Rep. Loretta Sanchez’s 2012 Christmas card: Fiscal cliff, Gretzky in heaven

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen — your Rep. Loretta Sanchez Christmas card for 2012!

(Courtesy of the Office of Rep. Loretta Sanchez)
Over the past decade, the California Democrat’s wacky holiday greetings have drawn a cult following. “I’ve seen them being sold on eBay,” the congresswoman told us.

(Courtesy of the Office of Rep. Loretta Sanchez)
Nice topical theme this year! “The ‘fiscal cliff’ is a very serious situation, so we didn’t want to make light of it,” she said. “But sometimes a chuckle makes things a lot easier.” (Last year’s card tipped a hat to Occupy Wall Street and all that 99 percent talk: “May the joy of the holidays occupy 100 percent of your heart.”)

That’s husband Jack Einwechter dancing with her. Sanchez’s late beloved cat Gretzky, the star of so many cards over the years, is represented inside the card, a halo over his furry head. “Of course — Angel Gretzky,” she said. “We keep Gretzky every year because he has so many followers.”

Earlier:
Rep. Loretta Sanchez’s ‘Call Me Maybe’ parody, with summer interns, 7/2/12

Last year:
Rep. Loretta Sanchez carries on holiday card tradition, without beloved cat Gretzky, 12/9/11

Loretta Sanchez’s 2011 Christmas card, 12/16/11

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Ukrainian MPs brawl in parliament as PM re-appointed

KIEV: The Ukrainian parliament Thursday voted to reinstate its prime minister after dozens of opposition and pro-government lawmakers brawled for a second day in the chamber notorious for its fisticuffs.

Newly-elected world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko sought to stand above the fray by staying well out of the fighting that came just before parliament voted to re-appoint Prime Minister Mykola Azarov.

Deputies in suits and shirtsleeves climbed on tables, shouted and grappled with opponents in an angry protest against lawmakers pressing electronic buttons to vote for absentee colleagues.

While lawmakers are legally obliged to vote in person, many of them run around pressing buttons for absent colleagues.

Opposition politicians rose to their feet and rushed to blockade the speaker's tribune, while being pushed back by pro-government lawmakers.

Amid angry shouts and calls for calm, some clambered on desks from where they dealt blows and jumped down on opponents.

At least one opposition lawmaker had a bruised face after being thrown to the floor and receiving punches and kicks from ruling party lawmakers, the Interfax news agency reported.

The towering boxing champion Klitschko, whose opposition party UDAR, or punch, has won 42 seats in the parliament, refrained from joining the skirmishes and could be seen seated, watching the fight calmly.

"You could call the fists of a world champion a nuclear weapon. I don't think we will use this weapon yet," Klitschko said, quoted by his party press service.

But he added: "We do support the blockading of the tribune."

After a break, the parliament managed to restore calm and hold a vote to reappoint prime minister Azarov that had been postponed from Wednesday.

A total of 252 deputies out of 450 in the single-chamber parliament supported Azarov's return to office, including President Viktor Yanukovych's ruling Regions Party, the Communists and several independents.

Three opposition factions - Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party close to jailed ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the UDAR party of Klitschko and the Svoboda nationalist movement - did not back Azarov.

"The politics of the Regions Party of which Azarov is a representative is anti-Ukrainian, anti-social and anti-democratic," said comments from Svoboda.

It remained unclear why Azarov, 64, took the dramatic step of resigning earlier this month, with the presidency saying at the time that Yanukovych had accepted his request to give up his post and become an MP.

Azarov called on the parliament to leave behind the "confrontation" to "face together outside challenges" including the global economic crisis that is already hurting Ukraine.

The parliament's opening session on Wednesday had earlier seen fighting erupt between opposition lawmakers and deputies whom they accused of defecting to the pro-government camp.

In a typically raucous session, feminist group Femen also staged a topless anti-corruption protest outside the entrance to the parliament wearing only black pants.

The brawls were an ugly start to a new parliament apparently still controlled by Yanukovych's Regions Party, which claims to have won a majority in legislative elections on October 28.

The October polls were widely criticised by the international community, coming as Tymoshenko continues to serve a seven-year prison term for abuse of power that she argues is politically motivated.

The Ukrainian parliament is often the scene of scuffles with lawmakers throwing eggs and letting off smokebombs.

