Hurricane Sandy: US states begin storm shutdown

Schools have been closed and many travel services cancelled ahead of Sandy's arrival

Barack Obama has warned Americans to take Hurricane Sandy seriously as authorities started shutting down the Eastern Seaboard ahead of its arrival.

Several states have declared emergencies, with tens of millions of people affected as schools are closed and transport services suspended.

Experts fear Sandy may become a super-storm when it makes landfall later.

Some election rallies have been called off, with Mr Obama warning affected citizens to hunker down.

International travel has been badly affected. Air France, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic grounded Monday's transatlantic flights to and from East Coast cities, including New York, Baltimore, Newark, Washington, Boston and Philadelphia.
Full moon
At 23:00 EDT (03:00 GMT on Monday), the eye of the storm was about 470 miles (760km) south-east of New York City, according to the National Hurricane Center.

With winds of 75mph, Hurricane Sandy, dubbed "Frankenstorm", is expected to bring a "life-threatening" surge flood to the Mid-Atlantic coast, including Long Island Sound and New York Harbour.

Sandbags in New York. Visitors will have to wait to see the newly-reopened Statue of Liberty

The winds are expected to strengthen when Sandy makes landfall anywhere between Virginia and southern New England on Monday.

The prospect of merging with a wintry storm coming from the west during a full moon has many fearing dangerous high tides.

The storm is some 520 miles (835km) across. It is also very slow, moving north-east at just 15mph, and could linger over as many as 12 states for 24-36 hours, bringing up to 25cm of rain, 60cm of snow, extreme storm surges and power cuts.

States of emergency have been declared in Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington DC and a coastal county in North Carolina.

“Start Quote

This gives Barack Obama a chance to appear above politics and to look presidential - but any failure would be magnified, and problems tend to get blamed on the president”

End Quote

Mark Mardell North America editor

---

• Read more from Mark

The two presidential election contenders have modified their campaign engagements, with Mitt Romney pulling out of an event in Virginia and Mr Obama cancelling rallies in Virginia and Colorado.

The president has pulled out of a Monday event in Ohio - considered a key swing state - in order to return to Washington monitor the storm - although he is still set to attend a rally with former President Bill Clinton in Florida earlier on Monday.

Visiting the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) in Washington on Sunday, Mr Obama vowed his government would "respond big and respond fast" after Sandy had passed.
Liberty delayed
Amtrak has started suspending passenger train services across the north-eastern US and air travel has been badly hit, with some 6,800 flights cancelled.

New York City's subway, bus and train services were suspended from 19:00 (23:00 GMT) on Sunday, and schools will be shut on Monday.

With predicted storm surges of up to 11ft, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered 375,000 people in the city's vulnerable low-lying areas to leave their homes.

"If you don't evacuate you're not just putting your own life in danger, you are also endangering lives of our first responders who would have to rescue you," he said.

BBC Weather: Hurricane Sandy forecast

The Statue of Liberty was reopened on Sunday after a year of renovation, but only a group of army cadets got a tour before it was shut again until at least Wednesday.

Some 200 National Guardsmen will patrol Manhattan and 300 more will be deployed in Long Island.

The New York Stock Exchange will be fully closed on Monday, its operator said, and possibly on Tuesday as well.

It had earlier said electronic transactions would be possible but on Sunday announced it was closing fully because "the dangerous conditions developing as a result of Hurricane Sandy will make it extremely difficult to ensure the safety of our people and communities".

Similar precautions were taken last year as Hurricane Irene approached the East Coast. It killed more than 40 people from North Carolina to Maine and caused an estimated $10bn (£6bn) worth of damage.
'Get out'
Fema has warned the threat extends well inland from the coast, and has issued safety tips for how to cope with the hurricane.

“Start Quote

Romney's enforced absence from the Atlantic coast has been turned by his team to his best advantage”

End Quote

Jonny Dymond Washington correspondent

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• Read more from Jonny

Blustery winds were already being felt in New York on Sunday night and the anxiety felt on the streets indicated that residents were taking city orders seriously and with haste, says the BBC's Matt Danzico in Manhattan.

In New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie confirmed a swathe of mandatory evacuations, told civil servants to stay at home on Monday and said the casinos in Atlantic City had closed.

"The weather will turn ugly [on Monday] and we want everyone off the roads," he said.

"Don't be stupid. Get out. Don't try to be a hero and act as if nothing is going on here."

New Jersey authorities expect very significant flooding, with three increasingly high tides on Monday, possibly creating surges of 13-14ft - the worst since 1903, authorities said.

Sandy has already killed 60 people in the Caribbean during the past week.

Source:BBC

Shark attack: Surfer killed off Surf Beach, California

Surfer Lucas Ransom died after a shark attack at the same beach in 2010

A 39-year-old surfer has died after a shark attack off the California coast at Surf Beach in Santa Barbara County.

Sheriff's officials named the victim as Francisco Javier Solorio Jr.
The sheriff's department said the attack was witnessed by a friend of the victim, who swam to his aid and pulled him out of the water.
The friend started first aid while another surfer called for help, but the victim was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene.
The officials said the victim died after being bitten in the upper torso.
Police added that the type of shark involved in the attack and other details were still under investigation.
Warning signs Surf Beach is located on Vandenberg Air Force Base, but remains accessible to the public.
"We've had shark sightings up and down the Santa Barbara coastline pretty frequently recently," Lt Erik Raney told Associated Press.
Last month, warning signs were posted at Santa Barbara Harbour, about 105km (65 miles) south-east of Surf Beach, after a large great white shark was spotted by a surfer.
Lt Raney said Surf Beach had not displayed any public alert notices so far.
But officials at Vandenberg advised people to stay away from the beach following Tuesday morning's attack.
On 22 October 2010, surfer Lucas Ransom was attacked by a great white shark at the same beach and died from loss of blood.
A friend of the 19-year-old Santa Barbara college student who witnessed that attack said the shark was 18-20ft long.
Nevertheless fatal shark attacks remain rare. In 2011, the International Shark Attack File recorded 75 unprovoked attacks worldwide. Twelve people died as a direct result of their injuries.

There are 35 cities around the world that are inhabited by only one resident!

