art which one learns with constant practice,” Ajaz says as he serves Harissa to customers with a wooden mug.

 His father Bashir Ahmad Bhat,62, explains the process as customers patiently listen to him. For Harrisa he says mostly limb meat of sheep is used. First skim rice till it turns into custard. Then this rice concentration is mixed with meat and cooked rigorously. After addition of different spices including elaichi, garlic, souf and the mixture is kept in the earthen pot for 5-8 hours.

 “The bones will get separated and rest of the concentration has to be skimmed vigorously till it turns soft. Before serving Harissa, it is dressed with saffron flakes and oil,” Bhat explained.

 Ajaz said besides locals, Harissa is in huge demand outside the state and abroad. “I receive orders from other states and countries. Infact few days ago I dispatched 20 kilograms of Harissa to a Kashmiri family in Muscat,” Ajaz proudly said.

 Umar a youth who regularly relishes Harissa at this shop said it is better than junk food. “Harissa is without any preservatives and other harmful ingredients unlike junk food. It is served fresh and I relish it during winter,” he said.

 As Ajaz finishes selling Harissa at 10 am, his shop is still thronged by people. “There is so much demand for Harissa these days that customers have to make advance bookings,” Ajaz said.

 Noted historian Fida Hasnain said concept of Harissa making was brought to held Kashmir by Mirza Hyder Duglat of Yarkand during Chak period in 1540.

 Zareef Ahmad Zareef a prominent Kashmiri poet and an authority on held Kashmir’s cultural history traces roots of Harissa to the Mughal period.

 “Mughals used to boil sheep feet known as Pacha to make a kind of Harissa. It was during Afghan rule of Kashmir that Harissa was formally introduced in its present form in the Valley. At that time economic condition of Kashmiris was so weak that they could not afford to relish Harissa. They boiled turnips as they were cheap as alternative to Harissa,” Zareef said.

 Zarief said gradually two Harissa shops were opened at Aali Kadal and Saraf Kadal in Shahar-e-Khaas which used to be thronged by customers.

 “But one at Aali Kadal was famous as it added milk to the delicacy. First bowl of Harissa was sent to the Mirwaiz family after the first snowfall. People gifted it to each other after they used to win bet of the snowfall. Harissa has now become a part and parcel of our culture. It is also gifted to in-laws after engagements and marriages as a token of love,” Zarief said.

 Known for his satirical poetry, Zarief minces no words to say that “Harissa was misused extensively as a means of corruption in Kashmir.”

 “Some people used to send Harissa to government officials and ministers for favors,” he said.

 Medicos say that Harissa is good source of protein for humans. “Harissa has muscle and tissue building protein. It should be consumed in the proportion of one gram of per kg of body weight,” said a prominent physician Dr Nazir Mushtaq.

 “Over-eating of Harissa or any other food can lead to health complications and it overloads the body system,” he added.

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Disabled girl booked for stone pelting

Islamabad, Dec 31 : Police detained 17- year old disabled girl for her alleged involvement in stone pelting during the 2010 summer unrest.

She was booked under attempt to murder and other serious offences. However, she was released after court granted interim bail to her.

Police detained, Zahida Akhtar daughter of Ghulam Ahmad Dar of Batengoo area here in held Kashmir. “ Zahida was summoned by the police to the Saddar Police Station, Islamabad on the pretext that they had to seek some information regarding the bullet injury she received in 2010 but was later detained by them,” said the family members.

They said that her brother who accompanied her to the police station was told by the cops there that she has a case of stone pelting pending against her and would be released only after getting bail.

They said that Zahida had received a bullet injury in her leg when the forces fired upon the funeral procession of Maroof Ahmad Nath during the 2010 summer agitation.

The body of Maroof Nath was fished out from the river Jehlum days after he had drowned in it while being chased away by the forces.  The forces had fired on the funeral procession of the deceased at two different places resulting into the killing of Bilal Ahmad Najar and Noor-ul-Amin Dagga while others including Zahida received bullet injuries. Pertinently, a case stands registered against the two deceased persons as well as the injured in this connection. “Zahida has been also been booked under same charges as those of deceased and other persons who were injured on that day,” sources said.

Police said that Zahida was involved `in stone pelting during the 2010 summer unrest.

“Zahida was involved in stone pelting during the 2010 summer unrest and was booked under various charges including attempt to murder,” a police official told Greater Kashmir.

He said that a case FIR no 355/2010 US 307, 148, 149, 188, 336, 427 RPC and ¾ Prevention of Public Property Act stands registered against the girl.

However, the family members contest the police claim saying that she was implicated on frivolous grounds.

“My daughter has never been involved in stone pelting and on the day she received bullet injury she had gone to her relatives house in Islamabad when the funeral procession was fired upon,” said Zahida’s mother.

She said that since then Zahida is on medication and cannot walk without any support. “My daughter cannot spend a single moment without me. I don’t know how she has would have spent the whole night in the Police Station, where there are only male inmates,” said Mukhtee.

She alleged the policemen did not even allow them to provide her medicines and blanket.

“Though her sister was allowed to accompany her only after we pleaded to the cops but I am worried about her and could not sleep the whole night,” said Mukhtee.

The family lives in abject poverty in a small muddy house.
“My husband and me are both aged and ailing. Our sons who live separately toil hard to support us as well as their own families,” said she.

Zahida’s brother Adil Dar said: “I don’t know what my ailing sister has done that she has suddenly become threat to the state.”
He said that his sister is only 17 and was in 7th standard when she received the bullet injury.

“Zahida could not pursue her studies further as she was rendered handicapped due to the bullet injury and was forced to leave her studies midway,” said Adil.

“If mourning the death of your loved ones killed in forces firing is a crime then the government should punish all the Kashmiris,” said Adil.

He said that it is a matter of shame that even our sisters are being booked on “false charges.”

Meanwhile reports said that Zahida was released after her family members managed to get interim bail.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Anantang, RK Jalla when contacted said, “The girl had a case of stone pelting of 2010 registered against her and was hence arrested.”

He said the girl was released on bail. Asked about the age of the girl the SSP said that she was 25.

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How bacteria fight fluoride in toothpaste and in nature

Islamabad, Dec 31 : Yale researchers have uncovered the molecular tricks used by bacteria to fight the effects of fluoride, which is commonly used in toothpaste and mouthwash to combat tooth decay.

In the journal Science Express, the researchers report that sections of RNA messages called riboswitches -- which control the expression of genes -- detect the build-up of fluoride and activate the defenses of bacteria, including those that contribute to tooth decay.

"These riboswitches are detectors made specifically to see fluoride," said Ronald Breaker, the Henry Ford II Professor and chair of the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and senior author of the study.

