Reid details positions in gun debate

The Senate’s top Democrat offered fresh details Sunday about his position in the renewed debate over guns, as he endorsed expanding background checks on gun sales and promised to consider bans on assault-style weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.

“Everyone acknowledges we should do something with background checks,” Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said in an interview on ABC News’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos.”

While Reid pronounced his support for expanding background checks on gun purchases, he said he was undecided about proposed bans on assault-style weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.

“I didn’t vote for the assault weapons last time because it . . . didn’t make sense,” Reid said. Nonetheless, Reid said he plans to “take a look” at the latest proposal. And imposing new restrictions on high-capacity magazines is “something we definitely have to take a look at,” he said.

Reid’s support for expanding background checks is a boost to the gun-control measure that appears to stand the best chance of garnering broad support on Capitol Hill. A bipartisan group of senators has been working on a proposal to expand background checks, and polls show that most Americans support mandating background checks for all gun sales. Under current law, sales involving licensed gun dealers require background checks, but those between private citizens do not.

By comparison, it’s been much more difficult for gun-control advocates to build consensus around a proposed assault weapons ban, which a group of Democratic lawmakers introduced last month. It’s not just Republicans who are likely to oppose the ban; Democrats facing reelection in conservative states next year could face intense criticism from gun rights groups over a vote in favor of the measure, which might prompt some f them to oppose it.

The nation’s largest gun rights group, the National Rifle Association, staunchly opposes universal background checks. NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre warned on “Fox News Sunday” that requiring universal checks would lead to “a “universal registry of law-abiding people.”

Reid is the recipient of a “B” rating from the NRA, a better mark than most Senate Democrats. “I know Wayne LaPierre; he’s always been extremely pleasant to me,” Reid said, but “just because they resist it doesn’t mean we can’t do things.”

As the gears turn in Congress, President Obama will make his latest push for stricter gun control laws in a Monday appearance in Minneapolis, where he will meet with local leaders and law enforcement officials and deliver remarks. The president last month unveiled a sweeping slate of new gun control proposals including a call for Congress to pass laws requiring background checks and banning assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines.

The White House released a photo Saturday of Obama skeet shooting at Camp David last summer. The president was recently asked by the New Republic magazine whether he had ever fired a gun. “Yes, in fact, up at Camp David, we do skeet shooting all the time,” the president responded, prompting an outpouring of questions about whether the White House could validate the comment.

On Capitol Hill, the renewed gun-control debate officially kicked off last week, when the Senate Judiciary Committee called witnesses to testify at a hearing. LaPierre appeared before the committee, as did former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, who survived a 2011 assassination attempt that nearly took her life.

Giffords and her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, recently announced the formation of a group designed to counteract the influence of the NRA. On Sunday, Kelly kept up his push for new gun control measures, citing December’s mass shooting at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school as a reason to take urgent action.

“This is about public safety. We had 20 first-graders die in their classrooms because we don’t have sufficient gun violence legislation in the country,” Kelly said on “Fox News Sunday.”

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Obama urges Boy Scouts to end gay ban

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama said in an interview Sunday that the Boy Scouts of America should end its controversial ban on gays and lesbians when its national executive board takes up the issue next week.

"My attitude is that gays and lesbians should have access and opportunity the same way everybody else does in every institution and walk of life," Obama told CBS News in a pre-Super Bowl interview.

"The Scouts are a great institution that are promoting young people and exposing them to opportunities and leadership that will serve people for the rest of their lives," he said. "And I think nobody should be barred from that."

On January 28, the century-old youth group with 2.6 million boys in its membership ranks said it was rethinking its longstanding ban, and the group's national board of directors is expected to meet Wednesday to discuss the issue.

Unlike the Girl Scouts of the USA, a separate organisation, the Boy Scouts maintained for years a ban on "open or avowed homosexuals" from participating either as members or adult leaders.

Its stance was upheld by the US Supreme Court in 2000, but it has come under pressure in recent years to change tack in the face of growing public acceptance of homosexuality.

