Iran says nuclear talks with world powers to resume on Thursday..

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi (C) is surrounded by journalists following a press conference closing the third day of talks on Iran's nuclear programme, on November 10, 2013 in Geneva (AFP Photo/Fabrice Coffrini)

By Marcus George and Fredrik Dahl

DUBAI/VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran says it will resume expert talks with six world powers in Geneva on Thursday about how to implement a landmark nuclear agreement, a week after Tehran broke off the discussions in anger at a U.S. sanctions move.

Under the November 24 interim accord, Iran will curb its disputed nuclear program in exchange for a limited easing of sanctions that are battering its oil-dependent economy.

Technical talks - expected to involve nuclear as well as sanctions experts - will restart on December 19 and are meant to translate the political deal into a detailed plan of action for how to put it into practice.

Diplomats said the task is highly complicated but that progress was made during the last December 9-12 meeting in Vienna, even though differences remained. They said there is a real political will on both sides to carry out the agreement.

"It's in the interests of the Iranians to go quickly because there won't be an easing of sanctions until the agreement is implemented," a senior Western diplomat said.

In a sign of this, deputy Iranian chief negotiator Abbas Araqchi said the expert talks were set for an initial two days but may continue into Saturday and Sunday if required, Iran's Fars news agency said.
Last Thursday, Iranian negotiators interrupted the talks in Vienna in protest against the U.S. blacklisting of an additional 19 Iranian companies and individuals under existing sanctions, saying the move was against the deal's spirit.
MORE WORK FOR NUCLEAR INSPECTORS
U.S. officials said the move did not violate the Geneva agreement and that they gave Iran advance warning.
The development has highlighted the sensitivities involved in implementing the agreement. Some U.S. lawmakers are pushing for further sanctions against Iran, a move which hardliners in Iran see as proof the United States cannot be trusted.

The six powers - the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - are seeking to scale back Iran's atomic program to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons. Iran denies any such intention, saying it needs nuclear power in order to generate electricity.

The Geneva deal was designed to halt Iran's nuclear advances for six months to buy time for negotiations on a final settlement. Scope for diplomacy widened after Iran elected the pragmatic Hassan Rouhani as president in June. He had promised to reduce Tehran's isolation and win sanctions easing.

Separately, diplomats in Vienna said the U.N. nuclear agency could face costs of roughly 5 million euros ($6.9 million) as a result of its job to verify that Iran lives up to last month's agreement with the six major powers.

The 35-nation governing board of the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to hold an extraordinary meeting next month to discuss the IAEA's expanded role in checking that Tehran meets its side of the deal, they said.

Western diplomats say Iran will receive sanctions relief once the Vienna-based IAEA verifies that it has taken the nuclear steps it has signed up to.

The IAEA's workload will increase under the Geneva deal but the additional cost is unlikely to create any major difficulty in view of the political importance of resolving the dispute.

However, diplomats accredited to the U.N. agency said it could still be sensitive as IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano likely needs both to seek member state help to pay for more inspections in Iran and find some of the money internally.

The figure of 5 million euros was a very tentative IAEA assessment. The IAEA's budget for 2014 stands at around 344 million euros.

The IAEA - tasked with preventing the spread of nuclear weapons - regularly inspects Iranian nuclear sites to make sure there is no diversion of atomic material for military purposes.

But it will step up the frequency of its visits to the uranium enrichment sites of Natanz and Fordow under the Geneva agreement and also carry out other additional tasks.

The agency has two to four staff in Iran virtually every day of the year, with some 20 dedicated to inspector activity there, but that number is now likely to rise.

(Reporting by Marcus George in Dubai; Fredrik Dahl in Vienna; Justyna Pawlak in Brussels; John Irish in Paris; editing by Alister Doyle)

Russia adopts amnesty likely to free Pussy Riot, help Greenpeace 30..

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's parliament on Wednesday approved an amnesty which lawyers said would free two jailed members of punk band Pussy Riot and enable 30 people arrested in a Greenpeace protest against Arctic oil drilling avoid trial.
The lower house of parliament passed the amnesty, which President Vladimir Putin proposed to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the passage of Russia's post-Soviet constitution.
Lawyers said the amnesty, which could enter into force this week, would lead to the early release of Pussy Riot members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, whose two-year sentences over an anti-Putin protest in a cathedral have been criticized in the West as excessive.
Greenpeace said a last-minute amendment to the amnesty meant Russia would almost certainly end legal proceedings against 30 people who faced jail terms of up to seven years if convicted over a protest at an offshore oil platform in September. This would allow the 26 foreigners among them to go home.
(Writing by Steve Gutterman, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

High school named after KKK 'grand wizard' to be renamed..

A Florida high school named after a founding member of the Ku Klux Klan is getting a new name after a campaign to change it went viral.

The Duval County Public School Board voted unanimously Monday to rename Nathan B. Forrest High School in Jacksonville.

More than 170,000 people signed a Change.org petition launched by a local resident urging the school board to rename the school.

"The people who live here deserve better," Ty Richmond wrote in his petition. "I don't want my daughter, or any student, going to a school named under those circumstances. This is a bad look for Florida — with so much racial division in our state, renaming Forrest High would be a step toward healing."

The petition continued:

It is especially troubling that more than half of Forrest High attendees are African American — the school is named for someone who would have kept their ancestors enslaved and who helped lead an organization, the KKK, that went on to terrorize, intimidate, and disenfranchise Black people for nearly a century.

Naming a public high school for so divisive a figure is a relic of a bygone era — a legacy that must be actively rejected. I urge you to reject the legacy of Nathan Bedford Forrest by renaming Forrest High immediately.

