Hyderabad, hotbed of home-grown terror, under lens

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NEW DELHI: For the veterans of security establishment the bomb blasts have revived concerns about the critical nature of Hyderabad and surroundings in the growth of home-grown terrorism in India.

Officials point out that Hyderabad has been intricately linked to the growth of the present phase of domestic terrorism. When the first definite information about Muslim youth going to Pakistan for terror camps emerged more than a decade ago, with Hyderabad resident Shahid Bilal as a key figure, the government was alarmed at the highest levels. Once India confirmed that over 60 youth have gone across to Pakistan from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka in 2005-06 the issue was taken up with Bangladeshi and Nepalese governments because most of them were going via either of these countries.

"Even if the bombers are from outside, they have received local logistical support," says one official. "There is a history here," he says about Hyderabad's brush with blasts as well as with fringe sympathisers.

A day before the twin blasts, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had, in fact, filed its first charge sheet in the case of Bangalore-Hubli-Nanded terror module run from Saudi Arabia by LeT-HuJI handlers. One name among the 12 accused stood out: Obaidur Rehman. The 26-year-old Hyderabad resident is the nephew of Maulana Mohammed Naseeruddin, a radical preacher presently languishing in a Gujarat jail in connection with the murder of Gujarat home minister Haren Pandya.

The charge sheet also mentioned the man handling the group from Saudi Arabia as Farhatullah Ghori, maternal uncle of slain HuJI operative Shahid Bilal. Both belong to Hyderabad.

The blasts that followed the charge sheet have only come as a grim reminder of the Andhra Pradesh capital having become a favourite recruiting ground for terror groups. In fact, the city has been in terror crosshairs for close to a decade and a half providing strong base to both LeT and HuJI.

According to intelligence agencies, Hyderabad first came on terror radar in late '90s with several radical religious organizations becoming a springboard to youth taking to terror. While there was an entrenched sense of victimhood and injustice post Babri masjid demolition among Muslims in the state, their anger was first organized and harnessed by Mohammed Abdul Shahid alias Shahid Bilal under aegis of HuJI.

The first effects of this endeavor manifested itself in the terror attack on the office of Hyderabad Special Task Force in 2003. Bilal's maternal uncle Farhatullah Ghori's name prominently cropped up in the investigations. He was also a suspect in the Akshardham Temple attack in Gujarat in 2002.

Following this, Bilal was found to be instrumental in conducting several blasts across south India between 2004 and 2007. During this period he also helped 26/11 accused and LeT operative Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal escape to Pakistan via Bangladesh along with his associate Fayyaz Kagzi after the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul in Maharashtra. In October 2007, Bilal was himself killed in Karachi along with his brother Samad. However, sources say, he has five more brothers who are in Pakistan and elsewhere. And the network he has left behind across India, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia keeps recruiting people for Jihadi activities.

In 2008, Maulana Naseeruddin's son, Riyazuddin Nasir, was arrested in Dharwad, Karnataka for planning to carry out terror strikes in the state. In 2012, with Obaidur Rehman's arrest in the Bangalore terror module, the city again struggled to shake off the terror tag.

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Space Pictures This Week: Space Rose, Ghostly Horses

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Jodi Arias' Friends Believe in Her Innocence

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Accused murderer Jodi Arias believes she should be punished, but hopes she will not be sentenced to death, two of her closest friends told ABC News in an exclusive interview.


Ann Campbell and Donavan Bering have been a constant presence for Arias wth at least one of them sitting in the Phoenix, Ariz., courtroom along with Arias' family for almost every day of her murder trial. They befriended Arias after she first arrived in jail and believe in her innocence.


Arias admits killing her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander and lying for nearly two years about it, but insists she killed Alexander in self defense. She could face the death penalty if convicted of murder.








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Nevertheless, she is aware of the seriousness of her lies and deceitful behavior.


The women told ABC News that they understand that Arias needs to be punished and Arias understands that too.


"She does know that, you know, she does need to pay for the crime," Campbell said. "But I don't want her to die, and I know that she has so much to give back."