Antarctica tops the list of cities with only one resident. Technically it is only a station, but nonetheless there is only one person manning it. Canada and the good ol’ U.S.A top the list with most cities with only one resident. Between the two of the, there are twenty-one cities with just one resident.
The rest of the cities lie within European countries. Interestingly, there are more cities in the world with no one inhabiting them than there are with just one or two residents. There are more than one hundred cities around the world without anyone living in them. In some cases, people drive to the cities to work and then leave. Others are simply still recognized as cities, but have become ghost towns that were slowly abandoned and forgotten.
So, these towns seem to have no reason to really exist with no one or next to no one living in them. They aren’t really ran by anyone. There is no need. They were established townships previously and it is more work than needed to remove them from being recognized as an established town. It is just easier to let them be, and maybe someday people will live in them once again.
 

Turkey tries pianist Fazil Say for insulting Islam

 

Fazil Say is seen here performing in Davos, Switzerland, in 2009

World-famous Turkish pianist Fazil Say has appeared in court in Istanbul charged with inciting hatred and insulting the values of Muslims.

He is being prosecuted over tweets he wrote mocking radical Muslims, in a case which has rekindled concern about religious influence in the country.
Mr Say, who denies the charges, said recently he was "amazed" at having to appear before judges.
Rejecting an acquittal call, the court adjourned the case until 18 February.
Prosecutors brought the charges against Mr Say in June. He faces a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison although correspondents say any sentence is likely to be suspended.
The indictment against him cites some of his tweets from April, including one where he says: "I am not sure if you have also realised it, but if there's a louse, a non-entity, a lowlife, a thief or a fool, it's always an Islamist."
Dozens of the pianist's supporters gathered outside the courthouse with banners, one of which called on the ruling Islamist-based AK Party to "leave the artists alone".
Mr Say has played with the New York Philharmonic, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra and others, and has served as a cultural ambassador for the EU.
Egemen Bagis, Turkey's minister in charge of relations with the EU, suggested the case against him should be dismissed, saying the court should regard his tweets as being within "his right to babble".
However, Mr Bagis also criticised the pianist for "insulting people's faith and values".

Obama and Romney clash in spiky debate

US President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney clash over energy policy

US President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney have clashed sharply in their second debate.

A fired-up Mr Obama - widely seen as having lost the first debate - came out swinging as they tangled over tax, the economy and foreign policy.
But the former Massachusetts governor fought back aggressively, accusing his rival of a litany of failed promises and having a poor record to defend.
The two men will meet for one final pre-election debate on 22 October.
As he battles for a second term, the Democratic president is trying to hang on to narrow leads in many of the nine key swing states that are expected to decide who will win the White House.
A new Gallup national poll released just hours before the debate began showed Mr Romney leading Mr Obama 50% to 46% among likely voters.

“Start Quote

President Obama redeemed himself. He did what he had to, and perhaps some more”

Mark Mardell North America editor

• Read more from Mark

Both men roamed the stage at the town-hall-style debate in New York, circling and frequently interrupting each other.

The 90-minute debate at Hofstra University on Long Island was moderated by CNN chief political correspondent Candy Crowley, who sought to fact-check and occasionally interrupt the candidates.
Mr Obama was much more assertive than during their first debate this month in Denver, Colorado, but Mr Romney more than held his own.
In early exchanges Mr Obama alluded to his bailout of the auto industry, saying that his rival wanted to "Let Detroit go bankrupt". Mr Romney denied that he had wanted car manufacturers to go bust, and promoted a plan to create 12m jobs.
'Passionate' The pair clashed sharply over energy policy, with Mr Romney noting that fuel prices had virtually doubled in the four years since Mr Obama took office.
Mr Obama insisted that was because the economy was collapsing in early 2009, and quipped that Mr Romney would bring petrol prices back down because his economic policies would against sink the economy.
As the debate progressed, both candidates made repeated and impassioned pitches to America's middle class.
Mr Obama said he had cut taxes for middle class families and small businesses over the last four years.

Election Daily Diet

16 October Which city has endured 73,000 political ads this year?
See today's Daily Election Diet

But he said that if America was serious about reducing the deficit, the wealthy would have to pay a little bit more.

"Governor Romney and his allies in Congress have held the 98% hostage because they want tax breaks for the 2%," said Mr Obama.
Pitch to women For his part, Mr Romney denied that he planned a tax cut for the wealthiest, insisting that the top 5% would continue to pay 60% of total taxes - as they do today.
Mr Obama said voters had heard no specifics on Mr Romney's "sketchy" tax plan apart from eliminating Sesame Street's Big Bird and cutting funding for Planned Parenthood, a family planning organisation Republicans say promotes abortion.
"Of course it adds up," Mr Romney rebutted. He cited his experience balancing budgets in business, while running the 2002 Olympics and as governor of Massachusetts.

Town hall debate format

• About 80 undecided voters will be in the audience
• Questions are submitted in advance
• Moderator Candy Crowley of CNN chooses who gets to ask their questions, and she can ask follow-up questions
• The candidates are free to walk around
• Candidates usually engage directly with the questioner
• Third presidential debate is on 22 October in Boca Raton, Florida

Asked what he would do to ensure women enjoy equal pay to men, Mr Obama accused Mr Romney of failing to back fair pay legislation passed by the Democrats.

The president also said Mr Romney believed employers should be able to make the decision over whether female employees should have access to contraception through their health coverage.
But Mr Romney said that he did not believe that Washington bureaucrats should decide such matters.
Answering a question from one voter, Mr Obama ticked off a laundry list of achievements over the last four years, saying he had cut taxes for the middle class, ended the war in Iraq, targeted al-Qaeda's leadership and killed Osama Bin Laden, saved the auto-industry, and introduced his signature healthcare reform.
But Mr Romney said the last four years had not been as rosy as the president would like to portray.
The Republican went through his own list of alleged failed promises by Mr Obama. The Republican said the president had made pledges to deliver unemployment of 5.4%, an immigration plan, and to cut in half the deficit, but had met none of them.
"The president's tried, but his policies haven't worked," said Mr Romney.
One of the sharpest exchanges of the debate came when the pair clashed over former private equity chief Mr Romney's wealth.
Mr Romney was defending his investments in China through a blind trust when he asked Mr Obama if he had looked at his own pension. He said Mr Obama would find investments in China in his retirement plan, too.

