Romney: Sequester not a success for Obama

Mitt Romney may not be running for the White House any more, but he certainly came out swinging against President Obama in his first post-election interview with "Fox News Sunday," accusing the president of poisoning the negotiations over automatic spending cuts by "berating" Republicans.

"No one can think" that the fight over the sequester has "been a success for the president," last year's Republican presidential nominee said. "He didn't think the sequester would happen. It is happening, but to date, what we've seen is the president out campaigning to the American people, doing rallies around the country, flying around the country and berating Republicans. And blaming and pointing."

"Now what does that do?" He asked. "That causes the Republicans to retrench and then put up a wall and fight back. It's a very natural human emotion."

The former Massachusetts governor also criticized the recent release of several hundred illegal immigrants detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The agency justified the release as a cost-saving measure forced on them by the across-the-board budget cuts, but Romney argued that the president should have prevented it. "I think if there are people who are incarcerated," he said, the president "should make sure that we're able to keep them in jail."

"Look, it's- again, it's politics," he said. "It's, 'OK, how do we do something that will get a headline that will make it look like those terrible Republicans aren't willing to come together?'"

In the interview, which airs Sunday, Romney also addressed the adjustment to life after the campaign trail. "We were on a roller coaster, exciting and thrilling, ups and downs," he said. "But the ride ends, and then you get off."

His wife Ann Romney, who also sat for the interview, agreed that it has been quite a change but added, "The good news is, fortunately, we like each other."

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Abandoned Baby's Tooth Used in Search for Parents

Authorities are using the bottom tooth of the week-old infant abandoned in a plastic bag outside an apartment complex in Cypress, Texas, as a clue in the search for her parents.

The newborn's early tooth, seen in just one of 2,000 births, is a unique genetic trait that may prove to be a link to her family history, according to investigators.

The baby, named Chloe by rescuers, weighed just four pounds when she was found by a woman walking her dogs near the apartment complex.

"More than likely her mother didn't have any type of prenatal care," Estella Olguin, spokeswoman for Texas Child Protective Services, told ABC's "Good Morning America."

To aid in their investigation, police commissioned Texas sketch artist Lori Gibson to create a rendering of what her parents might look like by studying the newborn's features.

Texas Cops Rely on Sketches in Abandoned Baby Case Watch Video

RELATED: Cops Rely on Sketch to Find Abandoned Baby's Parents

"The people would recognize that smile," Gibson told "Good Morning America," "It's a ready smile, and then all I had to do was put teeth."

Authorities said they are hoping Chloe's mother or other relatives come forward to claim the baby, or officially allow another family to take custody of the newborn. They plan to charge the parents if they can find them, police said.

Texas has an infant safe haven law, which allows mothers to anonymously give up their babies to designated locations where they can receive care until they are placed in a permanent home.

Texas was the first state to enact an infant safe haven law, which was passed in 1999. The laws, now adopted by many other states and known as "Baby Moses laws," are meant to provide mothers with an incentive not to abandon unwanted children, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Meanwhile, Harris County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Christina Garza said once custody issues are resolved, "[Chloe] will be placed in a loving home."

"There is no shortage of people who want her," she said.

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Chad says soldiers in Mali kill al Qaeda's Belmokhtar

N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Chadian soldiers in Mali have killed Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the al Qaeda commander behind a bloody mass hostage-taking at an Algerian gas plant in January, Chad's military said on Saturday.

His death would be a major blow to Islamist rebels in northern Mali who have been pushed into their mountain strongholds by French and African forces.

"On Saturday, March 2, at noon, Chadian armed forces operating in northern Mali completely destroyed a terrorist base (...) The toll included several dead terrorists, including their leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar," Chadian armed forces spokesman General Zacharia Gobongue said in a statement read on national television.

Belmokhtar claimed responsibility for the seizure of dozens of foreign hostages at the In Amenas gas plant in Algeria in January in which more than 60 people were killed.

The report of his death comes days after Chad's President Idriss Deby said soldiers in Mali had killed another leading al Qaeda commander in the Sahara, Adelhamid Abou Zeid.

French officials said they could not confirm the killing of either Abou Zeid or Belmokhtar.

Chad is among several African nations that have contributed forces to a French-led military intervention in Mali aimed at ridding its vast northern desert of Islamist rebels who seized it nearly a year ago following a coup in the capital.

Western and regional nations are worried that al Qaeda will seek to use the zone as a launchpad for international attacks and strengthen ties with homegrown African Islamist groups like al Shabaab in Somalia and Boko Haram in Nigeria.

In a speech on Friday, French President Francois Hollande said the operation in Mali was in its final stage.

"Terrorist groups have taken refuge and are hiding in an especially difficult zone," he said. "Information is out there. I don't have to confirm it because we must reach the end of the operation."

A U.S. official and a Western diplomat, however, said the reports about Abou Zeid's death appeared to be credible.

(Additional reporting by John Irish in Dakar; Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Jason Webb)

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Chad claims killed mastermind of Algerian gas plant bloodbath

N'DJAMENA: Chad said its troops in northern Mali on Saturday killed the one-eyed Islamist leader who masterminded an assault on an Algerian gas plant that left 37 foreign hostages dead in January.

The Chadian army, whose troops have been at the forefront of the hunt for Al Qaeda-linked fighters hiding in northern Mali, said Mokhtar Belmokhtar was killed during an operation in the Ifogha mountains.

The Algerian national, a ruthless Afghanistan veteran whose smuggling activities earned him the nickname of "Mr Marlboro", had broken away from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) weeks ago to form a group called Signatories in Blood.

The report of his death came after Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno announced on Friday that his forces had killed Abou Zeid, the top AQIM commander in Mali, a few days earlier. A Mauritanian news agency said he was killed by a French airstrike.

If the deaths are confirmed, the French-led military coalition fighting in northern Mali will have eliminated the Sahel region's two historical Al-Qaeda leaders and decapitated the jihadist insurgency in Mali.

"The Chadian forces in Mali completely destroyed the main jihadist base in Adrar of the Ifoghas mountains" at 1200 GMT, an army statement said, adding that several militants were killed "including leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar".

Belmokhtar, 40, was seen several times in the main northern Malian cities of Timbuktu and Gao after AQIM and its allies took over northern Mali in April 2012.

He quit AQIM last year and in December the creation of his new group was announced.

In January, days after France's surprise decision to send in fighter jets and troops to help the Malian government reconquer the north, Belmokhtar claimed the attack on the In Amenas gas plant in southern Algeria.

The spectacular attack on the isolated facility, which was jointly operated by British, US and Norwegian oil companies, ended in a bloodbath, with 38 hostages killed by the time an Algerian raid ended the crisis.

Among the victims were 37 foreigners, from Britain, Norway, Japan and other nations.

No other source has yet confirmed Belmokhtar's death, and foreign governments were still trying to confirm that Belmokhtar's ex-boss in the AQIM hierarchy, Abou Zeid, was indeed dead.

Chad's Deby said his troops killed Abou Zeid during a major battle on February 22 that also left 26 Chadian soldiers dead. But the private Mauritanian news agency Sahara Medias had a different story.

It said Abou Zeid, 46, one of the most wanted men in Africa, was killed "four days ago" in a French air strike during a clash between a unit he was leading and the Chadian platoon that had suffered the 26 losses days earlier.

Sahara Medias said the strike occurred in the mountainous region of Tigharghar near the border with Algeria and added that "extremely well-informed sources" had confirmed Abou Zeid's killing.

Analysts have suggested Abou Zeid's death could spell AQIM's doom, with breakaway jihadist groups and other radical Islamist movements now thriving in the region. But while Washington described the report as "very credible", France has so far treated it with caution.

Algeria's El Khabar newspaper said Saturday that Algerian security services, who were the first to report Abou Zeid's death, had found his personal weapon and examined a body believed to be his.

"Confirmation of Abou Zeid's death remains linked to the results of DNA tests done on Thursday by Algeria on two members of his family," it said.

Mauritanian expert Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Aboulmaali pointed out that Algeria had announced his death several times in the past and that Chad needed morale-boosting news after suffering such heavy losses.

Matthieu Guidere, a French university professor and Al-Qaeda specialist, also voiced caution in the absence of any confirmation on jihadist Internet forums.

"Experience shows that jihadists never try to hide their dead and immediately broadcast their martyrdom," he said.

Abou Zeid was believed to be holding a number of Western hostages, including four French citizens kidnapped in Niger in 2010.

He and Belmokhtar were directly involved in most of the kidnappings of foreigners that have plagued the region in recent years.