In response, the Washington Post reported, the KKK wrote a letter to the board urging it to keep the name.

The high school was named after Forrest, a Confederate general and the KKK's first "grand wizard," in 1959. In 2007, the school board voted 5-2 in favor of keeping the school's name.

But on Monday, Duval County Superintendent Nikolai Vitti acknowledged it was time.

"If you look at the history of the naming of Nathan B. Forrest High School, the students originally wanted the school to be named Valhalla," Vitti said. "Politics reigned, and as a response to desegregation and the civil rights movement, the school was named Nathan B. Forrest. That was not the will of the students, and considering the opinion of the students in this process, I think it is an opportunity to give voice to students whose voices were not heard in the beginning and can certainly be heard now."

"I'm very encouraged," Richmond told Action News Jacksonville. "Jacksonville is too much of a beautiful city to have that ugly blemish."

Air pollution from burning coal hits Bosnian town..

Authorities have ordered factories and homes to stop burning coal in a central Bosnian town where air pollution has reached alarming levels.

Zenica is an industrial town that produces steel and where many homes are heated by burning coal. That sometimes leads to significant air pollution.

Samir Lemes of the citizens association Eco Forum said the concentration of sulfur-dioxide in Zenica's air reached 1.400 micrograms per cubic meter Tuesday, far above the acceptable concentration of 350 micrograms. (AP)

Living in an old ice factory in Berlin..

Images of Dimitar "Mitko" Todorov, a Roma from the Bulgarian city of Plevna, living in a former ice factory in Berlin. Mitko keeps a tidy squat, a tartan blanket on the bed and his clothes stowed away.

Lit by candles, heated by a gas canister and padlocked when he is out, it is the 39-year-old Roma's haven inside an old graffiti-covered ice factory in Berlin.

For many European Union politicians, Mitko and his neighbors in the squalid Eisfabrik are a warning of what will happen next year when Romania and Bulgaria get full access to the job market - and welfare systems - of Europe. (Reuters)

White House demands trial for Snowden after amnesty talk..

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The Snowden Affair

Washington (AFP) - The White House Monday renewed its demand for Edward Snowden to return home to face trial, after a top spy official floated the idea of an amnesty deal to plug his damaging intelligence leaks.
The fate of fugitive contractor Snowden, currently in temporary asylum in Russia, is under fresh scrutiny after a National Security Agency official said he would personally consider a deal with Snowden if he stopped exposing US secrets.

"Our position has not changed on that matter at all," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

"Mr Snowden has been accused of leaking classified information and he faces felony charges here in the United States.

"He should be returned to the United States."

Rick Ledgett, who heads the NSA's task force investigating the damage from the Snowden leaks, told CBS television's "60 Minutes" program that it was worth talking about the possibility of an amnesty deal for Snowden, such is the rolling damage caused by his revelations.

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This photo provided by The Guardian Newspaper in London shows Edward Snowden, who worked as a contra …

He caveated his remarks on the show on Sunday, however, by saying that not all of his colleagues shared his view and that he would set a "high bar" in return for dropping criminal charges against Snowden.

Carney, however, noted that Ledgett was airing his "personal" view and the idea of amnesty for Snowden was rejected by NSA chief General Keith Alexander in the same program.

"This is analogous to a hostage-taker taking 50 people hostage, shooting 10 and then say 'You give me full amnesty and I'll let the other 40 go,'" Alexander told "60 Minutes."

Alexander also said an amnesty deal would set a dangerous precedent for any future leakers.

Snowden, a former intelligence contractor for the NSA, has been charged with espionage by US authorities for divulging reams of secret files in leaks to several prominent newspapers which have angered US allies and embarrassed the White House.

He says that he took the action to expose the sweeping threat to privacy of covert US intelligence data mining and telephone and Internet surveillance.

Snowden reportedly stole 1.7 million classified documents.

Carney said Washington is continuing to press Russia for Snowden's return and that questions on his fate rested with the Justice Department and not the NSA.

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In this Thursday, June 6, 2013, file photo, a sign stands outside the National Security Administrati …

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U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) Director General Keith Alexander testifies before the Senate Jud …

Peter O'Toole Dies at 81..

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Peter O'Toole has died at 81.

Peter O'Toole has died at the age of 81.The  "Lawrence of Arabia" star passed away after a long illness on Dec. 14, at the Wellington Hospital in London, his agent Steve Kenis reports.
The Irish-born actor survived stomach cancer in the 1970s.
He is survived by his two daughters, Patricia and Kate O'Toole, from his marriage to actress Siân Phillips, and his son, Lorcan O'Toole, with Karen Brown.

Trailer park invades swanky New York City neighborhood..

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Is A Posh Manhattan Neighborhood Turning Into A Trailer Park?

Is Manhattan turning into a trailer park?

That's what at least a few Upper West Side residents are wondering after an apparent influx of motor homes and RVs has begun occupying parking spots in the wealthy New York City neighborhood.

“It just sort of creeps me out that somebody is living in a parking space," Gretchen Berger, a commmunity activist, told the New York Post. "And this may give rise to other people thinking that it’s a cheap way to live on the Upper West Side, where the rents are high."

Steve Blumberg, a 62-year-old rabbi who owns and lives in one of the RVs parked on the Upper West Side, says he's been living in his on and off since 2007, when he lost his apartment.

"At that moment I wasn’t sure about where to rent and how much to spend and all those things,” Blumberg told the paper. “It just occurred to me that perhaps I could have a mobile studio apartment, so I started shopping around.”

Blumberg bought the 1984 Chevy Pathfinder — which features a SpongeBob SquarePants comforter and sit-down tub — for $8,000 on eBay.

