Football: Runaway Bayern go 12 clear despite Gladbach draw

BERLIN: Runaway leaders Bayern Munich needed a second-half equaliser to snatch a point in a 1-1 draw at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach on Friday in their final Bundesliga match of 2012.

The draw left Bayern 12 points clear of the chasing pack, who are all in action during the rest of the weekend's programme, while 'Gladbach move up to sixth.

"The team fought hard, they gave everything and we're happy to take that point at home," said Bayern's director of sport Matthias Sammer.

Having already opened the season with a record eight straight wins, Bayern are hoping to finish the weekend with another achievement as they look to break Borussia Dortmund's record 10-point lead at the halfway stage.

Bayern hammered 'Gladbach's goal, enjoying 65 percent ball possession, and finished with 25 shots on goal, compared to their guests' five.

After Gladbach claimed a half-time lead through a Thorben Marx penalty, Bayern battered their visitors' goal and the torrent of chances finally paid off when Swiss star Xherdan Shaqiri equalised with half an hour left.

Gladbach took the lead when Bayern defender Jerome Boateng leapt to block a cross from midfielder Tolga Cigerci and the ball struck his hand.

Referee Tobias Welz immediately pointed to the spot, despite furious protestations from Germany star Boateng, and Marx slammed home the 21st-minute penalty.

"I don't know how the referee could class that as a penalty," fumed Boateng.

"I seriously don't think it was justified.

"I think we deserved to win."

The goal came against the run of play and took the wind out of Bayern's sails and it looked like history was about to repeat itself after Gladbach had poached a 1-0 win in Munich on their previous visit in August 2011.

Things refused to go the hosts' way in the first-half as defender Dante headed over while winger Franck Ribery had a shot saved.

Adding injury to insult, defensive midfielder Javi Martinez went off with a facial injury from a stray elbow as Gladbach goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen pulled off a string of superb saves.

Bayern attacked in waves in the first-half with 11 shots on target compared to the guests' single attempt.

Only another fine ter Stegen save denied Bastian Schweinsteiger early in the second-half, but the Gladbach defence was finally beaten following a mistake by Cigerci.

His badly-timed pass was snapped up by Shaqiri, who levelled on 59 minutes.

Bayern kept up the pressure as the minutes ticked down, but Gladbach's defence held firm, despite Bayern's 14 corners, to leave Lucien Favre's team unbeaten in their last seven games.

Leverkusen can trim Bayern's lead back to nine points if they win at home to Hamburg on Saturday.

-AFP/ac

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Jailed Zee executive files libel suit against BEA for suspension

NEW DELHI: Jailed Zee executive Sudhir Chaudhary has filed a defamation case against the Broadcast Editors Association (BEA) seeking an unconditional apology and declaring his suspension from the industry body as invalid.

BEA had suspended Zee News editor Sudhir Choudhary from its Association in October. The Association came to a unanimous conclusion that Chaudhary was found acting in a manner ``prejudicial'' to the interests and objects of BEA.

Chaudhary's name has been embroiled in controversy with Congress MP Naveen Jindal lodging a police complaint accusing the channel of seeking Rs 100 crore in advertising commitments for dropping an ``expose'' regarding irregular allocation of coal blocks to the politician.

Responding to TOI queries, BEA president Shazi Zaman said, ``BEA stands by the steps it has taken and we will give an appropriate response in the court of law.'' The Association is expected to appear in the Delhi High Court on January 4.

Chaudhary's demands include declaring the ethics committee enquiry as null and void, declaring his removal from membership as invalid and illegal and an unconditional apology from the Association. The BEA's ethics committee had decided on Chaudhary's expulsion.

Chaudhary and Zee business head Samir Ahluwalia were arrested on November 27, and are in judicial custody till December 22. A Delhi court will hear arguments on the third bail plea of the two arrested Zee editors. The duo has given their consent for voice sample tests as sought by the police.

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Space Pictures This Week: Frosty Mars, Mini Nile, More

Photograph by Mike Theiss, National Geographic

The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, illuminates the Arctic sky in a recent picture by National Geographic photographer Mike Theiss.

A storm chaser by trade, Theiss is in the Arctic Circle on an expedition to photograph auroras, which result from collisions between charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere and gaseous particles in Earth's atmosphere.

After one particularly amazing show, he wrote on YouTube, "The lights were dancing, rolling, and twisting, and at times looked like they were close enough to touch!" (Watch his time-lapse video of the northern lights.)