Catching Up on the Trial? Check Out ABC News' Jodi Arias Trial Coverage


The lies that Arias admits she told to police and her family have been devastating to her, Bering said.


""She said to me, 'I wish I didn't have to have lied. That destroyed me,'" Donovan said earlier this week. "Because now when it's so important for her to be believed, she has that doubt. But as she told me on the phone yesterday, she goes, 'I have nothing to lose.' So all she can do is go out there and tell the truth."


During Arias' nine days on the stand she has described in detail the oral, anal and phone sex that she and Alexander allegedly engaged in, despite being Mormons and trying to practice chastity. She also spelled out in excruciating detail what she claimed was Alexander's growing demands for sex, loyalty and subservience along with an increasingly violent temper.


Besides her two friends, Arias' mother and sometimes her father have been sitting in the front row of the courtroom during the testimony. It's been humiliating, Bering said.


"She's horrified. There's not one ounce of her life that's not out there, that's not open to the public. She's ashamed," she said.






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Group releases list of 90 medical ‘don’ts’

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Don’t use feeding tubes in patients with advanced dementia. Don’t use drugs to aggressively treat diabetes in those older than 65. Don’t automati­cally use imaging technology for minor head injuries in children and headaches in adults. And don’t give antacids to babies with reflux.


Those are among the 90 medical “don’ts” on a list being released Thursday by a coalition of doctor and consumer groups. They are trying to discourage the use of tests and treatments that have become common practice but may cause harm to patients or unnecessarily drive up the cost of health care.


It is the second set of recommendations from the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation’s “Choosing Wisely” campaign, which launched last year amid nationwide efforts to improve medical care in the United States while making it more affordable.

The recommendations run the gamut, from geriatrics to opthalmology to maternal health. Together, they are meant to convey the message that in medicine, “sometimes less is better,” said Daniel Wolfson, executive vice president of the foundation, which funded the effort.

“Sometimes, it’s easier [for a physician] to just order the test rather than to explain to the patient why the test is not necessary,” Wolfson said. But “this is a new era. People are looking at quality and safety and real outcomes in different ways.”

The guidelines were penned by more than a dozen medical professional organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and ­Gynecologists.

The groups discourage the use of antibiotics in a number of instances in which they are commonly prescribed, such as for sinus infections and pink eye. They caution against using certain sedatives in the elderly and cold medicines in the very young.

In some cases, studies show that the test or treatment is costly but does not improve the quality of care for the patient, according to the groups.

But in many cases, the groups contend, the intervention could cause pain, discomfort or even death. For example, feeding tubes are often used to provide sustenance to dementia patients who cannot feed themselves, even though oral feeding is more effective and humane. And CT scans that are commonly used when children suffer minor head trauma may expose them to cancer-causing radiation.

While the recommendations are aimed in large part at physicians, they are also designed to arm patients with more information in the exam room.

“If you’re a healthy person and you’re having a straightforward surgery, and you get a list of multiple tests you need to have, we want you to sit down and talk with your doctor about whether you need to do these things,” said John Santa, director of the health ratings center at Consumer Reports, which is part of the coalition that created the guidelines.

Health-care spending in the United States has reached 17.9 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product and continues to rise, despite efforts to contain costs. U.S. health-care spending grew 3.9 percent in 2011, reaching $2.7 trillion, according to the journal Health Affairs.

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Non-American or European Pope is good, poll finds

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WASHINGTON: More than half of Catholics in the United States think it would be a good thing for the next pope to come from South America, Asia or Africa, a Pew Research Center poll said Thursday.

Another 20 per cent said it would not matter if Pope Benedict XVI's successor hails from a developing region of the world, while just 14 per cent thought it was a bad idea.

Pew's Forum on Religion and Public Life interviewed 1,504 Americans of all faiths, including 304 Catholics, shortly after the German-born pontiff's resignation announcement was made on February 11.

Fifty-one per cent of Catholic respondents said the next pope should "maintain the traditional positions of the Church."

Of those who thought he should take the Church in new directions, 15 per cent said he should get tougher on sex abuse and nine percent thought he should be more accepting of gays and marriage equality.

