Obama to nominate Chuck Hagel for defense secretary

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President Obama plans to nominate former senator Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican and Vietnam veteran, to be secretary of defense, according to a person close to the process and a senior administration official.


The White House informed the Hagel camp over the weekend that Obama intends to announce the nomination Monday.


Hagel’s successful nomination would add a well-known Republican to the president’s second-term Cabinet at a time when he is looking to better bridge the partisan divide, particularly after a bitter election campaign.

But the expected nomination has drawn sharp criticism in recent weeks, particularly from Republicans, who have questioned Hagel’s commitment to Israel’s security.

The choice sets up a confirmation fight of the sort that Obama appeared unwilling to have over Susan E. Rice, his preferred pick for secretary of state. Rice pulled out of consideration for that job last month after facing sharp Republican criticism about her characterization of the September attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

In an appearance Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) called Hagel’s selection an “in-your-face nomination.”

But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Hagel’s record would be given a fair shake in the Senate if he is nominated. McConnell stopped short of saying whether he would support his former colleague.

“He’s certainly been outspoken in foreign policy and defense over the years,” McConnell said on ABC’s “This Week.” He added: “The question we’ll be answering, if he’s the nominee, is: Do his views make sense for that particular job? I think he ought to be given a fair hearing, like any other nominee. And he will be.”

The Hagel nomination will begin what White House officials have said will probably be a busy week of announcements about who will fill Obama’s second-term Cabinet and senior staff positions.

The president returned Sunday from a curtailed holiday in Hawaii and will begin making final personnel decisions that were delayed by the year-end negotiations with Congress over taxes and spending cuts.


Foreign-policy tussle

Despite the opposition to a Hagel nomination that has arisen on Capitol Hill, a senior administration official said Sunday that the White House expects him to receive the support of Democrats, as well as many Republicans who served with him.

“Having a name floated and having one officially put forward are two different things,” the official said.

Hagel, who was twice awarded the Purple Heart for wounds suffered in Vietnam, served in the U.S. Senate for two terms, ending in 2009.

He was an outspoken and often-independent voice as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, breaking with many in his party to sharply criticize the management of the Iraq war after he initially supported the U.S.-led invasion.

“A lot of Republican opposition is rooted in the fact that he left his party on Iraq,” the senior administration official said. “And we think it will be very hard for Republicans to stand up and be able to say that they oppose someone who was against a war that most Americans think was a horrible idea.”

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New highs for SGX's derivatives & commodities markets in 2012

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SINGAPORE: The Singapore Exchange's derivatives and commodities markets achieved record highs in 2012.

However as in most global markets, trading activities declined.

Turnover dropped 12 per cent in 2012 to S$321.5 billion.

However securities market performance, as measured by the Straits Times Index, was up 20 per cent last year.

In December, turnover was up 39 per cent from a year earlier at S$23.2 billion.

Meanwhile, derivatives volume in 2012 reached a new high of 80.2 million contracts, up 11 per cent.

The volume of agri-commodity futures also grew 56 per cent in 2012 to 255,815 contracts.

- CNA/jc



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Raj Thackeray blames rising crime on migrants; Lalu retaliates

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MUMBAI/PATNA: Speaking at a Global Konkan Mohatsav function in Goregaon, MNS chief Raj Thackeray once again spoke against people from Bihar on Sunday: "Our sympathies are with the victim. But who are the accused involved in the Delhi gang-rape?" One of the accused in the gang-rape has been arrested from Bihar. Attacking other political parties, Raj said, "Not a single party wants to take this up."

Raj claimed that even Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit had been saying migrants were the reason for the rising crime rate in the capital. "It is not only Delhi but also other parts of the country, including Maharashtra, which is facing the problem," he said. "If I talk about it, cases are filed against me in various courts. I am accused of spreading hatred. But I am not spreading hatred, I am only placing facts."

Asking people from Konkan not to sell their land to outsiders, Raj said Mumbai and Konkan were ruined owing to the influx of people from Bihar. "If you want to see development in your region, you need to hold onto your land. Do not sell your land to these people," he said.