The CBS interview was broadcast ahead of the Super Bowl, the American football sporting extravaganza that transfixes the country each year.

Obama also told CBS that he hopes to generate more revenue for the US budget without raising taxes by closing tax loopholes.

"There is no doubt we need additional revenue coupled with smart spending reductions to bring down our deficits," Obama said.

- AFP/jc

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Unreliable sources may be taking intelligence agencies for a ride

NEW DELHI: A series of dramatic intelligence inputs by various agencies from along the India-Pakistan border has raised troubling questions if untrustworthy sources are feeding fantastic stories for a payment.

According to at least two sources in the security establishment, the Intelligence Bureau and the Military Intelligence, in the third week of January, filed similar narratives about the January 8 beheading of Lance Naik Hemraj. The strikingly similar reports, sources said, came from their humint ( human intelligence).

A senior official who has been involved in intelligence for a few decades said they suspect that both the agencies were fed by the same source. "This is not an isolated incident. We have been seeing a pattern," he said, citing the instance of a much publicized report last year about five terrorists coming to Mumbai for attacks. The photos released to the public turned out to be that of Lahore traders.

Around the time of the beheading incident, at least three different agencies, including the BSF and Military Intelligence, separately reported that Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed had visited Tattapani across Poonch and extorted action against Indian troops. Again, the inputs were assessed to be of extremely low dependability.

"It has become a regular affair along the border, especially the LoC. We are seeing a pattern. I think these so-called sources are raking in money feeding various agencies. Most of the information is patently false," another senior official said.

The kind of unverified information being fed to Indian agencies is starkly visible in the kind of inputs that has been flowing into New Delhi from the Poonch-Mendhar area in recent years. One Subedar Jabbar Khan, who is also called Sabar Khan, has been heading the ISI detachment in Tattapani for several years now, if these inputs are to go by. Col Siddiqui, who according to these intelligence reports paid Rs 5 lakh for the beheading, has been there for at least five years. Both the facts, that ISI officials would have such a long posting along the border, is adding to further questions about the credibility of these inputs.

A third source said questions over the unreliable inputs have been troubling the security establishment for many years now. In May 2012, Indian agencies were taken for a ride by an input that came through the Research and Analysis Wing about a team of terrorists who had landed in India for an attack in Mumbai. Later, it turned out that the photos of the so-called terrorists were that of traders in Lahore.

Worse, sources said the information was fed to RAW by a man who pretended to be a close relative of a senior LeT leader.

In the face of such frequent recurrences, many are saying that the intelligence agencies need to introduce a verifiable source payment mechanism. Meaning, each source that is paid by a field operative should be verifiable by the agency top brass, which is the system in most developed countries. Indian intelligence field operatives have all the discretion for payments and their sources are a closely guarded secret. There is no scientific assessment of source dependability nor payment mechanisms.

The situation is worse along the border, where there is jostling among the several intelligence agencies to collect information from Pakistan. So a flourishing intelligence industry has sprung up, with many sources. Some of these sources are smugglers who frequently cross borders, and most others are residents of villages along the border. In a large number of cases, they are just feeding the information that Indian agencies want to hear and not always the truth, many here suspect.

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Pictures We Love: Best of January

Photograph by Dieu Nalio Chery, AP

The magnitude 7 earthquake that struck near Port au Prince, Haiti, in January 2010 so devastated the country that recovery efforts are still ongoing.

Professional dancer Georges Exantus, one of the many casualties of that day, was trapped in his flattened apartment for three days, according to news reports. After friends dug him out, doctors amputated his right leg below the knee. With the help of a prosthetic leg, Exantus is able to dance again. (Read about his comeback.)

Why We Love It

"This is an intimate photo, taken in the subject's most personal space as he lies asleep and vulnerable, perhaps unaware of the photographer. The dancer's prosthetic leg lies in the foreground as an unavoidable reminder of the hardships he faced in the 2010 earthquake. This image makes me want to hear more of Georges' story."—Ben Fitch, associate photo editor

"This image uses aesthetics and the beauty of suggestion to tell a story. We are not given all the details in the image, but it is enough to make us question and wonder."—Janna Dotschkal, associate photo editor

Published February 1, 2013

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Super Bowl XLVII Live Blog: Unnecessary Roughness

7:55  p.m. ET: Fun Fact – Kaepernick was drafted by the Chicago Cubs as a pitcher in 2009. You can see the pitcher still in him with some of these throws.