Just one percent believed he should be less strict about abortion.

Nearly one in four Americans are Catholics, making the Church the largest single denomination in the country -- and the United States the developed nation with the largest Catholic population.

- AFP/sf



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Haryana: Budget session begins today, expected to be stormy

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CHANDIGARH: Even though Haryana's opposition leader Om Prakash Chautala is in jail following his conviction in the JBT recruitment scam, the budget session of the state assembly, scheduled to commence on Friday, is likely to be stormy as the House is set to discuss issues ranging from corruption to rape cases.

At present, four MLAs of the 90-member House are lodged in jails. Chautala, his MLA son Ajay Singh and INLD's deputy leader in the assembly Sher Singh Badshami were recently convicted in the teachers' recruitment scam. Main opposition party INLD, which has 30 MLAs, would try to target the ruling Congress for alleged involvement of its MLAs in various cases.

Former minister Gopal Kanda is in judicial custody for his role in the death of airhostess Geetika Sharma. INLD's state president Ashok Arora said his party would raise the issue of "illegal" land deal between DLF and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra. "The party will take up the issue of forcible acquisition of agriculture land at throwaway prices, which had been sold to the private builders at higher rates," Arora added.

However, the ruling Congress would try to exploit the recent conviction of INLD leaders in corruption case to corner the opposition. The Congress may also raise the issue of disproportionate assets case pending against Chautala and his two sons -- Ajay and Abhay.

However, parliamentary affairs minister Randeep Singh Surjewala claimed that the government is fully prepared to deal with all issues. The poor education standard in government schools may also rock the assembly as a senior Congress leader and MLA Sampat Singh has given a call attention motion on the issue. According to a recent report based on survey of 575 villages in Haryana, over 40% students of class V in government as well as private schools were not able to read from textbooks of even class II.

"If we conduct a surprise survey of students enrolled in schools, I am sure that more than 60% schools will not have the requisite strength and the government will have to close more than 5,000," Sampat mentioned in the motion.

There are not enough teachers to teach students. Teachers' shortage is pegged at 27,221 -- over 30% of the total sanctioned strength of 84,352 teachers. It is taking a toll on students' education, sources said.

ISSUES FOR HOUSE

* Conviction of the Chautalas in corruption case

*Fresh charges against former home minister Gopal Kanda

*CBI probe against ex-minister O P Jain and ex-CPS Zile Ram Sharma

*DLF-Robert Vadra land deal

* Poor education standards in government schools

* Crime against women, rape cases

* Apna Ghar episode

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Oldest Known Wild Bird Hatches Chick at 62

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Wisdom, the oldest known wild bird, has yet another feather in her cap—a new chick.


The Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis)—62 years old at least—recently hatched a healthy baby in the U.S. Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, her sixth in a row and possibly the 35th of her lifetime, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) North American Bird Banding Program. (Related: "51-Year-Old Albatross Breaks N. American Age Record [2003].")


But Wisdom's longevity would be unknown if it weren't for a longtime bird-banding project founded by USGS research wildlife biologist Chandler Robbins.


Now 94, Robbins was the first scientist to band Wisdom in 1956, who at the time was "just another nesting bird," he said. Over the next ten years, Robbins banded tens of thousands of black-footed albatrosses (Phoebastria nigripes) and Laysan albatrosses as part of a project to study the behavior of the large seabirds, which at the time were colliding with U.S. Navy aircraft.


Robbins didn't return to the tiny Pacific island—now part of the U.S. Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument—until 2002, when he "recaptured as many birds as I could in hopes that some of them would be the old-timers."


Indeed, Robbins did recapture Wisdom—but he didn't know it until he got back to his office at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Maryland, and checked her band number in the database.


"That was real exciting, because we didn't think the chances of finding one that old would be that good," Robbins said Wednesday in an interview from his office at the Patuxent center, where he still works.



Chandler Robbins counts birds.

Chandler Robbins counts birds in Maryland's Patuxent Research Refuge.