Fluoride in over-the-counter and prescription toothpastes is widely credited with the large reduction in dental cavities seen since these products were made available beginning in the 1950s. This effect is largely caused by fluoride bonding to the enamel of our teeth, which hardens them against the acids produced by bacteria in our mouths. However, it has been known for many decades that fluoride at high concentrations also is toxic to bacteria, causing some researchers to propose that this antibacterial activity also may help prevent cavities.

The riboswitches work to counteract fluoride's effect on bacteria. "If fluoride builds up to toxic levels in the cell, a fluoride riboswitch grabs the fluoride and then turns on genes that can overcome its effects," said Breaker.

Since both fluoride and some RNA sensor molecules are negatively charged, they should not be able to bind, he notes.

"We were stunned when we uncovered fluoride-sensing riboswitches" said Breaker. "Scientists would argue that RNA is the worst molecule to use as a sensor for fluoride, and yet we have found more than 2000 of these strange RNAs in many organisms."

By tracking fluoride riboswitches in numerous species, the research team concluded that these RNAs are ancient -- meaning many organisms have had to overcome toxic levels of fluoride throughout their history. Organisms from at least two branches of the tree of life are using fluoride riboswitches, and the proteins used to combat fluoride toxicity are present in many species from all three branches.

"Cells have had to contend with fluoride toxicity for billions of years, and so they have evolved precise sensors and defense mechanisms to do battle with this ion," said Breaker, who is also an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Now that these sensors and defense mechanisms are known, Breaker said, it may be possible to manipulate these mechanisms and make fluoride even more toxic to bacteria. Fluoride riboswitches and proteins common in bacteria are lacking in humans, and so these fluoride defense systems could be targeted by drugs. For example, the Yale team discovered protein channels that flush fluoride out of cells. Blocking these channels with another molecule would cause fluoride to accumulate in bacteria, making it more effective as a cavity fighter.

Fluoride is the 13th most common element in Earth's crust, and it is naturally present in high concentrations throughout the United States and elsewhere. Its use in toothpaste and its addition to city water supplies across the United States sparked a controversy 60 years ago, and the dispute continues to this day. In the United Kingdom, and in other European Union countries, fluoride is used to a much lesser extent due to fierce public opposition.

The new findings from Yale only reveal how microbes overcome fluoride toxicity. The means by which humans contend with high fluoride levels remains unknown, Breaker notes. He adds that the use of fluoride has had clear benefits for dental health and that these new findings do not indicate that fluoride is unsafe as currently used.

Other Yale authors of the paper include: Jenny L. Baker, Narasimhan Sudarsan, Zasha Weinberg and Adam Roth.

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What makes anesthetics work

Islamabad, Dec 31 : Physicians use inhalation anesthetics in a way that is incredibly safe for patients, but very little is known about the intricacies of how these drugs actually work in children and adults.

Now, researchers have uncovered what cells respond to anesthesia in an organism known as the C. elegans, according to a new study from the Seattle Children's Research Institute. C. elegans is a transparent roundworm used often in research.

"Our findings tell us what cells and channels are important in making the anesthetic work," said lead author Phil Morgan, MD, researcher at Seattle Children's Research Institute and University of Washington professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine. "The scientific community has attempted to uncover the secrets of how anesthetics work since the 1860s, and we now have at least part of the answer." Margaret Sedensky, MD, Seattle Children's Research Institute and a UW professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine, and Vinod Singaram, graduate student, Case Western Reserve University, are co-lead authors of the study.

The team studied the roundworm after inserting a pigment or protein typically found in the retina of a human eye -- called a retinal-dependent rhodopsin channel -- into its cells. The proteins in cell membranes act as channels to help movement. Researchers then used a blue light, activating channels in the roundworm that allowed the immediate reversal of anesthetics, and resulting in the roundworm waking up and seemingly swimming off the slide.

The team's findings won't immediately translate into a discovery that would be available for humans, cautioned Dr. Morgan, who has been working in this field for some 25 years. "But it tells us what function we have to treat to try to do so," he said.

"We believe that there is a class of potassium channels in humans that are crucial in this process of how anesthetics work and that they are perhaps the ones that are sensitive to potential anesthesia reversal. There are drugs for blocking these channels and with these same drugs, maybe we can eventually reverse anesthesia." Potassium channels are found in all living organisms and in most cell types, and they control a wide variety of cell functions.

Anesthesia medications are used in both children and adults, but many are used more often in kids. Dr. Morgan and his colleagues plan to replicate the study in other animal models, starting with a mouse.

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Multiple sclerosis linked to different area of brain

Islamabad, Dec 31 : Radiology researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have found evidence that multiple sclerosis affects an area of the brain that controls cognitive, sensory and motor functioning apart from the disabling damage caused by the disease's visible lesions.

The thalamus of the brain was selected as the benchmark for the study conducted by faculty at the UTHealth Medical School. Lead researchers include Khader M. Hasan, Ph.D., associate professor, and Ponnada A. Narayana, Ph.D., professor and director of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging; and Jerry S. Wolinsky, M.D., the Bartels Family and Opal C. Rankin Professor in the Department of Neurology.

Results of the research were published in The Journal of Neuroscience.

"The thalamus is a central area that relates to the rest of the brain and acts as the 'post office,' " said Hasan, first author of the paper. "It also is an area that has the least amount of damage from lesions in the brain but we see volume loss, so it appears other brain damage related to the disease is also occurring."

Researchers have known that the thalamus loses volume in size with typical aging, which accelerates after age 70. The UTHealth multidisciplinary team's purpose was to assess if there was more volume loss in patients with multiple sclerosis, which could explain the dementia-related decline associated with the disease.

"Multiple sclerosis patients have cognitive deficits and the thalamus plays an important role in cognitive function. The lesions we can see but there is subclinical activity in multiple sclerosis where you can't see the changes," said senior author Narayana. "There are neurodegenerative changes even when the brain looks normal and we saw this damage early in the disease process."

For the study, researchers used precise imaging by the powerful 3 Tessla MRI scanner to compare the brains of 109 patients with the disease to 255 healthy subjects. The patients were recruited through the Multiple Sclerosis Research Group at UTHealth, directed by Wolinsky, and the healthy controls through the Department of Pediatrics' Children's Learning Institute.

Adjusting for age-related changes in the thalamus, the patients with multiple sclerosis had less thalamic volume than the controls. The amount of thalamic loss also appeared to be related to the severity of disability.
"This is looking at multiple sclerosis in a different way," Hasan said. "The thalami are losing cellular content and we can use this as a marker of what's going on. If we can find a way to detect the disease earlier in a more vulnerable population, we could begin treatment sooner."

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New scenery for breaking the ice with the Taliban

Sunday, 30 December 2012

Paris, Dec 30: A year that began with hopes that the Taliban were ready to start talking peace is ending with a final initiative — informal talks outside Paris among Afghanistan’s competing factions, including militants — that, if anything, exemplifies how little progress has been made in 2012 toward opening negotiations to end the war.