7:54  p.m. ET: 49ers back in the red zone after a few big gains. They still have two timeouts with less than one minute left in the second quarter.

7:52  p.m. ET: 15-yard penalty and automatic first down for the 49ers on a roughing the passer call.

7:50  p.m. ET: That’s Flacco’s 11th touchdown pass this postseason.

7:49  p.m. ET: 21 – 3 Baltimore as incredible throw, catch and run lead to a touchdown for the Ravens. 49ers have A LOT of  work to do in the second half.

7:48  p.m. ET: TOUCHDOWN RAVENS.

7:45  p.m. ET: No flag on what looked like offensive pass interference as Culliver breaks up a Flacco long throw, and we hit the two-minute warning.

7:44  p.m. ET: 2nd and 10 for the Ravens with 2 minutes left in the second quarter. The Ravens will be receiving the ball at the beginning of the second half.

7:41  p.m. ET: Kaepernick, who had been noted for his great decision making calls under pressure, is having a rough game so far. At 25 years old, this start is only the tenth pro start of his career.

7:39  p.m. ET: Awesome 9-year-old girl football player Sam Gordon is in the house!

7:37  p.m. ET: Volkswagen’s controversial ad just aired – here’s Jamaica’s reaction to it.

7:37  p.m. ET: Gutsy fake field goal call considering the Ravens’ rookie kicker is about as sure a thing as there is for points.

7:36  p.m. ET: Tricky – fake field goal by the Ravens, but short of a first down.

7:34  p.m. ET: Almost an interception by the Niners, but it’s just an incomplete pass by Flacco. 3rd and 9.

7:31  p.m. ET: Another first down for the Ravens.

7:30  p.m. ET: Personal fouls by both teams cancel each other out. Ravens first down at 49ers 38.

7:29  p.m. ET: That interception is evidently the first time a 49ers quarterback has ever been intercepted in the Super Bowl (that’s five previous games). And Reed ties the record with his 9th postseason interception.

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

7:28  p.m. ET: Interception by Baltimore but flag is down and teams fighting on the field.

7:24  p.m. ET: After that commercial about sports fans’ superstitions – here’s an interesting article about when those superstitions cross the line into OCD.

7:22  p.m. ET: Penalties and that fumble killing San Francisco so far. 14-3 Ravens. Ten touchdowns and no interceptions so far this postseason for Flacco.

Harry How/Getty Images

7:22  p.m. ET: TOUCHDOWN BALTIMORE.

7:21  p.m. ET: Automatic first and goal for Ravens after another penalty – a personal foul on 49ers’ Whitner.

7:20  p.m. ET: Flacco connects with Dickson, and a flag is down.

7:19  p.m. ET: While they’re on the subject of Patrick Willis, here’s an interesting story about him and his “brother for life,” the Baltimore’s Michael Oher.

7:17  p.m. ET: Another first down for the Ravens. That’s 4/5 third down conversions for the Ravens so far.

7:16  p.m. ET: Major change of momentum, as Ravens get gain of about 5 after 49ers fumble.

7:12  p.m. ET: Fumble recovered by Ravens. First down for Baltimore.

7:12  p.m. ET: Another first down for the Niners.

7:11  p.m. ET: Another first down on gain of eleven with reception by Davis. Another another small scuffle breaks out. Teams clearly (obviously) passionate.

7:10  p.m. ET: Looks like Davis is okay – gain of 29 yards on great throw from Kaepernick.

7:08  p.m. ET: First Harbaugh parent sightings of the night! They’ve said tonight will be really bittersweet for them.

7:08  p.m. ET: They may be brothers, but side-by-side comparison of the Harbaugh brothers’ reactions to last play show totally different styles.