“It is so well designed that I can spend days in here without getting claustrophobic,” Blumberg said. “It really is apartment-size. I’m in way better shape than the people who are renting closets.”

But some residents say the RVs are an eyesore.

“It looks like it would fit more in the mountains of West Virginia than on the Upper West Side,” Ron Hoffman told the Post when asked about a 19-foot, 1975 Dodge Sportsman parked on Central Park West.

It's unclear just how many RVs are currently being inhabited on the Upper West Side. Local reports by the Post and CBS New York indicate there are at least three, including Blumberg's.

But according to the New York City Department of Transportation, leaving a mobile home on a city street for more than 24 hours is illegal, enforced with a $115 fine.

“These are not like upscale RVs that you see on the Travel Channel,” Berger told CBS. “These are rust buckets.”

Last month, the Los Angeles Times profiled several of New York City's rust-bucket dwellers in a trend-piece:

"By turning to mobile apartments, RV dwellers are something of real estate pioneers in New York. RVs give New Yorkers a way into hip or exclusive neighborhoods they otherwise might not be able to afford. They don't have to worry about nagging landlords, rent hikes or upstairs neighbors tap-dancing at midnight.

"But there are obvious trade-offs. Getting electricity takes some effort. Heating during the winter can get costly. Mail may need to be delivered to relatives' places or post office boxes. There's also the issue of how to hook up sewage lines."

Nirvana, Kiss, E Street Lead Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 2014 Class..

Nirvana, Kiss, E Street Lead Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 2014 Class

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has officially announced next year's inductees: Nirvana, Kiss, Peter Gabriel, Hall and Oates, Cat Stevens and Linda Ronstadt will all join the class of 2014. The E Street Band will be given the Award for Musical Excellence and Beatles manager Brian Epstein and original Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldgham will both receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award for non-performers.
See all of the Rock Hall's legendary inductees from 1986 to today
The induction ceremony will be held at Brooklyn's Barclays Center on April 10th, 2014. It's the first time the general public will be able to attend the event in New York City. Tickets go on sale in January; HBO will air the event in May.
Artists are eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first album or single. Nirvana, whose first single "Love Buzz" came out in 1988, are entering the institution their first year of eligibility. "That's really no surprise to me," says Rock and Roll Hall of Fame President and CEO Joel Peresman. "People see the relevancy of that band. We're just getting into the creative of the show, so I don't know what's going to happen with that performance. They have to figure it out."
Nirvana's road to the Rock Hall: see the band's history in photos
Kiss have been eligible for the last 15 years, but didn't get the nod until now. "The Kiss Army has descended on Cleveland in recent years," says Peresman. "And we've gotten thousands of letters. They also did extremely well in the public vote." (In 2012, the band joked to RS, "We've been thinking about it and the answer is simply, 'We'll just buy it and fire everybody.'")
A lifetime of Kiss: look back at the group's rise to the Rock Hall
Linda Ronstadt recently announced she is battling Parkinson's Disease and is unable to sing. "My health is not great right now," she tells Rolling Stone. "It's most likely I that I won't be able to make it to New York in April. Travel is very difficult for me." (Look back at her career in photos here.)
Peter Gabriel was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010, but was unable to attend the ceremony because he was rehearsing for a solo tour in England. "This time I will definitely go," he tells Rolling Stone. "I'm very grateful to have gotten in again. It's a huge honor since it's for your whole body of work and not just a specific project. . .I'll probably perform, but if I do 'In Your Eyes' it'll take 10 minutes and that might be all the time I have." (Read the rest of his interview here.)
Genesis and beyond: track Peter Gabriel's remarkable career in pictures
Hall and Oates are also very gratified by the honor. "It was a bit of a surprise to me," Daryl Hall tells Rolling Stone. "I've always been sort of on the other side of the fence with the old guard and the powers that be. . .This whole new generation of people are looking at me and John in a different way." (Read his full Q&A here.)
Dynamic duo: see highlights from Hall and Oates' 40-year career
The annual induction ceremony has moved out of the tiny New York Waldorf Astoria Ballroom in recent years into larger venues in Cleveland and Los Angeles, where the public can attend along with music industry insiders. It now rotates on a three-year cycle between New York, Cleveland and Los Angeles.
Beyond "Wild World": Cat Stevens' career in photos
This year's event at Brooklyn's Barclays Center is the first time the induction has been held in an arena, making it the largest ceremony in the history of the Hall of Fame. "Bringing in the fans adds an incredible energy to the event," says Peresman. "The fans should have an opportunity to see the show. They are the reason these bands exist."
As always, picking out a song for the annual all-star jam at the end of the night will pose a considerable challenge considering the great diversity of acts getting inducted. "We already have visions going through our head," says Peresman.  "Should it be 'Rock and Roll All Night' or should it be a Bruce Springsteen song? What's the best way to represent it? We just don't know yet."

Abandoned Santa Claus Land..

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Derelict wooden huts and barbed wire fences are clear signs that Santa Claus doesn't live here any more at an abandoned Christmas attraction.

Merry elves and festive cheer are long gone at 'Santa Claus Land', in Arizona, US, a theme park and town once planned to rival Disneyland. American property developer Nina Talbot founded the project  in 1938, convinced the world was crying out for a Yuletide-filled paradise.

Lying close to the world famous Route 66, it proved a roaring success at first as families on holiday stopped to share a taste of Christmas magic.

Wide-eyed children could meet Santa himself, tour his workshops packed with elves and get close to Rudolph on the Reindeer Ride.

