Zebrafish made to grow pre-hands instead of fins

PERHAPS the little fish embryo shown here is dancing a jig because it has just discovered that it has legs instead of fins. Fossils show that limbs evolved from fins, but a new study shows how it may have happened, live in the lab.

Fernando Casares of the Spanish National Research Council and his colleagues injected zebrafish with the hoxd13 gene from a mouse. The protein that the gene codes for controls the development of autopods, a precursor to hands, feet and paws.

Zebrafish naturally carry hoxd13 but produce less of the protein than tetrapods - all four-limbed vertebrates and birds - do. Casares and his colleagues hoped that by injecting extra copies of the gene into the zebrafish embryos, some of their cells would make more of the protein.

One full day later, all of those fish whose cells had taken up the gene began to develop autopods instead of fins. They carried on growing for four days but then died (Cell, DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2012.10.015).

"Of course, we haven't been able to grow hands," says Casares. He speculates that hundreds of millions of years ago, the ancestors of tetrapods began expressing more hoxd13 for some reason and that this could have allowed them to evolve autopods.

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Obama picks Kerry for top diplomatic post: TV

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has chosen Senator John Kerry to succeed Hillary Clinton as US secretary of state, news networks CNN and ABC reported Saturday.

CNN cited a Democratic source who had spoken to Kerry, while ABC mentioned unnamed sources. Asked for comment by AFP, the White House did not immediately confirm the reports, but Kerry is seen as a frontrunner for the role.

The defeated 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, Kerry is currently head of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations committee.

On Thursday, Obama's ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, withdrew her name from consideration for the secretary of state post, effectively elevating Kerry to the prohibitive favorite.

Rice had come under fire over controversial statements about the deadly September 11 attack on a US mission in Libya, and some Republican lawmakers had vowed to block her path to becoming top diplomat.

- AFP/ir

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The victims

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Principal Dawn Hochsprung was "a tough lady in the right sort of sense," friend says


• Mary Sherlach served as Sandy Hook's school psychologist since 1994


• Teacher Victoria Soto died while shielding first graders from shooter


• First-grader Emilie Parker "was the sweetest little girl I've ever known," aunt says

Editor's note: CNN is listing the full names of children only when their parents have spoken publicly.

(CNN) -- The 26 people killed by a gunman at a Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school Friday included six women who worked there and 20 students. Of the 12 girls and eight boys shot to death inside Sandy Hook Elementary School, 16 were 6 years old, while the other four turned 7 in just the last few months, according to an official list of the victims released by state police Saturday.

The victims included:

Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, 47

Hochsprung, who became Sandy Hook Elementary School's principal two years ago, was "really nice and very fun, but she was also very much a tough lady in the right sort of sense," friend Tom Prunty said. And the students loved her. "Even little kids know when someone cares about them, and that was her," Prunty said.

"I never saw her without a smile," said Aimee Seaver, mother of a first-grader.

Hochsprung lived in Woodbury, Connecticut, with her husband, two daughters and three stepdaughters.

Newtown school shooting: World reacts

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The longtime career educator majored in special education for her bachelor's and master's degrees in the 1990s and had just entered the Ph.D. program at Esteves School of Education at the Sage Colleges in New York last summer. Hochsprung led a school district's strategic planning panel and was the recipient of a national school grant.

Her accomplishments included overseeing the installation of a new security system requiring every visitor to ring the front entrance's doorbell after the school doors locked at 9:30 a.m.

Mary Sherlach, 56

Sherlach, Sandy Hook Elementary's school psychologist, was with Hochsprung when they heard a "pop, pop, pop" sound around 9:30 a.m., a parent with both women at the time told CNN. Sherlach was shot to death after heading into the hall to find out what was happening.

"I ... am always ready to assist in problem-solving, intervention and prevention," Sherlach wrote on her website.

Sherlach earned her undergraduate degree in psychology at SUNY Cortland and a master's degree at Southern Connecticut State University. She worked as a rehabilitation assistant at a group home for disabled adults and as a community mental health placement specialist before becoming a school psychologist. She worked in three Connecticut school systems before moving to Sandy Hook Elementary in 1994. During her time in Newtown, Sherlach kept busy as a member of numerous groups such as the district conflict resolution committee, safe school climate committee, crisis intervention team and student instructional team.

Sherlach and her husband for more than three decades lived in Trumbull, Connecticut, and, together, they were "proud parents" of two daughters in their late 20s. Her website listed her interests as gardening, reading and going to the theater.

Lauren Russeau, 30

Russeau, a permanent substitute teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary, "wanted to be a teacher from before she even went to kindergarten," her mother said in a written statement Saturday. "We will miss her terribly and will take comfort knowing that she had achieved that dream," Teresa Russeau said.

She grew up in Danbury, Connecticut, and earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Connecticut and a master's degree in elementary education from the University of Bridgeport.

Russeau "worked as a substitute teacher in Danbury, New Milford and Newtown before she was hired in November as a permanent substitute teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown," her mother's statement said.

Victoria Soto, 27

Soto, a first grade teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary, moved her students away from the classroom door when she heard gunfire, which students initially "thought were hammers falling," according to the father of one of her students.