7:05  p.m. ET: Flacco sacked with 12 seconds left in quarter.

7:04  p.m. ET: Incomplete throw by Flacco with 17 seconds left in the 1st quarter.

7:03  p.m. ET: Unbelievable throw and catch by Boldin for 31-yards.

7:02  p.m. ET: 3rd and 7 for Ravens after incomplete pass by Flacco.

7:00  p.m. ET: 9-yard gain for the Ravens. Ed Reed in locker room for evaluation.

6:57  p.m. ET: Jacoby Jones returns kick to the 22-yard line. Ravens’ Ed Reed and 49ers’ Vernon Davis both apparently being checked out after Reed hit Davis on previous drive.

Harry How/Getty Images

6:55  p.m. ET: And to the relief of 49ers fans, David Akers field goal attempt is good. 7-3 Ravens.

6:54  p.m. ET: Kaepernick sacked. 49ers going for field goal.

6:53  p.m. ET: Davis out and being worked on by trainers. Second and goal, incomplete in the end zone, off of Crabtree’s hands.

6:52  p.m. ET: Vernon Davis, a super speedy tight end, with another first down on a 24-yard reception from Kaepernick. 1st and goal.

6:51 p.m. ET: And Gore with another first down.

6:50 p.m. ET: Kaepernick scrambles for a gain of seven, 2nd and 3.

6:50 p.m. ET: Kaepernick, who shocked the league with his legs when he took over from Alex Smith, gets a 1st down and then some.

6:49 p.m. ET: Gore gains nine, after having a rough few carries early.

6:48 p.m. ET: Huge, 19-yard game for Michael Crabtree, who broke out this season once Kaepernick took over the starting QB job.

6:46 p.m. ET: Already looking to be a really physical game as scuffle between players breaks out after 49ers loss of two yards.

6:45 p.m. ET: And here’s the GoDaddy commercial everybody has already been talking about – supermodel makes out with Hollywood’s favorite extra.

6:44 p.m. ET: Penalties already hurting the 49ers – big game jitters?

McNamee/Getty Images

6:41 p.m. ET: And the extra point is good. 7-0 Ravens

6:40 p.m. ET: TOUCHDOWN BALTIMORE. Ravens take an early lead with a reception by Anquan Boldin.

6:39 p.m. ET: On 3rd and 9, same thing happens, but flag is down for defensive offsides – five yard penalty and replay of 3rd down.

6:39 p.m. ET: Given some time, Flacco throws ball beyond end zone for an incompletion on 2nd and 9.

6:38 p.m. ET: Ravens QB, Joe Flacco, known for his exceptionally strong arm, gets the ball to Torrey Jones at the SF 19.

6:37 p.m. ET: And a first down for the Ravens from SF 39.

6:36 p.m. ET: Better start for the Ravens, who pick up eight yards on their first down of the game.

6:36 p.m. ET: And the first drive of the game goes nowhere; Andy Lee punts on 4th down, and Jacoby Jones returns to near the 50-yard line.

6:34 p.m. ET: On first and 15, no gain for 49ers all-time leading rusher, Frank Gore.

6:33 p.m. ET: Five yard penalty for the 49ers for illegal formation.

6:32 p.m. ET: Kaepernick connects with Vernon Davis for a gain of 20, but a flag is down.

6:31 p.m. ET: Here we go – 49ers start the first drive at the 20-yard line.

6:28 p.m. ET: Ravens chose heads, and elected to defer their choice until the second half. 49ers to receive at kickoff.

6:27 p.m. ET: Newest members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame join the team captains for the coin toss.

6:22 p.m. ET: Alicia Keys performs the Star Spangled Banner, wearing a red dress and playing a white piano at the 50-yard line.

6:21 p.m. ET: Joint Armed Forces Color Guard present the flags.

6:20 p.m. ET: Hudson wearing a green ribbon in honor of the victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting while performing with the students.

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

6:19 p.m. ET: In a touching performance, Sandy Hook Elementary School students perform “America the Beautiful,” with Jennifer Hudson.

6:18 p.m. ET: Jason Witten wins the 2012 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award.