The talks, which began and are to last two days, have been trumpeted as the first time the Taliban have sat down with their former enemies in Afghanistan’s old Northern Alliance, a collection of militias that fought Taliban rule in the 1990s and eventually helped the United States oust the Islamist movement. Afghan government peace negotiators are also attending, as are representatives of Hezb-e-Islami, an insurgent faction independent of the Taliban.

But going into the meetings, both the Taliban and many old Northern Alliance leaders were clear about their lack of expectations. Abdullah Abdullah, an opposition politician and former presidential candidate who draws much of his support from Afghanistan’s north, said the meetings were “not by any chance a breakthrough.”

The talks, which are closed to the news media, are meant to offer participants an informal occasion to “project themselves toward the horizon of 2020,” said Camille Grand, the director of the Foundation for Strategic Research, the Paris-based research group that organized the meetings. The Afghans in attendance have come on a personal basis, Mr. Grand said.

A handful of French defense and foreign affairs officials are participating as well, he said, though the French, who recently pulled their combat forces from Afghanistan, say the meetings do not represent an effort to open formal talks. Philippe Lalliot, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, described them as an “academic seminar.”

Mr. Abdullah, the opposition politician, opted to remain in Kabul and send lesser-known members of his party, the National Coalition of Afghanistan, to attend instead. A rival opposition group, the National Front of Afghanistan, which is also made up largely of old Northern Alliance leaders, was sending two of its top leaders to Paris.

Mr. Abdullah and others among the old Northern Alliance nonetheless held out the possibility that the talks could lead to more. The Taliban “will come there, and they will make their own decisions clear,” Mr. Abdullah said in an interview in Kabul. “I don’t want to be pessimistic, but I don’t want to raise expectations out of the meeting.”

The small Taliban delegation in Paris was being led by Shahabuddin Delawar, who is expected to be one of the insurgents’ negotiators should peace talks ever begin in earnest. But neither Mr. Delawar nor any other Taliban representatives who had gone to Paris were there to discuss the stalled peace process, said Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the insurgents.

Rather, Mr. Delawar’s sole task was “to shed light on our stances and explain our official position and policies to the international community,” Mr. Mujahid said. “We want to explain it directly through our own official representatives to the international community, while in the past our position has been presented by the enemies, who were trying to display a wrong image.”

He did not elaborate on what those positions might be. The Taliban have repeatedly said they would not negotiate directly with the government of President Hamid Karzai, whom they deride as a puppet of the United States.

The Taliban suspended its preliminary talks with the United States in March after the Obama administration failed to push through a proposed prisoner swap, which was to be the first in a series of confidence-building measures. In the exchange, five insurgent leaders imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, would have been traded for the sole American soldier known to be held by the Taliban, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

The Taliban prisoners were to be sent to Qatar, where the insurgents were to then open a negotiating office.

American officials have said in recent months that they planned to revive the prisoner swap, and the Taliban have repeatedly emphasized that would be the first step necessary to restart the talks. But there have been no apparent moves to release the Taliban prisoners.

The Afghan government has tried to open a variety of other channels to the Taliban. Each has ended in failure, but recent overtures to Pakistan by Mr. Karzai’s High Peace Council have shown some progress.

The council, along with American officials, has been trying to gain support for peace talks from Pakistan, which has aided and sheltered the Taliban over the past dozen years, though it keeps a close watch on the group’s leading figures. Last month, Pakistan agreed to release some Taliban leaders imprisoned there, and nine have been freed, the Taliban and council members said.

What effect, if any, the releases will have on the Paris meetings is unclear. Two similar meetings have been held here since November 2011, but Taliban representatives did not attend.

Mr. Karzai, when asked about the meetings in Paris at a news conference this week, offered only a subdued endorsement, saying the government supports all meetings that could further the goal of reaching a peaceful settlement.

But Mr. Karzai, who late last year nearly scuttled American efforts to open talks with the Taliban in Qatar after complaining he had not been kept abreast of developments, also suggested there could be other motives for the Paris meetings, though he did not elaborate.

Mr. Karzai has bristled in the past when former Northern Alliance members, including some who are at the Paris talks, have held high-profile meetings outside Afghanistan. After a meeting in January in Berlin between former Northern Alliance leaders and United States Congress members, for instance, he accused Washington of plotting to dismember Afghanistan.

“Unless it is proven to us that a meeting has other purposes rather than peace, we are supporting all the peace meetings,” he said at the news conference this week. “But when it has been proven to us or we suspect that these meetings are following other goals, and the goal is not to bring peace in our country — that the meeting has other purposes — then we could talk about that.”

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Female Afghan cops say they are raped, molested by fellow

Kabul, Dec 30 : Shortly after Friba joined the Afghan National Police, she gave herself the nickname "dragon" and vowed to bring law and order to her tormented homeland.

Five years later, she is tired of rebuffing the sexual advances of male colleagues, worries the budget for the female force will shrink and fears the government will abandon them.

Women in the police force were held up as a showcase for Afghan-Western efforts to promote rights in the new Afghanistan, born from the optimism that swept the country after the ouster of the Taliban in 2001.

Images of gun-wielding Afghan policewomen have been broadcast across the globe, even inspiring a television program popular with young Afghan women.

But going from the burqa to the olive green uniform has not been easy.

In interviews with 12 policewomen in districts across the Afghan capital, complaints of sexual harassment, discrimination and bitter frustration were prevalent.

President Hamid Karzai's goal is for 5,000 women to join the Afghan National Police (ANP) by the end of 2014, when most foreign troops will leave the country.

But government neglect, poor recruitment and a lack of interest on the part of authorities and the male-dominated society mean there are only 1,850 female police officers on the beat, or about 1.25 percent of the entire force.

And it looks to get worse.

Friba, who asked that her second name not be used, says it all when she runs a manicured finger across her throat: "Once foreigners leave we won't even be able to go to the market. We'll be back in burqas. The Taliban are coming back and we all know it."

Conditions for women in Afghanistan have improved significantly since the Taliban were ousted. Women have won back basic rights in voting, education and work since Taliban rule, when they were not allowed out of their homes without a male escort and could be publicly stoned to death for adultery.

But problems persist in the deeply conservative Muslim society scarred by decades of conflict. The United Nations said this month that despite progress, there was a dramatic under-reporting of cases of violence against women.

Some female lawmakers and rights groups blame Karzai's government for a waning interest in women's rights as it seeks peace talks with the Taliban, accusations his administration deny.

Almost a third of the members of the female force work in Kabul, performing duties such as conducting security checks on women at the airport and checking biometric data.

Friba sat in a city police station room decorated with posters of policemen clutching weapons.