Her students were huddled behind her in a corner of the classroom, her family said.

"That's when the gunman burst in, did not say a word, no facial expressions, and proceeded to shoot their teacher," said Robert Licata, whose 6-year-old son Aiden escaped by running past the shooter.

"She instinctively went into action when a monster came into her classroom and tried to protect the kids that she loved so much," her cousin, James Wiltsie, said. "We just want the public to know that Vicki was a hero."

While Soto had no children of her own, she did love her dog. The black lab Roxie spent Saturday wondering around Soto's apartment, apparently looking for her, relatives said.

Emilie Parker, 6

Emilie "was the type of person who could light up a room," her father told reporters Saturday. His oldest daughter was "bright, creative and very loving," and "always willing to try new things other than food," Robbie Parker said.

"Emilie Alice Parker was the sweetest little girl I've ever known," her aunt, Jill Cottle Garrett, said. The family is devastated that "someone so beautiful and perfect is no longer going to be in our lives and for no reason," Garrett said.

"My daugher Emilie would be one of the first ones to be standing up and giving her love and support to all of those victims, because that is the type of person she is," her father said. She was "an exceptional artist and she always carried around her markers and pencils so she never missed an opportunity to draw a picture or make a card for someone."

She placed one of her cards in the casket at the funeral of her grandfather, who recently died in an accident, Parker said.

Emilie's "laughter was infectious," he said. "This world is a better place because she has been in it."

Her father, who works as a physician's assistant in the newborn unit at the Danbury hospital, said his last conversation with his daughter was in Portuguese, a language he was teaching her.

"She said that she loved me and I gave her a kiss and I was out the door," he said.

Emilie was a mentor to her two younger sisters -- ages 3 and 4 -- and "they looked to her when they needed comfort," her father said.

A Facebook page was created to collect donations to help pay expenses to take Emilie back to her native Utah for burial, her aunt said.

Other victims

Rachel Davino, 29; Anne Marie Murphy, 25; Charlotte, 6; Daniel, 7; Olivia, 6; Josephine, 7; Ana, 6; Dylan, 6; Madeleine, 6; Catherine, 6; Chase, 7; Jesse, 6; James, 6; Grace, 7; Anne Marie Murphy, 52; Jack, 6; Noah, 6; Caroline, 6; Jessica, 6; Avielle, 6; Benjamin, 6; Allison, 6.

CNN's Jason Carroll and Kate Bolduan contributed to this report.

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Conn. dad recalls loving, creative 6-year-old

NEWTOWN, Conn. Fighting back tears and struggling to catch his breath, the father of a 6-year-old gunned down in Friday's school shooting in Connecticut told the world about a little girl who loved to draw and was always smiling, and he also reserved surprising words of sympathy for the gunman.

Robbie Parker's daughter Emilie was among the 20 children who died in the one of the worst attacks on schoolchildren in U.S. history. He was one of the first parents to speak publicly about their loss.

"She was beautiful. She was blond. She was always smiling," he said.

Parker spoke to reporters not long after police released the names and ages of the victims, a simple document that told a horrifying story of loss.

He expressed no animosity, said he was not mad and offered sympathy for family of the man who killed 26 people and himself.

To the man's family, he said, "I can't imagine how hard this experience must be for you."

He said he struggled to explain the death to Emilie's two siblings, 3 and 4.

"They seem to get the fact that they have somebody they're going to miss very much," he said.

Parker said his daughter loved to try new things — except for new food. And she was quick to cheer up those in need.

36 Photos

Vigils for Conn. school shooting victims

"She never missed an opportunity to draw a picture or make a card for those she around her," he said.

The world is a better place because Emilie was in it, he said.

"I'm so blessed to be her dad," he said.

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Conn. Victim's Father Remembers 'Loving' Daughter

(Image credit: Emilie Parker Fund/Facebook)

Emilie Parker, the little girl with the blond hair and bright blue eyes, would have been one of the first to comfort her classmates at Sandy Hook Elementary School, had a gunman’s bullets not claimed her life, her father said.

“My daughter Emilie would be one of the first ones to be standing and giving support to all the victims because that’s the kind of kid she is,” her father, Robbie Parker said as he fought back tears, telling the world about his “bright, creative and loving” daughter who was one of the 20 young victims in the Newtown, Conn., shooting.

“She always had something kind to say about anybody,” her father said.  ”We find comfort reflecting on the incredible person Emilie was and how many lives she was able to touch.”

Emilie, 6, was helping teach her younger sisters to read and make things, and she was the little girls would go to for comfort, he said.

“They looked up to her,” Parker said.

READ: Complete List of Sandy Hook Victims

Parker moved his wife and three daughters to Newtown eight months ago after accepting a job as  a physician’s assistant at Danbury Hospital. He said Emilie, his oldest daughter, seemed to have adjusted well to her new school, and he was very happy with the school, too.

“I love the people at the school. I love Emilie’s teacher and the classmates we were able to get to know,” he said.

      (Image Credit: Alex von Kleydorff/AP Photo)

The family dealt with another tragic loss in October when Emilie lost her grandfather in an accident.