6:12 p.m. ET: And out come the 49ers.

6:11 p.m. ET: The Ravens players are introduced in the stadium to a raucous crowd.

6:09 p.m. ET: And another historic first tonight – the two head coaches are brothers, born just 15 months apart. John Harbaugh, 50, is in his fifth season as the Baltimore Ravens head coach, and has won playoff games in each of his previous seasons. Jim Harbaugh, 49, is in his second season as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, leading his team to the playoffs both seasons.

6:05 p.m. ET: The San Francisco 49ers are going for their 6th Lombardi trophy, which would tie them for the most championships ever with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Baltimore Ravens are trying for their second Super Bowl victory. Neither team has ever lost a Super Bowl game – and at the end of the night, there will only be one team left in the NFL to have never lost a Super Bowl game.

6:00 p.m. ET: It’s here – the biggest spectacle in American sports, the Super Bowl. We’ll be covering the game, performances and, of course, the commercials right here.

It’s been an incredible season so far, and everything has led up to tonight’s game in New Orleans, where the NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers face the AFC Champion Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII. Keep refreshing for the latest updates throughout what promises to be a great game.

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Hollande gets hero's welcome in a Mali fearful of future

BAMAKO: President Francois Hollande received a rapturous welcome in Mali on Saturday as he promised that France would stay as long as necessary to continue the fight against Islamist rebels in the country's north.

As troops worked to secure Kidal, the last bastion of radicals who occupied the vast desert north for 10 months before the French army's surprise intervention, Hollande told Malians it was time for Africans to take the lead but that France would not abandon them.

"Terrorism has been pushed back, it has been chased away, but it has not been defeated yet," said Hollande, whose decision to intervene in Mali three weeks ago won him accolades in the former French colony.

"France will stay by your side as long as necessary, as long as it takes for Africans themselves... to replace us," he told a large crowd in the capital, Bamako, at a monument commemorating Mali's independence from France.

Earlier, in the fabled city of Timbuktu, thousands gathered in the central square and danced to the beat of drums -- a forbidden activity during the extremists' occupation -- to welcome the French leader, with shouts of "Vive la France! Long Live Hollande!"

Mali's interim president Dioncounda Traore thanked his counterpart for the French troops' "efficiency", which he said had allowed the north to be freed from "barbarity and obscurantism".

Hollande was offered a young camel draped in a French flag as he toured the city.

"The women of Timbuktu will thank Francois Hollande forever," said 53-year-old Fanta Diarra Toure.

"We must tell him that he has cut down the tree but still has to tear up its roots."

Hollande and Traore toured Timbuktu's 700-year-old mud mosque of Djingareyber and the Ahmed Baba library for ancient manuscripts.

As they visited the site of two ancient saints' tombs that the extremists tore down with pickaxes in July, considering them idolatrous, Hollande told the mosque's imam: "There's a real desire to annihilate. There's nothing left."

"We're going to rebuild them, Mr President," said Irina Bokova, the head of UNESCO, which is trying to assess the scale of the damage to Mali's ancient heritage -- particularly in Timbuktu, a caravan town at the edge of the Sahara that rose to fame in the 14th century as a gold and salt trading hub.

After Hollande's visit, Mali's national football team pulled off a win against Africa Cup of Nations hosts South Africa to go through to the continental championship semi-final, their best performance since 1972 and another welcome boost to national pride amid the crisis.

Traore congratulated the team on national television, and jubilant crowds took to the streets in Bamako despite a state of emergency in place since January 12.

"This victory... is going to help Mali find peace again," said Mamadou Traore in the capital's Same neighbourhood as his children jumped with excitement.

Reprisal attacks

With the rebels ousted from all major towns but Kidal in the northeast, France is keen to hand over to nearly 8,000 African troops slowly being deployed, which the United Nations is considering turning into a formal UN peacekeeping force.

But there are warnings Mali will need long-term help and fears the Islamists will now wage a guerrilla campaign from the sparsely populated north.