The fact-checkers trying to keep the presidential candidates honest

Mr Obama countered that he did not check his pension that often, adding: "Because it's not as big as yours."
On last month's consulate attack in Libya, which left four Americans dead, Mr Romney hit out at Mr Obama for holding a fundraiser in Las Vegas the next day.
The Republican also suggested the Obama administration had misled the American people over whether or not it was a terrorist attack.
But Mr Obama said it was "offensive" for Mr Romney to imply that his administration would play politics with such a deadly attack.
He also accused Mr Romney of attempting to make political capital out of a national tragedy, by issuing a campaign press release on the issue just after the diplomatic compound had been sacked.
The third and final presidential debate is scheduled for 22 October in Boca Raton, Florida.

US Presidential Election 2012

• Second presidential debate
• Obama profile
• Romney profile
• Who's in the lead?

Clinton:‘I take responsibility’ in Libya attack

Hillary Clinton (Reuters/Yuri Gripas)

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told CNN in an interview Monday that she—not the White House—takes responsibility for the security situation in Benghazi, Libya, ahead of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack there that claimed the lives of four Americans, including the ambassador.
"I take responsibility," Clinton told CNN in one of a series of television interviews she gave after arriving in Peru. The comments from America's top diplomat came on the eve of President Barack Obama's second debate with Republican challenger Mitt Romney, a face-off that seemed likely to include questions about the administration's handling of the bloody assault.

"I want to avoid some kind of political gotcha" with just three weeks before the election, Clinton said, underlining that she—not Obama and Vice President Joe Biden—has the final word on security at America's diplomatic posts overseas.

The White House took heavy fire from Republicans for blaming the attack on Muslim anger at an Internet video ridiculing Islam—even though intelligence officials from the U.S., France, Britain and Italy had quickly labeled the assault an act of terrorism.

And Biden stoked the controversy when he said, in his debate with Republican rival Paul Ryan last week, that "we weren't told" of requests for more security on the ground. State Department officials had testified that such requests had been denied by Washington.

U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens was slain in the onslaught, making him the first American ambassador killed in such an attack since 1979. Romney has led Republican charges that the strike is a symptom of Obama's "unraveling" foreign policy.

In the CNN interview, Clinton blamed "confusion" after the attack for the initial focus on the video, which has fueled angry demonstrations across the Muslim world. The State Department has said it never blamed demonstrations for the bloodshed in Benghazi. The White House has said that the intelligence community initially believed that the film had played a role.

Clinton also said that while she would work to improve diplomatic security, "we cannot retreat" from the world. "We can't not engage," she said.

Source:CNN

China inflation rate dips to 1.9% raising easing hopes

China's central bank does not want to "be seen to be responsible for fuelling another bubble".

China's policymakers have been given more room to boost stimulus measures after the country's inflation rate dipped in September.

Consumer prices rose 1.9% from a year earlier. That was down from 2% growth in August.
There have been calls for Beijing to ease its monetary policy to boost domestic demand and spur growth amid a global economic slowdown.
China's economic growth slowed to a three-year low in the second quarter.
"This inflation picture remains supportive for further policy easing to support the growth recovery which is still the top priority for now," said Sun Junwie, an economist with HSBC in Beijing.
Domestic boost China's economy has been hurt by falling demand for its exports and a slowdown in investment in the country.
Demand for its exports has been hit by continuing economic problems in key markets such as the US and Europe.

“Start Quote

We think it's necessary to cut interest rates and reserve ratio requirement in [the] fourth quarter to ensure sound economic growth in 2013”

Wang Jun CCIEE

Despite the fact that exports rose by 9.9% in September from a year earlier, which was more than had been expected, the export sector's growth continues to remain under pressure.

As a result, China has been keen to boost its domestic consumption in a bid to rebalance its economy and sustain growth.
It has lowered the reserve ratio requirement, the amount of money banks must keep in their reserves, three times in the past few months, in a bid to boost lending and spur demand.
It has also cut interest rates twice since June this year, to bring down the cost of borrowing for consumers and businesses.
On the investment front, Beijing has approved infrastructure projects worth more than $150bn (£94bn) to try to spur a fresh wave of economic development.
Analysts said policymakers will have to introduce further measures in order to sustain long term growth.
"We think it's necessary to cut interest rates and reserve ratio requirement in [the] fourth quarter to ensure sound economic growth in 2013," said Wang Jun, an economist with the China Centre for International Educational Exchanges (CCIEE) in Beijing.

Related Stories

• World Bank lowers China forecast
• China sees September export surge
• China's economic conundrum

Lenovo ousts HP as world's top PC maker

Lenovo has been increasing its market share in key markets in Asia as well as the US

Chinese PC maker Lenovo has replaced Hewlett-Packard as the world's top PC maker, according to preliminary figures released by research firm Gartner.

Gartner said Lenovo shipped 13.8 million units in the third quarter, compared with HP's 13.55 million.
It said Lenovo's "aggressive" price cuts had helped it gain substantial market share.
However, research firm IDC's data put HP at the top, though it showed the gap between the two was closing.
According to IDC, HP shipped 13.9 million units, giving it a 15.9% share of the global market, compared with Lenovo which enjoyed a 15.7% share with 13.8 million units.
Analysts said that Lenovo has been among the best performing PC makers in recent times and was likely to gain further market share.
"Just the momentum that Lenovo has had, makes it inevitable that it will be the world's number one PC maker across all charts," Andrew Milroy of Frost & Sullivan told the BBC.
According to Gartner, Lenovo was the only PC maker, among the world's top five, that increased its shipments to the US during the third quarter.

Global Q3 PC shipments - Gartner
Manufacturer	Units (millions)	Market share
Lenovo	13.77	15.7%
HP	13.55	15.5%
Dell	9.22	10.5%
Acer	8.63	9.9%
ASUS	6.38	7.3%
Others	35.95	41.1%
Total	87.50	100%

'Severe slump' Both Gartner and IDC's figures showed that global PC shipments fell more than 8% during the quarter, from the same period last year.