Guidere said Abou Zeid had adopted such a hard line since reaching the top of AQIM's operational command that many of his lieutenants had left the group to join other organisations or launch their own.

One of the main splinters is the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), which first emerged last year and was battling African forces near the main northern city of Gao as recently as Friday.

"We waged a tough battle against Malian troops and their French accomplices around 60 kilometres east of Gao on Friday," MUJAO spokesman Abou Walid Sahraoui told AFP.

"We'll see later about the death toll," he said.

A Malian soldier who claimed he took part in the fighting said the operation had left a MUJAO base destroyed and "many dead" among the Islamists.

- AFP/jc

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IBM's Watson: Now for 'Top Chef'?

Watson in his "Jeopardy" days.

(Credit:
IBM/YouTube; screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

Great chefs are crazy.

There are many kinds of crazy. Some of these culinarians rant, rave, and spit fire and brimstone. Some pore over their ingredients like scientists: quiet, brooding, and deeply serious.

All believe they can create their own particular gastronomic dreams, ones nobody else can copy. Especially not a computer.

IBM thinks different.

Having seen its Watson computer crush mere humans at the trivial game of "Jeopardy," the company is now setting the machine's sights on bigger business.

According to The New York Times, the world of haute cuisine is one in which IBM would like to make a robotic incursion.

Indeed, Watson has already put a tiny part of his mind into creating something called the Spanish Crescent.

This breakfast pastry comprised cocoa, saffron, black pepper, almonds, and honey -- but not butter. Oh, yes, Watson is a very California chef.

More Technically Incorrect

This little pastry was served only to insiders. And the cooks who had to execute it had to battle with the idea of using vegetable oil rather than butter.

So one can only imagine what the exalted palates of chefs like Jose Andres, Eric Ripert, and "Top Chef"'s Tom Colicchio might make of Watson's recipes.

However, what if the Watson name was put behind a restaurant concept? Wouldn't that be something that would fascinate?

Imagine the restaurant's interior design. There'd be servers all around the room. Large, lumpy computers, that is.

As for human servers, perhaps there'd be little need. Perhaps you'd just order on an
iPad and the food would shoot up from below your table on a futuristic dumbwaiter.

And the food at Chez Watson? His handlers believe one of Watson's great strengths is to know very quickly what the wrong answers are.

So one can only hope that he would create inventive but wonderful combinations that would then be executed by compliant cooks who would bow to his HALness.

One can also hope that Chez Watson would get a better review in The New York Times than did Guy Fieri's American Kitchen & Bar In Times Square.

But in case it didn't, IBM's engineers have already taken precautions. They discovered earlier this year that Watson had memorized the Urban Dictionary. Like so many chefs, he had a proclivity for profanity, which has now been dampened.

So Chez Watson's kitchen will be, in every sense, pristine.

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Man feared dead in 100-foot sinkhole near Tampa

Last Updated 1:15 p.m. ET

SEFFNER, Fla. A man was missing and feared dead early Friday after a large sinkhole opened under the bedroom of a house near Tampa.

His brother says the man screamed for help before he disappeared.

The 36-year-old man's brother, Jeremy Bush, told rescue crews he heard a loud crash around 11 p.m. Thursday, then heard his brother screaming for help.

"When he got there, there was no bedroom left," Hillsborough County Fire Rescue spokeswoman Jessica Damico said. "There was no furniture. All he saw was a piece of the mattress sticking up."

The brother called 911 and frantically tried to help his brother. He said he jumped into the hole and dirt was quickly up to his neck.

"The floor was still giving in and the dirt was still going down, but I didn't care. I wanted to save my brother," Jeremy said. "But I just couldn't do nothing."

An arriving deputy pulled the brother from the still-collapsing house.

"I reached down and was able to actually able to get him by his hand and pull him out of the hole," Hillsborough County Sheriff's Deputy Douglas Duvall said. "The hole was collapsing. At that time, we left the house."

Engineers worked to determine the size of the sinkhole. At the surface, officials estimated it was about 30 feet across. Below the surface, officials believed it was 100 feet wide.

"The entire house is on the sinkhole," Damico said.

Hillsborough County Fire Chief Ron Rogers told a news briefing that extra-sensitive listening devices and cameras were inserted into the sinkhole. "They did not detect any signs of life," he said.

By early Friday, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue officials determined the home had become too unstable to continue rescue efforts.

Neighbors on both sides of the home have been evacuated.

Sinkholes are common in seaside Florida, whose underlying limestone and dolomite can be worn away by water and chemicals, then collapse.

Engineers condemned the house, reports CBS Tampa affiliate WTSP.

From the outside of the small, sky blue house, nothing appeared wrong. There wear no cracks and the only sign something was amiss was the yellow caution tape circling the house.

Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokesman Larry McKinnon said authorities asked sinkhole and engineering experts, and they were using equipment to see if the ground can support the weight of heavy machinery needed for the recovery effort.

Jeremy Bush stood in a neighbor's yard across the street from the house Friday and recounted the harrowing collapse.

"He was screaming my name. I could swear I heard him hollering my name to help him," he said of his brother.

Jeremy Bush's wife and his 2-year-old daughter were also inside the house. "She keeps asking where her Uncle Jeff is," he said. "I lost everything. I work so hard to support my wife and kid and I lost everything."

Janell Wheeler told the Tampa Bay Times newspaper she was inside the house with four other adults and a child when the sinkhole opened.

"It sounded like a car hit my house," she said.

The rest of the family went to a hotel but she stayed behind, sleeping in her car.

"I just want my nephew," she said through tears.

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Sequester Government Shutdown Looks Unlikely

Mar 1, 2013 4:13pm

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg/Getty Imag

It may not be readily obvious from the blizzard of news out there today on the “sequester,” but a government shutdown became significantly less likely today, even as the automatic budget cuts barreled ahead toward reality.

What happened? Both sides – Republicans and Democrats – basically seem to have agreed that as they will continue to fight out the $85 billion in automatic budget cuts starting to take effect today, they will not allow that disagreement to jeopardize full funding for the federal government. That funding is now scheduled to expire March 27.

RELATED: President Obama, Congressional Leaders Fail to Avert Sequester Cuts

After the White House meeting this morning, House Speaker John Boehner said he would have the House vote next week to fund the full government – what’s known as a “continuing resolution.”

Boehner: “I did lay out that the House is going to move a continuing resolution next week to fund the government past March 27th, and I’m hopeful that we won’t have to deal with the threat of a government shutdown while we’re dealing with the sequester at the same time. The House will act next week, and I hope the Senate will follow suit.”

READ MORE: 6 Questions (and Answers) About the Sequester

Boehner’s office provided this read-out of the meeting: “The president and leaders agreed legislation should be enacted this month to prevent a government shutdown while we continue to work on a solution to replace the president’s sequester.”

The president was asked at his mini-news conference whether he would definitely sign such a bill, even if it keeps government going at the new, lower spending levels as this fight is resolved (or not).

RELATED: 57 Terrible Consequences of the Sequester

Obama’s response: “With respect to the budget and keeping the government open – I’ll try for our viewing audience to make sure that we’re not talking in Washington gobbledygook. What’s called the continuing resolution, which is essentially just an extension of last year’s budget into this year’s budget to make sure that basic government functions continue, I think it’s the right thing to do to make sure that we don’t have a government shutdown. And that’s preventable.”

So even as we moved toward the brink of sequester, the nation’s leaders took a step back from another, much larger cliff.

SHOWS: World News

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Oil prices drop as US spending cuts kick in

NEW YORK: World oil prices fell on Friday, with New York crude striking a two-month low point, as traders eyed huge US spending cuts due to take effect and weaker Chinese manufacturing data.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in April, sank as low as $90.04 a barrel -- the lowest level since late December, before recovering to close at $90.68, down $1.37 on Thursday's finish.

Brent North Sea crude for April fell 98 cents to settle at $110.40 a barrel in London trade.

Analysts blamed the steadily gaining dollar -- the euro dropped to below the $1.30 level momentarily Friday -- and the expected slowing of the US economy due to the steep sequester spending reductions set to kick in.

If not modified, the sequester -- $85 billion in spending cuts over the next seven months, and $110 billion from the fiscal 2014 budget -- could trim at least 0.5 percentage points from potential economic growth, economists say.

Also weighing on the market were more dismal data from Europe: the Markit Eurozone Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index was 47.9 points in February, still in the contraction zone, and unemployment in the 17-nation bloc rose to a record 11.9 percent in January, with nearly 19 million people out of work.

Martin van Vliet at ING Bank said the data had marked a "sharp acceleration from December" and meant that "an end to the labor market downturn is not yet in sight.