Glam rockers Wizard would have loved its Christmas Tree Inn, where the traditional Christmas dinner feast was served up every day of the year.

Blind man and guide dog fall onto NYC subway tracks, survive with minor injuries...

Cecil Williams smiles as he pets his guide dog Orlando in his hospital bed following a fall onto subway tracks from the platform at 145th Street, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2013, in New York. The blind 61-year-old Williams says he fainted while holding onto his black labrador who tried to save him from falling. Both escaped without serious injury. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

A blind man and his guide dog fell onto a New York City subway track just as a train was approaching. But thanks to the black Labrador's quick-thinking, both dog and man escaped with relatively minor injuries.

Sixty-one-year-old Cecil Williams lost consciousness while waiting at the 125th Street station in upper Manhattan, according to the Associated Press. That's when he and his guide dog, Orlando, fell onto the tracks.

Speaking from his hospital bed, Williams told the AP that he was on his way to see the dentist around 9:30 a.m. when he began to feel faint. Williams said Orlando tried to hold him up but couldn't keep him from falling onto the tracks.

“When the train came in, I screamed really loud, because I didn’t know what happened to him,” Danya Gutierez told CBS New York. ”I thought he was hit.”
Via CBS New York:

An A Train was not yet into the station when people on the platform said Williams and his dog fell backward onto the tracks.

“We saw when he fell down to the tracks and his dog fell with him as well,” Gutierez said. “And everyone started freaking out.”

Williams credited Orlando, who is trained to keep his owner safe in busy areas, with saving him. "The dog saved my life," Williams told the Associated Press.
The New York Post spoke to Ana Quinones, 53, who also witnessed the drama.

Via the New York Post:

“The dog was trying to pull him away from the southbound edge of the platform, but his feet were on the edge, he was wobbling, and the dog was barking,” she said.

The man still fell — and Quinones said Orlando jumped after him.

“But there was nothing he could do once he was down there. He just sat there with the man. He just licked the man’s face trying to get him to move,” she said.

As the train approached, the conductor slammed on the brakes in an effort to keep from hitting the man and the dog. Witnesses told The New York Post that a flagman urged both to move toward the middle of the tracks where the ground is deeper. According to authorities, one and a half cars passed over Williams and Orlando before coming to a stop.

Capt. Daniel O'Sullivan of the FDNY spoke with NBC New York about looking under the train and seeing the man and dog.  "He was not trapped; he was just in between the rails," he said. Sullivan said the whole thing "definitely is a miracle," according to NBC New York.

After being rescued, Williams reportedly asked about the condition of his dog, 11, who will be retiring from guide duties soon. Williams suffered a cut on his head. Orlando was unhurt.

Williams said that he plans on giving his pooch a special treat and lots of affection, according to the AP. While Williams shares a bond with Orlando, the two will soon be parting ways. According to the AP, Williams's insurance won't cover the cost of a nonworking dog, so the man will have to give him up to a good home.

Williams, who has been blind since 1995 from meningitis, said that he "would definitely keep him" if he could afford it, according to the AP.

Teacher, father recall terror, grief a year after Connecticut shooting..

                    

                           

 

By Edith Honan

GREENWICH, Conn (Reuters) - It has been a year since Kaitlin Roig barricaded herself and 15 first-graders in a bathroom at Sandy Hook Elementary School, hiding from a gunman who would go on to kill 26 people in an 11-minute rampage.
Roig doesn't know if Adam Lanza, the 20-year-old shooter, ever entered her classroom in Newtown, Connecticut, although she could hear gunfire and terrified pleas from the hallway and adjacent first-grade classroom.
"For myself, I am so aware that roles could have so easily been reversed," said Roig, 30, who has since married and now uses the name Roig-DeBellis.
"I remember, in the days after, it was so hard to get out of bed," she said, sitting on a sofa in her Greenwich, Connecticut home. "I just walked around singing Amazing Grace just over and over and over, because it was just so incredibly hard."
The December 14 tragedy at Sandy Hook, among the most deadly school shootings in U.S. history, rocked this leafy, suburban town 70 miles northeast of New York City. Coming just five months after a gunman opened fire in a Colorado movie theater, killing 12, the murder of 20 6-and 7-year-olds forced a national reckoning about gun violence.
Lanza, a loner who appears to have had severe emotional problems, used guns that were legally purchased by his mother, Nancy Lanza. He killed her in her bed, then drove to the elementary school he had once attended, shooting his way in just as the school day was getting started. After the rampage, he shot himself.
As the nation prepares to mark the first anniversary of the December 14 massacre, Newtown has asked the public to stay away.

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This image contained in the "Appendix to Report on the Shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School and …

For her part, Roig-DeBellis has planned a trip - a spa visit and maybe a nice dinner - anything to turn her focus away from the terror and excruciating sadness of that day.
"AN OPEN HEART"
The offices of Sandy Hook Promise, a parents group founded in the weeks after the shootings, are located in downtown Newtown. Artwork sent by children from across the country has been framed and mounted on the walls there. Scattered on tables are pamphlets on foundations set up by the families.
Seated at one of those tables, Mark Barden, who lost his son, Daniel, gives a long pause when asked about forgiveness.
"I'm trying to approach every bit of this with an open heart and an open mind," said Barden. "It's a work in progress."
Like many other Sandy Hook parents, Barden has kept up a punishing schedule over the last year, traveling to Washington to meet with lawmakers to support a gun law that stalled in the U.S. Senate, and promoting the work of Sandy Hook Promise.
"Maybe it has saved me," he said of the group. "The way that Daniel lived his short life, I know that he would have done a whole lot of good. We take it very seriously now that it's our responsibility to do that good work."