Two years ago several opposition deputies were badly injured in a bloody brawl prompted by the opening of a criminal probe into Tymoshenko that saw punches thrown and chairs hurled.

- AFP/de

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Yeddyurappa looking at image makeover

MYSORE: Former CM B S Yeddyurappa is seeking an image makeover. On Thursday as he toured Mysore and Mandya districts, he visited Gumbaz, the mausoleum that houses tombs of Mysore rulers Tipu Sultan and Hyder Ali, held a convention of minorities at Muslim majority area in Mysore and said he is a changed man.

At the minorities meet, he said he will not allow injustice to be meted out to Muslims and will stand by them. As he arrived at Srirangapatna, he visited Nimishamba Temple and checked into the Gumbaz located next to the temple. He also paid a visit to a Jain site in the temple town before he arrived at Mysore to a grand welcome.

In a freewheeling interaction with the reporters, Yeddyurappa, in his trademark white safari, looked relaxed and insisted he is a changed man. "I'll not try to remember my days in my former party. I'm looking ahead," he said. " I've severed all my previous ties," he said when asked whether about his RSS background. I'm a new man now.

Recollecting his days when he was a member of Shikaripur local body, he said he used to cycle around the town during early mornings and would go to the office later in the day. "I've always done what I've set for," he said even as he admitted that he was not sure whether he should float new political party. Referring to emergence of regional parties as dominant forces in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, he said there is need for a strong political alternative to national parties in Karnataka. "I've not formed KJP out to vengeance," he asserted. Asked about his views about the move by the BJP government to ban cow slaughter, he said he supports it. Muslims have not asked to ban cow slaughter, he replied to a question.

With leaders from Mysore and Chamarajnagar districts in tow, the former CM looked confident to take on both BJP and Congress but was soft towards the latter. "Illa, illa, illa (no, non, no)," he said when asked whether Congress has given him supari to weaken BJP as alleged by JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy. Why are you dragging Congress into my political fight, he replied.

During his visit, he logged one of the staunch supporters of Siddaramaiah. The former ZP president B M Ramu joined KJP at the minorities meet.

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Hubble Discovers Oldest Known Galaxy

The Hubble space telescope has discovered seven primitive galaxies formed in the earliest days of the cosmos, including one believed to be the oldest ever detected.

The discovery, announced Wednesday, is part of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field campaign to determine how and when galaxies first assembled following the Big Bang.

"This 'cosmic dawn' was not a single, dramatic event," said astrophysicist Richard Ellis with the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Rather, galaxies appear to have been formed over hundreds of millions of years.

Ellis led a team that used Hubble to look at one small section of the sky for a hundred hours. The grainy images of faint galaxies include one researchers determined to be from a period 380 million years after the onset of the universe—the closest in time to the Big Bang ever observed.

The cosmos is about 13.7 billion years old, so the newly discovered galaxy was present when the universe was 4 percent of its current age. The other six galaxies were sending out light from between 380 million and 600 million years after the Big Bang. (See pictures of "Hubble's Top Ten Discoveries.")

Baby Pictures

The images are "like the first ultrasounds of [an] infant," said Abraham Loeb, a specialist in the early cosmos at Harvard University. "These are the building blocks of the galaxies we now have."

These early galaxies were a thousand times denser than galaxies are now and were much closer together as well, Ellis said. But they were also less luminous than later galaxies.

The team used a set of four filters to analyze the near infrared wavelengths captured by Hubble Wide Field Camera 3, and estimated the galaxies' distances from Earth by studying their colors. At a NASA teleconference, team members said they had pushed Hubble's detection capabilities about as far as they could go and would most likely not be able to identify galaxies from further back in time until the James Webb Space Telescope launches toward the end of the decade. (Learn about the Hubble telescope.)

"Although we may have reached back as far as Hubble will see, Hubble has set the stage for Webb," said team member Anton Koekemoer of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. "Our work indicates there is a rich field of even earlier galaxies that Webb will be able to study."

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Royal Hoax Nurse Hanged Herself, Left 3 Notes

Jacintha Saldanha, the London nurse who killed herself after she answered a radio-station prank call about Kate Middleton, was found hanging from the neck, and left three notes, according to the coroner's officer.

The 46-year-old nurse who worked at London's King Edward VII Hospital was discovered Dec. 7 hanging by a scarf from a wardrobe in her bedroom, Coroner's Officer Lynda Martindill told a British inquest.

