After earning the title of Bing’s most searched person of 2011, Justin Bieber has now pulled off another search engine victory by claiming the same title from Google.
As revealed on the new Google Zeitgeist site, the most searched person this year was Bieber, followed by Kim Kardashian, Lady Gaga, and Nicki Minaj. Selena Gomez also makes the list at No. 6. The list varies quite a bit from Bing’s countdown, which had several other musicians in its Top 10. The only other singer in Google’s Top 10 is the late Amy Winehouse.
A separate Google list of the “fastest-rising” global searches is topped by none other than Rebecca Black. The infamous ‘Friday’ singer, who has since released equally cringe-worthy videos for ‘My Moment’ and ‘Person of Interest,’ outdistanced Ryan Dunn and Casey Anthony on that list, with Adele coming in at No. 7.
The 'Baby' singer had previously won the same title in Bing.com's round-up of the year and beat fellow musician Lady Gaga who came in third place behind Kim Kardashian.
Nicki Minaj and Amy Winehouse also featured in the same list, taking fourth and ninth place respectively.
Gaga had better luck in the fastest rising song search category as her single 'Born This Way' took top honours.
Showing the most-searched terms typed by people from around the world, the list puts Bieber as the most popular person this year. The 17-year-old singer beats Kim Kardashian, Lady GaGa and Nicki Minaj who are ranked second, third and fourth respectively on the "Most-Searched People" list.
The Canadian singer undoubtedly comes out on top due to the buzzing news of his new albums, "Under the Mistletoe" and "Believe", his then-ongoing tour, and his baby drama with Mariah Yeater. Even some of the mundane news about him being out and about also seemed to attract online readers.
Bieber's girlfriend, Selena Gomez, claims the sixth place behind Casey Anthony. Throughout the year, she repeatedly appeared on the front page of Google due to the release of her album "When the Sun Goes Down", her tour, and health scare. Her relationship with the "Baby" hitmaker and her hosting gigs at some major events also got wide coverage on the web.
Elsewhere on the "Fastest Rising People" list, Black shines brighter than everyone else, but it might be for the wrong reasons. Her "Friday" music video which went viral in late 2010 but continued to become a target of mockery in the following months, and her next singles which flopped, might have put her on the first position. She beats "American Idol" winner Scotty McCreery and teen bride Courtney Stodden on the list.
Top Actvest anti-corruption Anna Hazare, Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif has emerged as the most searched person online in the country this year, says a report by search engine giant Google.
The report released by Google today has come up with the topics and persons that Internet users in the country searched the most in 2011.
Katrina Kaif topped the chart in the category of 'Top Searched People' online. Hazare came second.
Hazare was at the top position in the category of 'Fastest Rising People', which is the list of people that have gained interest of Internet users. Strip-fame model Poonam Pandey is second in this list.
Among the news items, cricket league IPL tops the chart while the current hot topic in Indian news media 'Lokpal Bill' is the fifth most searched subject online.
In sports, Cricket World Cup 2011 emerged as the most searched sporting event, while Sachin Tendulkar was the most searched sports person. Ironically, competitor Facebook is at the top of 'Top Searches' on Google, followed by its own video-sharing service YouTube. Interestingly, the report noticed that for the first time Internet moved out of the realm of the metros, which was the trend until last year. "Over 70 per cent of search happened in non-metros and a lot of Internet usage moved to mobile phones," Google India Head of Products Lalitesh Katrgadda said.
Kisan Baburao Hazare pronunciation, किसन बापट बाबुराव हजारे, Kisan Bāpat Bāburāv Hajārē ? born 15 June 1937, popularly known as Anna Hazare pronunciation, अण्णा हजारे, Aṇṇā Hajārē is an Indian social activist and a prominent leader in the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement, using nonviolent methods following the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. Hazare also contributed to the development and structuring of Ralegan Siddhi, a village in Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan—the third-highest civilian award—by the Government of India in 1992 for his efforts in establishing this village as a model for others. Anna Hazare started an indefinite hunger strike on 5 April 2011 to exert pressure on the Indian government to enact a stringent anti-corruption law as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill, for the institution of an ombudsman with the power to deal with corruption in public places. The fast led to nation-wide protests in support of Hazare. The fast ended on 9 April 2011, a day after the government accepted Hazare's demands. The government issued a gazette notification on the formation of a joint committee, consisting of government and civil society representatives, to draft the legislation. For the year 2011 Foreign Policy magazine has named him among top 100 global thinkers. Anna has been ranked as the most influential person in Mumbai by a national daily newspaper. He has faced criticism for his authoritarian views on justice, including death as punishment for corrupt public officials and his alleged support for forced vasectomies as a method of family planning.
Kisan Hazare was born on 15 June 1937 (some sources say 1940) in Bhingar, near to Ahmednagar. The eldest son, with two sisters and four brothers, the later adoption of the name Anna reflects the Marathi word for "elder brother". His father worked in a pharmacy and struggled to support the family financially. In time, the family moved to their ancestral village of Ralegan Siddhi, where they owned a small amount of agricultural land. A relative took on the burden of providing Kisan with an education, taking him to Mumbai because the village had no primary school. The relative became unable financially to continue the support and Kisan's schooling ended in the Standard Seventh grade; his siblings were not schooled at all. He started selling flowers at the Dadar railway station in Mumbai and was able eventually to own two flower shops in the city.[13] He also became involved in vigilantism, joining groups who acted to prevent the poor from being bullied out of their shelters by thugs in the employ of landlords.