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A sign expressing displeasure with the media is tacked on a pole in Newtown, Connecticut December 4, …

For Barden, a guitarist who often performs in town, every day is an anniversary. The last haircut. The last swim team practice. The last Thanksgiving.
"A lot of the memories are happy. But we're still so new at this. It's still so early on that it's hard not to get caught up in the grief," he said.
The parents of the children who died that day talk often about their struggle to break through the feeling of helplessness. Parent Together, an effort Sandy Hook Promise launched in November, aims to show people, regardless of their politics, that gun violence can be prevented.
"Nobody's pro gun violence. So, it's not like there's two sides to this," Barden said.

"If we can save another family from going through what we are going through, then I can feel good about that for the rest of my life," Barden said.

HOLIDAY SHARING
When the shooting started last December 14, Roig-DeBellis's class was seated in a circle, sharing their holiday traditions.
"I got up, I closed the door, I turned the lights off and I turned to my students and I said: 'We need to get into the bathroom - right now,'" she said.
The bathroom was not more than three by four feet, too small to even hold a sink. Children climbed onto the toilet, behind the toilet. One perched on the toilet paper dispenser.
"They were hearing exactly what I was hearing. It was extremely loud. It was extremely scary," she said.
Some 45 minutes later, when the police arrived, Roig-DeBellis would not let them in. For days after, she was in a daze, unsure if she was alive or dead.
She ended up taking more than a year off from teaching, and has devoted that time to Classes4Classes, a charity that facilitates acts of kindness between groups of students across the country. She plans to return to teaching this summer.
"What happened that day has nothing to do with being a teacher," she said.

(Reporting By Edith Honan; editing by Gunna Dickson)

Venezuelan socialists win 54 percent of mayors' vote..

 

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro gestures to supporters before voting during municipal elections …

By Patricia Velez and Andrew Cawthorne

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's ruling Socialist Party and allies took 10 percentage points more votes than opposition rivals in Sunday's election for mayors that was a test of strength for President Nicolas Maduro, final results showed on Friday.

Though the ballot for mayors in the South American nation was a symbolic victory for Maduro's sometimes shaky-looking presidency, it also underlined the strength of his opponents in urban centers and the deep divisions of Venezuelan society.
The election board said pro-government candidates won 54 percent of the total, garnering 242 mayoralties at Sunday's ballot. The opposition Democratic Unity coalition and its partners took 44 percent, winning 75 mayoralties.
The final results, which reflected the government's greater strength in rural areas where there are more mayoralties, was a wider win for the socialists than the 6.5 percentage points given in first results hours after the vote.
Though disappointed in not winning an overall vote majority, opposition leader Henrique Capriles and others on his side have taken solace from winning most of the biggest cities, including the capital Caracas and the second city Maracaibo.
They even took Barinas, capital of the home state of the late Hugo Chavez, Maduro's predecessor.
"It was a lukewarm triumph for 'Chavismo', spoilt by the opposition's win in symbolic cities," local pollster Luis Vicente Leon said, referring to the movement named for Chavez.
The opposition had appeared to be heading for a better result until Maduro launched a populist "economic offensive" in early November, sending soldiers and inspectors into shops to force retailers to reduce prices.
Venezuela's inflation rate of 54 percent annually is the highest in the Americas and was weighing on Maduro's popularity. But the measures reversed his ratings dips and seem to have won his candidates votes last weekend, even though some economists believe they will worsen the structural economic problems.
"He went on the attack and turned things round completely," a senior Maduro ally, Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres, told Reuters, of the impact Maduro's drive against businesses had on the local elections.
Venezuelans are waiting to see if Maduro will now use his political breathing space to introduce some unpopular measures such as a currency devaluation.
His main challenge going into 2014 is the economy.
Growth has slowed, the local bolivar currency is trading on the black market at 10 times its official rate, and there are scarcities of basic goods from flour to toilet paper because importers say they cannot access enough foreign currency.
After four elections in just over a year - two presidential votes, one governors' election and the municipal polls - Venezuelan voters now have a respite until the end of 2015 when they will elect a new parliament.
Capriles, the governor of Miranda state who narrowly lost the April presidential vote, may come under pressure from within the opposition for his failure to deliver better results at Sunday's vote, which he had cast as a plebiscite.
Several other opposition leaders have advocated more confrontational tactics, such as street protests, against Maduro whom they cast as an autocrat taking instructions from Cuba and leading Venezuela's economy to ruin.

"The most noteworthy impact of the election result has been to turn the tables on Democratic Unity leader Henrique Capriles ... who now find himself under scrutiny for his ability to lead the 30-party opposition coalition," wrote Michael Henderson, of global risk forecaster Maplecroft's.

"By contrast, in political terms the 8 December result has handed President Maduro a temporary reprieve ... the chances of a near-term challenge to his leadership have diminished."

(Editing by Brian Ellsworth and Kenneth Barry)

Report: Mandela Memorial Interpreter Was Once Accused of Murder..

                    

Thamsanqa Jantjie gesticulates at his home during an interview with the Associated Press in Johannesburg, South Africa,Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013. Jantjie, the man accused of faking sign interpretation next to world leaders at Nelson Mandela's memorial, told a local newspaper that he was hallucinating and hearing voices. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Thamasanqa Jantjie, better known as the "fake" sign language interpreter at Nelson Mandela's memorial, reportedly has faced a long series of criminal charges in South Africa, including murder and rape. That's according to a report from eNCA, a 24-hour news network in Africa.