Published December 14, 2012

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20 Children Killed at Conn. Grade School, 7 Adults

Twenty children died today when a heavily armed man invaded a Newtown, Conn., elementary school, killing his mother and spraying the school with bullets.

The gunman, identified as Adam Lanza, 20, was killed inside of the school.

Lt. Paul Vance said 18 children died in the school and two more died later in a hospital. Six adults were also slain, bringing the total to 26.

In addition to the casualties at the school, a body was also found in the shooter's home, officials said.

In the early confusion surrounding the investigation, federal sources initially identified the suspect as Adam's older brother Ryan Lanza, 24.

LIVE UPDATES: Newtown, Conn., School Shooting

Sources said the shooter was armed with a Glock semi automatic handgun and a Sig Sauer semi automatic handgun, law enforcement sources told ABC News. Additionally, .223 caliber shell casings--a rifle caliber--were also found at the scene. He was wearing a bullet-proof vest when he opened fire in the elementary school.

Among the dead in the school was the gunman's mother, who was a kindergarten teacher, sources told ABC News. Many of the students slain were in class with her when she was killed.

First grade teacher Kaitlin Roig, 29, locked her 14 students in a class bathroom and listened to "tons of shooting" until police came to help.

"It was horrific," Roig said. "I thought we were going to die."

She said that the terrified kids were saying, "I just want Christmas…I don't want to die. I just want to have Christmas."

Shannon Hicks/The Newtown Bee

Connecticut Shooting: 27 Dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School Watch Video

Connecticut School Shooting: White House Response Watch Video

Connecticut School Shooting: Student Describes Scene Watch Video

A tearful President Obama said there's "not a parent in America who doesn't feel the overwhelming grief that I do."

The president had to pause to compose himself after saying these were "beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10." As he continued with his statement, Obama wiped away tears from each eye.

He has ordered flags flown as half staff.

The alert at the school ended when Vance announced, "The shooter is deceased inside the building. The public is not in danger."

The massacre prompted the town of Newtown to lock down all its schools and draw SWAT teams to the school, authorities said today. Authorities initially believed that there were two gunmen and were searching cars around the school, but authorities do not appear to be looking for another gunman.

It's unclear how many people have been shot, but 27 people, mostly children, are dead, multiple federal and state sources tell ABC News. That number could rise, officials said.

CLICK HERE for more photos from the scene.

It is the second worst mass shooting in U.S. history, exceeded only by the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 when 32 were killed before the shooter turned the gun on himself. Today's carnage exceeds the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in which 13 died and 24 were injured.

The Newtown shooting comes three days after masked gunman Jacob Roberts opened fire in a busy Oregon mall, killing two before turning the gun on himself.

Today's shooting occurred at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, which includes 450 students in grades K-4. The town is located about 12 miles east of Danbury.

State Police received the first 911 call at 9:41 a.m. and immediately began sending emergency units from the western part of the state. Initial 911 calls stated that multiple students were trapped in a classroom, possibly with a gunman, according to a Connecticut State Police source.

Lt. Paul Vance said that on-duty and off-duty officers swarmed to the school and quickly checked "every door, every crack, every crevice" in the building looking for the gunman and evacuating children.

A photo from the scene shows a line of distressed children being led out of the school.

Three patients have been taken to Danbury Hospital, which is also on lockdown, according to the hospital's Facebook page.

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Rep. Loretta Sanchez’s 2012 Christmas card: Fiscal cliff, Gretzky in heaven

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen — your Rep. Loretta Sanchez Christmas card for 2012!

(Courtesy of the Office of Rep. Loretta Sanchez)
Over the past decade, the California Democrat’s wacky holiday greetings have drawn a cult following. “I’ve seen them being sold on eBay,” the congresswoman told us.

(Courtesy of the Office of Rep. Loretta Sanchez)
Nice topical theme this year! “The ‘fiscal cliff’ is a very serious situation, so we didn’t want to make light of it,” she said. “But sometimes a chuckle makes things a lot easier.” (Last year’s card tipped a hat to Occupy Wall Street and all that 99 percent talk: “May the joy of the holidays occupy 100 percent of your heart.”)

That’s husband Jack Einwechter dancing with her. Sanchez’s late beloved cat Gretzky, the star of so many cards over the years, is represented inside the card, a halo over his furry head. “Of course — Angel Gretzky,” she said. “We keep Gretzky every year because he has so many followers.”