"I am the dragon and I can defend myself, but most of the girls are constantly harassed," she said. "Just yesterday my colleague put his hands on one of the girl's breasts. She was embarrassed and giggled while he squeezed them. Then she turned to us and burst into tears."

On the other side of Kabul, detective Lailoma, who also asked that her family name not be used, said several policewomen under her command had been raped by their male colleagues.

She complained about male colleagues: "They want it to be like the time of the Taliban. They tell us every day we are bad women and should not be allowed to work here."

Male colleagues also taunt the women, she added, often preventing them from entering the kitchen, meaning they miss out on lunch.

On several occasions, male colleagues interrupted interviews in what the policewomen said were attempts to intimidate them into silence.

One male officer entered the room without knocking three times to retrieve pencils; another spent 20 minutes dusting off his hat, only to put it back on a shelf. The women switched subjects when the men came in.

Rana, a 31-year-old, heavy-set policewoman with curly hair, said policewomen were expected to perform sexual favors: "We're expected to do them to just stay in the force."

The raping of policewomen by their male counterparts "definitely takes place," said Colonel Sayed Omar Saboor, deputy director for gender and human rights at the Interior Ministry, which oversees the police. "These men are largely illiterate and see the women as immoral."

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Concluding 2012, Afghanistan's neighbors gird for 2014

Islamabad, Dec 30: The Afghan army has been preparing to take over the country’s security as NATO’s 2014 deadline to withdraw all combat troops moves to within a year.

But even with 300,000 national security forces now hired, Afghanistan still faces a challenge from the Taliban, al-Qaida and Haqqani networks.

According to political analyst Imtiaz Gul, Afghanistan’s neighbors, including Pakistan, have launched efforts to create a level of political stability there in the face of shared threats.

“I think Pakistan, as well as several other countries, have changed the goal posts, have changed the outlook on Afghanistan," he said. "They realize they really need to get on board [and] join hands to fix the situation in Afghanistan as much as possible to avoid instability in their own territory.”

Over the past year, Afghanistan’s allies met in Chicago and elsewhere to pledge at least $4 billion in aid and lay out a vision for what the country might aim to achieve in the coming decade.

But the outgoing U.S. Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Marc Grossman, says pledges are just one step.

“It only matters if people are meeting their commitments now and we can really support an Afghanistan that is secure, stable and prosperous, inside a secure, stable prosperous region," he said.

Investor countries like China could exert more diplomatic weight and economic influence in the region as the U.S. pulls out.

Analyst Andrew Smalls of the German Marshall Fund says that China's friendly relations with Pakistan are key.

“One reason why the Afghans were particularly keen to have the Chinese come in and be investors is that they are one of the only countries that Pakistan trusts," said Smalls. "So what it means, in practice, is that a lot of the different parties, including the Taliban, may be more willing to give Chinese projects a break than most other investors.

"And also, of course, that China may be willing to use its influence over Pakistan, and then Pakistan’s influence over the Taliban, to give those projects a break that other investments in the country may not have," he added.

Iran, to the west of Afghanistan, has already cultivated strong cultural and commercial ties with its neighbor.

What Iran does with that influence is critical, according to former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Karl Inderfurth.

“The question is whether or not Iran can become a part of a group of countries, [part of] a regional approach that will work to prevent Afghanistan [from] sliding back to the Taliban era and moving forward to a more democratic progressive approach toward [domestic governance and] relations with its neighbors," he said.

How Afghanistan, its neighbors and allies cooperate on all these issues will help determine the future of that country.

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Man enters different Sandy Hook Elementary School with wood labeled ‘High Powered Rifle’

Washington, Dec 30 : A man carrying a two-by-four that was labeled "High Powered Rifle" was arrested at Sandy Hook Elementary School in northern Virginia, five days after a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.

According to NBC Washington, the Shenandoah County Sheriff's Office said the 33-year-old man, Christopher Johnson, was "met" by the Strasburg school's staff at 11:40 a.m. before being detained by a resource officer stationed at the school. Johnson was then arrested and taken into custody without incident, police said.

A police spokesman said he was not sure why Johnson entered the school, but said it appeared the man was attempting to deliver a message "related to school safety."

Johnson was charged with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, and given a Jan. 8 court date.

There have been reports of other arrests in the wake of the massacre in Newtown. Security has been increased at schools nationwide, and police and parents have been, understandably, on edge.

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The wildest alien planets of 2012

London, Dec 30 : From massive bodies that fell just short of becoming stars to the tiniest solar systems known, 2012 has brought an array of intriguing exoplanets to light. And double-star systems that once seemed unlikely to host planets have produced a wealth of them this year.

Here's a look at some of the most exciting alien planets discovered in 2012:

Potentially habitable worlds

In the fall of 2012, astronomers announced two new planets, discovered separately, that may have the potential to support life outside of our solar system. Both planets were found in the habitable zone of their stars, the region where a planet could hold liquid water on its surface. Water is thought to be a key ingredient in the formation of life.

HD 40307g, a "super-Earth" announced in November, is approximately seven times as massive as the planet we live on. The planet, which could be either rocky or a Neptune-like gas giant, sits in the middle of its habitable zone, making it possible for water to exist. [Gallery: 7 Potentially Habitable Exoplanets]

HD 40307g is the most distant of the six planets in its system, taking approximately 200 days to orbit its star. Its distance means that it isn't tidally locked, with one face perpetually turned toward its star, making it more likely to have Earth-like conditions. Because the planet is only 42 light-years away from Earth, it could potentially be imaged by telescopes in the future. Its parent star is smaller and dimmer than the sun.

Gliese 163c also lies within its star's habitable zone, although it skirts the edge. Like HD 40307g, it is approximately seven times the mass of Earth, and could be a large rocky planet or a smaller gas giant. The planet orbits a red dwarf that is slightly dimmer than our sun, flying around it once every 26 days. Depending on its composition, Gliese 163c could host an ocean and a dense atmosphere, or it could be too hot for life to exist.

Both planets were found using the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher, or HARPS, the European Southern Observatory's telescope located at the La Silla Observatory in Chile.

Two suns, four stars

A number of double-sun systems were discovered in 2012, but perhaps the most astonishing was found by amateur astronomers. The gas giant PH1 orbits a pair of stars that are part of a four-star system, the first discovery of its kind.

A close binary set of stars with masses about 1.5 and 0.41 times that of the sun, the twin stars at the core of the system dance around each other every 20 days. Two more stars circle the pair at about a thousand times the Earth's distance to the sun.

Circling the central pair once every 138 days, PH1 is a gas giant, with a temperature ranging from 484 degrees Fahrenheit (251 degrees Celsius) to 644 F (340 C). Just bigger than Neptune, the planet could potentially host rocky moons, but such moons would also be too hot for liquid water.

PH1 was discovered by two amateur astronomers participating in the citizen scientist program Planet Hunters. A dip in the light from the system signified the potential presence of a planet, which was then confirmed by a team of professional astronomers.