The joy of citizens throwing off the yoke of brutal Islamist rule, under which they were denied music and television and threatened with whipping, amputation of limbs and even execution, has been accompanied by a grim backlash against light-skinned citizens seen as supporters of the extremists.

Rights groups have reported summary executions by both the Malian army and the Islamists.

Human Rights Watch said Friday that Malian troops had shot at least 13 suspected Islamist supporters in Sevare and dumped them into wells.

Mali's military was routed at the hands of rebel groups in the north, whose members are mostly light-skinned Tuaregs and Arabs, before the French army came to its aid.

With fears of reprisal attacks high, many Arabs and Tuaregs have fled.

In all, the crisis has caused some 377,000 people to flee their homes, including 150,000 who have sought refuge across Mali's borders, according to the United Nations.

Hollande called on all troops in Mali to show "exemplary" conduct and respect human rights -- an appeal echoed interim president Traore, who promised to lead a national reconciliation process and repeated that he wants to hold elections by July 31.

The French-led intervention has met little resistance, with many of the Islamists believed to have slipped into the desert hills around Kidal -- likely taking seven French hostages with them, officials say.

While largely supported by the French public, the operation has not yet paid domestic political dividends for Hollande, failing to reverse a steep slide in his approval ratings as the economy struggles.

US Vice President Joe Biden praised the French intervention Saturday.

"That's why the United States applauds and stands with France and other partners in Mali, and why we are providing intelligence support, transportation for the French and African troops and refuelling capability for French aircraft," he told top military brass at a security conference in Munich.

-AFP/ac

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MBAs, doctors, engineers surrender soul to service and prayers

* Even a Macintosh Pro often finds it difficult to catch up with Vidhi Desai, 30, its owner and user. An archetypal south-Mumbaiite, she is rich, aggressive, super-confident, loud and questioning. An alumna of JB Petit School and HR College, Vidhi went on to do a double major in international politics and philosophy from Penn State University. The poor little rich kid never had to wait for anything she fancied; her father, a diamond businessman, gave her the liberty to soak in the sights and sounds of the material world. Defying conformity was the elixir of her life, till her guru made her realize that what she saw as freedom was merely slavery to her own moods and conditioning. Heeding to the highest calling of her heart, Vidhi signed up at his school to train to be a nun.

* The change, for him, was dramatic: the neon clothes that he proudly wore gave way to colourless white robes. Nemi Avlani, who slept only after four every morning after a good night of partying, now wakes up at that hour to meditate. An unassuming life in the ashram, simple food and satsangs, he realized, were a bigger high than avant-garde music and bright lights under the disco ball. He decided to renovate his life and renounce the world and all its comforts, familial and material.

Under the mentorship of 46-year-old Rakeshbhai Jhaveri, or Bapaji as he is called, bright young Indian men and women from across the world are signing up — to live a minimalistic life, to give up the comforts they earlier soaked themselves in, to take the vow of celibacy, to shed the excesses they lived in and worked for. To become atmarpits. He has derived the term from atma (soul) and arpit (surrender). Men and women give up all colour as they are admitted to his training school, which though not conventional does follow tradition, says Rakeshbhai, who is himself not a monk. Of late, the school has been opening to not just followers in India, but across the world.

"Two years into the atmarpit deeksha (renunciation), I feel my life has changed," says Vidhi, who like other atmarpits dons a white kurta-pyjama, a jodhpuri jacket and a bead necklace. "It has given me an immediate sense of simplicity, a strong sense of focus. I understand the power of silence, the strength of introspection and I enjoy understanding and studying religious texts."

Atmarpits have turned their face from the garden of earthly delights. They have chosen to lead a life of sadhana (spiritual pursuit) and seva (selfless service). Under the direction of their guru, they progress towards their goal of complete renunciation. They have reached the fourth 'paushad' pratima (fourth level of preparatory monastic practices) out of 11 pratimas for shravaks, or lay worshippers, on their journey to becoming monks.

Under conventional practice, initiation into monkhood comes after immense training. The initiates (not atmarpits) live with monks in temples and the preparatory phase can last anywhere from six months to 10 years, says Babulal Jain, a veritable fount of information on Jainism.

