Russians mock Kremlin decision on Depardieu passport

MOSCOW: Russians reacted Friday with amusement, disbelief and a heavy dose of irony to the news that the Kremlin has granted citizenship to French actor Gerard Depardieu to solve his tax woes.

In a letter broadcast on Russian television on Thursday, the former Oscar nominee declared his love for President Vladimir Putin and called Russia a "great democracy".

"He is impressed by our democracy -- he has completely lost his marbles," wrote one Facebook user, Vladimir Sokolov.

Far-left politician Eduard Limonov suggested Depardieu could reprise his famous film role of French revolutionary Georges Danton and risk detention by riot police at a regular unsanctioned rally against Putin.

"Gerard, come to Triumfalnaya Square on January 31 with your new Russian passport in your pocket," Limonov wrote on his blog.

"Our French friend: here's an invitation to a real historical role."

Depardieu seemed unlikely to take up this offer after Putin praised their "very friendly, personal relationship" at a recent news conference.

Many jokingly speculated about how the film star might adapt to life as a Russian pensioner if he moved after threatening to renounce his French citizenship over a proposed 75-percent tax rate on the super-rich.

If Depardieu, 64, opted to live in Russia more than half the tax year, he would pay just 13 percent tax to the government whose budget is highly dependent on state-owned energy resources.

"We're going to meet him pushing a trolley in the shop, in the queue for blood tests at the polyclinic or at the social security office," wrote journalist and blogger Anton Orekh on the website of popular Moscow Echo radio station.

"I'm ready to give him registration in my apartment, he can stay as long as he likes," wrote television host Tina Kandelaki on Twitter.

Depardieu, like other Russian citizens, would have to register at his place of residence with local authorities.

Yet many also questioned the morality of Russia's fast-tracking Depardieu's citizenship request.

His public opposition to paying high taxes in France showed he "loves money more than motherland," wrote Orekh.

"Let's give our passports to everyone who has lots of money and doesn't want to pay taxes at home!"

-AFP/fl

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Bhagwat's remarks on rape have no basis: Top bureaucrats

NEW DELHI: RSS supremo Mohanrao Bhagwat's remark that the rape is prevalent mainly in cities where Indians are deeply influenced by western values and not by rural India doesn't find favour with the country's top bureaucrats who said that there was no basis of making such distinction.

Asked to comment on the observation that the incidents like rape take place in India (urban areas) and not in Bharat (rural areas), Union Home Secretary R K Singh on Friday said, "There is no basis for making distinction between India and Bharat".

Singh made this comment on the sidelines of a function to launch the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and System (CCTNS) here at Vigyan Bhawan. The pilot project of the CCTNS to link all police stations and higher offices across the country for sharing real time crime-related information was launched by the home minister Sushilkumar Shinde who later inaugurated the conference of police chief and chief secretaries of states on crime against women and atrocities against SCs and STs.

Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Jawed Usmani , who was also present on the occasion, said that the incidents like rapes took place in both rural and urban areas. Only because these were not reported adequately in rural areas, one should not assume that such crimes do not take place in villages or small towns and happened only in urban areas, he added.

Addressing a citizens' meet at Silchar in Assam on Tuuesday, Bhagwat had said, "Such crimes hardly take place in 'Bharat', but they occur frequently in 'India'.
"You go to villages and forests of the country and there will be no such incidents of gang-rape or sex crimes. They are prevalent in some urban belts. Besides new legislations, Indian ethos and attitude towards women should be revisited in the context of ancient Indian values," Bhagwat had said.

He had said the RSS was for stringent laws against rape and would welcome new legislation on sex crimes and favour capital punishment for those convicted of rape.

Saying that the RSS backed the chorus across the country demanding death penalty for those responsible for the December 16 gang rape of 23-year-old Nirbhaya, who died on December 29, Bhagwat said this needed to be backed by stringent laws. He also slammed the government for applying force against the protesters at Delhi's Vijay Chowk.

Home secretary Singh in his address during the police meet on Friday said any cop who refused to lodged complaint/FIR must be immediately suspended. "Investigation should not become an ordeal as it is today for women and weaker section of society. It is impossible for a poor man to find out what happened to his complaint unles he goes to register it with some one powerful. The state must step in here," he added.

Addressing the top cops of the country, Singh said the CrPC lays down three months period for rape investigation. We must stick to it. I will propose bringing back the system of fast track court. I hope ministry of finance will approve it, he added.

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Pictures We Love: Best of 2012

Photograph by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/AP

Powder-splattered, and powder-splattering, runners cross the finish line of The Color Run 5K in Irvine, California, on April 22. Each kilometer (0.6 mile) of the event features a color-pelting station dedicated to a single hue, culminating in the Pollock-esque riot at kilometer 5.