Anna Hazare is unmarried. He has lived in a small room attached to the Sant Yadavbaba temple in Ralegan Siddhi since 1975. On 16 April 2011, he declared his bank balance of 67,183 (US$1,280) and 1,500 (US$30) as money in hand.[155] He owns 0.07 hectares of family land in Ralegan Siddhi, which is being used by his brothers. Two other pieces of land donated to him by the Indian Army and by a villager have been donated by him for village use. His only income is a pension he receives from the Indian Army.
He has said of the truck attack that "It sent me thinking. I felt that God wanted me to stay alive for some reason. I was re-born in the battlefield of Khem Karan. And I decided to dedicate my new life to serving people." He spent his spare time reading the works of Swami Vivekananda, Gandhi, and Vinoba Bhave. In a blog post, Hazare expressed his views on Kashmir by saying that it was his "active conviction that Kashmir is an integral part of India" and that if required once again for service, he would remain "ready to take part in war against Pakistan. During the mid-1970s, Hazare survived a road accident while driving for the army. He interpreted his survival as a further sign that his life was intended to be dedicated to the service of the community. Despite subsequent allegations that he had deserted from the army, official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing his 12 years of service.
In 1991 Hazare launched the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Aandolan (BVJA) (People's Movement against Corruption), a popular movement to fight against corruption[33] in Ralegaon Siddhi. In the same year he protested against the collusion between 40 forest officials and timber merchants. This protest resulted in the transfer and suspension of these officials. In May 1997 Hazare protested against alleged malpractices in the purchase of powerlooms by the Vasantrao Naik Bhathya Vimukt Jhtra Governor P. C. Alexander. On 4 November 1997 Gholap filed a defamation suit against Hazare for accusing him of corruption. He was arrested in April 1998 and was released on a personal bond of 5,000 (US$100). On 9 September 1998 Hazare was imprisoned in the Yerawada Jail to serve a three-month sentence mandated by the Mumbai Metropolitan Court. The sentencing caused leaders of all political parties except the BJP and the Shiv Sena came in support of him. Later, due to public protests, the Government of Maharashtra ordered his release from the jail. After release, Hazare wrote a letter to then chief minister Manohar Joshi demanding Gholap's removal for his role in alleged malpractices in the Awami Merchant Bank. Gholap resigned from the cabinet on 27 April 1999. In 2003 corruption charges were raised by Hazare against four NCP ministers of the Congress-NCP government. He started his fast unto death on 9 August 2003. He ended his fast on 17 August 2003 after then chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde formed a one-man commission headed by the retired justice P. B. Sawant to probe his charges. The P. B. Sawant commission report, submitted on 23 February 2005, indicted Sureshdada Jain, Nawab Malik, and Padmasinh Patil. The report exonerated Vijaykumar Gavit. Suresh Jain and Nawab Malik resigned from the cabinet in March 2005.
In the early 2000s Hazare led a movement in Maharashtra state which forced the state government to enact a revised Maharashtra Right to Information Act. This Act was later considered as the base document for the Right to Information Act 2005 (RTI), enacted by the Union Government. It also ensured that the President of India assented to this new Act. On 20 July 2006 the Union Cabinet amended the Right to Information Act 2005 to exclude the file noting by the government officials from its purview. Hazare began his fast unto death on 9 August 2006 in Alandi against the proposed amendment. He ended his fast on 19 August 2006, after the government agreed to change its earlier decision.
Before 2006 in the state of Maharashtra, even honest government officers were transferred to other places according to ministers wish. Sometimes within months of being posted to a place, whereas some corrupt and favoured officials were cozy in their postings for many years in some cases even for 10 to 20 years and since there was not any guideline or law many government officials were reluctant to process files that contained important public proposals and decisions. Anna fought hard for a law whereby a government servant must clear a file within a specified time and that transfers must take place only after three years. After many years of relentless efforts of Anna, finally on 25 May 2006 state government of Maharashtra issued a notification announcing that the execution of the special act, The Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act 2006, aimed at curbing the delay by its officers and employees in discharging their duties. This act provides for disciplinary action against officials who move files slowly and enables monitoring officials who stay too long in a post, or in a department, and for involvement in a corrupt nexus. Within this act, it is mandatory for the government to effect transfers of all government officers and employees, except Class IV workers, after the stipulated three years. Act also prevents the government from effecting frequent transfers of officers before the stipulated three-year tenure, except in case of emergency and under exceptional circumstances. Maharashtra is the first state in the country to have introduced such act. However, like others, this law has also not been followed in its true spirit.
In 2011, Hazare initiated a Satyagraha movement for passing a stronger anti-corruption Lokpal (ombudsman) bill in the Indian Parliament as conceived in the Jan Lokpal Bill (People's Ombudsman Bill). The Jan Lokpal Bill was drafted earlier by N. Santosh Hegde, former justice of the Supreme Court of India and Lokayukta of Karnataka, Prashant Bhushan, a senior lawyer in the Supreme Court and Arvind Kejriwal, a social activist along with members of the India Against Corruption movement. This draft bill incorporated more stringent provisions and wider power to the Lokpal (Ombudsman) than the draft Lokpal bill prepared by the government in 2010. These include placing "the Prime Minister within the ambit of the proposed lokpal’s powers".