“Start Quote

The hard question of what is the 'it' product for PCs remains unanswered”

Jay Chou IDC

Demand for personal computers has been hurt by a slowing global economy as well as the growing popularity of tablet PCs such as Apple's iPad and Samsung's Galaxy range.

Analysts said that consumers held back on purchases during the period in anticipation of the launch of new products as well as operating systems, including Microsoft Windows 8.
"PCs are going through a severe slump," said Jay Chou, senior research analyst at IDC's Worldwide PC Tracker.
"The industry had already weathered a rough second quarter, and now the third quarter was even worse."
He added that the industry was also struggling to find a product that may help it turn around its fortunes.
"The hard question of what is the 'it' product for PCs remains unanswered. While ultrabook prices have come down a little, there are still some significant challenges that will greet Windows 8 in the coming quarter."

Global Q3 PC shipments - IDC
Manufacturer	Units (millions)	Market share
HP	13.95	15.9%
Lenovo	13.82	15.7%
Dell	9.50	10.8%
Acer	8.41	9.6%
ASUS	6.38	7.3%
Others	35.73	40.7%
Total	87,80	100%

 Source: BBC business news
 

US running mates clash in debate

In a pointed barb, Biden called Ryan's attack on the administration's handling of Libya 'malarkey'

US vice-presidential candidates Joe Biden and Paul Ryan have clashed sharply in their only debate, as polls show a tightening campaign.

Thursday night's debate saw feisty exchanges on national security, the economy, taxes and healthcare.
Mr Biden, a Democrat, was aggressive, frequently interrupting his rival as he defended President Barack Obama.
Mr Ryan, a Republican Wisconsin congressman, was comparatively calm in his first debate on the national stage.
'Aggressive' The head-to-head came as Democrats try to rejuvenate their campaign after what was widely seen as a poor debate performance by Mr Obama last week.
The Republican challenger, former Massachusetts governor and businessman Mitt Romney, has gained steadily in the polls as a result.
The president has acknowledged he was "too polite", and it appeared his campaign unleashed Mr Biden on Thursday night to attack Mr Romney on taxes, government spending, the economy and other issues.

“Start Quote

This was a serious, substantive debate between two men who were well briefed and on their game. It probably won't change much - the ball is still very much in Mr Obama's court next week”

Mark Mardell North America editor

The vice-president repeatedly cut off Mr Ryan, chuckling, rolling his eyes and raising his hands in apparent exasperation, even as he referred to his rival as "my friend".

But Mr Ryan seemed not to be rattled. His goal was to defend Mr Romney's recent gains against a renewed onslaught from Mr Obama, analysts said.
On stage at Centre College in Kentucky, the vice-presidential candidates jousted as moderator Martha Raddatz of ABC News sought to keep order.
The debate opened with an exchange on Libya, where a US ambassador was killed last month in what the Obama administration now calls a terrorist attack.
Mr Biden defended the Obama administration's handling of the situation, as well as its initially inaccurate characterisation of the incident as a reaction to an anti-Islamic video made in the US.
And he pivoted to attack Mr Romney, saying the Republican's decision to hold a political press conference the morning after the attack was "not presidential leadership".

Ryan teased Biden's propensity for verbal blunders

In one of many barbs, he said Mr Ryan's criticisms of the administration's handling of the crisis were "a bunch of malarkey. Not a single thing he said is accurate".
Mr Ryan, meanwhile, said the administration had disregarded diplomats' requests for more security in Libya.
And in a charge he repeated later, Mr Ryan said: "What we are watching on our TV screens is the unravelling of the Obama foreign policy."
'Bluster' The men argued about Iran and the US relationship with Israel, but showed little substantive difference between their tickets' respective policies.
"When Barack Obama was elected, [Iran] had enough fissile material - nuclear material to make one bomb," Mr Ryan said. "Now they have enough for five."

Presidential debates 2012

• 3 Oct Denver, Colorado. Domestic policy. Moderated by Jim Lehrer (PBS)
• 11 Oct Danville, Kentucky. Vice-presidential debate. Moderated by Martha Raddatz (ABC)
• 16 Oct Hempstead, New York. Town-hall style foreign policy debate. Moderator: Candy Crowley (CNN)
• 22 Oct Boca Raton, Florida. Moderator: Bob Schieffer (CBS)

Commission on Presidential Debates

• Profile: Joe Biden
• Profile: Paul Ryan

Mr Biden said international sanctions against Iran had crippled that nation's economy, and challenged Mr Ryan to clarify where Republican policy on Iran differs from the administration's.

"So all this bluster I keep hearing, all this loose talk, what are they talking about?" he asked.
On the economy, Mr Biden said the president had inherited a nation teetering on ruin - a result, he said repeatedly, of the Republican policies of George W Bush.
And he defended the president's remedies, especially a programme - that Mr Romney opposed - to save US auto manufacturers from bankruptcy.
"We knew we had to act for the middle class," Mr Biden said. "We immediately went out and rescued General Motors.
He added: "What did Romney do? Romney said, 'No, let Detroit go bankrupt.'"
Mr Biden also unleashed a broadside against Mr Romney's recently publicised comments that the 47% of Americans who pay no federal income tax are dependent on government, consider themselves victims, and should take responsibility for themselves.
"I've never met two guys who are more down on America across the board," he said, referring to Mr Romney and Mr Ryan.
'Wrong direction' Mr Ryan sought to deflect the attack with a story about Mr Romney's personal generosity and by referring to Mr Biden's own record of verbal blunders.

At the end of the debate, the candidates' families greeted one another on stage

He acknowledged Mr Obama had inherited an economy near collapse, but added: "We're going in the wrong direction."
He noted the continuing high unemployment rate and other grim statistics.
"This is not what a real recovery looks like," the congressman said, promising that Mr Romney's tax plans would add jobs and promote economic growth.
Later, the two outlined their competing plans on the Medicare healthcare programme for over-65s.
Mr Biden defended the administration's 2010 health insurance overhaul, dubbed Obamacare; Mr Ryan derided it as a government takeover of the healthcare industry and repeated a disputed assertion that Mr Obama had pulled money from Medicare in order to fund it.
With the election less than four weeks away, the rivals were tasked with keeping their respective campaigns competitive, as new polls suggest Mr Romney has narrowed or erased Mr Obama's lead in several key swing states.
The two candidates are virtually tied in Florida and Virginia while Mr Obama still leads in Ohio, but by a slimmer margin.