Earlier:
Rep. Loretta Sanchez’s ‘Call Me Maybe’ parody, with summer interns, 7/2/12

Last year:
Rep. Loretta Sanchez carries on holiday card tradition, without beloved cat Gretzky, 12/9/11

Loretta Sanchez’s 2011 Christmas card, 12/16/11

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Tehran hosts UN nuclear team talks with Iran on Jan 16

TEHRAN: Iran and the UN atomic watchdog, following a day of discussions on the Islamic republic's controversial nuclear programme, agreed on Thursday to resume negotiations in Tehran on January 16 , a senior Iranian official said.

"We agreed to have the next round of talks on January 16 in Tehran," said Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency was quoted by media as saying.

The one day of talks held on Thursday was "constructive, positive, and good progress has been made," he added.

No other information came out of the talks, which ran from the morning late into the evening.

The agency wants to inspect Parchin, a restricted military complex near Tehran where the IAEA suspects experiments with explosives capable of triggering a nuclear weapon could have been carried out.

But the media did not say whether that request was granted.

In Vienna, the IAEA had no comment, but chief inspector Herman Nackaerts, who was leading the seven-strong team, was expected to make a statement on his return there on Friday morning.

The IAEA says the talks aim to reach agreement on a "structured approach" for Tehran to address allegations of weaponisation and for the watchdog to gain broader access to Iran's nuclear sites and people working in the programme.

"We also hope that Iran will allow us to go to the site of Parchin, and if Iran would grant us access we would welcome that chance and we are ready to go," Nackaerts told reporters in Vienna on Wednesday before leaving for Iran.

The IAEA, which visited Parchin twice in 2005, accuses Tehran of carrying out clean-up operations at the base to undermine its efforts to probe possible past nuclear weapons research work. Iran denies that.

Thursday's talks were the latest in a string of fruitless meetings this year between Iran and the IAEA, with the latest in August in the Austrian capital.

One diplomat in Vienna said the team in Tehran is larger than in past visits in February and in May, and now included two "technical experts" who could conduct verification work at Parchin -- if invited to do so.

Iran denies seeking or ever having sought an atomic bomb and has refused the IAEA access to Parchin, saying that as a non-nuclear site the agency has no right to conduct inspections there.

Foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on Tuesday the visit would focus on discussions regarding "Iran's nuclear rights as well as its peaceful nuclear activities."

But "certain issues that have possibly become a source of concern for (IAEA) officials can also be discussed," he said, without being more specific.

Iran, under international sanctions, rejects as baseless suspicions by Western governments and echoed by the IAEA that it intends to develop a nuclear weapons capability under the guise of its energy programme.

It stresses that IAEA demands to examine Parchin exceed Iran's obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to which it is a signatory.

The inspectors' visit also came against the backdrop of renewed efforts by world powers engaging Iran over its nuclear programme to discuss possible dates and venues for a new meeting to resolve the dispute.

The P5 + 1 -- the US, Russia, China, France and Britain plus Germany -- are hoping to agree with Iran "rapidly" on a new meeting, a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in Brussels.

-AFP/ac

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Railways cuts plan outlay by Rs 4,000 crore for 2012-13

NEW DELHI: Cash-strapped Railways has scaled down its plan outlay by around Rs 4,000 crore for the current fiscal, following failure to raise the funds internally. In its budget for 2012-13, Railways had proposed its highest ever plan outlay of Rs 60,100 crore. It was planning to generate Rs 18,050 crore through internal resources.

"In view of the shortfall in generation of targeted internal resources, the plan outlay for the current year has been reassessed downward from Rs 60,100 to Rs 55,881 crore," said minister of state for railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

The cutting down in total plan outlay due to shortfall in revenues through internal means is set to adversely affect spending on Railways' modernization and safety programmes.

Though Railways has tried to put up a brave front and claimed that the available resources have been judiciously allocated as per requirement of priority projects, it has been pleading with the finance ministry and the Planning Commission for hike in additional Budgetary support to fund its pending projects and safety measures. But, the finance ministry has been pressing Railways to increase its resources through internal means or encourage private investment.

Railways is losing around Rs 24,000 crore every year in cross-subsidizing passenger travel by freezing fare hike under popular pressure since last 10 years. The freight loading target has also been revised downwards. Railway minister Pawan Bansal is aware of the tough job at hand: To pull the national transporter out of financial mess and carry on with the reformist agenda.

Bansal had admitted in Parliament about the transporter's failure to manage finances for completing its long list of pending projects. Railways needs Rs 147,187 crore for completing 347 pending projects related only to laying of new tracks, gauge conversion and doubling of rail lines, but could manage only Rs 5,000 crore annually for implementing all its projects. The transporter is pinning hope on timely completion of UPA's ambitious dedicated freight corridor (DMRC), which has tied up its funding from multilateral agencies. The completion of DMRC will increase freight revenue as well as decongest tracks for passenger traffic.