The "magical color dust" is completely safe, organizers say, though they admit it's "surprisingly high in calories and leaves a chalky aftertaste."

See more from April 2012 >>

Why We Love It

"Vibrant color floating through the air automatically brings to mind festive Holi celebrations in India. We expect to see revelers in Mumbai but instead find a surprise in the lower third of the frame—runners in California!"—Sarah Polger, senior photo editor

"There are a lot of eye-catching photographs of the festival of Holi in India that show colored powder in midair, but this particular situation has the people all lined up in a row—making it easy to see each of their very cinematic facial expressions."—Chris Combs, news photo editor

Published January 3, 2013

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Ex-USC Player: Painkiller Injections Caused Heart Attack

Despite stated label risks of possible fatal heart attack, stroke or organ failure, college football players across the country are still being given injections of a powerful painkiller on game days so they can play while injured, an ABC News investigation has found.

The drug, a generic version of Toradol, is recommended for the short-term treatment of post-operative pain in hospitals but has increasingly been used in college and professional sports, and its use is not monitored by the NCAA, the governing body of college sports.

Only two of the country's top football programs, Oklahoma and the University of Nebraska, reported to ABC News that they have limited or stopped the use of the drug in the wake of growing concern about its risks.

Which Top-Ranked College Football Teams Use Toradol?

Oklahoma said it stopped using the painkillers in 2012 after using them repeatedly in 2010 and 2011.

Nebraska said its doctors now restrict its use.

SEND TIPS About Painkiller Use in College Sports to Our Tipline

"While team physicians reserve the option to use injectable Toradol, it is rarely prescribed, and its use has been avoided this season following reports of heightened concern of potential adverse effects," Nebraska said in a statement to ABC News.

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

Despite Risks, College Football Still Uses Powerful Painkiller Watch Video

The top two college football programs, Notre Dame and Alabama, refused to answer questions from ABC News about the painkiller. They play for the national college championship on Jan. 7.

Controversy surrounding the drug has grown this year following claims by former USC lineman Armond Armstead that he suffered a heart attack after the 2010 season, at age 20, following shots of generic Toradol administered over the course of the season by the team doctor and USC personnel.

"I thought, you know, can't be me, you know? This doesn't happen to kids like me," Armstead told ABC News.

The manufacturers' warning label for generic Toradol (ketorolac tromethamine) says the drug is not intended for prolonged periods or for chronic pain and cites gastrointestinal bleeding and kidney failure as possible side effects of the drug.

In addition, like other drugs in its class, the generic Toradol label warns "may cause an increased risk of serious cardiovascular thrombotic events, myocardial infarction (heart attack), and stroke, which can be fatal."

"This risk may increase with duration of use," the so-called black box warning reads.

In a lawsuit against the school and the doctor, Dr. James Tibone, Armstead claims the school ignored the stated risks of the drug and never told him about them.

"He was a race horse, a prize race horse that needed to be on that field no matter what," said Armstead's mother Christa. "Whether that was a risk to him or not."

Armstead says he and many other USC players would receive injections of what was known only as "the shot" in a specific training room before big games and again at half-time.

"No discussion, just go in. He would give the shot and I would be on my way," Armstead told ABC News.

Armstead said the shot made him feel "super human" despite severe ankle, and later shoulder pain, and that without it, he never could have played in big USC games against Notre Dame and UCLA.

"You can't feel any pain, you just feel amazing," the former star player said.

USC declined to comment on Armstead's claims, or the use of Toradol to treat Trojan players.

An ABC News crew and reporter were ordered off the practice field when they tried to question USC coach Lane Kiffin about the use of the painkiller. USC says the ABC News crew was told to leave because they had not submitted the appropriate paperwork in advance to attend the practice session.

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Federal agencies bracing for cuts after ‘fiscal cliff’ deal

The fiscal pact Congress reached hours into the new year will delay $109 billion in automatic across-the-board spending cuts for two months. But it will make a down payment on those reductions that will affect federal operations this year and next.

The eleventh-hour agreement to avoid a “fiscal cliff” of higher taxes put off the major cuts known as a sequester until March 1, when another showdown is expected over the federal debt limit and how much to reduce the size of government.

Congress and the White House agreed to find $24 billion to pay for the delay, divided between spending cuts and a tax change that allows Americans holding traditional retirement plans to convert more of them to Roth IRAs, a process that requires tax payments up front.