The wife and mother of two also had injuries to her wrists, according to police detective chief inspector James Harman.

Harman told the coroner's inquest that two notes were found at the scene and a third was discovered among Saldanha's belongings.

He did not release the contents of the notes.

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There is no suspicion of foul play in Saldanha's death, Harman said. Investigators are still trying to piece together exactly what led to her suicide, and are now interviewing her friends, family and co-workers to find more information, Harman said.

Saldanha was found dead Friday morning after police were called to an address near the hospital to "reports of a woman found unconscious," according to a statement from Scotland Yard.

Saldanha had worked at the hospital for more than four years.

DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian of 2Day FM in Sydney called the hospital Dec. 5 pretending to be Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles, looking to speak to Middleton, who was being treated at the hospital for acute nausea related to her pregnancy. The duo were able to obtain information about the duchess' condition.

When the royal impersonators called the hospital, Saldanha put them through to a second nurse who told the royal impersonators that Kate was "quite stable" and hadn't "had any retching."

The radio station, along with Greig and Christian, has apologized for the prank call, and the Australian Communications and Media Authority has now launched an investigation into the incident.

Coroner Fiona Wilcox has adjourned the inquest into Saldanha's death until March 26.

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PM Lee to nominate new Speaker when Parliament next meets

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will nominate a new Speaker of Parliament when Parliament next meets, following the resignation of Mr Michael Palmer.

In the meantime, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Mr Charles Chong will serve as Acting Speaker.

When asked who is likely to be considered for the post of Speaker, some Members of Parliament (MPs) from the ruling People's Action Party told Channel NewsAsia that they are still coming to terms with the news of Mr Palmer's resignation.

Singapore's Parliament has two Deputy Speakers.

Besides Mr Charles Chong, the MP for Marine Parade GRC, Mr Seah Kian Peng, is the other Deputy Speaker.

MP for Moulmein-Kallang GRC, Denise Phua, said Mr Seah could be a possible candidate for the new Speaker of Parliament.

When asked if he would consider the post if he was approached to take it up, Mr Seah said the role of Speaker requires a lot of time and anyone taking the job would want to consider the matter seriously.

GPC chair for Communications and Information, Zaqy Mohamed, said that for now, the two Deputy Speakers would perform the role until such time the candidate for Speaker is proposed to Parliament.

Nominated MP Eugene Tan is of the view that either one of the two Deputy Speakers or former Cabinet Ministers who are now currently MPs, could be considered for the post of Speaker.

Singapore's Parliament will sit on 14 January.

- CNA/ir

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SC verdict on Mulayam's plea against probe in DA case on Thursday

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court will pronounce tomorrow its verdict on Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and his family members' plea for review of its order for CBI probe against them for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets.

A bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice H L Dattu, which had reserved its order on February 17 last year, will pronounce the verdict on review petition filed by Yadav, his sons Akhilesh and Prateek and daughter-in-law Dimple.

The apex court had ordered a CBI inquiry on March 1, 2007 into the alleged accumulation of disproportionate assets by Yadav family, on a public interest litigation (PIL) by an advocate, Vishwanath Chaturvedi, reportedly a Congress leader.

Deviating from the precedent of hearing review petitions in the judges' chambers, the bench had heard the petition in open court at Yadavs' request.

Seeking review of the apex court order, Yadav and his family members had submitted that there was no evidence against them who are being harassed by political adversaries.

They assailed the apex court's earlier order claiming it would "set a dangerous precedent" of allowing political opponents to file "false and frivolous" petitions against their detractors.

During the arguments, the Centre, while refraining from going into the merits of the allegations against the Yadavs, had cited a number of judicial pronouncements to drive home the point that the apex court has powers to order a CBI inquiry in "exceptional cases."

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Best Space Pictures of 2012: Editor's Picks

Photograph courtesy Tunç Tezel, APOY/Royal Observatory

This image of the Milky Way's vast star fields hanging over a valley of human-made light was recognized in the 2012 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition run by the U.K.’s Royal Observatory Greenwich.

To get the shot, photographer Tunç Tezel trekked to Uludag National Park near his hometown of Bursa, Turkey. He intended to watch the moon and evening planets, then take in the Perseids meteor shower.

"We live in a spiral arm of the Milky Way, so when we gaze through the thickness of our galaxy, we see it as a band of dense star fields encircling the sky," said Marek Kukula, the Royal Observatory's public astronomer and a contest judge.