“[This] has been a topic that has been discussed in our family in the past couple of  months,” Parker said. “[My daughters ages 3 and 4] seem to get the idea that there’s somebody who they will miss very much.”

Emilie, a budding artist who carried her markers and pencils everywhere, paid tribute to her grandfather by slipping a special card she had drawn into his casket, Parker said.  It was something she frequently did to lift the spirits of others.

“I can’t count the number of times Emilie would find someone feeling sad or frustrated and would make people a card,” Parker said. “She was an exceptional artist.”

The girl who was remembered as “always willing to try new things, other than food” was learning Portuguese from her father, who speaks the language.

(Image Credit: Emilie Parker Fund/Facebook)

On Friday morning, Emilie woke up before her father left for his job and exchanged a few sentences with him in the language.

“She told me good morning and asked how I was doing,” Parker said. “She said she loved me, I gave her a kiss and I was out the door.”

Parker found out about the shooting while on lockdown in Danbury Hospital and found a television for the latest news.

“I didn’t think it was that big of deal at first,” he said. “With the first reports coming in, it didn’t sound like it was going to be as tragic as it was. That’s kind of what it was like for us.”

CLICK HERE for full coverage of the Sandy Hook shooting.

Parker said he knows that God can’t take away free will and would have been unable to stop the Sandy Hook shooting. While gunman Adam Lanza used his free agency to take innocent lives, Parker said he plans to use his in a positive way.

“I’m not mad because I have my  [free] agency to use this event to do whatever I can to make sure my family and my wife and my daughters are taken care [of],” he said. “And if there’s anything I can do to help to anyone at any time at anywhere, I’m free to do that.”

(Image credit: Emilie Parker Fund/Facebook)

Friday night, hours after he learned of his daughter’s death, Parker said he spoke at his church.

“I don’t know how to get through something like this. My wife and I don’t understand how to process all of this,” he said today. “We find strength in our religion and in our faith and in our family. ”

“It’s a horrific tragedy and I want everyone to know our hearts and prayers go out to them. This includes the family of the shooter. I can’t imagine how hard this experience must be for you and I want you to know our family … love and support goes out to you as well.”

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CERN becomes first pure physics voice in UN chorus

Lisa Grossman, physical sciences reporter

(Image: UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras)

If CERN observes the proceedings of the United Nations, will it change the outcome?

The international particle physics laboratory, based near Geneva, Switzerland, has been granted observer status in the General Assembly of the United Nations, CERN officials announced today. 

The lab joins environmental groups and public health agencies as the first physical sciences research organization in the ranks of UN observers. Observer status grants the right to speak at meetings, participate in procedural votes, and sign and sponsor resolutions, but not to vote on resolutions.

In some ways, CERN's addition seems a natural move - and a long time coming.

The facility was founded in 1954 under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). Its initial mission was to provide collaborative projects for researchers from Allied countries and former Axis countries after the second World War.

Arguably the lab's most high-profile project, the Large Hadron Collider, made headlines worldwide this year when it revealed detection of a new particle that appears to be the elusive Higgs boson.

"Through its projects, which bring together scientists from all over the world, CERN also promotes dialogue between nations and has become a model for international cooperation," CERN states in a press release. The lab says it may use its new status with the UN to help shore up scientific education and technological capabilities in developing countries, particularly in Africa.

But just as observing a quantum particle can change its state, can CERN's involvement truly collapse the UN's wavefunction and trigger better global science and technology policies? Only time will tell.

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Police hunt man who threatened shooting at US mosque

LOS ANGELES: Police in California are looking for a man who reportedly walked into a California mosque saying he had a gun and threatened to kill everyone, a spokeswoman said Friday.

The man entered the Ibrahim Khalilullah Islamic Center in Fremont, south of San Francisco, during afternoon prayer Wednesday, said mosque leaders, urging official action to track down the man.

According to witnesses, a "white male in his thirties entered the IKI Center Mosque during prayer, and shouted that he had a gun and wanted to kill everyone. When confronted, the male left," said a police spokeswoman.

"We are a little worried because of the situation that happened in Oregon," said Fareed Wardak, a member of the center's board of directors, referring to a shooting in the western US state that left three dead on Tuesday.

"We don't want the same thing to happen," he told KTVU television, in comments made before Friday's shooting at an elementary school in the eastern state of Connecticut that killed 20 children and six adults.

The man left without taking out a gun. Fremont Police Department spokeswoman Geneva Bosques told AFP: "He never displayed a gun, kept his hands in his pockets. We are following up in an attempt to look at video surveillance."

The man possibly drove a 1990s gray Toyota Camry, and officers will be carrying out extra patrols looking for anything suspicious, KTVU reported.

"We do have surveillance cameras. We'll be getting pictures out of that system," said Wardak, adding: "We're not sure what kind of person" the man was.

"It's Christmas, people are going back and forth," said Mohammed Zarabi, president of the board of directors. "Maybe he needs some money. I can't say what his intention was. I just hope it doesn't happen again."

The center has some 500 members, mostly of Afghan descent, and has been in the city for two decades.