The remaining $12 billion in cuts to domestic and defense agencies will not take effect until at least March 27, when the stopgap budget funding the government expires. The first $4 billion in cuts must come by Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, and the remaining $8 billion in fiscal 2014, which will start Oct. 1.

The cuts will be rolled into budget deliberations on Capitol Hill, and no one knows what agencies and programs they will affect. Out of a discretionary spending budget of $1.04 trillion, $12 billion is relatively small. But it’s not a rounding error.

“There will be a few select cuts that will be painful,” said Patrick Lester, fiscal policy director at the Center for Effective Philanthropy (formerly OMB Watch). “We won’t know for months what those cuts are, which makes them easy to do.”

William R. Dougan, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, said $12 billion “spread across the government doesn’t sound like a lot of money, but it depends on how it’s spread out.”

Even if each agency took a hit, some “will still be looking at furloughs and even [reductions in force] as a possible solution,” he said. Those are some of the near-certain actions many agencies have said they would take if they had to make the across-the-board cuts Congress imposed in 2011 to force itself to reckon with the federal deficit.

On Wednesday, government and union leaders said that threat, just two months away, is making them nervous.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said Congress has “prevented the worst possible outcome by delaying sequestration for two months.”

But he warned that the “the specter of sequestration” threatens national security.

“We need to have stability in our future budgets,” Panetta said in a statement. “We need to have the resources to effectively execute our strategy, defend the nation, and meet our commitments to troops and their families after more than a decade of war.”

Several officials said they are still sorting out what the two-month delay means.

“We are working hard with [the Office of Management and Budget] to understand the impact, but we’re just not there yet,” said Army Lt. Col. Elizabeth Robbins, a Defense Department spokeswoman.

Defense consultant Jim McAleese said the deal to raise taxes on families with income above $450,000 and individuals earning more than $400,000 will bring in so much less revenue than the $250,000 threshold President Obama proposed that steep defense cuts are inevitable.

Instead of the $10 billion in cuts a year over 10 years that the Defense Department could have expected to see under Obama’s most recent deficit reduction plan, McAleese said the reductions could be more in the range of $15 billion to $20 billion a year over 10 years.

“People were talking before about defense cuts of $10 billion per year, but the sheer size of the disagreement is going to bring about an immediate, aggressive reaction that will impact the final outcome of the spending cuts,” he said.

Colleen M. Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said of the $12 billion in cuts, “I would hope agencies could find these savings without impacts on front-line employees and without impacts on services to the public. We have more questions than answers right now.”

Steve Vogel contributed to this report.

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NYP students to run on-campus restaurant

SINGAPORE: Students of Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) will get to run a restaurant on campus from April, as part of their final-year studies.

The exposure will give them an idea of what they can expect in the food and beverage industry.

The students, who are now honing their skills in the kitchen of the polytechnic, will take on bigger challenges when the restaurant is up and running.

They will be in charge of every aspect of the business - from designing the menu to managing the earnings.

The restaurant, which can seat 120, will serve fusion cuisine created by the students and their lecturers.

"I hope they treat the new training restaurant like it's their first job. I'll need to train them but they need to learn speed, they need to learn efficiency, they need to learn style. Those three things," said senior lecturer Andy Gibb.

"If they can treat it as their first job without getting any money in their back pockets, when they finish training in the restaurant, they will go a very very long way."

- CNA/xq

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Mamata, Manmohan exchange pleasantries in first meeting after FDI standoff

KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh shared the stage at the centenary session of the 100^th Science Congress at Salt Lake stadium on Thursday morning. This was their first meeting a little over three months after the Trinamool Congress dumped the UPA over the FDI in multi brand retail.

The chief minister went and sat beside Singh and the two were smiling as they spoke in between speeches at the congress where nearly 15,000 scientists are expected to participate. The Trinamool Congress' six ministers submitted their resignations to the Prime Minister on September 21 signaling the end of a strained relationship between the Congress and the Trinamool Congress.

The body language from both sides was positive. Also present on the dais was President Pranab Mukherjee. He inaugurated the five-day meet where several foreign delegates, Nobel laureates and Indian scientists were present.

The Prime Minister unveiled the country's science, technology and innovation policy that aims to put India among the top five science powerhouses in the world by 2020.

Singh welcomed a debate on genetically modified foods, nuclear energy and space exploration. He said, "The transformation of agriculture must be the top priority of our public policies, including science and technology policies. We must partner not only with established leaders in science and technology but with emerging innovation powerhouses in our region."

Singh said science should be used to meet the needs of the underprivileged.

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Pictures: Errant Shell Oil Rig Runs Aground Off Alaska, Prompts Massive Response

Photograph courtesy Jonathan Klingenberg, U.S. Coast Guard

Waves lash at the sides of the Shell* drilling rig Kulluk, which ran aground off the rocky southern coast of Alaska on New Year's Eve in a violent storm.