Hazare began his Indefinite Fast on 5 April 2011 at Jantar Mantar in Delhi to press for the demand to form a joint committee of the representatives of the Government and the civil society to draft a stronger anti-corruption bill with stronger penal actions and more independence to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas (Ombudsmen in the states), after his demand was rejected by the Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh. He stated, "I will fast until Jan Lokpal Bill is passed". The movement attracted attention in the media, and thousands of supporters. Almost 150 people reportedly joined Hazare in his fast. Social activists, including Medha Patkar, Arvind Kejriwal, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, and Jayaprakash Narayan lent their support to Hazare's hunger strike and anti-corruption campaign. People have shown support in internet social media such as Twitter and Facebook. In addition to spiritual leaders Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Swami Ramdev, Swami Agnivesh and former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev, many celebrities showed their public support through Twitter. Hazare decided that he would not allow any politician to sit with him in this movement. Politicians like Uma Bharti and Om Prakash Chautala were shooed away by the protesters when they came to visit the site where the protest was taking place. On 6 April 2011 Sharad Pawar resigned from the group of ministers formed for reviewing the draft Lokpal bill 2010.
On 16 August 2011, Hazare was arrested four hours before the planned indefinite hunger strike. Rajan Bhagat, spokesman for Delhi Police, said police arrested Hazare under a legal provision that bans public gatherings and protests at the park in Delhi where he was planning to begin his hunger strike. Police took that action after Hazare refused to meet the conditions put forward by police for allowing the protest. The conditions included restricting the length of the fast to three days and the number of protesters at the site to 5,000. Later in the afternoon, Anna was produced before a magistrate who offered him bail but Anna Hazare refused to provide the bail bond. The magistrate sent him judicial custody for seven days and he was taken to Tihar jail. After announcements by Prashant Bhushan, local television, and social media sites (including Facebook), a march of thousands in support of Hazare began from the India Gate to Jantar Mantar. Along with Hazare, other key members of the India Against Corruption movement including Arvind Kejriwal, Shanti Bhushan, Kiran Bedi and Manish Sisodia were also detained from different locations. It was reported that about 1,300 supporters were detained in Delhi. Media also reported that the arrest sparked off protests with people courting arrests in different parts of the country. The opposition parties in the country came out against the arrest, likening the government action to the emergency imposed in the country in 1975. Both the houses of Parliament were adjourned over the issue.
The government of the state of Maharashtra instituted a Commission of Inquiry under Justice PB Sawant in September 2003 to enquire into allegations of corruption against several people, including four ministers in the state as well as the "Hind Swaraj Trust" headed by Hazare. The Commission submitted its report on 22 February 2005 in which it indicted the Hind Swaraj Trust for corrupt practice of spending Rs. 2.20 lakhs of its funds on the birthday celebrations of Hazare. Two days ahead of Hazare's proposed indefinite fast on 16 August 2011, the ruling party of India, the Indian National Congress, launched an attack on him alleging that "the moral core of Hazare has been ripped apart" by the Justice P B Sawant Commission. In response to this allegaton, Hazare's lawyer Milind Pawar, claimed that the commission had remarked about "irregularities" in the accounts, but had not held him guilty of any "corrupt" practices. Pawar said that on 16 June 1998, a celebration was organised to facilitate Hazare on winning an award from a US based NGO and it coincided with his 61st birthday. The trust spent Rs 2.18 lakh for the function. Abhay Phirodia, a Pune-based industrialist, who took the initiative to organise this function donated an amount of Rs 2,48,950 to the trust by cheque soon after the function.
On 22 August 2011 writer-actor Arundhati Roy accused Hazare in a newspaper article of being nonsecular. She questioned his secular credentials pointing out Hazare's "support for Raj Thackeray's Marathi Manoos xenophobia and (has praised) the 'development model' of Gujarat's CM who oversaw the 2002 pogrom against Muslims". The website of the newspaper published many responses to her article and these were mostly critical of her views. Activist Medha Patkar also strongly criticised Roy, saying that her views were misplaced. Hazare has in the past stood in firm opposition to the Shiv Sena and BJP governments in Maharashtra. Activist and writer Asghar Ali Engineer in an EPW article on Communalism and Communal Violence reported, The Shiv Sena is also facing serious problems from the social activist Anna Hazare who has accused its ministers of corruption and demanded their resignation. The SS-BJP government is facing serious corruption charges and is greatly worried. The Anna Hazare movement began in late November when he went on fast against the corrupt practices of the Shiv Sena ministers. The BJP initially supported the Hazare movement and now its deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde is also under a cloud. Initially the Hazare movement had created a rift between the Shiv Sena and the BJP but with Gopinath Munde himself under a cloud, both may close ranks. The Anna Hazare movement has certainly posed a great challenge for the saffron government at the end of 1996. Hazare was accused of working for RSS and BJP's behest, and against Muslims by cleric Bukhari of the Jama Masjid. Bhukhari was subsequently criticised for being a Royal Imam and the communal comments being his personal views which did not represent the view of ordinary Muslims.