Full story>>

Why We Love It

"I like the way this view of the Milky Way also shows us a compelling foreground landscape. It also hints at the astronomy problems caused by light pollution."—Chris Combs, news photo editor

Published December 11, 2012

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Mall Gunman Wanted to Kill 'Total Strangers'

The masked gunman who opened fire in the crowded Clackamas Town Center mall in suburban Portland, Ore., killing two and seriously injuring a third before killing himself, was trying to "kill as many people as possible."

The shooter, wearing a white hockey mask, black clothing and a bullet proof vest, tore through the mall just before 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, entering through a Macy's store and heading to the food court and public areas spraying bullets, according to witness reports.

Police have identified the gunman, but have not released his name, Sheriff Craig Roberts told "Good Morning America."

"We have been able to identify the shooter over this last night," Roberts said. "I believe, at least from the information that's been provided to me at this point in time, it really was a killing of total strangers. To my knowledge at this point in time he was really trying, I think, to kill as many people as possible."

Police have not released the names of the shooter's victims. Clackamas County Sheriff's Department Lt. James Rhodes said authorities are in the process of notifying victims' families.

The injured victim, identified by hospital officials as Kristina Shevchenko, has been taken to a hospital, according to Roberts.

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Craig Mitchelldyer/Getty Images

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Nadia Telguz, who said she was a friend of Shevchenko, told ABC News affiliate KATU-TV in Portland that the woman was expected to recover.

"My friend's sister got shot," Teleguz told KATU. "She's on her way to (Oregon Health and Science University Hospital). They're saying she got shot in her side and so it's not life-threatening, so she'll be OK."

Witnesses from the shooting rampage said that a young man who appeared to be a teenager, ran through the upper level of Macy's to the mall food court, firing multiple shots, one right after the other, with what is believed to be a black, semi-automatic rifle.

By 4:40 p.m., police reported finding a group of people hiding in a storeroom. In a surreal moment, even the mall Santa was seen running for his life.

"I didn't know where the gunman was, so I decided to kind of eased my way out," said the mall Santa, who the AP identified as 68-year-old Brance Wilson.

More than 10,000 shoppers were at the mall during the day, according to police. Roberts said that officers responded to the scene of the shooting within minutes, and four SWAT teams swept the 1.4 million-square-foot building searching for the shooter. He was eventually found dead, an apparent suicide.

"I can confirm the shooter is dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound," Rhodes said. "By all accounts there were no rounds fired by law enforcement today in the mall."

Roberts said more than 100 law enforcement officers responded to the shooting, and the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are working with local agencies to trace the shooter's weapon.

Cell phone video shot at the scene shows the chaos soon after the shooting. When police arrived they were met head on by terrified shoppers, children and employees streaming out. Customers, even a little girl, were being lead out with their hands up.

"I think a variety of things happened that I think this could have been much, much worse," Roberts told "GMA." "And to give you some ideas, we got the call at 3:29, we had someone on scene within a minute, 30 seconds.

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Taiwan's HTC unveils new rival to iPhone 5

TAIPEI - Taiwan's HTC on Tuesday unveiled a new smartphone boasting a higher resolution display than the iPhone 5 just days before Apple's latest handset goes on sale on the island.

The HTC Butterfly features a 5-inch screen with a pixel density of 440 ppi (pixels per inch) and full 1080p HD resolution, compared to the iPhone 5's 4-inch screen at 326 ppi at a lower resolution.

"We are confident that HTC Butterfly will set a new example for high-end smartphones," chief executive Peter Chou said at the launch in Taipei.

The new model, which is slimmer and curvier, is equipped with the latest 1.5 GHz Quad-Core S4 processor that allows users to surf the Internet and stream HD movies to their TV wirelessly at the same time, HTC said.

Its photo-taking and audio functions are also enhanced, with an ultra-wide front angle lens as well as a built-in amplifier for higher sound quality, the company said.

HTC sells its own smartphones and also makes handsets for a number of leading US companies, including Google's Nexus One.

The company has recently unveiled a new series of smartphones as it faces intense competition from Apple and South Korea's Samsung and seen its third quarter profit tumble 79.1 percent year-on-year.

HTC and Apple were locked in more than 20 patent lawsuits worldwide until the two firms reached a global patent settlement last month. The world's leading technology firms have routinely pounded each other with patent suits.

- AFP/ir

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