In addition to being the first planet discovered by Planet Hunters, PH1 is also the first planet found orbiting a double star in a quadruple system and the first planet found in a quadruple system.

Near-habitable Tatooine system

Scientists discovered two separate binary systems this year with planets that lay near their habitable zone. Often referred to as "Tatooine planets," due to the famous double-star-system home of Luke Skywalker in the film "Star Wars," planets orbiting a binary star system have two suns overhead. Kepler-34b and Kepler-35b are particularly notable because they lay near their stars' habitable zone.

Kepler-34b is a gas giant with almost 70 times the mass of Earth. It travels around two sunlike stars once every 289 days, staying about as far away as Earth stays from the sun. It lies 4,900 light-years from Earth.

Kepler-35b weighs in at about an eighth of Jupiter's mass. It takes 131 days to travel around its parent pair, which are both slightly smaller than the sun. The system is only 5,400 light-years from Earth.

Both systems were found using NASA's Kepler space telescope.

Tatooine twins

In another double-star system twist, two planets were found orbiting a binary pair, the first time multiple planets have been seen around twin stars. The Kepler-47 stars are 5,000 light-years from Earth. One is sunlike, while the other is smaller and fainter. They orbit each other once every 7.5 days.

Kepler-47c is a gas giant that takes 303 days to circle its suns, and rests in the habitable zone of its stars. Although it is considered unsuitable for life, its existence means that other planets could survive in the habitable zones of twin-star systems. It could also host rocky moons that have the potential for life.

Kepler-47b takes less than 50 days to orbit the pair of stars. Only three times the radius of Earth, it is the smallest known planet orbiting in a binary system. Scientists think the rocky planet may be a sweltering world with a thick atmosphere.

Closest known exoplanet

Earth's closest star system, Alpha Centauri, hosts a molten terrestrial planet, scientists found. A rocky planet orbits Alpha Centauri B, one of the three stars in the system with 90 percent the mass of the sun, once every 3.2 days. The planet passes within only a few million miles of its star, hovering at a tenth of the distance between Mercury and the sun.

Although the overheated planet likely has a scorched surface too hot for life, scientists think the system has the potential to contain other planets. Only 4.2 light-years from Earth, such planets would be easier to image with telescopes in the not-too-distant future than more faraway candidates.

Astronomers used HARPS to identify the nearby planet.

Tiniest solar system

Most of the newly discovered planets have been "super"-size: super-Earths, super-Jupiters, and so on. Larger planets are generally easier to find. But three new planets only a fraction the size of Earth, including one Mars-size body, make up the smallest alien system found to date.

Smaller and dimmer than the sun, red dwarfs are the most common type of star in the Milky Way galaxy. Scientists once thought they were too small to have a sustainable habitable zone, but a separate study earlier this year showed that more could maintain planets with the potential to host life. Such small planets would have been a challenge to find around a larger, sunlike star. [Alien Planet Quiz: Are You an Exoplanet Expert?]

Kepler found the planets orbiting their star KOI-961 between 0.6 to 1.5 percent of Earth's distance to the sun, tearing around the red dwarf in less than two days. The rocky bodies have temperatures ranging from 350 F (177 C) to 836 F (447 C), resulting in broiling hot surfaces unlikely to support life. The three planets have diameters 0.78, 0.73, and 0.57 times that of Earth, with the smallest being Mars-size.

A planet that's almost a star

Kappa Andromedae b, or Kappa And b, is a massive planet that came in just shy of the ability to be a star. The gas giant, which is 13 times as massive as Jupiter, fell just short of having enough mass to be classified as a brown dwarf, failed stars too low in mass to sustain fusion in their core.

Astronomers were able to take a rare direct photo of the planet using Japan's Subaru telescope at Mauna Kea in Hawaii.The wannabe star orbits Kappa Andromedae, a star 2.5 times as massive as the sun that lies 170 light-years away. Circling the young star at almost twice Neptune's wide-reaching orbit, Kappa And b averages 2,600 F (1,400 C) and would appear bright red if seen up close.

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Sexual assault reports jump 23 percent at US military academies

Washington, Dec 30 : Sexual assaults reported by students at the three U.S. military academies jumped 23 percent in 2012, underscoring what Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said was a "persistent" problem that required a "strong and immediate response" from the services.

Eighty cases of sexual assault were reported by cadets and midshipmen during the 2011-2012 academic year, compared to 65 the previous year, the Pentagon said in its annual report on sexual harassment and violence at the academies. The victims were primarily women, although four were men.

It was the third straight year of increases, from a low of 25 in 2009. Prior to that, reported sexual assault cases had fallen regularly from 42 in 2006, when the Pentagon first began tracking the issue at the direction of Congress, the report said.

"Despite our considerable and ongoing efforts, this year's annual report ... demonstrates that we have a persistent problem," Panetta said in a memorandum to the secretaries of the Navy, Army and Air Force.

He said the lack of progress at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, merited "a strong and immediate response."

Panetta and he asked the services to identify "new ways to advance a climate of dignity and respect" at the academies and report back to him by the end of March.

The findings drew expressions of concern from lawmakers and special interest groups that track the issue. Representative Niki Tsongas said that while the rise could partly be attributed to improved conditions that encourage people to report assaults, they also showed the issue remains a problem.

"Sexual assault remains a persistent and untenable crime throughout the armed forces," she said in a statement. "These numbers are an affront to the educational institutions that are developing our military's future leaders."

Nancy Parrish, president of Protect Our Defenders, said the report "shines a light on the severity and scope of the crisis" of sexual assault in the military.

"There is a culture of high tolerance for rape and sexual predators in the ranks that pervades the military," she said. "Clearly all the reforms that have been announced over many years aren't making a difference."

The academies are implementing programs to try to reduce sexual assaults. At the same time, they are attempting to create an environment that encourages reporting, whether on a confidential basis that enables victims to get care and counseling or an unrestricted basis that also permits full criminal investigation.

Of the 80 cases reported in 2012, 42 were unrestricted, allowing authorities to pursue a criminal investigation with the assistance of the victim. Thirty-eight cases remained confidential and were not investigated, officials said.

The academies investigated 40 sexual assault cases in 2012, 23 from 2012 and 17 from the previous year. Of that number, 11 were prosecuted and punished, including eight suspects who were court martialed. The others were not prosecuted, either because the military lacked jurisdiction or evidence, officials said.

The Pentagon surveys students every two years to assess gender relations at the schools and to get a better idea about the number of sexual assaults that go unreported.

The survey conducted as part of this year's report found that 12.4 percent of women and 2 percent of men had reported unwanted sexual contact during the previous 12 months - statistically unchanged from the prior survey.