US Presidential Election 2012

• Meet the Veeps
• October surprise: Myth or fact?
• Who's in the lead?
• Where they stand

At Bill Gates’ home, you’re given a button that changes the music, temperature, and lighting in each room you enter to suit your preferences!

Gates’ home is chalk full of lavish amenities. The massive mansion is approximately 66,000 square feet and located in the side of a hill overlooking Lake Washington in Medina, Washington. It is nicknamed Xanadu 2.0 and is famous for its design and technology that it incorporates.
The nickname actually comes from the title character’s estate in Citizen Kane. It cost $63 million to construct and took 7 years to build. In 2009, the total value of the home and property was $147.5 million. The Xanadu has a modern design in the Pacific Lodge style. It has a large library with a domed roof and an oculus. An oculus is a round window at the top of a dome.
The mansion boasts heated floors and a heated driveway. Guests are given buttons that upon entering a room will adjust the temperature, music, and lighting of the room to suit the guest’s preferences. No telling what happens when several guests enter a room, though.
(Source)

Meningitis Outbreak: 12 Killed Across US

The cases have been traced back to injections for back pain relief

US authorities fear there could eventually be as many as 600 cases of a rare fungal meningitis linked to a steroid commonly used to ease back pain.

A 70-year-old man from Florida became the 12th confirmed death from the outbreak late on Tuesday.
As many as 13,000 people received the steroid shots from July to September and ten states have been affected so far: Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia.
Figures released by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show there are currently around 137 cases in the US.
In Tennessee, where there have been six deaths and 39 reported cases, state health officials estimate that around 5% of patients who received injections then contracted meningitis.
Based on that rate of infection, the number of confirmed cases nationally could grow to about 650.
But it could be an anxious wait for many thousands as the incubation period of the disease is up to a month.
Among them is George Cary from Howell, Michigan whose British-born wife Lilian Cary was one of the 11 victims so far.

The New England Compounding Centre in Framingham, Massachusetts

The 67-year-old was originally from Stoke-on-Trent. Her husband described her as "a little Brit" with "attitude and spunk".
Mr Cary was treated in September with the same suspect medication and is now awaiting the results of a spinal tap taken on Saturday.
"I am standing here," Cary said. "I'm fine right now. I'm waiting to see if anything develops."
The steroid linked to the outbreak has been recalled, and health officials have been scrambling to notify anyone who may have received an injection of it.
The Massachusetts pharmacy that made it has said it is co-operating with investigators.
The New England Compounding Centre announced the recall on Saturday, saying the move was taken because of the risk of contamination.
It said there was no indication any other products have been contaminated.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) previously told health professionals not to use any products distributed by the centre.
The outbreak has alarmed federal officials and highlighted a gap in the regulation of what are known as pharmacy compounders, which are facilities that take drug ingredients and package them into medications and dosages for specific clients.
The FDA regulates only the ingredients and not the compounders, which are subject to a patchwork of state oversight.
Meningitis is caused by the inflammation of meninges, which are protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord.
Fungal meningitis is not contagious like its more common viral and bacterial counterparts.
Source: Sky news

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Amnesty: China forced evictions in 'significant rise'

Land grabs and forced evictions are a key source of public anger in China

Forced evictions in China have risen significantly in recent years as local officials sell off land to property developers, Amnesty International says.

Many cases involve violence and harassment, in what the group called "a gross violation of human rights".
Pressure on local officials to meet economic goals and vested interests were behind the coercion, it said.
These evictions are a rumbling cause of social discontent and have led to protests across the country.
All land in China is effectively controlled by the state, and laws allow local governments to claim land for urban development projects.
Nicola Duckworth, Amnesty's senior director of research in Hong Kong, told the BBC that seizing and selling off land was how local authorities were paying back funds borrowed to finance stimulus packages during the economic downturn.
"The Chinese Communist Party promotes officials who deliver growth seemingly at any cost, and land development for roads, factories, residential complexes and so on is seen as the most direct path to visible results," she said.
Amnesty said the system was open to abuse and evictees often received little notice, no consultation and only a fraction of the value of their home in compensation.
Such cases have led to violent clashes between residents and police or private security guards on several occasions, the report said.
'Sudden and violent' Amnesty interviewed lawyers, housing rights activists and academics, both in China and abroad, for its 85-page report entitled Standing Their Ground.
It looked at 40 cases of forced eviction from January 2009 to January 2012, nine of which it said culminated in deaths of people who opposed their evictions.
"The forced eviction of people from their homes and farmland without appropriate legal protection and safeguards has become a routine occurrence in China, and represents a gross violation of human rights obligations on an enormous scale," Amnesty said.

Protests in Wukan village resulted in the punishment of some local officials

Many cases are "sudden and violent, sometimes resulting in death", harassment and in one instance, someone being buried alive.
Ms Duckworth said self-immolations caused by evictions were also on the rise. "We documented 41 reports of self-immolations from 2009 to the end of 2012," she said.
Amnesty cited the example of Wukan village in Guangdong province in 2011, where residents demonstrated on the streets after a village negotiator protesting against local officials over a land grab died in police custody.
As a result of protests, two local officials were removed from their posts and others punished in 2012. The villagers also won the right to fresh local elections as part of the deal.
But "optimism might be premature" on the Wukan case, Amnesty said.
"To this day, there has been no independent investigation into [village negotiator] Xue Jinbo's death. The villagers still have not got any of their land back. And there are now reports that authorities have been harassing and spying on activists in Wukan."
The group called on China to put an immediate stop to all forced evictions and ensure safeguards were put in place in line with international law.
It also urged China to implement new regulations it adopted in 2011 providing for proper land compensation and outlawing the use of violence in these cases.
China does have laws in place to protect farmers and local residents, but these are often ignored at local level. Leaders in Beijing have acknowledged the problems and pledged to improve the situation.
Premier Wen Jiabao, in his report to the National People's Congress in March, said that problems related to land expropriation and housing demolition "are still very serious and the people are still very concerned about them".