Earlier this week, Jantjie confirmed that he has a history of mental illness, including schizophrenia. In an interview with the AP, the interpreter revealed that he's had "a lot" of violent incidents in the past and blamed his poor (some say incompetent) performance at the memorial on hallucinations. eNCA's report, citing court records, says that Jantjie has previously been charged with rape in 1994, theft in 1995, housebreaking in 1997, malicious damage to property in 1998, and murder, attempted murder and kidnapping in 2003. Of those charges, there's only a record of conviction on the theft charge. He was acquitted of the 1994 rape charge, and a portion of the other charges were dropped.  
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Beyond that, it's not really clear what happened to Jantjie in the courts, because the court records seem to be incomplete. The folder on his 2003 murder charge, for instance, was apparently empty when eNCA attempted to view it. Jantjie was one of many charged in the 2003 case, which was eventually referred to the South Gauteng High Court. eNCA speculates that that the charges against Jantjie might have been dropped due to mental illness, rendering him unfit to stand trial. The country's National Prosecuting Authority did not confirm or deny the charges to eNCA. 

Jantjie caused widespread outrage this week after members of the South African deaf and hearing impaired community reported on social media that the man hired as an interpreter for Nelson Mandela's memorial wasn't actually signing intelligible words. From there, the story just got weirder, as Jantjie's history of mental illness was revealed (the interpreter said that he was suffering from a schizophrenic episode on stage during the memorial, including hallucinations of "angels.") And the firm that employed Jantije has now, apparently, "vanished," either too embarrassed or too afraid to defend themselves.

RELATED: Bayer Wants You To Know That It Does Not Kill Bees. Bayer Loves Bees

Update: The South African government told the AP on Friday that it was investigating Jantije's involvement in the Nelson Mandela memorial. The government is aware of reports that the interpreter previously faced a murder charge. 

Two wounded, gunman dead in shooting at high school near Denver..

Two people have been shot and a shooter may still be inside a high school in suburban Denver, according to multiple Denver news outlets.

Police and emergency vehicles are on the scene at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, about 15 miles south of Denver. Hundreds of students are being evacuated from the school.

The high school is in the Littleton School District, and only a few miles from the scene of previous mass shootings at the Aurora movie theater in 2012 and Columbine High School in 1999.

Denver Post reporter Ryan Parker says witnesses at the scene tell him that a student shot at least two students in the school cafeteria about 1 p.m. MT. Parker tweeted that Adam Jones, whose sister goes to high school, said students are still locked in rooms, and "very scared."

World watching, will act on Central African Republic crimes: U.N.

BANGUI (Reuters) - The United Nations on Friday warned groups carrying out atrocities in the Central African Republic the world was watching and would hold them to account, after the killings of hundreds of people, mainly civilians.
The warning from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon came a day after a militia killed 27 Muslims in a village outside the capital, Bangui, underscoring the challenge international troops face stabilizing the country.
Confronted with a deepening humanitarian crisis and criticism from some aid workers that it was reacting too slowly, the United Nations flew in 77 tons of relief supplies, the largest airlift since fighting last week.
Central African Republic has been paralyzed by cycles of violence since mainly Muslim Seleka rebels ousted President Francois Bozize in March. Their months in power have been marked by killings, looting and other abuses, leading to the emergence of Christian militia opposed to them.
These militia and gunmen loyal to Bozize attacked the capital last week, triggering fresh killings and reprisals that have deepened inter-religious conflict. More than 500 people died and 100,000 were displaced in the capital alone.
"Too many people are scared and the country is on the brink of ruin ... The bloodshed must stop," Ban said in a radio address to the nation.
"I have a clear message to all who would commit atrocities and crimes against humanity. The world is watching. You will be held to account," he added. The International Criminal Court has said all parties could be investigated.
A U.N.-authorized French peacekeeping mission has restored a degree of calm to the capital but conflict has spread and the U.N. Human Rights office said the Christian militia, known as anti-balaka, killed 27 Muslims on Thursday in Bohong, a village about 75 km (45 miles) from the western town of Bouar.
"The situation is also tense in several towns, including Bouca, Bossangoa and Bozoum, where a vicious cycle of attacks and reprisals continues," it said in an email.
French troops, who number 1,600 in the country, say disarmament in the capital is drawing to an end and troops have begun disarming gunmen in other towns. But the Bohong killings point to the scale of the task in a country the size of France.
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Paris had been surprised by the scale of the violence in the capital.
"We thought the risk would have been bigger up country than in Bangui but in fact it was the other way round," he said during a visit on Friday, adding that deployments outside Bangui would gradually pick up once the capital was secured.
As international efforts to tackle the crisis accelerate, the African Union has authorized increasing its force in the country to 6,000 troops from 2,500.
The country is rich in diamonds, gold and uranium but has seen little stability and France has intervened there more since independence in 1960 than in any other former colonies.
BANGUI CLASHES
Several people died in clashes in the Miskine neighborhood of northwest Bangui overnight and Friday morning, according to witnesses, a sign the capital itself remains unstable.
The fighting started when Christians on Thursday looted the motorbike shop of a man linked to the Seleka, and escalated into reprisal killings. French troops, backed by a helicopter, restored calm on Friday, they said.
"The tension is still high in the neighborhood despite the presence of the French," said Chancella Cazalima, a student.
Residents in Miskine said it was a Seleka stronghold and urged the French army and African peacekeepers to step up their intelligence operations in a bid to bring calm.
There was no immediate comment from the French army.
UNICEF said on Friday it had flown in tons of supplies, including blankets, soap, jerry cans and medicines. "This new arrival of emergency supplies is critical to prevent diseases, especially among the most vulnerable children and women."
French medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres had on Thursday accused U.N. agencies of failing to mobilize resources quickly enough to the crisis, which has forced 500,000 people from their homes over the last year.
Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye confirmed he would not stand at the next elections in accordance with a political accord signed in January. An independent body to prepare elections would be set up in days, he added.
France wants elections brought forward to next year, putting an end to the interim period originally scheduled to run into 2015.
(Additional reporting by Nicholas Vincour in Paris and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by David Lewis and Matthew Mpoke Bigg; Editing by Andrew Roche)

U.S. sanctions move angers Iran, Russia sees threat to nuclear deal...