Anna Hazare has exposed large corruption in co-operative sugar factories of Maharashtra. One of the sugar factories which Anna exposed corruption of is controlled by Dr.Padamsinh Bajirao Patil, a member of Parliament of 15th Lok Sabha and higher-ranking Leader of Nationalist Congress Party from Osmanabad, and also a prime accused and conspirator in the 2006 murder case of Indian National Congress leader Pawanraje Nimabalkar. The conspiracy to kill Hazare was exposed when Parasmal Jain, an accused in the Nimbalkar murder case, in his written confession before a magistrate said that Padamsinh Bajirao Patil had paid a sum of 3,000,000 (US$57,000) to murder Nimbalkar, and also offered him supari (contract killing sum) to kill Anna Hazare. After this written confession, Anna appealed to the state government of Maharashtra to lodge a separate First Information Report ( FIR ) against Padamsinh Bajirao Patil for conspiring to murder him but the government did not take any action in this regard. Anna Hazare decided to lodge a complaint himself and on 26 September 2009, he lodged complaint at Parner police station of Ahmednagar District in Maharashtra against the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Padamsinha Patil for conspiring to eliminate him. Padamsinh Patil approached the High Court seeking anticipatory bail but on 14 October 2009, the Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court rejected the anticipatory bail application of Padamsinh Patil in connection with a complaint filed by Anna after observing that there is a prima facie evidence against him. Padmasinh Patil appealed for an anticipatory bail in Supreme Court of India which the court rejected on 6 November 2009. On 11 November 2009 Padmasinh Patil surrendered before the sessions court in Latur as per a directive of the Supreme Court and was sent to judicial remand for 14 days. On 16 December 2009 Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court granted bail to him. As of 16 August 2011, the verdict is pending.
Katrina Kaif, कैटरीना कैफ़ Devanagai born Katrina Turquotte on 16 July 1984 is a British Indian actress and model who has appeared in Bollywood, Telugu and Malayalam films.
Kaif was born in Hong Kong to a Muslim Kashmiri father, Mohammed Kaif, and a British mother, Suzzane Turquotte.. Her parents separated when Kaif was very young. Kaif has seven siblings. She was raised in Hawaii, United States and later moved to her mother's home country, England.
At the age of fourteen she was approached by an agent and she began modeling; her first job was for a jewelry campaign. She continued modeling in London, under a contract with the Models 1 Agency and did campaigns for houses, such as La Senza and Arcadius and even walked on the London Fashion Week. Kaif's London modeling-work led her to discover by London-based filmmaker Kaizad Gustad, who gave her a part in his film Boom (2003). She moved to Mumbai and was offered a number of modeling assignments. However, filmmakers were initially hesitant to sign her because she could not speak Hindi. Kaif saw success with the 2005 film Sarkar where she played the bit part of Abhishek Bachchan's girlfriend. Her next release, Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya (2005), where she was paired opposite Salman Khan, earned her the Stardust Breakthrough Performance Award.
In 2007, Kaif appeared in the hit movie Namastey London, wherein she starred as a British-Indian girl alongside Akshay Kumar for the second time after the box office dud Humko Deewana Kar Gaye (2006). Her hit films stride continued with Apne, Partner and Welcome. In 2008, she played a negative role for the first time in Abbas-Mustan's hit action thriller Race. She played the role of Saif Ali Khan's secretary who is secretly in love with his hostile stepbrother played by Akshay Khanna. Kaif's second release of the year was Anees Bazmee's production Singh Is Kinng, opposite Akshay Kumar. Upon release the film was a big success at the box office. Kaif's final release of the year, Subhash Ghai's Yuvvraaj, was a commercial failure, but its script has made its way into the Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for artistic merits, original screenplay with a substance and the film as a whole. Kaif's first release for 2009, New York, with John Abraham was a critical and commercial success. Kaif's performance was highly appreciated with the critic Taran Adarsh writing, "Katrina gives you the biggest surprise. Known for her glamour roles, Katrina proves that she can deliver if the director and writer offer her a role of substance. She's outstanding. In fact, people will see a new, different Katrina this time." She next appeared in a bit role as a biker chick in the multi starrer action film Blue, popularly known as India's first underwater thriller, performed averagely at the box office. At the year's end, she appeared in Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani with Ranbir Kapoor and De Dana Dan with Akshay Kumar. Both films were commercial successes. In the year 2010, she is set to appear in the multi starrer film Raajneeti that opens on 4 June 2010. She is currently filming for Farah Khan's Tees Maar Khan along with Akshay Kumar, which is set to release on 24 December 2010.
2005: Zee Cine Award for Most Promising Debut, Sarkar 2008: IIFA Award for Best Actress, Race 2009: Apsara Award for Best Actress In Supporting Role, Race 2009: IIFA Award for Best Actress, Singh Is Kinng 2009: Stardust Award for Star Of The Year, Singh Is Kinng 2009: Stardust Award for Best Actress In A Negative Role, Race 2010: Screen Award for Best Actor In Popular Category, New York 2010: Stardust Star of the Year Award – Female for New York & Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani 2010: Filmfare Best Actress Award for New York Winner 2006: Stardust Breakthrough Performance Award (Female), Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya 2006: Idea Zee F Awards, Fashion Diva of the Year 2008: Zee Cine Awards, British Indian Actor Award 2008: IIFA Awards, Style Diva of the Year 2008: Sabsey Favourite Kaun Awards, Sabsey Favourite Heroine, Singh Is Kinng 2008: Apsara Film Producers Guild of India Awards, Style Diva of the Year 2009: Rajiv Gandhi Award 2009: Golden Kela Awards, Dara Singh Award for the Worst Accent 2009: Sabsey Favourite Kaun Awards, Sabsey Favourite Heroine 2009: ASSOCHAM Award, Performing Excellence 2010: Star Screen Awards, Entertainer of the year 2010: Stardust Awards, Best Actress - Popular Award for New York & Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani
2003 Boom Rina Kaif/Popdi Chinchpokli 2004 Malliswari Princess Malliswari Telugu film 2005 Sarkar Pooja Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya Sonia Allari Pidugu Shwetha Telugu film 2006 Hum Ko Deewana Kar Gaye Jia A. Yashvardhan Balram vs. Taradas Supriya Malayalam film 2007 Namastey London Jasmeet Malhotra (Jazz) Apne Nandini Partner Priya Jaisingh Welcome Sanjana Shetty 2008 Race Sophia Singh Is Kinng Sonia Hello The Storyteller/God Cameo Yuvvraaj Anushka Banton 2009 New York Maya Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award Blue Nikki Cameo Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani Jennifer (Jenny) De Dana Dan Anjali Kakkad 2010 Raajneeti Indu Pratap Post-production Tees Maar Khan Filming Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara Pre-production 2011 Untitled Anurag Basu Project Pre-production Aarakshan Pre-production
Leading figures on the right and the left joined forces Thursday to condemn President Barack Obama for going back on his pledge not to veto a security bill that would allow for the indefinite detention of American terror suspects without trial.