What is dramatically different in the case of atmarpits is the profile of the 72 who have renounced worldly pleasures: most are postgraduates, including medical doctors, engineers and MBAs; many never went to a derasar (Jain temple) or attended sermons given by monks. They are getting drawn back into the fold of Jainism after meeting Bapaji. His satsangs end in a revelry of dance; at times, the audience leaves in tears: it's as if he has pulled them out of chaos, out of turmoil, out of a storm called life. "I have simply cut the path into small pieces," Rakeshbhai says. "I have not done anything great. You are hungry and you have ordered a big pizza. How do you eat it? You slice it. That's what I have done. I have cut the path into small pieces. I have done nothing great."

Though Rakeshbhai is not a monk, he lives like one: always wrapped in a white linen cloth, observing the essential vows of celibacy, aparigraha (non-attachment), ahimsa (non-violence), truth and achaurya (non-stealing) that monks follow to attain liberation. But he travels the world (Jain monks cannot travel by vehicles and have to walk barefoot from one place to another) to set up satsang centres. He, with his atmarpits, is headquartered at his ashram at Dharampur, a village in southern Gujarat; when in Mumbai, he resides with his family at the tony Prithvi Apartments on Altamount Road. "I have consciously left to the last stage of renunciation some things, like travelling around. Because once I take that step, I cannot fulfill my mission of spreading the religion and setting up satsang centres around the world. Once that is over, setting up the centres, because the process is never over, I will take the last step."

A bigger plan will then unfold. "With me, everybody (atmarpits) will take the last set of vows. But by not taking the last set of vows it does not mean it is not monkhood. Because one has decided to surrender oneself to this mission and there is a transformation in thinking. Just the last set of vows remains to be taken. And why will I eventually take them? Because I don't want to be considered a reformist; I want to follow the Jain tradition."

His followers, whose count runs into thousands, support his call. Those who are not atmarpits but attend his sermons, dress in solid white at his lectures at a large congregation hall in central Dadar.

Rakeshbhai completed his master's in philosophy and later pursued his doctoral studies to earn a PhD from the University of Mumbai. Between 1985 and 1990, he observed absolute silence. He has studied Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shankaracharya, Vedanta, Christianity, Islam and Judaism. He uses all that wisdom in his sermons and moves smoothly between religions. "I see truth in everything. Hence I am a true Jain. I don't feel like labelling anything. It's all different levels of truth. Nothing else."

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Pictures We Love: Best of January

Photograph by Dieu Nalio Chery, AP

The magnitude 7 earthquake that struck near Port au Prince, Haiti, in January 2010 so devastated the country that recovery efforts are still ongoing.

Professional dancer Georges Exantus, one of the many casualties of that day, was trapped in his flattened apartment for three days, according to news reports. After friends dug him out, doctors amputated his right leg below the knee. With the help of a prosthetic leg, Exantus is able to dance again. (Read about his comeback.)

Why We Love It

"This is an intimate photo, taken in the subject's most personal space as he lies asleep and vulnerable, perhaps unaware of the photographer. The dancer's prosthetic leg lies in the foreground as an unavoidable reminder of the hardships he faced in the 2010 earthquake. This image makes me want to hear more of Georges' story."—Ben Fitch, associate photo editor

"This image uses aesthetics and the beauty of suggestion to tell a story. We are not given all the details in the image, but it is enough to make us question and wonder."—Janna Dotschkal, associate photo editor

Published February 1, 2013

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Body of Missing Mom Reportedly Found in Turkey

The body of an American woman who went missing while on a solo trip to Turkey has been pulled from a bay in Istanbul, and nine people have been held for questioning, according to local media.

Sarai Sierra, 33, was last heard from on Jan. 21, the day she was due to board a flight home to New York City.

The state-run Andolu Agency reported that residents found a woman's body today near the ruins of some ancient city walls in a low-income district, and police identified the body as Sierra.

Rep. Michael Grimm, R-NY, who with his staff had been assisting the Sierra family in the search, said he was "deeply saddened" to hear the news of her death.