"Even if the eurozone economy exits from recession in due course, the labor market is likely to remain in recession for most if not all of this year," van Vliet said.

Earlier in the day, China's manufacturing PMI fell in February to 50.1 points, barely in expansion territory and still a reason for concern over the pace of growth.

-AFP/ac

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New Apple-Samsung: List of products left in, left out of damages award

Judge Lucy Koh

Judge Lucy Koh today ordered a new trial to set damages in the Apple-Samsung case, striking some $450.5 million off the original $1 billion-plus judgment against Samsung. Here's what's going to get left in for the next round and what's now going to get left out.

The following products will be subject to a new trial.

• Galaxy Prevail


• Gem


• Indulge


• Infuse 4G


• Galaxy SII AT&T


• Captivate


• Continuum


• Droid Charge


• Epic 4G


• Exhibit 4G


• Galaxy Tab


• Nexus S 4G


• Replenish


• Transform

The original damages award, totaling some $598.9 million, still applies to the following 14 products:

• Galaxy Ace


• Galaxy S (i9000)


• Galaxy S II i9100


• Galaxy Tab 10.1 Wi-Fi


• Galaxy Tab 10.1 4G LTE


• Intercept


• Fascinate


• Galaxy S 4G


• Galaxy S II Showcase


• Mesmerize


• Vibrant


• Galaxy S II Skyrockeet


• Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch


• Galaxy S II T-Mobile

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In sequestration's 11th hour, finger-pointing reigns in Congress

With less than 12 hours before sequestration becomes an official federal mandate, the prospects of lawmakers reaching a deal to avert sweeping, across-the-board spending cuts are virtually nonexistent. But as the so-called "sequestration" takes on a feel of increasing inevitability in Washington, politicians on both sides of the aisle are scrambling to assign blame for what many believe could lead to dire economic consequences.

In a series of press briefings and floor speeches today, lawmakers took to the microphone to blast their political counterparts for proposed theft, moral bankruptcy, and professional incompetence.

"How much more money do we want to steal from the American people to fund more government?" asked House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, in a press briefing this morning. "I'm for no more."

Boehner, towing the Republican line, assigned blame to the president for having allegedly "insisted" on the sequestration, and to Democrats for derailing Republican alternatives to avert it.

"It is the president's sequester," Boehner said. "The House has acted twice over the last 10 months to replace these cuts with smarter cuts. We've done our job... I'm happy to talk to the president, I'm happy to work with the president, but the House has done its job."

While the idea for sequestration did originate in the White House, both Republicans and Democrats supported the idea, with 174 House Republicans - including Boehner - voting in its favor. The House did pass two bills to avert the cuts, as Boehner said, but neither of them would have had any support from Democrats in the Senate, and White House would likely have vetoed them. Moreover, both are currently invalid because they were passed in the last congressional session.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., meanwhile, blasted Republicans for allegedly doing worse than just "kick the can down the road" on the issue.

"They're nudging the potato across the table with their noses," she accused. "We come to Washington to be legislators, representatives of our district and to be legislators. And somehow that piece is missing from what the Republicans are doing - they're just making noise... Either they don't want to legislate or they don't know how to legislate."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who earlier today was rebuffed in an offer to bring to the Senate floor both Republican and Democratic bills on averting sequester if the votes were held at majority thresholds, went after Republican motives for rejecting his idea.

"Are Republicans really filibustering a vote on replacing the sequester?" he asked on the Senate floor. Later, in a press briefing, he added: "The Republicans want the sequester to go forward!"

Reid will hold a vote for the Democratic proposal this afternoon, but that bill is not expected to garner the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster, and is expected to go nowhere.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., argued that Reid and fellow Democrats want their bill to fail - "so they can go around the country blaming Republicans for a sequester the president himself proposed.

"They're so concerned about preventing anything from actually passing the Congress that they've limited the ability of senators on both sides to debate this issue openly and to offer different ideas," he contended.

In reality, both sides are refusing to compromise. President Obama is expected to sign a directive making sequestration official tomorrow, at which point he will meet with congressional leaders from both parties to discuss the way forward. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will also release a report detailing the specifics of sequestration tomorrow.

If a deal can be worked out before April, when some of the impacts of sequestration will begin to feel real, much of the potential damage will be averted. But there's a lot of ground to make up in the next 30 days: As of now, the two parties don't have a lot to say in agreement on the subject. Just this afternoon, the White House endorsed the Democratic Senate plan while threatening to veto a GOP proposal.

In the meantime, the blame game continues.

"House Republicans deserve to be called to task for leaving the American people in the lurch," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., to reporters today.

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Obama Admin to File Brief on Gay Marriage

Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli, plans to file a brief today with the Supreme Court regarding Prop 8, according to an administration source.

It would mark the first time that the Obama administration has come out in court with an opinion on the California ballot initiative that defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

As far back as 2008, the president said that he thought Prop 8 was "divisive and discriminatory," but his Justice Department has never opined on its constitutionality. Because the DOJ is not a party to the case, it is not required to file a "friend of the court" brief, but the deadlines for briefs supporting the challengers to Prop 8 is tonight at midnight.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Theodore Olson, one of the lead lawyers challenging Prop 8, told reporters last week that he hoped the DOJ lawyers would take the opportunity to set down a legal position.

"However," Olson added, "whether they do or not, the president of the United States made it very clear in his inaugural address that we cannot rest in America until all civilians have equal rights under the law so, in a sense, the president has made that statement already."

Today, 39 states have laws restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples. This number includes voter-approved constitutional amendments in 30 states barring same sex marriage. Nine states allow gay marriage.

Related: Eric Holder Says Gay Marriage is the Next Civil Rights Issue

Related: Republican Moderates Join Legal Fight for Gay Marriage

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Oil prices fall as US sequester cuts loom

NEW YORK: Oil prices fell late in the session Thursday after trading slightly higher much of the day, with traders blaming portfolio adjustment on the final day of the month.

But prices were also soft as the United States appeared headed for slower economic growth due to mandated spending cuts that kick in beginning Friday.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery, lost 71 cents from late Wednesday, closing at $92.05 a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for April fell 49 cents to $111.38 a barrel in London trade.

Prices were fairly stable much of the day, showing little impact from an improved but still disappointing revision to the US growth rate for the 2012 fourth quarter, to a positive 0.1 percent from the original estimate of a 0.1 percent contraction.

But late in the session support for WTI and Brent dropped out.

"That has a lot to do with the technical selling pressure that finally gave up towards the end of the day. Today is the last day of the month and you'll see some month-end rebalancing," said David Bouckhout of TD Securities.

The market also appeared well-supplied given the pace of the global economy, analysts said.

"Fundamentally, oil prices are unlikely to rise much in the short-term as demand remains weak and supply abundant," said Fawad Razaqzada of traders GFT Markets.

The US appeared headed for a growth slowdown as the US government's "sequester" budget cuts appeared likely to take effect Friday.

Economists warn the $85 billion in spending reductions for the next seven months will take off a 0.5 percentage point from potential growth, if politicians cannot find a last-minute compromise in White House talks Friday.

-AFP/ac

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Andrew Mason out as Groupon CEO

Andrew Mason (Credit: Dan Farber/CNET)

Andrew Mason is out as chief executive at Groupon.

The company announced the management change in a terse statement this afternoon. It said that Executive Chairman Eric Lefkofsky and Vice Chairman Ted Leonsis would participate in a newly created Office of the Chief Executive, effective immediately, serving in this role on an interim basis until the board finds a CEO replacement.

"On behalf of the entire Groupon Board, I want to thank Andrew for his leadership, his creativity and his deep loyalty to Groupon. As a founder, Andrew helped invent the daily deals space, leading Groupon to become one of the fastest growing companies in history," Lefkofsky said in the statement. It also quotes Leonsis saying that "
Groupon will continue to invest in growth, and we are confident that with our deep management team and market-leading position, the company is well positioned for the future," said Leonsis.

The news follows another disappointing quarter from Groupon. At one point in early 2011, the online group budget deals company was logging gross billings growth of 1,400 percent year over year (That's not a typo.) But as the company's growth rate slowed, its marketing and sales costs have been climbing. In its fourth quarter, the company lost $81.1 million, compared with a $65.4 million loss a year earlier. The news drove down the company's shares by about a fifth of its value. The stock closed Thursday at $4.53, compared with its 52-week low of $2.60.

After the company released its earnings on Wednesday, analysts again voiced a lack of confidence in the company's ability to execute -- adding further pressure on Groupon's board of directors to make a move. Over the last year, there has been no shortage of chatter about the board debating whether to replace Mason.