Anyone who the administration believes is “part of or substantially supported al-Qaida, the Taliban or associated forces,” could face lifetime detention at Guantanamo Bay, without appeal or even a lawyer under the provision.
The House passed the bill on Wednesday, 283-136, and the Senate followed suit, 86-13, Thursday afternoon.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky led the attack on the new law.
“Detaining citizens without trial is not American,” he said, adding that passage of the law would signify that the terrorists have won.
“We’re talking about American citizens who can be taken from the United States and sent to a camp at Guantanamo Bay and held indefinitely,” Paul added. “It puts every American at risk.
“What security does this indefinite detention of Americans give us?” Paul asked. “The first and flawed premise, both here and in the badly named Patriot Act, is that our pre-9/11 police powers were insufficient to stop terrorism. This is simply not borne out by the facts.”
Paul pointed out that current policy says that someone may be a terrorist if they are missing fingers, if they have more than seven days of food stockpiled or if they have weatherproof storage for guns or ammunition.
Read more on Newsmax.com: Obama Under Fire by all Sides for Lifting Veto Threat on Terror Bill Important: Do You Support Pres. Obama's Re-Election? Vote Here Now!
A Senate Democratic leadership aide said the two-month extension "clears the way for negotiations to continue on a larger deal." However, Boehner said Friday that any attempt for a short-term extension of the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits would get altered in the House, in particular by adding a controversial provision to speed government approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada. The Obama administration has delayed until 2013 a decision on the pipeline that would transport oil from Canada's tar sands production facilities on northern Alberta to refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas. The delay followed complaints by environmentalists and Nebraska officials that the pipeline route could threaten that state's Sandhills region and vital Ogallala aquifer. Alternate routes are being considered, and Nebraska officials as well as the pipeline company, TransCanada, acknowledge that the process of approving a final route will last into the second half of 2012. Republicans, who traditionally back the oil industry, accuse Obama of delaying the issue until after his re-election bid next year for political reasons. In the House, they added the provision to require a decision on the Keystone project within 60 days, arguing it would create jobs and reduce U.S. dependency on Middle East oil. However, the State Department, which has final authority to approve the oil pipeline, warned that the shortened deadline would effectively kill the project because there would insufficient time to assess the route alteration. The legislative maneuvering was a last-gasp bid to end weeks of political wrangling that threatened a partial government shutdown and raised public frustration with Congress even further. A poll released Thursday by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press showed public discontent with Congress at record levels, with two-thirds of voters saying most lawmakers should be voted out of office next year. Failure to pass the payroll tax measure, a major part of Obama's job creation plan, would cost working Americans an average of $1,000 in higher taxes next year. In the Senate, the payroll tax measure has faced an impasse over specific provisions sought by each party. Senate Democrats proposed a new tax on income more than $1 million to help pay for keeping the lower payroll tax rate for another year, but Republicans have blocked the plan from proceeding on two separate occasions. Democrats now have dropped that provision, but have yet to reveal details of any new proposal.
President Barack Obama" on Wednesday saluted troops returning from Iraq, asserting that the nearly nine-year conflict was ending honorably, “not with a final battle, but with a final march toward home.”
Marking the conclusion of the war at a military base that’s seen more than 200 deaths from fighting in Iraq, Obama"Obama never tried to declare victory. It was a war that he opposed from the start, inherited as president and is now bringing to a close, leaving behind an Iraq still struggling.
But he sought to pronounce a noble end to a fight that has cost nearly 4,500 American lives and more than 100,000 Iraqi lives.
“The war in Iraq will soon belong to history, and your service belongs to the ages,” he said, applauding their “extraordinary achievement.”
All U.S. troops are to be out of Iraq Dec. 31, though Obama" has pledged the U.S. will continue civilian assistance for Iraq as it faces an uncertain future in a volatile region of the world. Even as majorities in the U.S. public favor ending the war, some Republicans have criticized the withdrawal, arguing that Obama">Obama is leaving behind an unstable Iraq that could hurt U.S. interests and fall subject to influence from neighboring Iran.
The video’s subtle political message appeared two-fold. On one hand, it emphasizes Obama’s string of foreign policy successes, from the ending of the controversial war to the killing of Osama Bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders*.
It also could be interpreted as an oblique comparison between the Democrat’s integrity and the perceived weaknesses of his two main two Republican rivals: Mitt Romney’s penchant to flip flop and Newt Gingrich’s reputation for erratic behavior.
Obama’s team has begun slamming the Republican candidates, while the President did some quiet campaigning this week with interviews broadcast in military towns that just happen to be in swing states.