Google maps uses anonymous cell phone data to give its live traffic feeds

If you use the mobile Google Maps application on a phone that has GPS, you're sending Google real-time traffic information. "When you choose to enable Google Maps with My Location, your phone sends anonymous bits of data back to Google describing how fast you're moving. When we combine your speed with the speed of other phones on the road, across thousands of phones moving around a city at any given time, we can get a pretty good picture of live traffic conditions," explains Google.

It's an interesting way to use GPS information on a grand scale to solve practical problems. Many other Google services collect data that help Google develop new features: GOOG-411 collects voice samples that train Google's speech recognition systems, Google queries anticipate flu activity, while query refinements improve Google's "did you mean" feature.

Google Mobile's privacy policy includes a long list of information that could be collected by some of Google's services: your phone number, your carrier, basic usage stats about your device, your location, voice samples. It's worth pointing out that iPhone's mapping application "does not support traffic crowdsourcing", so you won't improve Google's traffic data by using it (iPhone's map application is not developed by Google).

Apparently, this new source of data allowed Google to expand the traffic feature to arterial roads. "Commuters have long relied on traffic sites to help them determine their last-minute path around poor traffic on the highway. But if the traffic looks bad on the highways, you'll probably want to know how it looks on the alternate routes through arterials," explains Google LatLong.


For now, Google Maps provides live traffic data for a small number of countries (US, UK, France, China), but crowdsourcing could expand its availability.
Source:googlesystem.blogspot

Did a French Spy Kill Muammar Gaddafi?

A man holds a burning poster of Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi in Benghazi, Libya, in March 2011

Was the October, 2011 killing of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi amid a crowd of insurgents in fact a professional hit by French intelligence services — with an assist from Syrian strongman Bashar al Assad? That’s the speculation that has emerged from overlapping European media reports in recent weeks, suggests Gaddafi’s death may have been a bid to  prevent the Libyan leader from revealing damaging secrets about the government of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
That speculation arose from a Sept. 29 article by Italian daily Corriere della Sera looking into recent claims by former Libyan official Mahmoud Jibril. Jibril—an opposition leader who served as prime minister for Libya’s transitional government—told Egypt’s Dream TV Sept. 26 that “a foreign agent had been infiltrated into the revolutionary brigades to kill Col. Gaddafi”, who at the time was on the run in western Libya. The Italian report goes on to quote an unidentified European diplomat arguing the assassination-bent spy had to be French—noting France and its then-President Nicolas Sarkozy had much to lose if Gaddafi had been allowed to go public with their secret dealings.
Why would France be more vulnerable than other nations that also dealt with Libya under the unsavory Gaddafi? In large part due to Sarkozy’s formerly cozy relationship with the Libyan. Just three months into his presidency, Sarkozy convinced Gaddafi to release five Bulgarian health workers imprisoned for years in Libya on what were considered bogus charges they’d intentionally infected children with HIV. That bargain took place amid murky financial and diplomatic transactions. Later, Sarkozy hosted Gaddafi during a high profile state visit to Paris—a trip that was supposed serve as the reformed Libyan’s return to polite global company, but which turned into an embarrassing fiasco for France. That was when the pair’s friendship began to sour, ending entirely when Sarkozy spearheaded the NATO operation that resulted in Gaddafi’s ouster. It was during those hostilities that Gaddafi intimates repeatedly aired claims the dictator had provided illegal funds to finance Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential campaign. Sarkozy has steadfastly denied those charges, though they continued to dog him.
But even if Paris may have had motives for taking Gaddafi out, did it also have the means and opportunity? Perhaps so, according to the British paper Daily Telegraph. On Sept. 30 it published a story quoting the former head of rebel intelligence services stating Syria helped France locate Gaddafi to his final hiding place. According to the story, Syrian president Assad offered to give Sarkozy the secret satellite phone number of his friend and fellow tyrant Gaddafi in exchange for Paris letting up on Damascus’s attempts to violently smother its own domestic uprising.
Under this theory, rather than stumbling upon Gaddafi cowering in a concrete drainpipe in Sirte, Libyan rebels were directed to the area once French intelligence had tracked Gaddafi down via his satellite phone. In the chaos surrounding his capture, shots were fired that ended the dictator’s life—though even cell phone video taken of the scene doesn’t reveal who actually killed the bloodied despot.
Doubts about who did may grow further still with new preceding the reports crediting a French intelligence operative. On Sept. 25 the young Libyan rebel fighter many people considered the person responsible for Gaddafi’s capture and killing died in a Paris hospital, from injuries suffered during his July abduction by Gaddafi loyalists. All new developments concerning Gaddafi’s last days and minutes seem to only raise new questions about exactly who brought them to an end.
Credit:http://newsfeed.time.com

Man Dies After Winning Roach-Eating Contest

Mr Archbold did not appear to be ill before the competition

The winner of a cockroach-eating contest in South Florida died shortly after downing dozens of the live bugs as well as worms.

About 30 contestants ate the insects during Friday night's contest at Ben Siegel Reptile Store in Deerfield Beach about 40 miles north of Miami. The grand prize was a python.
Edward Archbold, 32, became ill shortly after the competition ended and collapsed in front of the shop, according to a Broward Sheriff's Office statement released on Monday.
He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. Authorities are waiting for results of an post-mortem to determine a cause of death.
"Unless the roaches were contaminated with some bacteria or other pathogens, I don't think that cockroaches would be unsafe to eat," said Michael Adams, professor of entomology at the University of California at Riverside.
"Some people do have allergies to roaches but there are no toxins in roaches or related insects."
None of the other contestants became ill, the sheriff's office said.
"We feel terribly awful," said shop owner Ben Siegel, who added that Mr Archbold did not appear to be sick before the contest.
"He looked like he just wanted to show off and was very nice," Siegel said, adding that Archbold was "the life of the party".
Source:http://news.sky.com