After getting the Union Cabinet's approval for its public-private partnership (PPP) models, railways is also expecting to encourage private investment. Private players have been demanding a clear policy framework for promoting private sector investment and foreign direct investment. Railway modernization requires an investment of around Rs 8.4 trillion in the next five years, of which Rs 2.30 trillion are likely to be raised through PPP ventures.

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Rice Withdraws From Sec. of State Consideration

Image Credit: Evan Vucci/AP Photo

UN Ambassador Susan Rice has withdrawn her name from consideration for Secretary of State, saying the criticism surrounding her comments on Benghazi had become an “irresponsible distraction.”

“I am fully confident that I could serve our country ably and effectively in that role,” Rice wrote in a letter to President Obama today. “However, if nominated, I am now convinced that the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly – to you and to our most pressing national and international priorities.”

Read Susan Rice’s letter to President Obama

“That trade-off is simply not worth it to our country,” she added.

Rice has been criticized by Republicans for her response to questions on the Sunday talk shows shortly after the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi killed four Americans.

“The position of Secretary of State should never be politicized,” Rice wrote. “As someone who grew up in an era of comparative bipartisanship and as a sitting U.S. national security official who has served in two U.S. Administrations, I am saddened that we have reached this point, even before you have decided whom to nominate. We cannot afford such an irresponsible distraction from the most pressing issues facing the American people.”

Sources tell ABC News that even before Rice withdrew her name from consideration to be Secretary of State earlier today, Senator John Kerry, D-Mass., had emerged as the leading contender, with the president convinced he would be the better Secretary of State.

The president is all but certain to nominate Kerry, sources say, though no official decision has been made.

The position of Secretary of Defense is not as far along in the process, but sources say former Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., seems to have an edge right now over other possible candidates such as former undersecretary of defense for policy Michelle Flournoy and deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter.

The CIA director slot, sources say, will go to either acting director Michael Morrell or White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan.

President Obama, who publicly defended Rice on several occasions, has accepted her decision to remove her name from the running.

“I have every confidence that Susan has limitless capability to serve our country now and in the years to come, and know that I will continue to rely on her as an advisor and friend,” Obama said in a written statement. 

“While I deeply regret the unfair and misleading attacks on Susan Rice in recent weeks, her decision demonstrates the strength of her character, and an admirable commitment to rise above the politics of the moment to put our national interests first,” he said. “The American people can be proud to have a public servant of her caliber and character representing our country.”

Two Republican members of Congress who had adamantly opposed Rice’s potential nomination both reacted quickly.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC., tweeted, “I respect Ambassador Rice’s decision.” And a spokesperson for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., wrote, “Senator McCain thanks Ambassador Rice for her service to the country and wishes her well. He will continue to seek all the facts surrounding the attack on our consulate in Benghazi that killed four brave Americans.”

–Jake Tapper and Mary Bruce

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Global Checkup: Most People Living Longer, But Sicker

If the world's entire population went in for a collective checkup, would the doctor's prognosis be good or bad? Both, according to new studies published in The Lancet medical journal.

The vast collaborative effort, called the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2010, includes papers by nearly 500 authors in 50 countries. Spanning four decades of data, it represents the most comprehensive analysis ever undertaken of health problems around the world.

It reveals that, globally, we're living longer but coping with more illness as adults. In 1990, "childhood underweight"—a condition associated with malnutrition, measles, malaria, and other infectious diseases—was the world's biggest health problem. Now the top causes of global disease are adult ailments: high blood pressure (associated with 9.4 million deaths in 2010), tobacco smoking (6.2 million), and alcohol use (4.9 million).

First, the good news:

We're living longer. Average life expectancy has risen globally since 1970 and has increased in all but eight of the world's countries within the past decade.

Both men and women are gaining years. From 1970 to 2010, the average lifespan rose from 56.4 years to 67.5 years for men, and from 61.2 years to 73.3 years for women.

Efforts to combat childhood diseases and malnutrition have been very successful. Deaths in children under five years old declined almost 60 percent in the past four decades.

Developing countries have made huge strides in public health. In the Maldives, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Iran, and Peru, life expectancy has increased by more than 20 years since 1970. Within the past two decades, gains of 12 to 15 years have occurred in Angola, Ethiopia, Niger, and Rwanda, an indication of successful strategies for curbing HIV, malaria, and nutritional deficiencies.