This week's shootings in Oregon and Connecticut have revived the perennial debate about gun control in the United States, a country that regularly has to cope with such apparently random killings.

Friday's massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut was the second deadliest US school shooting, after the 2007 campus shootings at Virginia Tech University, which left 32 dead.

- AFP/ck

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Pearlman: I think Bobby Petrino is slime

Bobby Petrino was named head coach at Western Kentucky, months after being embroiled in scandal at University of Arkansas

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Bobby Petrino was named the new football coach at Western Kentucky this week


• Hiring came just months after he was fired from Arkansas amid scandal


• Jeff Pearlman says, sadly, this is no surprise in big-time college sports


• He says the vast majority of players are ultimately hurt by the behavior of coaches and administrators

Editor's note: Jeff Pearlman is the author of 'Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton.' He blogs at jeffpearlman.com. Follow him on Twitter.

(CNN) -- I have a dog named Norma.

She is a small beige cockapoo who barks at the mailman.

I would not trust Bobby Petrino to watch her.

Jeff Pearlman

I also would not trust Bobby Petrino to take my car in for a tire change. I would not trust Bobby Petrino to deposit my Aunt Ruth's Social Security check. I wouldn't trust him to clean my bowling ball, shop for a Christmas ham, change a twenty for two tens, tell me the time or recite the proper lyrics to Blind Melon's "No Rain."

This is not because I am a particularly untrusting person.

No, it's because I think Bobby Petrino is slime.

In case you missed the news, two days ago Western Kentucky University held a press conference to announce that Petrino, undeniably one of the nation's elite football minds, had agreed to a four-year, $850,000 per year deal to take over the Hilltoppers.

With nearly 400 giddy sports fanatics in attendance, Petrino, standing alongside Todd Stewart, the school's athletic director, spoke of honor and loyalty and love and redemption. The ensuing press release, issued by Western Kentucky's sports information department, was straight out of Disney: 101. It made Petrino sound like a cross between Vince Lombardi, Martin Luther King and Gandhi; God's gift to young men seeking to better themselves.

Petrino fired as Arkansas head football coach

What it failed to mention—and what the school desperately wants everyone to fail to mention—is that Petrino may well be the least ethically whole man in the, ahem, ethically whole-deprived world of Division I collegiate sports.

Why, it was only seven months ago that Petrino, at the time the University of Arkansas' head coach, was riding his motorcycle when he crashed along Highway 16 near Crosses, Arkansas.

When asked by school officials to explain what had happened, he failed to mention that, eh, also on the bike was Jessica Dorrell, a 26-year-old former Razorbacks volleyball player who worked as the student-athlete development coordinator for the football program. It turned out that Petrino, a married father of four, was not only having an affair with Dorrell (who was engaged at the time), but was a key voice on the board that hired her for the position when she wasn't even remotely qualified.

During an ensuing university investigation, it was determined that Petrino made a previously undisclosed $20,000 cash gift to Dorrell as a Christmas present.

Ho, ho, ho.

To his credit, Jeff Long, the school's athletic director, defied the wishes of every pigskin-blinded Razorback fan and fired Petrino. In a statement, he rightly wrote that, "all of these facts, individually and collectively, are clearly contrary to character and responsibilities of the person occupying the position of the Head Football Coach—an individual who should serve as a role model and a leader for our student-athlete."

Now, ethics and morals and character be damned, Bobby Petrino has returned, spewing off nonsense about second chances (Ever notice how garbage men and bus drivers rarely get the second chances we are all—according to fallen athletic figures—rightly afforded as Americans?) and learning from mistakes and making things right.

Western Kentucky, a school with mediocre athletics and apparently, sub-mediocre standards, has turned to a person who lied to his last employer about the nature of an accident involving the mistress he allegedly hired to a university position she was unqualified to hold. Please, if you must, take a second to read that again. And again. And again.

Bobby Petrino, holder of a Ph.D. in the Deceptive Arts (he also ditched the University of Louisville shortly after signing a long-term extension in 2007, and quit as coach of the Atlanta Falcons 13 game into his first season later that year. He informed his players via a note atop their lockers), will be the one charged with teaching the 17- and 18-year-old boys who decide to come to Bowling Green about not merely football, but life. He will be their guide. Their compass. Their role model.

Bobby Petrino and social media prove a bad mix

Sadly, in the world of Division I sports, such is far from surprising. This has been a year unlike any other; one where the virtues of greed and the color of green don't merely cloak big-time college athletics, but control them. In case you haven't noticed, we are in the midst of a dizzying, nauseating game of Conference Jump, where colleges and universities—once determined to maintain geographic rivals in order to limit student travel—have lost their collective minds.

The University of Maryland, a charter member of the ACC, is headed for the Big Ten. The Big East—formerly a power conference featuring the likes of Syracuse, Georgetown, St. John's and Connecticut—has added Boise State, San Diego State, Memphis, Houston, Southern Methodist and Navy. Idaho moved from the WAC to the Big Sky, Middle Tennessee State and Florida Atlantic went to Conference USA, the University of Denver—a member of the WAC for approximately 27 minutes—joined the Summit League. Which, to be honest, I didn't even know existed.