Obama stressed that, despite the war’s flaws, he was immensely grateful for the soldiers’ bravery, a theme that continues in the web video.
“Promises Kept” looks back to November 2004, when Obama — then an Illinois state senator — said he would have voted against authorizing force in Iraq had he been in Washington.
It then jumps ahead to the campaign trail in March 2008 when Obama vows to pull out American forces from Iraq once he is commander in chief.
The video then concludes with Obama’s 2010 declaration that combat operations in Iraq were over, and then this week’s emotional Ft. Bragg speech.
The piece does not, however, include Obama’s 2002 remarks in which he called the conflict a “dumb war.”
The President did not completely back down from those comments when he was asked this week if his view of the war had changed.
"I think history will judge the original decision to go into Iraq,” said Obama as he stood alongside Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. He then stressed that the conflict’s reward — a self-governing Iraq — has “enormous potential.”
Obama’s defense secretary, Leon Panetta, also said this week that the sacrifice of American troops "has not been in vain."
Penn State Assistant Coach Mike McQueary, testifying in court for the first time, said he walked into a Penn State locker room in March 2002 and was shocked to find Jerry Sandusky sexually assaulting a young boy.
McQueary's graphic testimony Friday was given during a hearing to determine whether there was enough evidence to support charges against two school administrators who supposedly knew of the abuse but did little to stop it.
McQueary said he went to the locker room to pick up some recruiting tapes when he heard sounds coming from the shower, according to dispatches from the Morning Call, which is staffing the proceedings in the Pennsylvania courtroom.
FULL COVERAGE: Penn State sex-abuse scandal
McQueary said he was embarrassed because he instinctively knew something sexual was taking place. When he glanced into a nearby mirror, he saw Sandusky in the shower, standing behind the boy with his arms wrapped around the boy's waist. McQueary said he quickly looked away.
“I stepped back. I didn’t want to see anymore, to be frank with you,” he testified.
But he also realized he needed to look again to make sure he wasn't mistaken about something so serious. He saw that it was indeed Sandusky and a young boy, and McQueary said he assumed that anal intercourse was taking place.
They had turned so their bodies were both facing me. ... They looked directly in my eyes," he said. "Seeing that they were separated, I thought it was best that I leave the locker room." He added that he felt "shocked" and "horrified" afterward. "I was not thinking straight," he said, adding that he was "sure (the incident) was over" when he left. But McQueary acknowledged he doesn't know what happened after leaving. He testified that he also never tried to find the boy. McQueary, then a graduate assistant, said he called Paterno -- who was later fired in the wake of the scandal -- the morning after, telling him that he "saw Jerry with a young boy in the shower and it was extremely sexual in nature and I thought I needed to tell him about it." McQueary testified that the former head coach was "shocked" and "saddened" upon hearing the allegation. "He said, 'I need to think and tell some people about it.' " But McQueary didn't meet with university officials to explain what he saw until more than a week after first informing Paterno, he testified. Paterno also allegedly never tried to find the boy, said McQueary, who he added he can't be certain if he ever used the word "intercourse" when describing the alleged incident to the former head coach. But McQueary added, "There's no question in my mind that I conveyed to (university officials) that I saw Jerry with a boy in the shower and that it was severe sexual acts going on and that it was wrong and over the line." He further testified he did not alert police, saying that he instead told Curley and Schultz. "In my mind, that is the police," McQueary said. "I want to make that clear." When pressed about why he went to university officials and not police, McQueary said it was "because it was delicate in nature and I tried to use my best judgment." Sandusky, who was Penn State's defensive coordinator when he retired in 1998, met his accusers through a youth charity he founded, the Second Mile. According to prosecutors, he would hug, tickle and wrestle with the boys before allegedly crossing the line and sexually abusing them. In November, the summary of a grand jury report was released contending that Sandusky sexually abused the boys in the basement of his home, hotel rooms, a high school wrestling room and -- based on McQueary's account -- the locker room for Penn State's football team. Sandusky lawyer says comments misconstrued Sandusky waived his right to a preliminary hearing Tuesday in Centre County, a two-hour drive from Harrisburg. From the courthouse's steps, his attorney, Joseph Amendola, took shots at McQueary's credibility during a long talk with reporters. He suggested that had McQueary told Paterno, Curley and Schultz that he had seen Sandusky raping a boy in the showers, they would have done more than order him to stop bringing Second Mile children on campus. "If we destroy McQueary's credibility, then we put the credibility of all others involved into question," Amendola told reporters. In its report, the grand jury found that McQueary was a credible witness after hearing all the testimony. According to the grand jury's report, McQueary testified that as he walked into the locker room, he saw the lights were on and heard the showers running. As he put his sneakers into his locker, McQueary looked into the shower and saw a naked boy, about 10, "with his hands up against the wall being subjected to anal sex by a naked Sandusky," the report said. McQueary, an assistant football coach placed on administrative leave this fall amid the scandal, told the grand jury he was shocked, then noticed both Sandusky and the boy saw him. He left the building "distraught," according to the grand jury's report. What McQueary told people next -- and whether he reported seeing the act of sodomy, as the grand jury says -- is what makes him a key witness in the perjury and failure-to-report case against Curley and Schultz. McQueary first reported what he saw to his father, and told Paterno "what he had seen" the next day. The head coach himself testified to a grand jury that McQueary told him he saw Sandusky "fondling or doing something of a sexual nature." His father, John McQueary, testified Friday that he followed up with Schultz, who "knew about it and something was being done." Both Curley and Schultz deny that McQueary told them the boy had been raped in the showers, according to the grand jury's report. They said he spoke of "inappropriate" or "disturbing" contact that made him "uncomfortable." Asked if McQueary reported seeing an act of sodomy, Curley responded, "Absolutely not," the grand jury reported. Schultz testified that he recalled being told at a meeting that Sandusky "may have grabbed the boy's genitals while wrestling" and agreed it would be inappropriate sexual conduct between a man and a boy, the grand jury said. But he also testified that the allegations made were "not that serious" and that he and Curley "had no indication that a crime had occurred." Neither man reported what they'd been told to local or campus police. "The grand jury found that portions of the testimony provided by Curley and Schultz were not credible," the report said. Curley, 57, is now on leave, and Schultz, 62, retired in the wake of the allegations. Days later, Penn State trustees ousted President Graham Spanier and Paterno amid criticism that they could and should have done more.