"I urge Turkish officials to move quickly to identify whomever is responsible for her tragic death and ensure that any guilty parties are punished to the fullest extent of the law," he said in a statement.

Courtesy Sarai Sierra's family

Footage Shows Missing New York Mom in Turkish Mall Watch Video

NYC Woman Goes Missing While Traveling In Turkey Watch Video

New York Mother Goes Missing on Turkish Vacation Watch Video

The New York City mother, who has two young boys, traveled to Turkey alone on Jan. 7 after a friend had to cancel. Sierra, who is an avid photographer with a popular Instagram stream, planned to document her dream vacation with her camera.

"It was her first time outside of the United States, and every day while she was there she pretty much kept in contact with us, letting us know what she was up to, where she was going, whether it be through texting or whether it be through video chat, she was touching base with us," Steven Sierra told ABC News before he departed for Istanbul last Sunday to aid in the search.

Steven Sierra has been in the country, meeting with U.S. officials and local authorities, as they searched for his wife.

On Friday, Turkish authorities detained a man who had spoken with Sierra online before her disappearance. The identity of the man and the details of his arrest were not disclosed, The Associated Press reported.

The family said it is completely out of character for the happily married mother, who met her husband in church youth group, to disappear.

She took two side trips, to Amsterdam and Munich, before returning to Turkey, but kept in contact with her family the entire time, a family friend told ABC News.

Further investigation revealed she had left her passport, clothes, phone chargers and medical cards in her room at a hostel in Beyoglu, Turkey.

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VA study finds more veterans committing suicide

Every day about 22 veterans in the United States kill themselves, a rate that is about 20 percent higher than the Department of Veterans Affairs’ 2007 estimate, according to a two-year study by a VA researcher.

The VA study indicates that more than two-thirds of the veterans who commit suicide are 50 or older, suggesting that the increase in veterans’ suicides is not primarily driven by those returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“There is a perception that we have a veterans’ suicide epidemic on our hands. I don’t think that is true,” said Robert Bossarte, an epidemiologist with the VA who did the study. “The rate is going up in the country, and veterans are a part of it.” The number of suicides overall in the United States increased by nearly 11 percent between 2007 and 2010, the study says.

As a result, the percentage of veterans who die by suicide has decreased slightly since 1999, even though the total number of veterans who kill themselves has gone up, the study says.

VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki said his agency would continue to strengthen suicide prevention efforts. “The mental health and well-being of our courageous men and women who have served the nation is the highest priority for VA, and even one suicide is one too many,” he said in a statement.

The study follows long-standing criticism that the agency has moved far too slowly even to figure out how many veterans kill themselves. “If the VA wants to get its arms around this problem, why does it have such a small number of people working on it?” asked retired Col. Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, a former Army psychiatrist. “This is a start, but it is a faint start. It is not enough.”

Bossarte said much work remains to be done to understand the data, especially concerning the suicide risk among Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. They constitute a minority of an overall veteran population that skews older, but recent studies have suggested that those who served in recent conflicts are 30 percent to 200 percent more likely to commit suicide than their ­non-veteran peers.

An earlier VA estimate of 18 veterans’ suicides a day, which was disclosed during a 2008 lawsuit, has long been cited by lawmakers and the department’s critics as evidence of the agency’s failings. A federal appeals court pointed to it as evidence of the VA’s “unchecked incompetence.” The VA countered that the number, based on old and incomplete data, was not reliable.

To calculate the veterans’ suicide rate, Bossarte and his sole assistant spent more than two years, starting in October 2010, cajoling state governments to turn over death certificates for the more than 400,000 Americans who have killed themselves since 1999. Forty-two states have provided data or agreed to do so; the study is based on information from 21 that has been assembled into a database.

Bossarte said that men in their 50s — a group that includes a large percentage of the veteran population— have been especially hard-hit by the national increase in suicide. The veterans’ suicide rate is about three times the overall national rate, but about the same percentage of male veterans in their 50s kill themselves as do non-veteran men of that age, according to the VA data.

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