Drinking too much coffee can MAKE YOU BLIND

According to a new study, drinking more than three cups of coffee per day has been shown to correlate with an increased risk of developing glaucoma, which can lead to vision loss or blindness.
"While caffeinated coffee has several health benefits," lead researcher Jae Hee Kang told Health magazine, "drinking three or more cups of caffeinated coffee was found to be associated with increased risk of developing exfoliation glaucoma, particularly among those with a family history of glaucoma." While coffee has for some time been known to be problematic for glaucoma sufferers due to the fact that it can increase pressure within the eyeball, Kang asserts that the hot brown drug can be linked to a specific type of the vision-destroying malady: exfoliation glaucoma. This syndrome occurs when material is rubbed off both the eye's iris and lens, which then clogs up the eyeball's fluid-draining system, leading to heightened inter-ocular pressure (IOP), which increases the risk of glaucoma.
Kang and her team's study, published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, surveyed data from two studies, one with 78,977 women and another with 41,202 men. Its findings are not conclusive in a cause-and-effect sense, however – correlation is not causation, as we all know from our college classes – and the statistical significance of her findings is weak.
That said, her team did discover that those subjects who drank three or more cups of caffeinated coffee per day did have a higher incidence of exfoliation glaucoma than those who either abstained or were more moderate in their intake of a cup of joe – or three.
Despite the less than iron-clad results, the study concludes that "We observed a positive association between heavier coffee consumption with risk of [exfoliation glaucoma or exfoliation glaucoma suspect] in this large prospective study."
One medical professional is unconvinced. Referring to the studies from which Kang and her coauthors obtained the data, ophthalmology professor Alfred Sommer of Johns Hopkins University told Health, "These two studies have yielded literally thousands of articles, almost all of little value."
According to Sommer, the studies are missing the information researchers need to take into account the many variables that might influence conclusions to be drawn from them.
"To make matters worse," he added, "the conclusions in [Kang's] study don't even reach statistical significance."
Sommer's argument is a strong one – if you're looking for certainty. If, however, you've got a family history of glaucoma and you're not particularly lucky in life, you might think of making that third latte a decaf.
Source: Rik Myslewski in San Francisco

There are now more than five million individual barcodes in use around the world

Barcode birthday: 60 years since patent

The barcode has also become popular body art

There are now more than five million individual barcodes in use around the world, according to regulator GS1 UK.

Sunday, 7 October is the 60th anniversary of the barcode patent, filed in the US in 1952.
However the distinctive black-and-white stripes did not make their first appearance in an American shop until 1974 - because the laser technology used to read them did not exist.
GS1 said the QR code was not a threat to the traditional linear barcode.
A QR (Quick Response) code is an image made up of dots, which can contain more data than a barcode.
"They have different purposes - the barcode on the side of a tin of beans is for point-of-sale scanning. It ensures the consumer is charged the right amount and updates stock records," said Gary Lynch, chief executive of GS1 UK.
"The QR code's main purpose is to take the person that scans it to an extended multi media environment. Technically you can combine the two but nobody's asking for that right now."
The first item to be scanned by a barcode was a packet of chewing gum in an Ohio supermarket in 1974.
But the black-and-white stripes did not get a universal welcome, with some wine manufacturers refusing to incorporate barcodes onto their labels for aesthetic reasons.
Now it occasionally doubles as body art, with US singer Pink among those who sport a barcode tattoo.
"Barcodes are an icon and rightly so - we're quite pleased about it," said Mr Lynch.
"But if one of my daughters had one in homage to her father I'd be rather upset."
Source:Zoe Kleinman Technology reporter, BBC News

Pope Benedict 'likely to pardon' ex-butler Paolo Gabriele

The BBC's Alan Johnston said it was probable that the Pope would pardon Mr Gabriele, seen here on the right

The Vatican has indicated that the Pope is likely to pardon his former butler, who has been sentenced to 18 months in jail for stealing confidential papers.

After the sentence was passed, papal spokesman Federico Lombardi said Paolo Gabriele was "very likely" to be pardoned by Pope Benedict XVI.
Prosecutors had called for a three-year sentence but it was reduced because of "mitigating circumstances".
Gabriele said he acted out of love for the Church.
The former butler was accused of stealing and copying the Pope's documents and leaking them to an Italian journalist.
He had denied the theft charge but admitted photocopying the papers and "betraying the Holy Father's trust".
Gabriele's lawyer Cristiana Arru said she did not intend to appeal against the verdict passed by the Vatican City on Saturday.
Her client would serve his sentence under house arrest in his Vatican apartment while awaiting a possible papal pardon, she said.

Analysis

David Willey BBC News, Rome

"In the name of His Holiness Benedict XVI gloriously reigning, having invoked the most Holy Trinity, the Tribunal has pronounced the following sentence…"
With these lofty words the Vatican City criminal court sentenced the Pope's former butler on a charge of having stolen confidential papers from the pontiff's desk over a long period.
It's unlikely however that the Vatican employee - one of fewer than 1,000 Romans to enjoy the privileges of Vatican citizenship and its perks (a grace and favour home, duty free petrol and groceries, total job security) - will serve out any term either inside the Vatican or in an Italian jail.
The Vatican has no long-term detention facilities and under the terms of a 1929 treaty normally hands over to Italian justice people convicted of a crime on Vatican territory.
Paolo Gabriele has only been suspended from his Vatican duties, not sacked and it is likely that arrangements will be made to ensure that he does not lose his pension rights and his home as a result of his desire to save his Church from what he termed "corruption and evil".
And Pope Benedict is reliably said to be pondering a judicial pardon.

• Pope butler scandal may continue

Confession

The verdict was delivered after two hours of deliberation by the judges.