RJD chief and former Union minister Lalu Prasad said that MNS chief Raj Thackeray's claim that Biharis should be blamed for the increasing instances of rape was both 'dirty and divisive'. "It is highly reprehensible to see incidents of rape, or any crime, in terms of Bihari, Punjabi, Marathi, or any regional identity. The entire population of a state cannot be blamed for a crime committed by one person from that particular state," Lalu said. "All the people of a state should never be held guilty when any crime takes place there. What Thackeray has said is divisive and it is his old game that he has been playing," Lalu said.

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Best Pictures: 2012 Nat Geo Photo Contest Winners

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Hagel to Be Obama's Defense Secretary Nominee

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Jan 6, 2013 4:52pm







gty chuck hagel kb 121220 wblog Obama Will Nominate Chuck Hagel as Next Defense Secretary

(Junko Kimura/Getty Images)


WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Obama will nominate former senator Chuck Hagel to be his next Secretary of Defense tomorrow.


Senior officials within the administration and Capitol Hill confirmed the pick to ABC News today after the Nebraska Republican had emerged as a frontrunner among potential candidates several weeks ago.


Hagel, 66, is a decorated Vietnam veteran and businessman who served in the senate from 1997 to 2009. After having sat on that chamber’s Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees,  he has in recent years gathered praise from current and former diplomats for his work on Obama’s Intelligence Advisory Board as well as the policy board of the current Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.


But the former lawmaker faces an upscale battle in the coming confirmation hearings in Congress; critics on both sides of the aisle have taken aim at his record toward Israel and what some have called a lack of experience necessary to lead the sprawling Pentagon bureaucracy or its operations.


Progressives have also expressed concern about comments he made in 1998, questioning whether an “openly, aggressively gay” James Hormel could be nominated to an ambassador position by then-President Clinton. Hagel apologized for the comments last month, adding that he also supported gays in the military – a position he once opposed.


Who Is Chuck Hagel? Meet Obama’s Top Pentagon Pick


The friction with his former colleagues has left a degree of uncertainty in the air going into the hearings. Today on ABC’s “This Week,” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell demurred when asked whether he would support the man who, in 2008, he had championed for his candidness and stature in foreign policy.


“I’m going to wait and see how the hearings go and see whether Chuck’s views square with the job he would be nominated to do,” he told George Stephanopoulos.


Senator Lindsey Graham was more blunt in his opposition to Hagel on CNN. The Georgia Republican called Hagel an “in your face nomination,” and said he “would be the most antagonistic secretary of defense towards the state of Israel in our nation’s history.”


If confirmed, Hagel will join a crop of new cabinet members expected to join the president in his second term, including Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who was nominated in December to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.


ABC’s Elizabeth Hartfield and Devin Dwyer contributed reporting.



SHOWS: Good Morning America This Week World News







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After ‘fiscal cliff,’ Obama finishes recharging on Hawaiian holiday

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HONOLULU — The place where President Obama vacations each winter is farther from Washington than almost any other place in the United States. So, it is not terribly surprising that less than 45 minutes after Congress passed a bill averting the “fiscal cliff” on Jan. 1, Obama was racing back here.


The president’s vacation with his family and friends had already been cut short by the protracted, painful negotiations in Washington over taxes and spending. Obama was eager to get away from it all and enjoy a few final days of rest before the next round of legislative battles begins.


“I think Hawaii for him is a place where he gets to recharge both physically and emotionally. The schedule is one that’s relaxing. The climate is warm like he likes it. And he’s surrounded constantly by family and the friends he grew up with,” said Robert Gibbs, Obama’s former press secretary and a longtime adviser. “It’s the perfect elixir for having had a long and busy year in national politics.”

The president was scheduled to leave Hawaii late Saturday, returning to Washington on Sunday a little before noon. He will have spent a total of nine days here — and roughly 40 hours in the air going back and forth for both trips.

“Like any parent, the president enjoyed spending as much time with his family over the holidays as he could,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said.

The president first flew here Dec. 21, urging lawmakers to drink some eggnog and cool off over the Christmas holiday. Obama, his wife, Michelle, and their daughters, Malia, 14, and Sasha, 11, rented a house overlooking the beach in the town of Kailua, on the east side of Oahu, Hawaii’s most-populous island.