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Newtown father's emotional plea to Congress

During emotional testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee today, the father of a first grader slain at Sandy Hook Elementary School fought back tears as he stressed the need to ban weapons like the assault rifle that a gunman used to kill his son, 19 other children, and 6 educators in Newtown, Conn.

Neil Heslin described how his son Jesse "was brutally murdered at Sandy Hook school on December 14, 20 minutes after I dropped him off."

"He said 'It's all going to be OK'," Heslin recalled his son saying as he was dropped off at school. "And it wasn't OK."

"Jesse was the love of my life. He was the only family I have left. It's hard for me to be here today, talking about my deceased son," Heslin said. But he added, "I have to. I'm his voice. I'm not here for the sympathy...I'm here to speak up for my son."

"There's many changes that have to happen to make a change effective," he continued. "Mental health issues, better background checks, bans on these weapons, bans on high capacity magazines - they all have to come together and they all have to work effectively...common sense tells you that."

The hearing was convened to discuss a bill from Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., which would ban military style semiautomatic weapons like the Bushmaster rifle that was used to commit the massacre at Sandy Hook. The bill would also ban the manufacture and sale of ammunition magazines in excess of 10 bullets.

Feinstein, who sponsored the original assault weapons ban that passed Congress in 1994 and lapsed in 2004, said that "The need for a federal ban" on these assault weapons "has never been greater."

The committee's ranking Republican, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, extended his condolences to the victims of gun violence in the audience but voiced skepticism about the prospect of enacting new gun laws when, in his view, existing gun laws are not even being properly enforced.

The assault weapons ban is perhaps the most controversial among a raft of proposals to reduce gun violence floated by President Obama in the wake of the massacre at Sandy Hook. Another key propsoal would strengthen and expand the background check system for gun purchasers.

Opponents of gun control argue that many of the proposals would be an unconstitutional infringement on the Second Amendment's guarantee of a right to bear arms. Many also argue that the proposals would be an ineffective deterrent of gun violence.

Supporters of gun control argue that the right to bear arms is not absolute and has previously been legally abridged in a variety of ways. They further point to the dramatically decreased incidence of gun violence in countries whose firearm restrictions are more stringent than our own.

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Newtown Dad's Tearful Plea at Senate Gun Hearing

A father who lost his son in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School sobbed as he testified at a Senate hearing today in favor of an assault weapons ban.

Across town Vice President Biden alluded to untold horror of the Newtown tragedy in an appeal for help from the nation's attorneys general.

Despite their emotional appeals, the push for gun reforms championed by the White House and many Democrats faces an uncertain future.

"Jesse was the love of my life," said Neil Heslin, sobbing as he described his 6-year-old son before the Senate Judiciary Committee. "He was the only family I had left. It's hard for me to be here today to talk about my deceased son. I have to. I'm his voice."

Heslin's son, Jesse Lewis, was among the 20 children and six teachers and school administrators murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. last December. Heslin recounted his last moments with his son when he took him to pick up his favorite, sausage egg and cheese sandwich and hot chocolate before dropping him off at school on the morning of Dec. 14.

"It was 9:04 when I dropped Jesse off. Jesse gave me a hug and a kiss and at that time said goodbye and love you. He stopped and said, I loved mom too." Heslin and his wife are separated.

"That was the last I saw of Jesse as he ducked around the corner. Prior to that when he was getting out of the truck he hugged me and held me and I could still feel that hug and pat on the back and he said everything's going to be ok dad. It's all going to be ok," Heslin said breaking down in tears a second time. "It wasn't ok. I have to go home at night to an empty house without my son."

Army Vet Awarded Medal of Honor for Afghan Firefight Watch Video

Heslin was one of eight witnesses testifying at a hearing to back a proposed assault weapons ban. Another witness was Dr. William Begg, a physician who made it to the emergency room the day of the Newtown shooting.

"People say that the overall number of assault weapon deaths is small but you know what? Please don't tell that to the people of Tucson or Aurora or Columbine or Virginia Tech, and don't tell that to the people in Newtown," Begg said as he choked up and people in the crowd clapped. "Don't tell that to the people in Newtown. This is a tipping point. This is a tipping point and this is a public health issue. Please make the right decision."

Related: Read More About Heslin's Testimony

The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to consider four gun safety measures, including the assault weapons ban, on Thursday. The three other bills aim to stop illegal gun trafficking, enhance safety in schools, and enact universal background checks.

As the hearing unfolded on Capitol Hill, Biden tapped into the stories that Newtown's first responders have shared with him as he urged attorneys general to help the administration push their gun proposals.

Related: The Tragedy at Sandy Hook

"With the press not here, I can tell you what is not public yet about how gruesome it was," Biden said of the massacre's gruesome aftermath at a Washington luncheon. "I met with the state troopers who were on the scene this last week. And the impact on them has been profound. Some of them, understandably, needing some help."

A spokeswoman for Biden could not clarify the non-public information to which he referred. The vice president suggested that what he heard in private conversations should spur lawmakers to enact some measures aimed at curbing gun violence.

Related: President Obama's Campaign Organization Turns to Gun Control

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Football: Robben strikes as Bayern dump Dortmund out of cup

MUNICH, Germany: Bayern Munich ended their three-year wait for a competitive win over Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday as Arjen Robben's first-half strike sealed a 1-0 German Cup quarter-final victory.

February 2010 had been the occasion of Bayern's last league or cup win over Dortmund -- a six-game stretch -- but Robben's thunderbolt two minutes before the break at the Allianz Arena was enough to put Munich in the last four.

A pre-season Supercup final win in Munich last August had been Bayern's only source of comfort against Borussia recently.

Despite having spent much of this season on Bayern' bench, Robben took over on the left-wing from France's Franck Ribery, who was suspended, to show coach Jupp Heynckes what he has been missing.

The 29-year-old ex-Chelsea and Real Madrid star sank to his knees and beat the turf at the final whistle in delight.

He has now scored in three of Bayern's last four games after netting in recent Bundesliga wins over Wolfsburg and the 6-1 drubbing of Werder Bremen last Saturday.

This was the clash of Germany's titans -- Bayern Munich, 17 points clear in the Bundesliga against defending league champions and cup holders Dortmund, who have dominated the top-tier of German football for the last two years.

Germany defender Mats Hummels dropped out the day of the game with flu and in his place Brazilian Felipe Santana partnered Neven Subotic at centre-back for Dortmund.

Robben's inclusion for the suspended Ribery was the only change from the team which won 3-1 at Arsenal in the Champions League just over a week ago.

Dortmund hammered Bayern 5-2 in last May's German Cup final, when Poland striker Robert Lewandowski netted a hat-trick.

If Wednesday's game needed extra spice, Lewandowski has been strongly linked to a move to Bayern with his contract to expire in 2014.

In a tight, nervy cup game, both teams had their opportunities.

The brightest chance of the first-half fell to Javi Martinez when his shot straight at Roman Weidenfeller was parried and the Dortmund goalkeeper scrambled back to grab the loose ball on 36 minutes.

Bayern kept up the pressure and when Dortmund's Marcel Schmelzer hit a weak clearance, Robben's shot from 18 metres clocked 115km/h (70mph) as it hit the top-right corner on 43 minutes for what proved to be the winner.

With Dortmund out, Bayern are now clear cup favourites and are on course to be the first team to win the treble of German league, cup and Champions League titles in their quest to end their three-year wait for silverware.

VfB Stuttgart, who beat third-division VfL Bochum 2-0, Wolfsburg and Freiburg are the other teams to go into the pot for Sunday's draw with the semi-finals to be held on April 16/17, with the final on June 1 in Berlin.

- AFP/ac

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AirDock: Activate Siri with the power of air pressure

A prototype of the AirDock.

(Credit:
Video screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET)

Driving and smartphones don't mix well. While you can get a lot done using voice commands with Siri on your iPhone, you still have to activate her. If you're driving, that can take valuable seconds away from paying attention to the road. The AirDock Kickstarter project is looking to make Siri air-activated rather than fingertip-activated.

AirDock is described as "in-car, eyeless Siri." That means you don't have to take your gaze off the road to use it. The prototype version of the AirDock involves a suction-mount dock you put your iPhone into. A plastic tube with a squeeze bulb on the end sticks out from it. Squeeze the air bulb to push the home button, turn on the phone, and activate Siri.

There's a certain silly factor to the AirDock. After all, it's a dock with a tube with a squeezie-thing on the end. It's a couple steps up from a whoopee cushion. The prototype is big, though the final design should shrink considerably. All in all, making it safer to access your iPhone while driving is not a bad idea.