Batman" star Christian Bale, in the midst of promoting a film he made in China that some critics have called propaganda, was physically stopped by government-backed guards from visiting a blind activist living under house arrest.
A CNN crew was in tow to record the scuffle, and posted footage of the confrontation on its website Friday.
The run-in and publicity is likely to cause discomfort in China's government-backed film industry, which hopes Bale's movie "The Flowers of War" will be a creative success at home and abroad.
The star's actions are sure to focus attention on the plight of Chen Guangcheng, guarded around the clock by thugs who have blocked dozens of reporters and fellow activists from trying to see him in the past.
Bale traveled Thursday with a crew from CNN to the village in eastern China, where Chen, the blind lawyer, lives with his family in complete isolation.
None of the journalists, diplomats or rights lawyers who have made the journey to Dongshigu have succeeded in meeting Mr. Chen, 40, who has been imprisoned in his home, along with his wife and child, since his release from prison in September 2010.
A self-taught lawyer, Mr. Chen crossed the line from celebrated lawyer to persecuted dissident after he took on the case of thousands of local women who had been the victims of an aggressive family planning campaign that included forced sterilizations and abortions. In 2006, he was sentenced to four-and-a-half years during a trial that his legal defenders described as farcical. The charges included destroying property and organizing a crowd to block traffic, crimes allegedly orchestrated while he was under house arrest.
Mr. Bale’s encounter with China’s authoritarian system is sure to complicate efforts to publicize the film, part of a government campaign to bolster the country’s so-called soft power. The film, which premieres on Dec. 23 in the United States and Europe, opens this week in China on 8,000 screens and has been accompanied by a herculean publicity effort.
Speaking to reporters after the film’s premiere on Sunday, Mr. Bale — whose credits include “Batman” and “The Fighter” — defended “The Flowers of War” against accusations that it was overly propagandistic. The film depicts Japanese atrocities during their 1937 occupation of Nanjing, a highly emotional topic that is often used by the Communist Party to stir up nationalistic sentiment among ordinary Chinese.
Mr. Bale plays an American mortician who dons the vestments of a Catholic priest in his effort to save young Chinese women who have taken refuge in a Catholic boarding school during the Japanese invasion. By some estimates, 300,000 people died during the ensuing orgy of murder and rape.
“I think that would be a bit of a knee-jerk reaction,” he said of suggestions made by critics that it excessively demonizes the Japanese. “I don’t think they’re looking closely enough at the movie.”
The government has yet to officially react to news of Mr. Bale’s tussle, although it was largely blocked from the Internet on Friday. CNN featured the video on its homepage but the video could not be opened.
It is not the first time that Hollywood, eager to gain a foothold in China’s fast-growing film industry, has found itself entangled in Chinese domestic politics. Last October, a group of American producers shooting a comedy in the county where Mr. Chen is being held were criticized for their partnership with the local Communist Party officials who have orchestrated his detention.
They were stopped at the entrance to Dongshigu village in Shandong province by unidentified men.
The video footage shows Bale asking to see Chen, with a CNN producer providing interpretation, but being ordered by one of the guards to leave. He then asked why he was unable to pass through.
The guards responded by trying to grab or punch a small video camera Bale was carrying.
"What I really wanted to do was to meet the man, shake his hand and say what an inspiration he is," Bale was quoted as saying by CNN.
Chen's case has been raised publicly by U.S. lawmakers and diplomats, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, all to no response from China.
Barbara Walters didn't pull any punches interviewing the Kardashians on her eponymous 10 Most Fascinating People of 2011 special, which aired Wednesday on ABC.
In a sit-down with Kim, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian and their mom Kris Jenner, the veteran journalist looked back on Kim's initial brush with fame: Her 2007 sex tape with Ray J that stormed the web and made her a household name. "So, was it a good thing to have done?" Walters asked of the X-rated clip.
"Whatever you do, you might think," Kim, 31, replied, stammering. "I've made mistakes in my life for sure." Added mom and manager Jenner, 56, of the brouhaha: "It was devastating for the whole family. You cry yourself to sleep for a few nights, then you hire an attorney."
While on break from interviewing the president, Walters leaned in and said, "I need one more interview with you because I'm retiring next year," not realizing her mic was still on.
Are those kinds of requests even ethical? It doesn’t really matter in this situation because according to E! News, Walters was just joking.
ABC News’ senior vice president, Jeff Schneider, told the website that The View co-host will not be closing the book on her career.