Presiding judge Guiseppe Dalla Torre handed down a sentence of three years, then cut it to 18 months citing Gabriele's lack of a criminal record, his apology to the Pope and past services rendered to the Church.
The former butler will also have to pay court costs out of his own pocket.
Gabriele has now been returned to house arrest inside his Vatican apartment, where he has already been confined for several months.
The verdict brings to an end a week-long trial that has revealed an embarrassing breach of security at the highest levels of the Vatican.
The trial also took an unexpected turn when Gabriele complained of the conditions in which he was held by the Vatican security force after his arrest on 23 May.
The judges ordered an investigation after Gabriele said that for more than two weeks he had been kept in a cell so small that he could not extend his arms, and that the light had been left on day and night.
During testimony, the three presiding judges heard how Gabriele used the photocopier in his shared office next to the Pope's library to copy thousands of documents, taking advantage of his unrivalled access to the pontiff.
He would later pass some on to journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi.
Mr Nuzzi released a best-selling book this year, entitled His Holiness, largely based on the confidential papers and detailing corruption, scandals and infighting.
Police also told the court how they found thousands of documents at Gabriele's home, including some original papers bearing the Pope's handwriting. Some had the instruction "destroy" written by the Pope in German on them.
Although Gabriele entered a not-guilty plea, prosecutors say he confessed to taking documents during an interrogation in June, a confession he later stood by in court.
He told prosecutors he hoped to reveal alleged corruption at the Vatican, and believed that the Pope was being manipulated.
"I feel guilty of having betrayed the trust of the Holy Father, whom I love as a son would," he told the court earlier this week.

Lady Gaga Passes 30 Million Twitter Followers

The singer's nearest rival on Twitter is Justin Bieber, with 28.5 million followers, while Katy Perry has 27.2 million.

Lady Gaga has utilised Twitter to communicate with fans

Lady Gaga has set a social media record by becoming the first person to reach more than 30 million followers on Twitter.

The 26-year-old singer is adding new followers at the rate of 30,000 a day, according to the Starcount website that monitors celebrity use of social media.
"Paving the way for other stars on social media, Lady Gaga often interacts with her fans and has even set up her own social network for the Little Monsters with thousands of regular users," Starcount commented in a blog.
"But it is Twitter that has given her the incredible social popularity that she currently has," it added, noting that her Twitter takeover started two years ago when she passed Ashton Kutcher, Barack Obama and Spears.
"Since then, her domination on the network has gone unmatched - she was the first person to reach 10 million and 20 million followers and is keeping up the trend now with 30 million."
Her nearest rival is teen popstar Justin Bieber, with 28.5 million Twitter followers, while Katy Perry has 27.2 million.
Rihanna has overtaken Gaga on YouTube and Facebook, but has only 26 million followers on Twitter.

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China landslide: All 18 children killed

Eighteen Chinese children missing after a landslide buried their primary school have died, officials have confirmed.

Rescuers found the body of the last missing child early on Friday, Chinese state media reported. One adult is still unaccounted for.
The landslide hit the Tiantou Primary School and nearby houses in Yunnan province, southern China, on Thursday.
Some 800 people were forced from their homes in Yiliang county.
This week is a school holiday in China, but the children were called in to make up for time lost as a result of earthquakes last month.
A series of tremors hit the province on 8 September, killing dozens of people.
The victims were students from the Shangba Primary School, Xinhua news agency reported.
Three buildings at the school were damaged in the earthquakes in early September and later demolished. As a result more than 30 students had to attend lessons at Tiantou Primary School.
Earlier reports in state media had identified the school as Youfang Primary School.
Safety in schools has been a major public concern in China since a devastating earthquake in Sichuan province in 2008 killed tens of thousands of people.
Many school buildings collapsed in that earthquake, leading to public outcry over shoddy construction and the lack of safety measures.
The landslide on Thursday also buried three houses and blocked a nearby river, reports said.

A Narrow Win For Romney

Tonight’s presidential debate lived up to the hype. It was clear that Romney was well prepared, showing America a lively and focused side that we have yet to see thus far in the campaign.
And although we saw Obama win in some areas – namely taxes and the deficit – he struggled to get many of his points across decisively and effectually. We heard more of his stock arguments than the bold vision for the future of our country and spirited defense of his last four years in office that the American public needed to hear from him.
To be sure, Romney was the decisive victor on healthcare. He was able to turn Obama’s key victory from the last four years against him by emphasizing the benefits of his own plan as well as his ability to effectively work with Democrats in Massachusetts. Obama lost focus on the issue and came off visibly shaken by Romney’s analysis of Obamacare. The result was that the President was unable to successfully highlight the benefits of his plan or tout his ability to negotiate with Republicans.
Romney also offered the best argument on the role of government and, crucially, the role of the President in managing the economy. His turn on Obama’s “trickle-down economics” line of attack with the slogan “trickle-down government” proved to benefit him. Indeed, Romney’s criticism of Obama’s plan for “more taxes and more government” will surely resonate well with the public.
Obama did prove to be the stronger candidate on the issue of the deficit. Although he was not an ardent supporter of Bowles-Simpson, which Romney highlighted, his continual emphasis on Romney’s $5 trillion tax cut was effective. He also used the role of history to his advantage, citing Bill Clinton several times and the 23 million jobs he generated as president. Romney’s anecdote about fighting with his five boys was no match for Obama’s defense of his plan on the basis of “math, common sense and our history.”
From the halfway point of the debate onwards, it was very much a Romney victory. Obama seemed to be lacking in clear answers and focus. Although he did open and close the debate very well – relying on the aspects of his stump speech that consistently resonate well with the public – he struggled to find his words at times and seemed indecisive.
Obama also missed a crucial opportunity to take Romney to task over his 47% comment. There were a number of moments where it would have been appropriate and on-topic to bring it up and the President chose to go in another direction. As the key event in the last month that has caused Romney the most harm in the polls, I would have thought it was at least worth mention.
Romney managed to avoid being seen as extreme, distancing himself from the far right of his party. However, his commitment to his healthcare plan from his time as Governor may come back to haunt him down the line.
As Obama began to falter through the midsection of the debate, Romney found his feet after a slightly stilted beginning. His two final statements were the most impressive of the evening.
Romney’s closing attack on Obama’s economic leadership throughout the last four years was pointed and clear, a rarity and exactly what was needed. His bipartisan play at the end of the debate was also crucial and well articulated. Obama has struggled on this issue and throughout the debate he had no answer for Romney’s attacks.
Tonight’s debate was a Romney victory, but narrowly. His performance might well tighten the polls a bit more than we have already seen. He certainly appeared more presidential than ever before. But this was by no means a knockout and Obama still has two more debates to defend his record and articulate his vision decisively and clearly.