Rest assured, none of these moves (literally, nary a one) were conducted with the best interests of so-called student-athletes in mind. New conferences tend to offer increased payouts, increased merchandising opportunities, increased exposure and increased opportunities to build a new stadium—one with 80,000 seats, 100 luxury boxes, $20 million naming rights, $9 hot dogs and the perfect spot for ESPN to broadcast its Home Depot pregame show.

Why, within 24 hours of quarterback Johnny Manziel winning the Heisman Trophy, Texas A&M was hawking Heisman T-shirts for $24 on its website (Or, for a mere $54.98, one can purchase his No. 2 jersey).

Percentage of the dough that winds up in Manziel's pocket? Zero.

After another spectacular exit, Petrino eyes football return

That, really, is the rub of it all; of Petrino's crabgrass-like revival; of coaches bounding from one job for another (even as players can only do so after sitting out a year); of Rutgers moving west and San Diego State moving east and athletic department officials moving on up (to a penthouse apartment in the sky); of $54.98 jerseys.

It's the athletes ultimately getting screwed.

Sure, for the 0.5% of Division I football players who wind up in the NFL, the deal is a sweet one. The other 99.5%, however, are mere pawns, sold a dizzying narrative of glory and fame and lifelong achievement, but, more often than not, left uneducated, unfulfilled and physically battered.

They are told a coach will be with them for four years—then watch as said figure takes a $2 million gig elsewhere but, hey, only because it was right for him and his family.

They are told they will receive a great education, then find themselves stuck on a six-hour flight from California to Newark, New Jersey. They are told that these will be the greatest years of their life, that the college experience is a special one, that only the highest of standards exist.

Then they meet their new coach: Bobby Petrino.

Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jeff Pearlman.

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Hundreds pack Conn. church for vigil after rampage

Girls embraces outside St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, which was filled to capacity, during a healing service held in for victims of an elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., Friday, Dec. 14, 2012. A gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, killing 26 people, including 20 children. / AP Photo/Charles Krupa

NEWTOWN, Conn. Hundreds of people are packing a church and spilling outside in Connecticut to remember the victims of a shooting that killed 26 people at an elementary school.

With the church filled to capacity, hundreds of people stood outside Friday night at the St. Rose of Lima church in Newtown, some of them holding hands in circles and saying prayers. Others lit candles and sang "Silent Night."

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is among the speakers.

47 Photos

Connecticut elementary school shooting

Anthony Bloss, whose three daughters survived the shooting, says they heard gunshots but they are not talking much about the shooting. He says he feels completely numb.

Tracy Hoekenga says she wanted to come to the vigil because she is struggling with many emotions. Her two boys survived the shooting.

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Conn. Shooter Adam Lanza: 'Obviously Not Well'

Adam Lanza of Newtown, Connecticut was a child of the suburbs and a child of divorce who at age 20 still lived with his mother.

This morning he appears to have started his day by shooting his mother Nancy in the face, and then driving to nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School armed with at least two handguns and at least one semi-automatic rifle.

There, before turning his gun on himself, he shot and killed 20 children, who President Obama later described as between five and 10 years of age. Six adults were also killed at the school. Nancy Lanza was found dead in her home.

A relative told ABC News that Adam was "obviously not well."

Family friends in Newtown also described the young man as troubled and described Nancy as very rigid. "[Adam] was not connected with the other kids," said one friend.

State and federal authorities believe his mother may have once worked at the elementary school where Adam went on his deadly rampage, although she was not a teacher, according to relatives, perhaps a volunteer.

Nancy and her husband Peter, Adam's father, divorced in 2009. When they first filed for divorce in 2008, a judge ordered that they participate in a "parenting education program."

Peter Lanza, who drove to northern New Jersey to talk to police and the FBI, is a vice president at GE Capital and had been a partner at global accounting giant Ernst & Young.

Adam's older brother Ryan Lanza, 24, has worked at Ernst & Young for four years, apparently following in his father's footsteps and carving out a solid niche in the tax practice. He too was interviewed by the FBI. Neither he nor his father is under any suspicion.

"[Ryan] is a tax guy and he is clean as a whistle," a source familiar with his work said.

Police had initially identified Ryan as the killer. Ryan sent out a series of Facebook posts saying it wasn't him and that he was at work all day. Video records as well as card swipes at Ernst & Young verified his statement that he had been at the office.

Investigators are looking into whether Adam Lanza was carrying his older brother Ryan's identification at the time of the shooting, which may have caused the confusion. Neither Adam nor Ryan has any known criminal history.

With reporting by Pierre Thomas, Jim Avila, Santina Leuci, Aaron Katersky, Jason Ryan and Jay Shaylor

MORE: 27 Dead, Mostly Children, at Connecticut Elementary School Shooting

LIVE UPDATES: Newton, Conn. School Shooting

Click Here for the Blotter Homepage.