What might be more fun would be to take the rubber squeezer off and use the tube like a straw. Blow into it and activate Siri. Not a bad party trick.

AirDock creator Tim Hugall is aiming for a pretty ambitious $75,000 goal for his Kickstarter fundraising, and he'll have to presell a lot of $30 AirDocks to reach it. The concept may end up being just a little bit too unusual for mainstream acceptance. Sure, it's cheaper than buying a new Honda with eyes-free Siri integration, but it's not as cheap as fumbling for your phone and pushing the button.

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Dozens of prominent Republicans sign brief backing gay marriage

Matthew Wiltse, right, places a wedding ring on the finger of Jonathon Bashford as they took their wedding vows before Superior Court Judge Chris Wickham at the Thurston County Courthouse just after midnight on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012, in Olympia, Wash. / AP Photo/Rachel La Corte

More than 80 "conservative voices" have signed onto a legal brief supporting the notion that same-sex couples should have a fundamental right to marriage.

The brief is in support of the plaintiffs in the Hollingsworth v. Perry case now before the Supreme Court, which challenges California's Proposition 8 barring same-sex marriage. The case, which will be argued starting in late March, could result in the invalidation of statewide bans on same-sex marriage across the country. It is one of two same-sex marriage cases being considered this term by the Supreme Court; the other challenges the Defense of Marriage Act, which bars federal recognition of same-sex marriage.

Among the signatories to the letter are former Republican Governors Christie Todd Whitman and Bill Weld; Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla.; former Republican Reps. Deborah Pryce and Mary Bono Mack; 2012 presidential candidates and former governors Gary Johnson and Jon Huntsman; and former Republican National Committee chair Ken Mehlman, the onetime George W. Bush campaign manager who has since come out as gay.

Notably not among the signatories are some Republicans who have expressed support for same-sex marriage in the past, including Dick Cheney and Laura Bush.

The American Foundation for Equal Rights, which organized the effort, said more names will be added before the brief is filed. The brief was first reported by the New York Times, which reported that it made the case that same-sex marriage reflects conservative values of "limited government and maximizing individual freedom."

Among those working to legalize same-sex marriage are conservative lawyer and former Solicitor General Theodore B. Olson, who was among the first prominent conservatives to express support for same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage supporters hope the fact that numerous well-known conservatives and Republicans are signatories to the brief will help sway conservative justices.

"The conservative movement toward the freedom to marry is what we like to call the 'Ted Olson effect,'" said AFER executive director Adam Umhoefer. "We value the support of our conservative colleagues and welcome their voices to the growing majority of Americans who stand for marriage equality."

CBS News polling has found that a majority of Americans believe same-sex marriage should be legal, though more than six in ten said it should be left to the states to decide. House Speaker John Boehner and most Republicans in Congress oppose both federal recognition of same-sex marriage and a mandate that it be recognized by the states.

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Tempers Flare at Jodi Arias Murder Trial

Tempers flared between accused murderer Jodi Arias and prosecutor Juan Martinez today as Martinez tried to detail Arias' history of spying on her boyfriends, but Arias complained that his aggressive style of questioning made her "brain scramble."

Arias and Martinez, who have sparred throughout two prior days of cross-examination in Arias' murder case, spent more than 10 minutes bickering over Martinez's word choices and his apparent "anger."

The morning's testimony, and Martinez's points about Arias' alleged spying, were largely interrupted by the spats. Arias is accused of killing her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander.

"Are you having trouble understanding me?" Martinez yelled.

"Yes because sometimes cause you go in circles," Arias answered.

Timeline of the Jodi Arias Trial

"You said you were offended by Mr. Alexander's behavior, do you remember that? This just happened. How is that you are not remembering?" he asked.

"Because you are making my brain scramble,"she said.

Martinez, becoming agitated, barked back, "I'm again making your brain scramble. The problem is not you, it's the prosecutor, right?"

Martinez paced the courtroom in front of Arias asking her whether she had trouble with her memory or trouble answering truthfully.

Jodi Arias Testimony: Prosecution's Cross-Examination Watch Video

Jodi Arias Remains Calm Under Cross-Examination Watch Video

"You don't know? You don't know what you just said? Didn't it just happen? You can't even remember what you just said?"

"I think I'm more focused on your posture, your tone, and your anger," Arias said, causing Martinez to become even angrier.

"So it's the prosecutor's fault because he is angry? You are having problems on the witness stand because of the way the prosecutor is asking the questions? So the answers depend on the style of the prosecutor? You're saying you're having trouble telling us the truth because of the way the questions are being posed," he said, gesturing with his hands.

Catching Up on the Trial? Check Out ABC News' Jodi Arias Trial Coverage

Eventually, Arias's attorney Kirk Nurmi, who had been objecting sporadically to Martinez's questions, stood in the courtroom and told Judge Sherry Stephens that they should all approach the bench before Martinez continued. When they returned, Martinez briefly stood in different parts of the courtroom, asking Arias if she was more comfortable depending on where he stood, before moving on.

Arias, 32, is charged with murder for killing her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander at his home in Mesa, Ariz., in June 2008. She claims she killed him in self defense and that he had been increasingly violent and sexually demanding in the months before the confrontation. She also claimed he was interested in young boys.

The prosecution claims she killed him in a jealous rage. She could face the death penalty if convicted of first degree murder.

Martinez finally began to make his points that Arias snooped on Alexander's phone messages and Myspace messages, and had gone through an ex-boyfriend's email messages to see if they were cheating. Arias admitted that her behavior was "dishonest."

See the Evidence in the Jodi Arias Murder Trial

Martinez also showed that after Arias went through the messages and found evidence of cheating, she acted quickly to end the relationships with Alexander and two former boyfriends, suggesting that Arias was not under as much of Alexander's influence as she had previously testified.

"So you seem to be very assertive. You were very assertive even at age 17 or 18, you didn't waste any time when you'd been cheated on," Martinez said. "You have the ability to make the decisions necessary for yourself and even from the time you were younger, it appears you were assertive."

"It depends on how comfortable I am with the person," Arias replied.

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Vatican says Benedict XVI will have title 'pope emeritus'

VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI will be known as "pope emeritus" and can continue to wear the white papal cassock after he steps down this week, the Vatican said Tuesday, revealing details about the final moments surrounding the historic resignation.

The leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics can still be referred to as "His Holiness Benedict XVI" and will have the additional title of "Roman pontiff emeritus", Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said.

Benedict chose the titles himself, Lombardi said.

He will continue wearing the white cassock normally reserved for pontiffs after he resigns on Thursday -- the first leader of the Catholic Church to do so since the Middle Ages -- but without the doubled shoulder cape, Lombardi said.

The 85-year-old German pontiff stunned the world when he announced on February 11 that he would step down at the end of the month, citing his age and failing strength, following a troubled eight-year papacy dominated by scandals and Vatican intrigue.

The scourge of paedophile priests and cover-ups by their superiors has cast a dark shadow over his papacy, continuing into his final days, with activists calling Tuesday for cardinals Sean Brady of Ireland and Roger Mahony of the United States to be barred from the conclave over their roles in the scandals.

The Vatican meanwhile gave more details on the delicate transition for the former Joseph Ratzinger's delicate transition into retirement.

Lombardi said Benedict has chosen to swap his trademark red shoes for a brown pair given to him by artisans in Mexico during a trip last year, adding that he would also stop wearing the gold Fisherman's Ring used to seal papal documents.

Tradition dictates that the ring be destroyed and a new one cast for each pope, but when that occurs will be up to Vatican number two Tarcisio Bertone, the camerlingo or chamberlain who will be "interim pope" until a successor to Benedict is found.

The Vatican spokesman also said that a series of meetings of cardinals to settle on a date for the start of the papal election conclave could start on Monday.

Benedict holds a final general audience in St Peter's Square on Wednesday, the eve of his formal resignation.

At least 50,000 pilgrims are expected to attend his final public appearance on Wednesday, enough to fill the famous square to overflowing, and the pope will ride the trademark white "popemobile" through the throngs.

But there will be no traditional kissing of the pontiff's hand -- not for security reasons, but because of the sheer size of the expected crowd, Lombardi said.

"He doesn't want to favour one or the other" of the pilgrims, he added.

On his last day Thursday the pope will greet cardinals gathering for the conclave and a few dignitaries including from Slovakia, San Marino, Andorra and Benedict's native Bavaria.

At around 5:00 pm (1600 GMT), the pope will board a helicopter for the 15-minute ride to Castel Gandolfo, the traditional summer residence of popes.