Fifty-one percent of women reported experiencing sexual harassment during the previous year, down from 56 percent in the 2010 survey. Ten percent of men reported experiencing sexual harassment, statistically unchanged from the earlier survey.

Unwanted sexual contact ranged from rape or sexual assault, to attempted attacks, forcible sodomy and other types of sexual contact, officials said. Major General Gary Patton, director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, said there was an important correlation between sexual assault and sexual harassment.

"Eliminating sexual harassment is critical to preventing sexual assault," he said, adding that those who experience sexual assault in the past year had also been sexually harassed.

"The solution to this problem is ... creating a nonpermissive environment where sexual harassment, sexist behavior, stalking and these types of behaviors are not condoned," Patton said.

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NRA offensive exposes deep U.S. divisions on guns

Washington, Dec 30: Any chance for national unity on U.S. gun violence appeared to wane a week after the Connecticut school massacre, as the powerful NRA gun rights lobby called for armed guards in every school and gun-control advocates vehemently rejected the proposal.

The solution offered by the National Rifle Association defied a push by President Barack Obama for new gun laws, such as bans on high-capacity magazines and certain semiautomatic rifles.

At a hotel near the White House, NRA Chief Executive Wayne LaPierre said a debate among lawmakers would be long and ineffective, and that school children were better served by immediate action to send officers with firearms into schools.

LaPierre delivered an impassioned defense of the firearms that millions of Americans own, in a rare NRA news briefing after the Newtown, Connecticut, shooting in which a gunman killed his mother, and then 20 children and six adults at an elementary school.

"Why is the idea of a gun good when it's used to protect our president or our country or our police, but bad when it's used to protect our children in their schools?" LaPierre asked in comments twice interrupted by anti-NRA protesters whom guards forced from the room.

Speaking to about 200 reporters and editors but taking no questions, LaPierre dared politicians to oppose armed guards.

"Is the press and political class here in Washington so consumed by fear and hatred of the NRA and America's gun owners," he asked, "that you're willing to accept a world where real resistance to evil monsters is a lone, unarmed school principal?"

Proponents of gun control immediately rejected the idea, hardening battle lines in a social debate that divides Americans as much as abortion or same-sex marriage.

A brief NRA statement three days earlier in which the group said it wanted to contribute meaningfully to ways to prevent school massacres led to speculation that compromise might be possible, or that the NRA was too weak to defeat new legislation.

"The NRA's leadership had an opportunity to help unite the nation behind efforts to reduce gun violence and avert massacres like the one at Sandy Hook Elementary School," said Democratic Representative Carolyn McCarthy of New York. She supports new limits on ammunition and firearms, and universal background checks for gun buyers.

Adam Winkler, author of "Gunfight," a history of U.S. gun rights, said he expected the NRA might yield on background checks. About 40 percent of gun purchasers are not checked, according to some estimates.

"The NRA missed a huge opportunity to move in the direction of compromise. Instead of offering a major contribution to the gun debate, which is what they promised, we got the same old tired clichés," said Winkler, a law professor at the University of California at Los Angeles.

A poll showed the percentage of Americans favoring tough gun regulations rising 8 points after the Newtown shooting, to 50 percent.

Inside the NRA, though, attitudes might not change much.

"The anti-gun forces which are motivated by hysteria and a refusal to deal with the facts are going to be facing a counter-attack here that is going to be very, very effective," said Robert Brown, an NRA board member and the publisher of Soldier of Fortune, a military-focused magazine.

During the news conference, LaPierre laid out a plan for a "National School Shield" and said former U.S. congressman Asa Hutchinson from Arkansas would head up the NRA's effort to develop a model security program for schools.

The NRA is far and away America's most powerful gun organization and dwarves other groups with its lobbying efforts. In 2011, it spent $3.1 million lobbying lawmakers and federal agencies, while all gun-control groups combined spent $280,000, according to records the groups filed with Congress.

Ken Blackwell, another NRA board member, said NRA leaders were discussing how to react to the Newtown shooting on the day it happened, helping LaPierre formulate a position.

"He and the team of lawyers around him are very bright and they understand the Constitution," said Blackwell, a Republican former state official in Ohio.

The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as interpreted by the Supreme Court in 2008 guarantees an individual right to own firearms, though it allows for some limits.

While LaPierre's proposal to arm schools came as a surprise to those who hoped for compromise, it is not new.

Former NRA president, the late actor Charlton Heston, made a similar proposal after the 1999 Columbine High School massacre near Denver that killed 12 students and one teacher.

"If there had been even one armed guard in the school, he could have saved a lot of lives and perhaps ended the whole thing instantly," Heston said in April 1999, according to The New York Times.

Columbine had an armed sheriff's deputy who exchanged gunfire outside the school with one of the two teenage killers, according to a Jefferson County, Colorado, sheriff's office report. The deputy was unable to hit or stop the student, who was armed with a semiautomatic rifle, from entering the school, and the deputy stayed in a parking lot with police, the report said.

Protesters at the news briefing accused the NRA of being complicit in gun deaths.

"If teachers can stand up to gunmen, Congress can stand up to the NRA," said Medea Benjamin, co-director of the peace group Code Pink, who was escorted from the news conference.

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Security firm sues Zimmerman, attorney over fees

Orlando, Dec 30 : A security company claims in a lawsuit that George Zimmerman, his wife and attorney owe more than $27,000 for protection services.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that Associated Investigative Services filed the lawsuit in Orange County Circuit Court. The company says it was hired in June to provide security for the Zimmerman family but promised payments stopped after an independent trustee took over Zimmerman's defense fund.

Zimmerman attorney Mark O'Mara says the lawsuit was a surprise and that the company was paid some $40,000.

Zimmerman is awaiting trial on second-degree murder charges in the shooting of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman contends the unarmed teenager attacked him and is claiming self-defense in the February killing. Zimmerman is free on $1 million bail and is in hiding.

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Mexico frees ex-Marine jailed for bringing in gun

Miami, Dec 30 : A Marine veteran jailed for months in Mexico after trying to carry a family heirloom shotgun across the border has been freed, U.S. officials and his lawyer said.

The attorney for 27-year-old Jon Hammar tweeted that his client had been released from a detention center in Matamoros, Mexico.

"Jon is out, going home!" Eddie Varon Levy tweeted.

Patrick Ventrell, the acting deputy spokesman for the State Department, confirmed Hammer's release and return to the U.S. in a statement.

"Officials from the U.S. Consulate General in Matamoros met him at the prison and escorted him to the U.S. border, where he was reunited with members of his family," the statement said. "We sincerely appreciate the efforts on the part of Mexican authorities to ensure that an appropriate resolution was made in accordance with Mexican law, and that Mr. Hammar will be free to spend the holidays with his loved ones."

An aide to a legal representative of the Mexican attorney general's office had told U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson's staff about the pending release after the Florida Democrat's office got word from Hammar's mother, according to a press release from Nelson's office.