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Today on New Scientist: 13 December 2012

Violent beauty at the end of an Alaskan glacier

You can almost hear the crash of ice on water in this stunning image of an ice sheet calving off the Chenega glacier in Alaska

Overeating now bigger global problem than lack of food

The most comprehensive disease report ever produced confirms that, for the first time, there is a larger health problem from people eating too much than too little

In search of the world's oldest cave etching

Strange markings on the walls of a cave in Australia's vast Nullarbor Plain could have been a tactile code for ancient Aboriginal flint miners

Higgs boson having an identity crisis

Six months on from its announcement, the mass and decay rates of the particle thought to be the Higgs boson are proving hard to pin down

Go forth and print: 3D objects you can print yourself

We pick our favourite objects to 3D-print, including a mathematical cookie cutter, a wormhole and a New Scientist holiday tree ornament inspired by fractals

Laser drills could relight geothermal energy dreams

High-powered lasers that can drill through igneous rocks may make reaching oil and geothermal sources much easier

Robots should be cleaning your home

Tech investor Dmitri Grishin explains why the time is right for sleek, versatile robots that will be our everyday helpers rather than factory equipment

Welcome to the personal drone revolution

Sophisticated, affordable drones could soon be so commonplace that they will become our personal servants, says Michael Brooks

Finding dangerous asteroids, before they find us

Near-Earth Objects: Finding them before they find us by Donald Yeomans is a fascinating tour guide of the asteroids we should worry about

World's loneliest bug turns up in Death Valley

A microbe that survives deep below Earth's surface without the sun's energy has reappeared, in California

Search for aliens poses game theory dilemma

The complex question of whether to risk contact with ET may be navigable with a new spin on the "prisoner's dilemma"

'Robot ecosystem' in sight as apps get a cash boost

The first company dedicated to investing in consumer robotics stakes $250,000 on robot apps

First results from James Cameron's trip to the abyss

It's not Pandora, but the Mariana trench holds life just as strange as that in James Cameron's film Avatar

UK government urged to consider relaxing drug rules

A parliamentary report calls for a fresh programme of research to monitor the effects of European drug legalisation

Read More..

With Rice's withdrawal, US lawmakers eye Kerry for State

WASHINGTON: US Republican and Democratic senators were fiercely split over Susan Rice's withdrawal on Thursday as candidate for secretary of state, but they appeared to unite over a likely replacement: Senator John Kerry.

UN ambassador Rice, a close ally of President Barack Obama, had been a frontrunner to replace Hillary Clinton as Washington's top diplomat but fell foul of a row over the administration's reaction to the attacks in Benghazi, Libya on September 11 of this year.

Republicans who strongly opposed Rice's bid welcomed her decision to back down, while Democrats voiced their disappointment.

"I think it's the right decision," Republican Senator John Barrasso told reporters. "Her reporting after the 9/11 attacks, to me, was when she disqualified herself for that position."

Rice withdrew her name from consideration after it became clear that her confirmation hearings would be dominated by criticism of her public statements about the attack on a US consulate in eastern Libya.

But lawmakers on both sides of the political divide agreed that her departure opened the door for Kerry, the current chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"I think Kerry would be eminently qualified and confirmable," Barrasso said.

After the wrangling over Rice, "I want to see somebody as secretary of state who has sound judgment, who will ask tough questions."

Kerry is a known commodity. He has served on the Foreign Relations Committee for some three decades, ran for president, and is well-travelled in global hot spots like the Middle East, where the United States must tread carefully.

"Even if we don't agree with Senator Kerry on some of the domestic issues, we think that he has handled foreign relations as chairman pretty good," said Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa.

With Rice out of the picture, he said "I think we'll be able to approve a secretary of state faster," particularly if Kerry, 69, gets the nod.

"I think he'd have an easy confirmation."

Liberal independent Senator Bernie Sanders said he believed Republicans "made the Benghazi tragedy and the loss of life into a very partisan political issue, and that's unfortunate."

Conservatives turned on Rice after she appeared on talk shows five days after the attack and used flawed intelligence briefing notes to portray the assault as a spontaneous demonstration against an anti-Islam video.

It transpired that the attack, which took place during a fraught US presidential race and left four Americans dead including US ambassador Chris Stevens, had been orchestrated by a local militia with Al-Qaeda ties.

Alleging a cover-up, some Republicans, including Senator John McCain, had openly threatened to block Rice's nomination should Obama choose her, which he at first seemed poised to do, publicly standing by her.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrat Chris Coons said that while he was disappointed to learn of Rice's withdrawal, Kerry was a top alternative.

"I certainly admire his leadership of our committee and think that he is a strong and capable advocate for the United States," Coons said.

"The president is entitled to a nominee of his choice, and at this particularly troubled, difficult and challenging moment in the world, it's important for us to have a seasoned and experienced senior leader."

Kerry in a statement praised Rice as an "extraordinarily capable and dedicated public servant," and alluded to his own battles in the political arena.

"As someone who has weathered my share of political attacks and understands on a personal level just how difficult politics can be, I've felt for her throughout these last difficult weeks," he said.

NBC News, which first reported Rice's withdrawal, quoted an official close to the nominations process, who said Kerry was virtually assured the State job.

"There were two people on the list," the person told NBC. "Two minus one is one."

- AFP/xq

Read More..