Benedict's "last public act" will occur about a half-hour later when he waves to the crowd from a balcony of the palace, Lombardi said.

He said no fanfare will mark the official end of Benedict's papacy at 8:00 pm.

Instead the moment will be marked with quiet poignancy, when liveried Swiss Guardsmen will formally end their mandate to protect the pope.

"The symbolic moment will come when the gates (of the Castel Gondolfo residence) close at 8:00 pm and the Swiss Guard leave," Lombardi said.

At a later date, Benedict will return to the Vatican, where a disused convent is being fitted as his retirement home.

The decision to retire behind Vatican walls within a stone's throw of the new pope has raised eyebrows.

But Vatican expert John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter told AFP: "I frankly think that left to his own devices he would prefer to be in Regensburg," the German university town where Ratzinger taught theology.

"Several cardinals have told me it will be a lot harder for people to get to him" at the famously cloistered Vatican than in his native Germany.

Commenting on SNAP's demands, Allen told AFP they were "another confirmation of how enormously damning this scandal has been for the Church. Even at the most awesome moment in the life of the Church (the papal election), this scandal rears its ugly head."

Asked whether Benedict will be the first former pontiff to be called "pope emeritus", Lombardi said: "We don't know what Celestine V was called when he stepped down. We'll have to ask the historians."

The 13th-century monk was the only other pope in the 2,000-year-old Church's long line of rulers to step down voluntarily -- saying he could not tolerate the intrigues of the Church hierarchy.

-AFP/ac

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HP's Whitman: 'We're shifting' from PCs to tablets

HP's Android-based Slate 7: CEO Meg Whitman said HP is in the midst of a transition from PCs to tablets.

(Credit:
CNET)

Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman may have stated the obvious when she said today that HP is transferring its attention to tablets.

"We're shifting resources from PCs to
tablets," she said during the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference.

"The market moved very fast to tablets and smartphones, and we've got to now manage that transition."

She continued. "And it's not that HP didn't try to manage that transition -- they did with the acquisition of Palm. But as you know under the previous [management] that took a little detour to nowhere."

She also talked about quality, not a trivial issue for some HP products. "Quality was not an area of focus. Quality drives enormous cost. If you have warranty or support problems...the backend cost of quality is enormous. Those are the kinds of things we're going after that were frankly untouched," she said.

And, not surprisingly, she mentioned innovation, which HP likes to say is part of its DNA. "Innovation is not dead at this company. So, what I did is I increased RD spending...we have to get these products that are close to market to market fast," she said.

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California couple vanishes on Peruvian bike tour

Jamie Neal, left, and her boyfriend, Garrett Hand, right, were last seen in Cusco, Peru in late January 2013.

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(CBS) SACRAMENTO - The U.S. State Department is getting involved in the search for a Bay area California couple who vanished in Peru almost a month ago.

Pictures: Calif. couple missing in Peru

According to CBS Sacramento, 27-year-old Jamie Neal and her 25-year-old boyfriend Garret Hand were last seen in late January in Cusco. Neal's family says they're working with the U.S. Embassy in Peru to find out what happened to the couple, who were reportedly on a bicycle tour through the country.

"I'm completely worried about her. I understand there are some dangerous areas and the places they were visiting have some warnings right now, for American tourists," said Kim Jerge, owner of the bike shop where Jamie worked, CBS Sacramento reports.

A friend of the couple, Max Hunter, told The Seattle Times that the two regularly posted on Facebook during their trip, but that the last post came on January 25. He said that was also the day Neal and Hand stopped using their credit cards.

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Arias Had No Remorse: Prosecutor

Prosecutor Juan Martinez hammered alleged murderer Jodi Arias today with accusations that she felt no remorse when she lied over and over again about killing her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander.

"Ma'am you have a problem with telling the truth don't you?" Martinez asked as his first question today, the 11th day Arias has been on the stand explaining her role in Alexander's death.

"Not typically," Arias responded.

Martinez then took Arias through a series of lies she admittedly told in the days after she stabbed and shot Alexander to death on June 4, 2008, lying to friends, investigators and even Alexander's grandmother, going so far as to send a dozen irises to his grandmother expressing her sympathy.

See the Evidence in the Jodi Arias Murder Trial

Arias, 32, has testified that she killed Alexander in self-defense during a violent argument and lied about it out of "shame."

But prosecutors say that the 27 stab wounds, a slashed throat, and two bullets she fired at Alexander's head prove that she murdered him. She could face the death penalty if convicted.

Catching Up on the Trial? Check Out ABC News' Jodi Arias Trial Coverage

Today Martinez tried to raise doubts about Arias' earlier testimony in which she depicted Alexander as an increasingly menacing and sexually demanding lover by grilling her about the lies she told after she killed Alexander.

Martinez pointed out that Arias lied to Detective Esteban Flores of the Mesa, Ariz., police department as he investigated Alexander's death. She initially denied to the detective that she was at Alexander's Mesa, Ariz., home when he was killed, and later said he was murdered by a pair of masked intruders.

Jodi Arias Testimony: Prosecution's Cross-Examination Watch Video

Jodi Arias Remains Calm Under Cross-Examination Watch Video

Jodi Arias Doesn't Remember Stabbing Ex-Boyfriend Watch Video

"You told (Flores) you would help him, but that was a lie right? You weren't there to tell the truth. You were there for another purpose: to make sure he didn't get the truth.... You were hoping, ma'am, that (Flores) would believe what you were saying so you could walk out of jail," Martinez said.

Arias argued with Martinez, claiming that she lied to investigators out of shame, and lied to friends immediately after the death out of confusion.

"My mind wasn't right during all that period," Arias said referring to the hours immediately following the killing when she drove through the Arizona desert and made phone calls to ex-boyfriend Matthew McCartney and new love interest Ryan Burns.

"It's like I wasn't accepting it in my mind... because I never killed anyone before," she said.

Martinez also suggested that Arias tried to find out the status of the investigation into Alexander's death so that she could know if she were about to be arrested. When a friend of Alexander's called her to report the news about Alexander's death, Arias asked about details into the investigation, the prosecutor said. She also called Alexander's Mormon bishop and asked him what he knew about the case, and then asked friends and family members what they knew, according to Martinez.

"You needed to see what you needed to know to make sure you weren't charged. What purpose would there be for that information other than to benefit you?" Martinez asked. "You called [the bishop] at 3 a.m. You call him and spoke to him because you wanted to get the information about what he knew about the investigation. That was going to help you."

Timeline of the Jodi Arias Trial

Martinez also went over lies that Arias told to her friend, Leslie Udy, and Ryan Burns, both of whom she saw in Utah the day after killing Alexander. She talked to both about Alexander as if he were still alive. Martinez pointed out that Arias even made out with Burns in his bedroom during their visit.

But Arias claimed that it was Burns who lied about their encounter.

"And with Mr. Burns, didn't you get on top of him and grind on him?" Martinez asked.

Arias said she was on top of Burns at one point, but they did not "grind."

"Well, when you were romantic kissing, he did put his hand between your legs, didn't he?" Martinez said, referring to Burns' own testimony in court weeks earlier.

"No," Arias said. "It could be that he's full of crap...when he says he got near my vaginal area."

"This is the person who lied to him, to (friends), to Detective Flores, and yet you're telling us someone else is full of crap," Martinez asked incredulously.

"When it comes to that, yes," she said.

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Huge protest vote pushes Italy towards deadlock

ROME (Reuters) - A huge protest vote by Italians enraged by economic hardship and political corruption pushed the country towards deadlock after an election on Monday, with voting projections showing no coalition strong enough to form a government.

With more than two thirds of the vote counted, the projections suggested the center left could have a slim lead in the race for the lower house of parliament.

But no party or likely coalition appeared likely to be able to form a majority in the upper house or Senate, creating a deadlocked parliament - the opposite of the stable result that Italy desperately needs to tackle a deep recession, rising unemployment and a massive public debt.

Such an outcome has the potential to revive fears over the euro zone debt crisis, with prospects of a long period of uncertainty in the zone's third largest economy.

Italian financial markets took fright after rising earlier on hopes for a stable and strong center-left led government, probably backed by outgoing technocrat premier Mario Monti.

The projected result was a stunning success for Genoese comic Beppe Grillo, leader of the populist 5-Star Movement, who toured the country in his first national election campaign hurling obscenity-laced insults against a discredited political class.

With vague election promises and a team of almost totally unknown candidates, the shaggy haired comedian channeled pure public anger against what many see as a sclerotic and useless political system.

The likely result was also a humiliating slap in the face for colorless center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani, who appeared to have thrown away a 10-point opinion poll lead less than two months ago against Silvio Berlusconi's center right.