As has become his custom, Obama spent his time eating at Hawaii hot spots with family and friends, golfing with buddies for six-hour stretches and hanging out at home and around Oahu with his girls. He spent his first night in Hawaii out until 11:30, dining at Morimoto Restaurant Waikiki, owned by Masaharu Morimoto of “Iron Chef” fame.

The next day began with a memorial service for Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), whom Obama had previously called his “earliest political inspiration.” Following the service, which was at a veterans cemetery known as the Punchbowl, for the topographical imprint left by volcanic eruptions tens of thousands of years ago, Obama and his wife walked about a half-mile southeast to visit the grave site of his grandfather Stanley Dunham, who served in World War II.

Obama went for a hike with his family later that day and then spent part of Dec. 24 with his family at the beach. Many of the president’s activities were confined to the Marine Corps base here, about a 10-minute drive from his rental home.

The Obamas’ Christmas activities are an established routine. On Christmas Eve, Obama calls members of the armed forces and his wife calls children tracking Santa’s whereabouts, before the family sits down for dinner. The next morning, they open Christmas gifts, eat breakfast and sing carols. Later in the day, the president and his wife meet with a few hundred service members at the Marine Corps base.

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Football: Wolves sack Solbakken after FA Cup exit

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LONDON: Stale Solbakken was sacked as manager of Championship side Wolves on Saturday, just hours after the club had been dumped out of the FA Cup by non-league Luton.

The struggling side, who were relegated from the Premier League last season, also terminated the contracts of assistant manager Johan Lange and Patrick Weiser, the first team coach.

Wolves are currently 18th in the Championship, having won just three out of their last 16 league games and a disappointing run of results culminated in Saturday's FA Cup third round 1-0 defeat to Luton Town.

Solbakken had only been in charge at Molineux for six months.

"Kevin Thelwell, head of football development and recruitment, will take charge of first team training until a new manager is appointed, assisted by development coach, Steve Weaver," said a club statement.

"The club would like to offer their thanks and best wishes to Stale, Johan and Patrick."

The 44-year-old Solbakken, who had previously been in charge of German side Cologne, replaced Terry Connor in the Wolves hotseat last summer.

He becomes the 10th Championship manager to leave his club this season while Wolves now search for their fourth boss in under a year.

Speaking after Saturday's match, the Norwegian had said he was not "embarrassed" by the defeat.

"There will be a lot of questions over me but that is normal, that's football and I have to take that, it's no problem," he said.

"I can put it right. I'm not embarrassed by the result, I can't fault the players' effort. First half we did well, but second half we didn't because our physical presence in the box was not enough."

- AFP/de



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Prices double as private vaccines flood market

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NEW DELHI: The Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) seems to have slipped almost entirely into the grip of the private sector as the government's vaccine institutes that were reopened in February 2010 after being shut down two years ago are yet to contribute in any significant way. In the process, the cost of most vaccines has more than doubled since 2006-07.

Barring oral polio vaccine, the cost of other routine vaccines that added up to a little over a quarter of the annual routine immunization budget has increased to account for more than 50% of the entire budget, shows the response to an RTI application filed with the Vaccine Procurement Cell in the health ministry by Dr K V Babu, central council member of the Indian Medical Association.

In 2006-07, over 90% of the DPT (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus) vaccine doses and over 80% of the tetanus toxoid vaccine used for UIP were supplied by the Pasteur Institute of India (PII) in Coonoor and the Central Research Institute (CRI) in Kasauli. In 2012-13, the two institutes together barely produced 36% of the DPT vaccines used and 23% of the TT vaccine used for the UIP.

The price of DPT vaccine has more than doubled between 2006-07 and 2012, going up from Rs 12 to Rs 28 per vial of ten doses. Similarly, the price of TT vaccine has gone up from Rs 6 to Rs 15.

The BCG Vaccine Laboratory in Guindy, Chennai was the sole supplier of BCG vaccine for the UIP. The government is now entirely dependent on the private sector as no other government institute produces BCG vaccine. The two other manufacturers of BCG vaccine, Serum Institute of India (SII) in Pune and Green Signal Bio-Pharma Ltd in Chennia, are private companies. Since 2008, the price of BCG has gone up from Rs 13 to Rs 30 per vial of ten doses.