Obama, Boehner have 'frank' meeting about fiscal cliff

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Like Boehner's office, the White House describes the meeting as "frank"


• "Lines of communication remain open," both sides say


• Boehner says "spending is the problem;" Democrats say the rich should pay more


• Stocks fall amid uncertainty about the political impasse over the fiscal cliff

Washington (CNN) -- Facing a looming deadline to avoid the fiscal cliff, President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner met Thursday for their first face-to-face talk in four days.

Boehner arrived for the previously unscheduled meeting just after 5 p.m. ET, a few hours after claiming Obama had failed to offer a serious compromise to prevent the fiscal cliff's automatic tax hikes and spending cuts set to take effect in less than three weeks. He spent about 50 minutes in the White House before returning to his office.

A White House official and Boehner's spokesman then issued near identical statements, calling the Oval Office meeting "frank" and saying the "lines of communication remain open."

The meeting didn't spur Boehner to change his plans to return to Ohio on Friday, one of the speaker's aides said. The House is scheduled to end its current session that day, but Majority Leader Eric Cantor has told lawmakers they could be working longer than that with the fiscal cliff still in limbo.

The inability to reach a deal, thus far, reflects Democrats and Republicans' underlying divisions about the size of government and how much the wealthiest Americans should pay in taxes.

For all the public posturing and private talks, there are fears failing to avert a crisis -- which has been two years in the making -- could spur another recession. The possibility is spooking holiday shoppers and investors, with stock values falling due to the fiscal uncertainty despite otherwise upbeat economic news.

Boehner on Thursday said the president hasn't signed on to a plan that "is truly balanced and begins to solve our spending problem." Republicans have said 71% of every tax dollar now goes to support Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, as well as paying interest on the national debt, claiming the cost of these items would equal all federal tax revenue in 2026 unless changes are made.

"The president wants to pretend spending isn't the problem," said Boehner. "That's why we don't have an agreement."

One simple, controversial fiscal cliff fix

Minutes before he spoke, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi argued Obama and Congress already cut spending in budget battles of the past two years. Simply cutting more, she said, could hurt the economy.

"You're not going to reduce the deficit by ... only cutting your way to it because you will cut the prospects for job creation, which produce revenue," Pelosi said.

At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney complained Republicans haven't offered details on which deductions or loopholes they would eliminate to raise revenue. Regardless, he reiterated Obama will only agree to a deal if it involves tax rates going up for the top 2% of Americans and extending tax cuts for the vast majority -- a proposal some Republicans have expressed openness to, but not Boehner.

By the numbers: Fiscal cliff

The two sides have exchanged counteroffers that include two shifts by the White House. Democratic sources said Obama lowered his revenue demand from $1.6 trillion to $1.4 trillion but also added changes to the corporate rate to his proposal involving income taxes.

Obama and Democrats want Boehner to hold a vote on the president's tax plan to extend tax cuts for income up to $250,000 for families, which the Senate passed. Some House Republicans have said they'd support the measure, which the Senate passed, and Boehner avoided a direct answer when asked Thursday about a possible vote.

Boehner argues that raising taxes on high-income earners "will hurt small businesses."

Some small business owners interviewed by CNNMoney said they'd continue with plans to expand even if the Obama proposal gets passed and raises their taxes. They hate higher taxes, but say they'll endure it. And the Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs of major corporations, dropped its opposition to the Whit House plan on Wednesday.

"If your business is good, you'll grow it. We'll figure out a way," said Chelsea Sloan, who started the Uptown Cheapskate retail franchise. "Business owners who say they'll stop hiring if tax rates go higher are blowing smoke."

Sen. Ron Johnson conceded Wednesday on Fox Business Network that Obama "holds all the cards" since he can veto any bill. "So we may have to do a fallback position where we're just trying to minimize the damage," the Wisconsin Republican said.

At the same time, Johnson said Obama and fellow Democrats haven't shown they intend "to limit the rate of growth in government."

How people are prepping for the fiscal cliff

Democrats consider entitlement programs to be the foundation of the social contract with Americans and therefore question pushes to cut them. Instead, they insist the programs can be strengthened through improved efficiency and other reforms, such as the $700 billion in Medicare savings under Obama's 2010 health care reform law.

Is the tea party ready to deal on fiscal cliff?

Polls consistently show the public favors Obama's position of raising taxes on wealthy Americans in order to minimize cuts.

Nearly half of Americans -- 49% -- approve the president's handling of the talks, compared with 25% who say Boehner is doing a good job, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a Bloomberg National Poll found nearly two-thirds of respondents, including nearly 50% of Republicans, believe Obama's re-election gave him a mandate to seek higher taxes on the wealthy.

Businesses hate higher taxes but say they'll endure it

Regardless of which side of the debate citizens fall, experts agree most everyone will be affected if a deal isn't struck. Two former Senate majority leaders said Thursday both sides must be ready to compromise.

"The simplest way to put it is that we're at 24% spending, we're at 16% revenue," said Tom Daschle, the former Democratic senator from South Dakota. "We've got to bring those two closer together, and that's how you get a balanced budget, and ultimately that's how you get fiscal responsibility. ... It can be done."