"No American should be in a Mexican jail for five months without being able to have his case in front of a judge," Nelson said in that statement. "We're grateful; this is a good Christmas present."

Earlier, Varon Levy said he was flying from Mexico City to Matamoros to pick up his client. After that, the attorney said, they intended to cross the border at Brownsville, Texas. "I'm very happy. I feel that the Mexican legal system came out the way it should have," he said.

U.S. immigration and State Department officials had been at the Mexican detention center waiting for Hammar's release.

A defense lawyer said Mexican authorities determined there was no intent to commit a crime, Nelson's office said. The senator was among a handful of elected officials who urged the State Department to help get Hammar out of Mexico. His family had said he was being held in isolation after threats to his safety were received.

"These past few months have been an absolute nightmare for Jon and his family, and I am so relieved that this whole ordeal will soon be over," said U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., in a statement. " I am overcome with joy knowing that Jon will be spending Christmas with his parents, family and friends."

The attorney, Varon Levy, said the path for Hammar's return was cleared when Mexican officials decided not to appeal the judge's ruling.

Civilian gun ownership is illegal under Mexican law unless the owner purchases the weapon from a special shop run by the country's Department of Defense.

"The Department of State warns all U.S. citizens against taking any type of firearm or ammunition into Mexico," the U.S. Embassy in Mexico writes on its website. "Entering Mexico with a firearm, certain types of knives, or even a single round of ammunition is illegal, even if the weapon or ammunition is taken into Mexico unintentionally."

Mexican law also bans shotguns with barrels of less than 25 inches. The family said Hammar's shotgun has a barrel of 24 inches.

Tourists are allowed to bring guns for hunting on rare occasions, but Mexican officials said all visitors must receive a special permit before entering the country. Mexican customs agents do not issue gun permits. As a result, anyone crossing the border with a firearm or ammunition without a previously issued government permit is in instant violation of Mexican law, which stipulates long jail terms for breaking weapons laws.

Hammar and his friend were on their way to Costa Rica in August and planned to drive across the Mexican border near Matamoros in a Winnebago filled with surfboards and camping gear. Hammar asked U.S. border agents what to do with the unloaded shotgun. His family said agents told them to fill out a form for the gun, which belonged to Hammar's great-grandfather.

But when the pair crossed the border and handed the paperwork to Mexican officials, they impounded the RV and jailed the men, saying it was illegal to carry that type of gun. Hammar's friend was later released because the gun did not belong to him.

Before Hammar's release, Varon Levy said he was not sure of his client's immediate plans upon being freed. "Probably some down time," he said.

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US gives foreign banks more time on swap rules

Washington, Dec 30 : The top U.S. derivatives regulator gave foreign banks more time to meet new derivative trading rules that had earlier sparked fears that international financial markets could pull away from U.S. banks.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said that foreign banks now had until July 12, 2013, to comply with the rules and said it would continue to fine tune the regulations that have also drawn the wrath of foreign regulators.

"The relief period provides time for the Commission to work with foreign regulators as they implement comparable requirements," CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler said in a statement.

Countries worldwide are drawing up rules for the $650 trillion swaps industry to mend flaws brought to light by the 2007-09 financial crisis, bringing trading onto regulated platforms and making data public.

The CFTC had been facing a year-end deadline by which it needed to decide how its rules apply overseas or delay them. It had drawn flak from regulators in Asia and Europe about the blunt way it imposed its rules on banks abroad.

The delay is "very much an interim process to buy everyone a little bit of time," said Gareth Old, a lawyer at Clifford Chance in New York.

It will "allow the coordination between regulators, and permit the dealers and their counterparties to adapt to the changes that are going to be coming into place," he added.

Non-U.S. regulators are saying they are already working on similar rules as the U.S. agency, and the potential doubling up of the rules has sparked fears foreign banks could stop trading with U.S. counterparties.

When an earlier deadline loomed in October, several European banks ordered their brokers to rein in and even quit trading some derivatives with U.S.-based peers, in a protest against the tough new American rules.

"It is important that the CFTC continue to provide relief to avoid confusion in the market, like that market participants experienced on and around October 12th," the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) banking lobby said.

The CFTC has drawn criticism over the overly aggressive way in which it is implementing the Dodd-Frank regulatory overhaul of Wall Street, which has so far this year forced it to send out more than 50 letters granting temporary reprieves.

So far, the CFTC has completed two-thirds of the rules Congress told it to write, putting it well ahead of other agencies who are similarly executing Dodd-Frank, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Global regulators meeting in New York last month failed to hammer out a deal on how to jointly supervise the lucrative derivatives market, and how to rely on each other for foreign entities operating in their jurisdictions.

A group of U.S. lawmakers across the political divide urged the CFTC to decide quickly how its rules apply abroad, or risk disrupting derivatives markets.

In its present order, the CFTC said it would continue to seek comment on how to define a U.S. person - a hotly debated issue among lawyers because it determines how much leeway foreign banks have to trade with U.S. banks.

Foreign banks must stick to the same rules as their U.S. market parties if they want to do business with a U.S. person, which includes companies, if their swaps trading volume exceeds $8 billion a year, according to the CFTC's proposed rules.

For now, the CFTC would continue to use a narrow definition that was largely similar to the one it used in an earlier temporary reprieve on October 12, which gave the foreign banks more exemptions than in its original rule in July.

"It's a bit of a mixed bag. The U.S. person definition is narrower than the original proposal, but broader than the ... (October 12) letter," said Clifford Chance's Old.

Republican Commissioner Jill Sommers disagreed with the agency's decision, the only dissenting vote among the CFTC's five top officials, three of whom are Democrats.

"Foreign entities will not have the basic information they need to make informed decisions regarding the ultimate obligations of engaging in swaps activities with U.S. persons (the definition of which continues to shift)," she said.

"There is no reason why the Commission could not have issued broader relief until these issues are settled. We have simply chosen not to," she added.

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Wells Fargo agrees to proposed settlement on shareholder actions

New York, Dec 30 : Wells Fargo & Co would pay up to $2.5 million in attorneys' fees and implement certain corporate governance changes under a proposed settlement of lawsuits brought by shareholders on behalf of the company, according to a securities filing by Wells.

The suits were filed in U.S. District Court in Northern California in 2010 on behalf of Wells Fargo and its shareholders against current and former directors and executives largely related to conduct at Wachovia bank, which Wells bought in 2008.

The suits claim that from 2005 to 2008 the former Wachovia defendants disregarded "their fundamental responsibilities" with respect to Wachovia's acquisition of mortgage lender Golden West Financial and other activities at Wachovia, according to settlement documents. The suits also allege that Wells directors did not pursue "valuable claims" that it inherited in the Wachovia acquisition, according to the documents.