We're beating many communicable diseases. Thanks to improvements in sanitation and vaccination, the death rate for diarrheal diseases, lower respiratory infections, meningitis, and other common infectious diseases has dropped by 42 percent since 1990.

And the bad:

Non-infectious diseases are on the rise, accounting for two of every three deaths globally in 2010. Heart disease and stroke are the primary culprits.

Young adults aren't doing as well as others. Deaths in the 15 to 49 age bracket have increased globally in the past 20 years. The reasons vary by region, but diabetes, smoking, alcohol, HIV/AIDS, and malaria all play a role.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is taking a toll in sub-Saharan Africa. Life expectancy has declined overall by one to seven years in Zimbabwe and Lesotho, and young adult deaths have surged by more than 500 percent since 1970 in South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

We drink too much. Alcohol overconsumption is a growing problem in the developed world, especially in Eastern Europe, where it accounts for almost a quarter of the total disease burden. Worldwide, it has become the top risk factor for people ages 15 to 49.

We eat too much, and not the right things. Deaths attributable to obesity are on the rise, with 3.4 million in 2010 compared to 2 million in 1990. Similarly, deaths attributable to dietary risk factors and physical inactivity have increased by 50 percent (4 million) in the past 20 years. Overall, we're consuming too much sodium, trans fat, processed meat, and sugar-sweetened beverages, and not enough fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, fiber, calcium, and omega-3 fatty acids.

Smoking is a lingering problem. Tobacco smoking, including second-hand smoke, is still the top risk factor for disease in North America and Western Europe, just as it was in 1990. Globally, it's risen in rank from the third to second leading cause of disease.

To find out more and see related charts and graphics, see the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, which led the collaboration.

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Fed sets inflation, jobless targets for hiking rates

WASHINGTON: The US Federal Reserve laid out target levels on unemployment and inflation for raising interest rates for the first time Wednesday, surprising analysts who expected such a move would wait until next year.

In an effort to better signal its policy path, after its benchmark rate has been locked at 0-0.25 percent for four years, the Fed said it would not lift rates as long as the inflation outlook was below 2.5 percent and the jobless rate, now at 7.7 percent, stays above 6.5 percent.

Saying the economy continues to grow only at a "moderate" rate, the Federal Open Market Committee also launched a new, open-ended $45 billion a month bond-buying program to replace the bond-swap Operation Twist program that expires at year-end.

That will take its total "quantitative easing" asset purchases, of both Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities, aimed at pushing down long-term rates to encourage investment, to $85 billion a month.

After a two-day policy meeting, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke stressed that the economy, while growing at a moderate pace, was still hindered by high unemployment, which he called "an enormous waste of human and economic potential."

He also warned that Congress and the White House needed to urgently find a solution to the fiscal cliff crisis, which could send the economy back into recession next year.

"Even though we have not even reached the point of the fiscal cliff potentially kicking in, it's already affecting business investment and hiring decisions by creating uncertainty or creating pessimism," Bernanke said at a post-meeting news conference.

Even with the new target thresholds, the FOMC essentially held close to its course of the past year, stressing that its current "highly accommodative" monetary policy will stay in place even after the economy starts turning up.

Its benchmark interest rate would hold at the current level "at least as long as the unemployment rate remains above 6.5 percent" and inflation over the horizon of one to two years is projected at lower than 2.5 percent.

Such a stipulation was far more explicit than previous Fed guidance, which forecast that its easy-money policy would be in place "at least through mid-2015."

With prospects low for a rebound in inflation, it also further enshrined combatting unemployment as the primary focus of Fed policy for the next two or three years.

Jim O'Sullivan of High Frequency Economics said the change in the forecasting language suggested that FOMC members see the economy possibly improving over the next couple years more firmly than they had previously forecast.

"The signal is similar but is more clearly conditional," O'Sullivan said.

"As we have been writing, we see risks tilted toward a more rapid-than-expected decline in unemployment continuing."

But Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stressed that the FOMC was not signaling greater optimism.

Tying future monetary policy moves to specific conditions will make policy more transparent and predictable, he told journalists.

"The change in the form of the committee's forward guidance does not in itself imply any change in the committee's expectations of the likely future path of the federal funds rate since the October meeting," he said.

Indeed, the FOMC cut very slightly its growth forecast for next year to 2.3-3.0 percent, from around 1.8 percent this year.

And the survey of FOMC participants showed only five of 19 saw monetary policy tightening by 2014, the same as the October meeting.

Markets liked the news for only a short time, shooting up before falling back to around break-even level at the close.

The dollar suffered, though, falling to $1.3065 against the euro.

-AFP/ac

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