Photograph by David H. Wells, Corbis




Albatrosses No Bird Brains


Bigger birds such as the albatross generally live longer than smaller ones: The oldest bird in the Guinness Book of Animal Records, a Siberian white crane (Leucogeranus leucogeranus), lived an unconfirmed 82 years. Captive parrots are known to live into their 80s. (See National Geographic's bird pictures.)



The Laysan albatross spends most of the year at sea, nesting on the Midway Atoll (map) in the colder months. Birds start nesting around five years of age, which is how scientists knew that Wisdom was at least five years old in 1956.



Because albatrosses defend their nests, banding them doesn't require a net or a trap as in the case of other bird species, Robbins said—but they're far from tame.


"They've got a long, sharp bill and long, sharp claws—they could do a job on you if you're not careful how to handle them," said Robbins, who estimates he's banded a hundred thousand birds.


For instance, "when you're not looking, the black-footed albatross will sneak up from behind and bite you in the seat of the pants."


But Robbins has a fondness for albatrosses, and Wisdom in particular, especially considering the new dangers that these birds face.


Navy planes are no longer a problem—albatross nesting dunes were moved farther from the runway—but the birds can ingest floating bits of plastic that now inundate parts of the Pacific, get hooked in longlines meant for fish, and be poisoned by lead paint that's still on some of Midway Atoll's buildings. (Also see "Birds in 'Big Trouble' Due to Drugs, Fishing, More.")


That Wisdom survived so many years avoiding all those hazards and is still raising young is quite extraordinary, Robbins said.


"Those birds have a tremendous amount of knowledge in their little skulls."


"Simply Incredible"


Wisdom's accomplishments have caught the attention of other scientists, in particular Sylvia Earle, an oceanographer and National Geographic Explorer in Residence, who said by email that Wisdom is a "symbol of hope for the ocean." (National Geographic News is part of the National Geographic Society.)


Earle visited Wisdom at her nest in January 2012, where she "appeared serenely indifferent to our presence," Earle wrote in the fall 2012 issue of the Virginia Quarterly Review.


"I marveled at the perils she had survived during six decades, including the first ten or so years before she found a lifetime mate. She learned to fly and navigate over thousands of miles to secure enough small fish and squid to sustain herself, and every other year or so, find her way back to the tiny island and small patch of grass where a voraciously hungry chick waited for special delivery meals."


Indeed, Wisdom has logged an estimated two to three million miles since 1956—or four to six trips from Earth to the moon and back, according to the USGS. (Related: "Albatross's Effortless Flight Decoded—May Influence Future Planes.")


Bruce Peterjohn, chief of the North American Bird Banding Program, called Wisdom's story "simply incredible."


"If she were human, she would be eligible for Medicare in a couple years—yet she is still regularly raising young and annually circumnavigating the Pacific Ocean," he said in a statement.


Bird's-Eye View


As for Robbins, he said he'd "love to get out to Midway again." But in the meantime, he's busy going through thousands of bird records in an effort to trace their life histories.


There's much more to learn: For instance, no one has ever succeeded in putting a radio transmitter on an albatross to follow it throughout its entire life-span, Robbins noted.


"It would be [an] exciting project for someone to undertake, but I'm 94 years old," he said, chuckling. "It wouldn't do much for me to start a project at my age."


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Las Vegas Shooting Launches Multi-State Manhunt

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An argument in the valet area of a Las Vegas hotel led to a deadly drive-by shooting on the occupants of a Maserati on Vegas' glitzy strip, initiating a multi-state manhunt for the black Range Rover from which the shots were fired.


Three people were left dead in the attack, including two who died when their taxi was struck by the careening sports car and exploded into flames.


"What happened is not just tragic, but underscores the level of violence we see sometimes here in Las Vegas as well as across America," Las Vegas Metropolitan Sheriff Doug Gillespie said at a news conference today. "Clearly, the suspects in this shooting have no regard for the lives and safety of others."


The altercation took place in the valet area of the Aria resort and casino. Gillespie said there is currently "no indication" what the squabble was about.