Wells bought Wachovia as the lender verged on collapse due to ballooning mortgage losses and a run on its deposits. All the defendants denied wrongdoing and filed motions to dismiss, according to the documents.

A hearing will be held on the settlement on March 5, according to the filing by Wells with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The governance changes include a requirement that the risk committee of the Wells Fargo board hire an outside consultant for three years.

Under the proposed settlement, the defendants would not make any payments to Wells Fargo or the plaintiffs, according to the securities filing. Wells will pay any attorneys' fees.

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Dish seeks more time to fight Sprint's Softbank, Clearwire deals

New York, Dec 30: Dish Network (DISH) has asked the U.S. telecom regulator for more time to file an objection to wireless service provider Sprint Nextel's (NYS:S) proposed sale of a controlling stake to Japan's SoftBank Corp (TYO:9984) due to Sprint's announcement this week of a plan to buy out Clearwire Corp (CLWR).

The request may indicate that satellite television provider Dish, controlled by billionaire founder Charlie Ergen, is gearing up for a fight with Sprint over its plan to sell a 70 percent stake to SoftBank for $20 billion. Dish declined further comment on the matter.

Dish, which recently gained regulatory approval to build its own wireless service, told the Federal Communications Commission in a document dated December 20 that it wants a three-week extension to the FCC's January 4 filing deadline for petitions against the Softbank deal, which was announced in October.

Earlier this week, Sprint, which owns 50.45 percent of Clearwire, said it agreed to buy the rest of Clearwire for $2.2 billion, in a deal that would be conditional on the success of the SoftBank purchase.

Sprint, the No. 3 U.S. mobile provider, declined to comment on the Dish filing.

It sent the FCC an amendment to its application for approval of the SoftBank deal including notice of its agreement with Clearwire, which would gives Sprint control of the smaller company's substantial spectrum holdings.

Dish said in its filing that Sprint's plan "raises a number of issues deserving of careful consideration" and that interested parties need an appropriate amount of time to consider and address these issues.

For example, Dish questioned if it is in the public interest for a foreign company such as SoftBank to control more wireless spectrum than any other company in the United States.

It also asked whether the FCC should re-evaluate "the competitive effects" of a combination of Sprint's and Clearwire's spectrum holdings under one owner.

Dish and Sprint recently clashed with each other during the regulatory review of Dish's plans for its spectrum holdings.

Sprint is already meeting objections to the deal from some minority shareholders who are not happy with the $2.97 per share price it agreed on with Clearwire.

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US judge approves settlement in BP class action suit

New York, Dec 30: A US judge gave final approval to BP Plc's settlement with individuals and businesses who lost money and property in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The order only addressed the settlement of economic and property damage claims, not a separate medical benefits settlement for cleanup workers and others who say the spill made them sick.

BP has estimated that it will pay $7.8 billion to settle more than 100,000 claims in the class action litigation.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier initially approved the deal in May, but held a "fairness hearing" in November to weigh objections from about 13,000 claimants challenging the settlement to resolve some of BP's liability for the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

London-based BP's Macondo well spewed 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over a period of 87 days. The torrent fouled shorelines from Texas to Alabama and eclipsed the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in severity.

Lawyers for some affected parties had objected to the deal, reached in March between BP and lawyers representing plaintiffs ranging from restaurateurs, hoteliers, and oyster men who lost money from the spill. They argued that some claimants would be underpaid or unfairly excluded.

But in a 125-page order approving the settlement, Barbier called the deal "fair, reasonable and adequate," citing the low number of class members who objected or opted out.

BP welcomed the approval order in a statement, adding that the settlement resolves the majority of economic and property damage claims stemming from the accident.

"Today's decision by the Court is another important step forward for BP in meeting its commitment to economic and environmental restoration efforts in the Gulf and in eliminating legal risk facing the company," BP said.

Separate from the class action claims, BP has been locked in a year-long legal battle with the U.S. government and Gulf Coast states to settle billions of dollars in civil and criminal liability from the explosion.

In a settlement with the U.S. government announced last month, BP agreed to pay $4.5 billion in penalties and plead guilty to felony misconduct. The government also indicted the two highest-ranking BP supervisors aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig during the disaster, charging them with 23 criminal counts including manslaughter.

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Rating agencies won't cut U.S. on fiscal cliff - yet

New York, Dec 30  : The stalled progress in the Washington budget battle may be rattling markets but the gridlock among policymakers will not move the rating agencies to downgrade the United States - yet.

The U.S. credit rating is far from safe. All three major agencies have negative outlooks on the United States, which suffered its first downgrade in history last year when Standard & Poor's stripped it of its triple-A rating.

But the fiscal cliff is only one event in a series of issues that will see ratings agencies looming over Washington for months.

Investors sold off riskier assets such as stocks and scooped up safe-havens such as the dollar and U.S. Treasuries after Republican Representative John Boehner failed to find enough support from his own party to push a measure raising taxes on millionaires through the House of Representatives.

With Boehner's leadership as speaker of the House on the line, markets worry he can't get any tax plan through Congress at all - much less the stricter terms Obama wants in what's becoming the latest drawn-out political budget debacle.

Dysfunction in Washington was specifically cited as one of the reasons Standard & Poor's cut the U.S. debt rating to AA-plus in August 2011. The "fiscal cliff" itself will reduce the deficit, but Fitch has said that a continuing political standoff could cost the country its top-notch rating.

"This potential for continued gridlock among legislators could have profound effects for the U.S. economy," Standard & Poor's said in a report after the November elections.

Without a budget deal among lawmakers, the fiscal cliff, a package of $600 billion in automatic tax hikes and spending cuts, will begin to kick in January 1 and could push the economy into recession.

If investor hope is fading, though, the rating agencies still have some confidence. Fitch still sees a compromise before year-end, spokesman Brian Bertsch confirmed. "That base case has not changed" from a previous view, he said.

But failure could lead to a rating cut.

If the fiscal fracas drags into next year and looks set to hurt the economy, "the U.S. sovereign rating could be subject to review, potentially leading to a negative rating action," Fitch said in a report.

Moody's will probably resolve its negative outlook on the U.S. rating in 2013, as well, but how remains to be seen.

A spokesman for Moody's said that the rating agency's view hasn't changed since it issued a report in September saying that the United States could be off the hook for a potential downgrade if there is a medium-term plan that stabilizes the debt and reduces it as a percentage of GDP.

In the event of a plan without such policies, "we would expect to lower the rating, probably to Aa1," according to the report, co-authored by Moody's lead sovereign credit analyst on the United States, Steven Hess.

Moody's might take some time to assess a plunge over the fiscal cliff - but not beyond 2013.

In contrast, of the three major agencies, Standard & Poor's is the least likely to act soon, since the agency cut the U.S. rating to AA-plus last August after intransigence on the debt ceiling debates dented confidence in policymakers.

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