Berlusconi, 76, who staged an extraordinary comeback from sex and corruption scandals since diving into the campaign in December, appeared to be leading in the Senate race, but Grillo's projected bloc of Senators would leave him well short of a majority.

Projections gave Bersani's center-left alliance a lead of less than one percentage point in the lower house. If confirmed, that would be enough to control the chamber because of election laws that guarantee a 54 percent majority to the party with the largest share of the vote.

In the Senate the picture was different. The latest projection from RAI state television showed Berlusconi's bloc winning 112 Senate seats, the center-left 105 and Grillo 64, with Monti languishing on only 20 after a failed campaign which never took off. The Senate majority is 158.

Berlusconi, a master politician and communicator, wooed voters with a blitz of television appearances and promises to refund a hated housing tax despite accusations from opponents that this was an impossible vote buying trick.

Grillo has attacked all sides in the campaign and ruled out a formal alliance with any group although it was not immediately known how he would react to his stunning success or how his supporters would behave in parliament.

DANGER OF NEW ELECTION

A bitter campaign, fought largely over economic issues, made some investors fear a return of the kind of debt crisis that took the euro zone close to disaster and brought the technocrat Monti to office, replacing Berlusconi, in 2011.

The projected results showed more than half of Italians had voted for the anti-euro platforms of Berlusconi and Grillo.

Officials from both center and left warned that the looming deadlock could make Italy ungovernable and force new elections.

A center-left government either alone or ruling with Monti had been seen by investors as the best guarantee of measures to combat a deep recession and stagnant growth in Italy, which is pivotal to stability in the currency union.

The benchmark spread between Italian 10-year bonds and their German equivalent widened from below 260 basis points to above 300 and the Italian share index lost all its previous gains after projections of the Senate result.

"These projections suggest that we are heading for an ungovernable situation", said Mario Secchi, a candidate for Monti's centrist movement.

Stefano Fassina, chief economic official for Bersani's center-left, said: "The scenario from the projections we have seen so far suggests there will be no stable government and we would need to return to the polls."

If the results are confirmed the only possibility looks like a "grand coalition" combining right and left, like the one Monti led for a year. But politicians said before the vote this could not work for long and would struggle to work decisively.

Monti helped save Italy from a debt crisis when Rome's borrowing costs were spiraling out of control, but few Italians now see him as the savior of the country, in its longest recession for 20 years.

Grillo's movement rode a huge wave of voter anger about both the pain of Monti's austerity program and a string of political and corporate scandals. It had particular appeal for a frustrated younger generation shut out of full-time jobs.

"I'm sick of the scandals and the stealing," said Paolo Gentile, a 49-year-old Rome lawyer who voted for 5-Star.

"We need some young, new people in parliament, not the old parties that are totally discredited."

Berlusconi, a billionaire media tycoon, exploited anger against Monti's austerity program, accusing him of being a puppet of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, but in many areas Grillo was a bigger beneficiary of public discontent.

Italy desperately needs a strong, reform-minded government to revive growth after two decades of stagnation and address problems ranging from record youth unemployment to a dysfunctional justice system and a bloated public sector.

Italians wrung their hands at prospects of an inconclusive result that will mean more delays to these reforms.

"It's a classic result. Typically Italian. It means the country is not united. It is an expression of a country that does not work. I knew this would happen," said 36-year-old Rome office worker Roberta Federica.

Another office worker, Elisabetta Carlotta, 46, shook her head in disbelief. "We can't go on like this," she said.

(Additional reporting by Stefano Bernabei, Steve Scherer, Gavin Jones, Naomi O'Leary and Giuseppe Fonte in Rome and Lisa Jucca in Milan; Writing by Barry Moody; Editing by Peter Graff)

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BP accused of greed, lax safety at US oil spill trial

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana: Prosecutors accused BP of letting greed triumph over safety Monday in the opening of a multi-billion dollar trial over the devastating 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

A federal judge in New Orleans is tasked with determining how much BP and its subcontractors should pay for the worst environmental disaster in US history.

US prosecutors are determined to prove that gross negligence caused the April 20, 2010 blast that killed 11 workers and sank the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig, sending millions of barrels of oil gushing into the sea.

The US government plans to introduce ample evidence of "systemic problems of corporate recklessness" and how a "culture of disregard to safety" led to the blowout, said Michael Underhill, lead trial counsel for the United States.

"Reckless actions were tolerated, sometimes encouraged by BP to squeeze every dollar," he told the court.

"Every fork in the road, BP chose time and money over safety in the operation of what (one rig worker) called the 'well from hell.'"

BP is equally determined to avoid a finding of gross negligence, which would drastically increase its environmental fines to as much as $17 billion.

BP is also hoping to shift much of the blame -- and cost -- to rig operator Transocean and subcontractor Halliburton, which was responsible for the runaway well's faulty cement job.

Transocean's poor safety record was the focus of the first lawyer to speak, Jim Roy, who represents thousands of individuals and businesses impacted by the spill through a steering committee.

Roy told the court that the Swiss giant's top safety official on the multimillion dollar rig "was not even minimally competent for this job."

"His training consisted of a three-day course. Amazingly, he had never been aboard the Deepwater Horizon," Roy said, noting that the blowout was the seventh major incident aboard a Transocean rig in the space of 17 months.

Transocean defended its "well-trained" crew whose "death-defying acts of heroism" ensured that "every single man and woman who could have survived, did," and described BP's attempt to shift the blame as "shameful."

"None of this had to happen. It happened because BP was behind schedule and needed to get this done," said Brad Brian, Transocean's lead attorney.

"BP considered another alternative to this: Plug the well and abandon it. but that would have cost over $10 million."

Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell urged the judge to ensure that BP and its contractors bear responsibility for their actions.

"Today, less than 30 miles from the door of this courthouse, over 212 miles of Louisiana coast are being polluted and continue to be oiled," he told the court.

It took 87 days to cap BP's runaway well, which blackened beaches in five states and crippled the region's tourism and fishing industries in a tragedy that riveted the nation.

The British energy giant has already resolved thousands of lawsuits linked to the deadly disaster out of court, including a record $4.5 billion plea deal with the US government in which BP pleaded guilty to criminal charges and a $7.8 billion settlement with people and businesses affected by the spill.

BP spent more than $14 billion on the response and cleanup and paid another $10 billion to businesses, individuals and local governments that did not join the class action lawsuit.

It remains on the hook for billions in additional damages, including the cost of environmental rehabilitation.

The first phase of the civil trial will determine the cause and apportion fault for the disaster.

The second phase, not expected to start for several months, will determine exactly how much oil was spilled in order to calculate environmental fines.

The third phase will deal with environmental and economic damages.

Protesters camped outside the courthouse said they hope that Judge Carl Barbier will assess the maximum penalties possible under the law.

"This is not just about something that's going to take decades to clean up," said Chris Canfield, vice president of Gulf of Mexico conservation and restoration for the National Audubon Society.

"This is about making sure that bad actors are punished for a series of decisions that put profits ahead of people and the environment."

-AFP/ac

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Trekkies conquer contest to name Pluto moons

With assistance from the Hubble Telescope, Mark Showalter and the SETI Institute discovered P4 in 2011 and P5 in 2012.

(Credit:
ESA, and Mark Showalter, NASA)

Earlier this month, astronomer Mark Showalter and the SETI Institute asked the Internet to help name two Plutonian moons. The results are in after 450,324 votes from around the world on the Web site Pluto Rocks.

Pending authorization from the International Astronomical Union, the new names for Pluto's smallest moons -- currently called P4 and P5 -- could end up changing to Cerberus and Vulcan.

While voters originally had a chance to select Cerberus (and 11 other names), the name Vulcan came into play after a suggestion from "Star Trek" alum William Shatner, who played the daring James T. Kirk in the original television series.

Vulcan, more commonly known as a race of brainiacs in "Star Trek," made the list since the poll creators had also put out a call for names from Greek and Roman mythology. Since Vulcan originally means the Roman god of fire and smoke (and the nephew of Pluto), it fit within the criteria of allowable names and quickly took off in the poll.

Over the last several weeks, Captain Kirk regularly pumped out tweets to his million-plus followers asking them to vote for Vulcan. In true Spock form, Leonard Nimoy himself tweeted that Vulcan "is the logical choice."

The final tally for Vulcan impresses at 174,062 votes, while Cerberus came in a distant second at 99,432. Showalter noted on the Pluto Rocks voting site that the final designations for P4 and P5 could take two months to get approved. I'd suggest they don't pass on Vulcan, as you really don't want to mess with a horde of angry Trekkies who believe they successfully named an extraterrestrial moon.