The rig, seen above Tuesday afternoon, was "stable," with no signs of spilled oil products, authorities said. But continued high winds and savage seas hampered efforts to secure the vessel and the 150,000 gallons (568,000 liters) of diesel fuel and lubricants on board. The Kulluk came to rest just east of Sitkalidak Island (map), an uninhabited but ecologically and culturally rich site north of Ocean Bay, after a four-day odyssey, during which it broke free of its tow ships and its 18-member crew had to be rescued by helicopter.

The U.S. Coast Guard, state, local, and industry officials have joined in an effort involving nearly 600 people to gain control of the rig, one of two that Shell used for its landmark Arctic oil-drilling effort last summer. "This must be considered once of the largest marine-response efforts conducted in Alaska in many years," said Steve Russell, of Alaska's Department of Environmental Conservation.

The 266-foot (81-meter) rig now is beached off one of the larger islands in the Kodiak archipelago, a land of forest, glaciers, and streams about 300 miles (482 kilometers) south of Anchorage. The American Land Conservancy says that Sitkalidak Island's highly irregular coastline traps abundant food sources upwelling from the central Gulf of Alaska, attracting large numbers of seabirds and marine mammals. The largest flock of common murres ever recorded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was in Sitkalidak Strait, which separates the island from Kodiak. Sitkalidak also has 16 wild salmon rivers and archaeological sites tied to the Alutiiq native peoples dating back more than 7,000 years.

Shell incident commander Susan Childs said Monday night that the company's wildlife management team had started to assess the potential impact of a spill, and would be dispatched to the site when the weather permitted. She said the Kulluk's fuel tanks were in the center of the vessel, encased in heavy steel. "The Kulluk is a pretty sturdy vessel," she said. " It just remains to be seen how long it's on the shoreline and how long the weather is severe."

—Marianne Lavelle

*Shell is sponsor of National Geographic's Great Energy Challenge initiative. National Geographic maintains editorial autonomy.

Published January 2, 2013

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Obama Signs 'Fiscal Cliff' Bill With Autopen

Jan 3, 2013 12:53am

Charles Dharapak/AP Photo

HONOLULU, Hawaii — President Obama has signed the “fiscal cliff” legislation into law via autopen from Hawaii, where he is vacationing with his family.

The bill to avert the “fiscal cliff” arrived at the White House late this afternoon and it was immediately processed, according to a senior White House official. A copy was delivered to the president in Hawaii for review. He then directed the bill to be signed by autopen back in Washington, D.C.

The Bush administration deemed in 2005 that the use of the autopen is constitutional, although President George W. Bush never used the mechanical device to replicate his signature on a bill.

The office of legal counsel found at the time that Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution allows the president to use the autopen to sign legislation, stating “the President need not personally perform the physical act of affixing his signature to a bill to sign it.”

Obama has used the autopen twice in the past to sign legislation, both times while he was overseas.

Use of the autopen has been controversial.  Conservative groups alleged last summer that Obama used an autopen to sign condolence letters to the families of Navy SEALs killed in a Chinook crash in Afghanistan — a charge the White House disputed flatly as false.

In 2004, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was criticized for using an autopen to sign condolence letters to the families of fallen troops.

And in 1992 then-Vice President Dan Quayle even got into some hot water over his use of the autopen on official correspondence during an appearance on “This Week with David Brinkley.”

Obama, who arrived back in Hawaii early Wednesday morning to continue his family vacation, spent the afternoon golfing with friends at the Marine Corps base at Kaneohe Bay.

Obama is slated to remain in Hawaii through Saturday.

ABC News’ Jonathan Karl contributed to this report

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US, Europe 'biggest risks' for global economy in 2013, says Nobel laureate

FRANKFURT: Debt problems in both the United States and Europe represent the biggest risks for the global economy in 2013, Nobel prize laureate Joseph Stiglitz wrote in a newspaper article on Wednesday.

"In the outlook for 2013, the biggest risks for the global economy are in the US and in Europe," Stiglitz wrote in a guest column for the business daily Handelsblatt.

But "the real risk for the global economy lies in Europe," he warned.

"Spain and Greece are in an economic depression with no hope for a recovery. The eurozone's 'fiscal pact' is no solution, and the European Central Bank's bond purchase is a temporary palliative, at best," Stiglitz wrote.

And the ECB must not impose further conditions for financial aid to countries, he continued.

"Otherwise, the medicine will lead to a deterioration in the patient's condition," Stiglitz argued.

- AFP/de

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