Gillespie said that authorities do not know how many people are in the SUV, but that they are considered armed and dangerous. He warned members of the public to stay away from it.


"You should not take action," he said. "Instead, call your local police department and alert them to the whereabouts of the suspect vehicle."


Authorities in Nevada, Utah, Arizona and California are all on alert for the car.


"These individuals will be found," Gillespie said. "They will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."






Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun/AP Photo











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The Range Rover SUV shot at two people in the Maserati, which caused a multi-car crash. Police have not released the model of the Maserati, but the price of a new Maserati ranges from $123,000 to $142,000.


Police said that they believe a group of men riding in a black Range Rover Sport SUV pulled up alongside the Maserati around 4:20 a.m. today and fired shots into the car, striking the driver and passenger, according to Officer Jose Hernandez of the Las Vegas Metropolitan police department.


The Maserati then swerved through an intersection, hitting at least four other cars. One car that was struck, a taxi with a driver and passenger in it, caught on fire and burst into flames, trapping both occupants, Hernandez said.


The SUV then fled the scene, according to cops.


Gillespie said investigators are in the process of gathering video footage from hotels, casinos and the taxi cabs that were at the intersection.


The driver of the Maserati died from his gunshot wounds at University Medical Center shortly after the shooting, according to Sgt. John Sheahan.


The driver and passenger of the taxi both died in the car fire.


At least three individuals, including the passenger of the Maserati, were injured during the shooting and car crashes and taken to UMC hospital for treatment.


Authorities said the Maserati passenger, identified only as a man, sustained only a minor injury to his arm. He is speaking to and cooperating with police.


They do not yet know whether the cars had local plates or were from out of state.


No bystanders were hit by gunfire, Hernandez said.


"We're currently looking for a black Range Rover Sport, with large black rims and some sort of dealership advertising or advertisement plates," Hernandez said. "This is an armed and dangerous vehicle."


The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority had no immediate comment about the safety of tourists in the wake of the shooting today.



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Mixing it up in the Cabinet

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With President Obama expected to soon name Gina McCarthy as his pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, he’s adding women to his Cabinet at a pretty decent clip. But he’s running out of chances to ensure racial diversity in his circle of top advisers.


Last month, funnyman Jon Stewart zinged the White House for its “Zero Dark Appointees” in a “Daily Show” segment about Obama’s all-white initial round of picks (for secretary of state, defense secretary, Treasury secretary and CIA director). But close to two nominations later, it could be no laughing matter.


The drain of minorities from the Cabinet is evident: Two of its four black members and both its Hispanic members have left or have announced they are leaving. Only one of the two Asian Americans who served during Obama’s first term remains.

Meanwhile, the White House will have only seven Cabinet-level posts to fill: the secretaries of commerce, labor, energy and transportation; the U.S. trade representative; and the heads of the Office of Management and Budget and the Small Business Administration.

If the rest of the Cabinet remains stable, Obama will have to name a minority to five of those seven jobs to maintain the level of diversity he reached in his first term.

Couldn’t be a shortage of qualified candidates, some say. In fact, Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) recently complained that the White House hasn’t made use of the “binder” of suitable nominees that the Congressional Black Caucus provided.

“The Black Caucus of Congress . . . sent 61 names to the White House,” Hastings reportedly said late last month at a conference of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. “Time went by. Not one of that 61 was selected — not one.”

A spokeswoman for the CBC said she wasn’t aware of the list but pointed to letters written by the group’s chairwoman, Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), backing three CBC members: Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.) for commerce secretary, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) for labor secretary and Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) for transportation secretary.


The password is . . .

Sounds as if
Philip Mudd
, a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation, had a bad day.

A number of people apparently got an e-mail from him Wednesday morning with the subject line “Need your help! (Phil Mudd).”

“Hope you get this on time,” Mudd began. “I made a trip to Manila (Philippines) and had my bag stolen from me with my passport and personal effects therein.”

Oh, no! “The embassy has just issued me a temporary passport,” he said, so there’s some good news, “but I have to pay for a ticket and settle my hotel bills with the Manager.”