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrives to brief members of the U.S. Senate on talks with Iran during …

 

By Fredrik Dahl and Steve Gutterman 

VIENNA/MOSCOW (Reuters) - A breakthrough agreement to end the standoff over Iran's nuclear program appeared to face its first major difficulty on Friday with Russia warning that expanding a U.S. sanctions blacklist could seriously complicate its implementation.

Russia, which, along with the United States, is among the six world powers that negotiated the November 24 interim accord with Tehran, echoed Iranian criticism that it violated the spirit of the deal and could "block things".
The United States on Thursday blacklisted additional companies and people under existing sanctions intended to prevent Iran from obtaining the capability to make nuclear weapons. Iran denies any such aims.
Diplomats said Iran, in what appeared to be a response, interrupted technical talks in Vienna with the six nations over how to implement the agreement, under which Tehran is to curb its atomic activities in return for limited sanctions easing.
The developments highlighted potential obstacles negotiators face in pressing ahead with efforts to resolve a decade-old dispute between the Islamic Republic and the West that has stirred fears of a new Middle East war.
Western diplomats said the inconclusive outcome of the December 9-12 expert-level discussions should not be seen as a sign that the deal hammered out nearly three weeks ago was in trouble.
However, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Iran's semi-official Fars news agency in reaction to the U.S. decision it was evaluating the situation and would "react accordingly", adding: "It is against the spirit of the Geneva deal."
Russia also made its concerns clear.
"The U.S. administration's decision goes against the spirit of this document," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, referring to the Geneva agreement between Iran and the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany.
"Widening American 'blacklists' could seriously complicate the fulfillment of the Geneva agreement, which proposes easing sanctions pressure."

View gallery

Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Reza Najafi attends a news co …

DEAL OPPONENTS
Russia built Iran's first nuclear power plant and has much better ties with Tehran than Western states. It supported four rounds of U.N. Security Council sanctions aimed at reining in Tehran's nuclear program but has criticized the United States and Europe for imposing additional sanctions.
U.S. officials said the blacklisting move showed the Geneva deal "does not, and will not, interfere with our continued efforts to expose and disrupt those supporting Iran's nuclear program or seeking to evade our sanctions".
The new measure, the first such enforcement action since Geneva, targeted entities that are suspected of involvement in the proliferation of materials for weapons of mass destruction and trying to evade the current sanctions.
Some U.S. lawmakers want further sanctions on the Islamic state. But the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has campaigned to hold off on new measures for now to create space for the diplomatic push to settle the nuclear row.
Iran's ambassador to France said expanding the blacklist played into the hands of those opposing the deal - including hardliners in Iran irked by the foreign policy shift and apprehensive that they are losing influence over Iran's most powerful man, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
"This agreement has opponents both inside Iran and outside Iran," Ali Ahani told reporters at a meeting of business and political leaders in Monaco.
"We are determined to keep to our commitments, but we have to be sure that on the other side they are serious, and that we can show to our people that we can trust them and that the West is a viable partner."
"The contents of this accord are quite clear. It was decided not to add sanctions. This type of decision blocks things," added Ahani, speaking on behalf of Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif who pulled out of the World Policy Conference after his mother was taken ill.
"NOT PANICKING"
The Geneva deal was designed to halt Iran's nuclear advances for six months to buy time for negotiations on a final settlement. Scope for diplomacy widened after Iran elected the pragmatic Hassan Rouhani as president in June. He had promised to reduce Tehran's isolation and win sanctions easing.
Under the agreement, Iran will restrain its atomic activities in return for some easing of the international sanctions that have battered the major oil producer's economy.
However, one diplomat said the Iranian delegation in Vienna suddenly announced late on Thursday - hours after Washington made its blacklisting decision public - that it had received instructions to return to Tehran: "It was quite unexpected."
An EU diplomat said he did not believe the decision was linked to the issues under discussion in Vienna, but rather "their reaction to moves in the U.S. on sanctions".
The hope was that it was a temporary problem: "The Iranians have been committed to making this work. We are not panicking."
Iranian officials were not available for comment.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he expected the implementation talks to resume in the coming days. "We have been hard at it in Vienna ... we are making progress but I think that they're at a point in those talks where folks feel a need to consult and take a moment," he said during a visit to Israel.
"There is every expectation that the talks are going to continue in the next few days and that we will proceed to the full implementation of that plan."

A spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who coordinates the discussions with Iran, also said they were expected to resume soon.

"After four days of lengthy and detailed talks, reflecting the complexity of the technical issues discussed, it became clear that further work is needed," Michael Mann said.

(Additional reporting by Parisa Hafezi in Ankara, Adrian Croft in Brussels and John Irish in Monaco; Editing by Alison Williams)

Man arrested for suspected plot to blow up Kansas airport...

 

By Carey Gillam

(Reuters) - Authorities have arrested a man suspected of plotting to blow up the Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita, Kansas, in a suicide attack with a carload of explosives, officials said Friday.

Terry Loewen, a 58-year-old aviation technician from Wichita, intended to die a martyr in the bombing, U.S. District Attorney for Kansas Barry Grissom said at a news conference.