"I just got off the phone with Barbara Walters and she's joked that she's retiring every year since the Clinton administration. This seems like a typical week in the life of Barbara Walters—from interviews with the president of Syria, to the president of the United States, to the Kardashians!!"
Speaking of that Kardashian interview, Walters wasn’t too kind to the reality TV family.
In an interview for her Barbara Walters’ 10 Most Fascinating People of 2011, she tells Kim, Khloe, Kourtney and mom Kris Jenner that, "You don't have any -- forgive me -- any talent!"
No need to ask for forgiveness Barbara, after all it is the simple truth. Catch more from the interview when the special airs on ABC Thursday night.
Legal purchase of the handgun used to kill Virginia Tech police Officer Deriek Crouse was among a trickle of new details in the case Tuesday. But the motive that led a Radford University student to travel to Blacksburg last week and shoot the officer remained a mystery. "Despite investigators' nonstop pursuit of this case, there still remains no prior connection or contact between" Crouse, a 39-year-old Christiansburg resident, and shooter Ross Truett Ashley, said a news release the Virginia State Police issued Tuesday.
Crouse's slaying echoed the shooting deaths of 33 people in 2007 at Tech, considered the country's deadliest campus rampage, and drew international attention that continued as thousands attended the officer's funeral Monday.
The .40-caliber, semiautomatic handgun used to shoot Crouse was bought in January 2011, state police said. Police did not identify the seller. Ballistics tests have linked it both to Crouse's slaying on Dec. 8 and to the death of Ashley on the same day from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Ashley, 22, was from the Spotsylvania County community of Partlow and had attended the University of Virginia's Wise campus before transferring to Radford University to major in business management. He was attending classes part time this semester, police have said.
Another new detail Tuesday was that a surveillance camera in a Blacksburg store captured an image of Ashley on the afternoon of Dec. 7, the day before the shootings.
Police say that about midday on Dec. 7, a pistol-brandishing Ashley stole a Mercedes SUV from his landlord. He was seen in the Blacksburg store that afternoon, and the Mercedes was found the next morning abandoned near the Smart Road, a research facility overseen by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.
Despite investigators' non-stop pursuit of this case, there still remains no prior connection or contact between" the men, the statement said.
The shooting sent tremors through the Virginia Tech campus, which was the scene of the deadliest U.S. mass shooting in April 2007. A gunman killed 32 and then himself.
State police investigators said they have interviewed family, friends and acquaintances to reconstruct Ashley's movements before his deadly encounter with Crouse.
Ashley stole at gunpoint a 2011 luxury SUV from a Radford real estate office the day before the officer's slaying and his first known appearance in Blacksburg was recorded hours later by surveillance video inside a retail shop in the college town.
A state police timeline does not include any other sightings of Ashley until the lunch-hour shooting of Crouse the following day.
Crouse was an Army veteran and married father of five children and stepchildren who joined the campus police force about six months after the 2007 massacre. He previously worked at a jail and for the Montgomery County sheriff's department. His funeral Monday at a campus coliseum was attended by family, friends and dignitaries, including Gov. Bob McDonnell.
Ashley grew up the isolated northern Virginia community of Partlow and played football at Spotsylvania High School. Friends and former classmates said he had broken up with his girlfriend over the summer and vaguely mentioned some family issues, but they generally spoke of him in positive terms.
Suri Cruise, daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, has been photographed doing what kids do best at this time of year: Having a temper tantrum in a toy store, according to Britain’s Daily Mail. It’s unclear what upset Suri, but calm was soon restored, and the 5-year-old picked out goods from the famous FAO Schwarz store in New York City. The family was on a shopping trip while Daddy Cruise was in New York to promote his latest movie, “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.
And she kept out the cold with a faux fur coat from designer Eliane Et Lena. The trendy girl also clutched a white camera throughout the day, just like her mum. And poor dad just got to carry the cuddly toys and little pink bags. The happy family visited a toy store to browse for Christmas presents and let Suri check out the latest must-have games, accompanied by the ever-present minder.
Tom Cruise recently spoke out about his holiday plans. The actor revealed that he, Katie, Suri and his children from previous marriage to Nicole Kidman (Isabella, 18 and Connor, 16) will eat some eggs and play some games. Hmm.
He said: “The family gets together and cooks breakfast, everyone pitches in. I'm not a gourmet chef, but I can whip up some eggs. We're gonna chill. We like taking those times. We really just all hang together and play games. We're all just going to have a really nice, quiet time.”
With just over a week to go until the big day (aka Christmas) Suri best start towing the line. According to In Touch magazine the 5-year-old fashion luvvie has written a long list of requests to the big man himself (aka Father Christmas) with a pony at the top of her Christmas wish list.
The magazine claims dad Tom Cruise has already found a stable for the family’s newest addition near their home in Beverly Hills.
New Missoni threads, a pony, a lollipop and some toys all in one week – we could all learn something from this A-List little princess.
On April 18, 2006, Katie Holmes gave birth to a baby girl named Suri. The Los Angeles Times summarized the written statement Tom Cruise released on the birth, saying the name "is a word with origins in both Hebrew and Persian. In Hebrew, it means 'princess' and in Persian, 'red rose,' it was claimed in the release. Although some Hebrew linguists had never seen the word for "princess" spelled this way and its meaning, others said it was a Yiddish pronunciation of the Hebrew name "Sarah". The first photographs of the Suri appeared in the October 2006 issue of Vanity Fair, shot by Annie Leibovitz. This issue of Vanity Fair became the publication's second best selling issue of all time, selling more than 700,000 copies.