“I have made contact with my bank,” he said, “but it would take me 3-5 working days to access funds in my account” — wouldn’t you know it? — “but the bad news is my flight will be leaving in less than 8-hrs from now but I am having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won’t let me leave until I settle the bills.”

This sounds really serious. “I need your help/LOAN financially and I promise to make the refund once I get back home,” he wrote, “you are my last resort and hope. Please let me know if I can count on you and I need you to keep checking your email because it’s the only way I can reach you. Thanks!”

Mudd, a former high-ranking CIA counterterrorism official and former deputy director of the FBI’s national security branch, is waiting for your response.

Don’t do it. This scam is a variant of the Nigerian classic about how “my late uncle left me $10 million but I need to raise money to claim the inheritance.” This is an oft-used tale of woe about traveling abroad, getting stuck without passport or money and such. (Perhaps a claim of being stranded on a crippled cruise ship would be more credible?)

His e-mail account must have been hacked. Seems it can happen to anyone. (He assures us that he’s changed his password.)


Traveling with baggage

Afghan President
Hamid Karzai
is not exactly known for a droll sense of humor.

But when new the new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
Bob Menendez
(D-N.J.), came calling Tuesday in Kabul — his first stop on his first trip abroad as chairman — Karzai seemed to be trying to tweak Menendez.

Menendez has come under intense fire of late over ties to and favors for a wealthy donor,
Salomon Melgen
. Menendez had to repay nearly $60,000 to Melgen for flights to the Dominican Republic on Melgen’s private jet. And questions have been raised about the senator’s support for a Dominican port-security contract in which Melgen had an investment.

Menendez has denied any intentional wrongdoing.

After their Kabul meeting, Karzai, whose notoriously corrupt regime has been much criticized by Washington, put out a news release with this headline:

“President Karzai: Fight against corruption requires earnest and sincere cooperation of the international community, particularly of the United States of America.”

Hmmm. Well, at least there won’t be a port-security problem in landlocked Afghanistan.



With Emily Heil

The blog: washingtonpost.com/
intheloop. Twitter: @InTheLoopWP.

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Sony bills coming PS4 console as future of gaming

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NEW YORK: Sony unveiled a new-generation PlayStation 4 (PS4) system on Wednesday and laid out its vision for the "future of gaming" in a world rich with mobile gadgets and play streamed from the Internet cloud.

At a press event in New York, computer entertainment unit chief Andrew House said PS4 "represents a significant shift from thinking of PlayStation as a box or console to thinking of the PlayStation 4 as a leading place for play."

PS4 was designed to get to know players, ideally to the point of being able to predict which games people will buy and have them pre-loaded and ready to go.

It also allows live streaming of gameplay in real-time, letting friends virtually peer over one another's shoulders and even letting game makers to act as "directors" guiding players along.

Sony has also given a "green light" to building "the most powerful network for gaming in the world", according to David Perry, chief of Gaikai cloud gaming company purchased last year by Sony.

Gaikai specialises in letting people play video games streamed from the Internet "cloud" instead of buying titles on disks popped into consoles or computers.

"By combining PlayStation 4, PlayStation Network and social platforms, our vision is to create the first social network with meaning dedicated to games," Perry said during the event.

A button on the PS4 controller will let players instantly stream in-game action to friends in real time, and even allow someone to transfer control to more capable allies when stuck, according to Perry.

He expressed a vision of letting people access and play video games old or new on the Internet using PS4, smartphones, tablets or PS Vita handheld devices.

"We are exploring opportunity enabled by cloud technology with a long-term vision of making PlayStation technology available on any device," Perry said.

"This would fundamentally change the concept of game longevity, making any game new or old available to get up and running on any device, anywhere."

Sony needs to adapt to changing lifestyles while not alienating video game lovers devoted to its hardware.

Low-cost or free games on smartphones or tablet computers are increasing the pressure on video game companies to deliver experiences worth players' time and money.

With the press event still in progress, Sony had yet to indicate availability or pricing for the PS4. New-generation consoles are typically priced in the $400 to $500 range, and blockbuster game titles hit the market at $60 each.

-AFP/gn



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