Authorities said Loewen was believed to have been motivated, at least partly, by religious beliefs.

He was taken into custody early Friday, officials said, as he attempted to make his way onto airport property with what he thought were active explosives.
Loewen had planned the attack for months and his actions had been under surveillance, they said.
"It was not a bomb that would ever explode," said Grissom, U.S. attorney for the western district of Kansas. "At no time was the airport perimeter breached and at no time was any citizen or member of the traveling public in danger."
Officials said Loewen had made statements prior to the attempted attack that he was resolved to commit an act of violent "jihad" on behalf of al Qaeda against the United States.

Loewen was charged in federal court with one count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, one count of attempting to damage property by means of an explosive, and one count of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

Officials said they were continuing their investigation, but no further arrests were expected.

"This incident is a reminder that we must remain vigilant and reaffirm our commitment to protecting this country and its ideals from those who wish to do us harm," said U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican, in a statement.

(Editing by Vicki Allen and Bernadette Baum)

How homeless man Leo Grand learned to code and launched an app in 109 days..

There are millions of apps available for mobile phones. Some are good, some are not, but few have truly compelling stories about their creation.

A recently uploaded video from Mashable details the story of the two men who created the app Trees for Cars in just a few months.
Patrick McConlogue, 23, said he passed by Leo Grand, 37, every day for five months. One day (Aug. 22, 2013, to be exact), McConlogue stopped and made the homeless man an offer: Grand could either have $100 to spend however he wanted or learn how to code from McConlogue.
"I went with door No. 2," Grand says on the video. McConlogue gave Grand three books on coding, and the two men met frequently to go over the lessons. Fast forward a few months, and McConlogue had taught Grand how to code and Grand created a mobile app that's now for sale.
The carpooling app for iOS and Android launched on Dec. 9 for 99 cents. It has already racked up a ton of positive publicity and user reviews. And it was built in just 109 days.
So, what exactly does the app do? Users can sign in and tell the app if they need a ride or want to give a ride. The app connects rider and driver. The end goal is to reduce the number of cars on the road and the pollution they produce and help people save money.
In the video, McConlogue says the process of bringing an app into the world has been extremely difficult and full of challenges he didn't anticipate. "But it is by far the most rewarding experience of my life," he says. "There are a lot of people who can do a lot of great things. And I think sometimes that potential can be lost."

Business Insider reports that all of the money the developers receive from the app will go toward Grand's programming education. McConlogue is reportedly working with other volunteers who have expressed an interest in teaching people how to code.

For more on the app, check out its official site.

Dog helps Alaska woman survive 3 nights in cold..

                    

In this Aug. 19, 2011 file photo, Mount McKinley is seen in Denali National Park, Alaska. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, file)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A woman survived nearly three nights in bitter interior Alaska cold by burning her snowmobile and huddling with her small dog, Alaska State Troopers said Thursday.

Vivian Mayo, 57, of Cantwell, was found at about 1 a.m. Wednesday, taking shelter under the burned-out hulk of her snowmobile and sharing body heat with Elvis, a small, brown dog of unknown breed. She was severely hypothermic and in need of immediate medical attention, troopers said.
Megan Peters, spokeswoman for the troopers, said the dog likely helped Mayo preserve her body heat.
"It really did help save her life," Peters said. "Elvis is a little hero."
Mayo's ordeal began over the weekend.
She and her husband, Scott Mayo, 61, traveled on snowmobiles to a cabin near Mile 105 of Denali Highway, a mostly gravel east-west road east of Denali National Park and Preserve. The highway connects two paved highways but is not maintained during winter months and is not open to cars and trucks.
Scott Mayo departed the cabin by snowmobile Saturday to check on a trap line that started 4 to 5 miles away, Peters said.
He had not returned by Sunday. The Mayos were not due back to Cantwell, a community at the west side of the Denali Highway, until Tuesday night, and Vivian Mayo made the decision to return to Cantwell and seek help for her husband.
She did not get far. Her snowmobile broke down Sunday about a mile from the cabin.
The Mayos had told family members they would be back by 7 p.m. Tuesday, and if they weren't back by 10 p.m. Tuesday, to alert authorities.
Family members called troopers Tuesday night. Alaska Wildlife Trooper James Ellison and volunteer rescuers headed out and found Vivian Mayo in about three hours, Peters said. Mayo was starting her third night in the frigid temperatures, which dipped as low as minus 20 degrees.
Her mobility was limited, Peters said, and she could not simply walk the mile back to the cabin. The burned-out snowmobile had been tipped over and Mayo was using the shell for shelter, cuddled with Elvis, Peters said. She did not know how Mayo ignited the snowmobile.
Mayo at one point told rescuers that she saw wolves approaching but troopers found no tracks or other indication of the predators.
Ellison activated a personal locator beacon to alert the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center in Anchorage and took Mayo and Elvis back to the cabin. The searchers turned their focus to finding Scott Mayo.
Ellison at 2:45 a.m. reported finding what he believed was Scott Mayo's trail. He gave trail coordinates to the rescue center, which responded with a C-130 airplane and a Pave Hawk helicopter.
Searchers in the airplane spotted Scott Mayo at 5:13 a.m., just 2 to 3 miles from the cabin, Peters said. Tracks from his snowmobile indicated he had traveled much farther. He had built a small warming fire and was reported in good condition despite starting his fourth night in the cold.
The Pave Hawk landed and took Mayo back to the cabin before the Mayos were flown by helicopter to Anchorage.

Both Vivian and Scott Mayo had been released from a hospital by Thursday afternoon, Peters said. Calls to their home Thursday went unanswered.