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Jimmie Johnson wins wreck-affected Daytona 500

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, crosses the finish line to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 24, 2013, in Daytona Beach, Florida. / Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. Jimmie Johnson has won his second Daytona 500, racing past defending NASCAR champion Brad Keselowski on the final restart, while Danica Patrick finished eighth.

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Daytona racecar loses control

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Fans injured in crash at Daytona

Johnson wasn't challenged over the final six laps Sunday, adding another 500 title to go with his 2006 victory.

This time crew chief Chad Knaus can enjoy it — he was suspended by NASCAR for the first victory.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. made a late move to finish second, but didn't challenge his Hendrick Motorsports teammate for the victory. Mark Martin was third.

Patrick was third on the final lap, but faded in the flurry of late action. She became the first woman in history to lead laps in the Daytona 500, though, with her three laps out front.

A wreck knocked out Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards early in the race.

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Pistorius' Brother Facing Own Homicide Trial

The attorney for Oscar Pistorius' family said today that the Olympian's brother is facing a culpable homicide charge relating to a 2008 road accident in which a motorcyclist was killed.

Carl Pistorius, who sat behind his younger brother, Oscar, every day at his bail hearing, will now face his own homicide trial for the accident five years ago, which his attorney, Kenny Oldwage, said he "deeply regrets."

Carl Pistorius is charged with culpable homicide, which refers to the unlawful negligent killing of another person. The charges were initially dropped, but were later reinstated, Oldwage said in a statement.

Full Coverage: Oscar Pistorius Case

Pistorius quietly appeared in court on Thursday, one day before his Paralympic gold-medalist brother was released on bail, Oldwage said. His next appearance is scheduled for the end of March.

Liza van Deventer/Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Images

'Blade Runner' Murder Charges: Oscar Pistorius Out on Bail Watch Video

Oscar Pistorius Granted Bail in Murder Case Watch Video

It was the latest twist in a case that has drawn international attention, after 26-year-old Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee who ran in both the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games, was charged with the premeditated murder of his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

On Saturday, Carl Pistorius' Twitter handle was hacked, according to a family spokeswoman, prompting the Pistorius family to cancel their social media accounts.

Steenkamp's parents speak about the Valentine's Day shooting that ended their daughter's life in a sit-down interview on South African television tonight.

On Saturday, the model's father, Barry Steenkamp, told the Afrikaans-language Beeld newspaper that Pistorius will have to "live with his conscience" and will "suffer" if his story that he shot Steenkamp because he believed she was an intruder is false.

RELATED: Oscar Pistorius Case: Key Elements to the Murder Investigation

After a four-day long bail hearing, Pistorius was granted bail Friday by a South African magistrate.

The court set bail at about $113,000 (1 million rand) and June 4 as the date for Pistorius' next court appearance.

Pistoriuis is believed to be staying at his uncle's house as he awaits trial. As part of his bail conditions, Pistorius must give up all his guns, he cannot drink alcohol or return to the home where the shooting occurred, and he must check in with a police department twice a week.

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Gloomy Italians vote in election crucial for euro zone

ROME (Reuters) - Italy voted on Sunday in one of the most unpredictable elections in years, with many voters expressing rage against a discredited elite and doubt that a government will emerge strong enough to combat a severe economic crisis.

"I am pessimistic. Nothing will change," said Luciana Li Mandri, 37, as she cast a ballot in the Sicilian capital Palermo on the first of two days of voting that continues on Monday.

"The usual thieves will be in government."

Her gloom reflected the mood across Italy, where many voters said they thought the new administration would not last long, just the opposite of what Italy needs to combat the longest slump in 20 years, mounting unemployment and a huge public debt.

The election is being closely watched by investors whose memories are fresh of a debt crisis which forced out scandal-plagued conservative premier Silvio Berlusconi 15 months ago and saw him replaced by economics professor Mario Monti.

"I'm not confident that the government that emerges from the election will be able to solve any of our problems," said Attilio Bianchetti, a 55-year-old building tradesman in Milan.

Underlining his disilluion with the established parties, he voted for the 5-Star Movement of comic Beppe Grillo.

An iconclastic, 64-year-old Genoese, Grillo has screamed himself hoarse with obscenity-laced attacks on politicians that have channeled the anger of Italians, especially a frustrated young generation hit by record unemployment.

"He's the only real new element in a political landscape where we've been seeing the same faces for too long," said Vincenzo Cannizzaro, 48, in Palermo.

Opinion polls give the centre-left coalition of Pier Luigi Bersani a narrow lead but the result has been thrown open by the prospect of a huge protest vote against Monti's painful austerity measures and rage at a wave of corruption scandals.

A weak government could usher in new instability in the euro zone's third largest economy and cause another crisis of confidence in the European Union's single currency.

Television tycoon Berlusconi, showing off unrivalled media skills and displaying extraordinary energy for a man of 76, has increased uncertainty over the past couple of months by halving the gap between his centre-right and Bersani.

"I am pessimistic. There is such political fragmentation that we will again have the problem of ungovernability" said Marta, a lawyer voting in Rome who did not want to give her family name. "I fear the new government won't last long."

Another Roman voter, lab technician Manila Luce, 34, said: "I am voting Grillo and I hope a lot of people do. Because it's the only way to show how sick to the back teeth we are with the old parties."

Voting continues until 10 p.m. (4 p.m. EST) and resumes on Monday at 7 a.m. Exit polls will be published shortly after polls close at 3 p.m. on Monday. Full official results are expected by early Tuesday.

Snow in the north was expected to last into Monday and could discourage some of the 47 million eligible voters. Authorities said they were prepared for the weather and in the central city of Bologna roads were cleared of snow before voting started.

TOPLESS FEMINISTS

Several bare-breasted women protested against Berlusconi when he voted in Milan. They were bundled away by police.

The four-time premier, known for off-color jokes and a constant target of feminists, is on trial for having sex with an underage prostitute during "bunga bunga" parties at his villa.

Most experts expect a coalition between Bersani and Monti to form the next administration, but whatever government emerges will have to try to reverse years of failure to revitalize one of the most sluggish economies in the developed world.

The widespread despair over the state of the country, where a series of corruption scandals has highlighted the stark divide between a privileged political elite and millions of ordinary Italians struggling to make ends meet, has left deep scars.

"It's our fault, Italian citizens. It's our closed mentality. We're just not Europeans," said voter Li Mandri in Palermo.

"We're all about getting favors when we study, getting a protected job when we work," she said. "That's the way we are and we can only be represented by people like that as well."

ECONOMIC AGENDA

Even if Bersani wins as expected, Analysts are divided over whether he will be able to form a stable majority that can force through sweeping economic reforms.

His centre-left is expected to have firm control of the lower house, thanks to rules that give a strong majority to whichever party wins the most votes nationally.

But a much closer battle will be fought for the Senate which is elected on a regional basis and which has equal law making powers to the chamber.

Berlusconi has clawed back support by promising to repeal Monti's hated new housing tax, the IMU, and to refund the money. He relentlessly attacked what he called the "Germano-centric" policies of the former European Union commissioner.

Think-tank consultant Mario, 60, said on his way to vote in Bologna that Bersani's Democratic Party was the only group serious enough to repair the economy: "They're not perfect," he said. "But they've got the organization and the union backing that will help them push through structural reforms."

Despite Berlusconi's success, Grillo has tapped into the same public frustration as the conservative tycoon and pollsters say his 5-Star Movement of political novices could overtake the centre-right to take second place in the vote.

Rivals have branded Grillo a threat to democracy - a vivid image in a country ruled by fascists for two decades until World War Two. Several voters who spoke to Reuters said Grillo was not the answer because of his lack of concrete policies and the inexperience of those who will sit in parliament for 5-Star.

"Grillo is a populist and populism doesn't work in a democracy," said retired notary Pasquale Lebanon, 76, as he voted for Bersani's Democratic Party in Milan.

"I'm very worried. There seems to be no way out from a political point of view, or for being able to govern," said Calogero Giallanza, a 45-year-old musician in Rome as he also voted for Bersani.

"There's bound to be a mess in the Senate because, as far as I can see the 5-Star Movement is unstoppable."

(Additional reporting by Cristiano Corvino, Lisa Jucca, Jennifer Clark, Matthias Baehr, Jennifer Clark and Sara Rossi in Milan, Stephen Jewkes in Bologna, Wladimir Pantaleone in Palermo, Stefano Bernabei and Massimiliano Di Giorgio in Rome; Writing by James Mackenzie and Barry Moody; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)

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