Interestingly, the least increase in cost has been in the case of measles, where prices have risen by less than 25% despite the demand for doses in 2012-13 being five times what it was in 2006-07. Perhaps it is no coincidence that the measles vaccine was the one that already had a private monopoly even in 2006-07.

The three government institutes, which produced the bulk of the vaccines required for the basic immunisation programme against six diseases, were shut down in 2008 reportedly for not being compliant with good manufacturing practices (GMP) by then health minister Anbumani Ramadoss. This move was sharply criticised by the parliamentary standing committee on health and family welfare which observed that it was the government's responsibility to invest in its own institutes to ensure they were GMP complaint instead of using that as an excuse to shut them down leaving the UIP at the mercy of the private sector.

Though all three institutes were reopened in February 2010, so far, the BCG Vaccine Laboratory has not produced a single dose of vaccine for the immunisation programme and PII Coonoor and CRI Kasauli have been producing a fraction of what they used to supply earlier.

The two other vaccines in the basic UIP are OPV and measles vaccine. For the measles vaccine, the RTI reply of the vaccine procurement unit of the ministry lists only one supplier, the Serum Institute of India in Pune, though the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI) lists Indian Immunological Ltd and Human Biologicals Institute, two government units, as suppliers too. However, they do not seem to produce any significant amount. A measles vaccine dose currently costs the government over Rs 10.

In the case of OPV vaccine, the biggest suppliers seem to be two private companies Panacea Biotech Ltd and Bharat Biotech International Ltd in Hyderabad, which seem to meet the bulk of the demand. Though BIBCOl Bulandshahr, a government institute, and Haffkine Biopharmaceutical Ltd in Mumbai, a public sector unit (PSU), are listed as producers of OPV, their contribution seems negligible, going by the data of the CBHI.

The government units which made an insignificant contribution to the UIP were not chosen for being closed down. It is the units which contributed to a large share of the immunisation programme's demand that were shut down, resulting in the entire market for the vaccines produced by these units being turned over to the private companies.

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Best Pictures: 2012 Nat Geo Photo Contest Winners

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City Answers Gang-Rape Cover-Up Allegations

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As Steubenville, Ohio, prepares for the high-profile rape trial of two high school football players, officials, battling allegations of a cover-up, announced the creation of a new website today to debunk rumors and create what they said would be a transparent resource for the community.


"This site is not designed to be a forum for how the Juvenile Court ought to rule in this matter," the website, called Steubenville Facts, said.


A timeline of the case, beginning with the alleged gang rape of a 16-year-old girl at a party on Aug. 11-12, 2012, is posted on the site. Summaries of Ohio law relating to the case and facts about the local police force including statistics on how many graduated from Steubenville schools, is included.


The case gained national attention last week when hacking collective Anonymous leaked a video of Steubenville high school athletes mocking the 16-year-old female victim and making crude references to the alleged rape.






Steubenville Herald-Star, Michael D. McElwain/AP Photo







"It's disgusting, and I've had people calling, numerous people call here, upset, they have seen it, one woman, two women were crying, because of what they witnessed," Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla said. "It really is disgusting to watch that video."


Anonymous has called for more arrests, however Steubenville Police have said their hands are tied.


"Steubenville Police investigators are caring humans who recoil and are repulsed by many of the things they observe during an investigation," the website said, addressing the video. "Like detectives in every part of America and the world, they are often frustrated when they emotionally want to hold people accountable for certain detestable behavior but realize that there is no statute that allows a criminal charge to be made."


Occupy Steubenville, a grassroots group, estimated 1,300 people attended a rally today outside the Jefferson County Courthouse, where rape victims and their loved ones gathered to share their stories.


The father of a teenage rape victim was met with applause when he shared his outrage.


"I've tried to show my girl that not all men are like this, but only a despicable few," he said. "And their mothers that ignore the truth that they gave birth to a monster."


Authorities investigated the case and charged two Steubenville high school athletes on Aug. 22, 2012.


The teenagers face trial on Feb. 13, 2013 in juvenile court before a visiting judge.


Attorneys for the boys have denied charges in court.



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