To Trent Lott, the former Republican senator from Mississippi, it comes down to the principal negotiators.

"There'll come a moment when the speaker ... and the president will have to make a decision," Lott said. "But they need to do it in concert."

"It's like directing the orchestra. You've got to have the winds and the brass come together, and they're not quite there."

How will the fiscal cliff affect you?

CNN's Dana Bash, Paul Steinhauser, Caitlin Stark, Deirdre Walsh, Jessica Yellin, Ashley Killough and CNNMoney's Jose Pagliery contributed to this report.

Read More..

Donation-based hospital rescues Afghanistan's wounded

(CBS News) KABUL - In Afghanistan, an American soldier and two Afghans were killed by a car bomb Thursday.

It happened near the U.S. airbase in Kandahar, a few hours after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta left there to meet with Afghan President Karzai.

Taliban attacks have grown more frequent, causing a sharp rise in civilian casualties. There's one place where many of those lives are saved or lost.

The non-profit trauma hospital goes by one name: Emergency. It offers free treatment to the bruised and bloodied victims of this conflict. Every patient who arrives there is a casualty of war.

Dr. Gino Strada

/

CBS News

Dr. Gino Strada is the chain-smoking Italian cardiologist who founded emergency in 1999. He told CBS News that he'll take in patients, regardless of whether they're Taliban or whatever their political affiliations may be.

"Otherwise, you're not a doctor anymore," he said, "then you're a judge."

Visit to military hospital shows extent of Syrian conflict
U.S. serviceman killed in Afghanistan just after Panetta visit
Children give graphic account of Afghan murders

Strada said he's seen a dramatic shift in the types of injuries he treats: Fewer bullet wounds and more from roadside bombs and heavy weapons.

"The weapons which are now used are much more powerful and destructive than those that were available ten or fifteen years ago," Strada said.

This year, the hospital has treated nearly two thousand patients -- an all time high. The vast majority are civilians.

Five-year-old Shayr Mohammed's wrist was fractured and his arm burned when he was hit by shrapnel.

His injuries have healed well. But not all children are so lucky.

Another young boy had picked up what he thought was a toy and it exploded in his pocket. By the time he arrived at Emergency, there was nothing the doctors could do.

"We live in a place where insurgents and police are shooting at each other all the time," his uncle said.

Strada said the fighting is coming closer to the capital and the fighting is becoming more intense.

"This is very worrying because it's very difficult to predict what's going to happen in the near future," he said.

As NATO troops prepare to pull out in 2014, there are fears that the security situation could deteriorate further and that Afghanistan's healthcare system will be overwhelmed.

A patient at the Emergency hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan.

/

CBS News

The U.S. has spent nearly a billion dollars on health care in Afghanistan the last ten years. But Strada said there is little to show for it.

"What worries me is particularly is corruption in the health sector. When you look at the amount of international aid that has come to Afghanistan for health, you would expect to find fantastic hospitals everywhere. And you don't see one," Strada said.

But there's no shortage of patients, and the war outside Emergency's walls rages on.

Donations to Emergency are accepted at the links below:

www.emergencyusa.org
www.emergency.it/en-index.html

Read More..

Health-Exchange Deadline Looms

All of the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare," doesn't go into effect until 2014, but states are required to set up their own health care exchanges or leave it to the federal government to step in by next year. The deadline for the governors' decisions is Friday.

The health insurance exchanges are one of the key stipulations of the new health care law. They will offer consumers an Internet-based marketplace for purchasing private health insurance plans.

But the president's signature health care plan has become so fraught with politics that whether governors agreed to set up the exchanges has fallen mostly along party lines.

Such partisanship is largely symbolic because if a state opts not to set up the exchange, the Department of Health and Human Services will do it for them as part of the federal program. That would not likely be well-received by Republican governors, either, but the law forces each state's chief executive to make a decision one way or the other.

Here's what it looks like in all 50 states and the District of Columbia:

20 states that have opted out -- N.J., S.C., La., Wis., Ohio, Maine, Ala., Alaska, Ariz., Ga., Pa., Kan., Neb., N.H., N.D., Okla., S.D., Tenn., Texas and Wyo.

Charles Dharapak/AP Photo

Obama Denounces Right-to-Work Laws at Visit to Auto Plant Watch Video

Washington, D.C., Gridlocked as Fiscal Cliff Approaches Watch Video

Several Republican governors have said they will not set up the exchanges, including Chris Christie (N.J.), Nikki Haley (S.C.), Bobby Jindal (La.), Scott Walker (Wis.), John Kasich (Ohio), Paul LePage (Maine), Robert Bentley (Ala.), Sean Parnell (Ark.), Jan Brewer (Ariz.), Nathan Deal (Ga.), Tom Corbett (Pa.), Sam Brownback (Kan.), Dave Heineman (Neb.), John Lynch (N.H.), Jack Dalrymple (N.D.), Mary Fallin (Okla.), Dennis Daugaard (S.D.), Bill Haslam (Tenn.), Rick Perry (Texas), and Matt Mead (Wyo.).

3 States Out, but a Little More Complicated -- Mont., Ind. and Mo.

The Montana outgoing and incoming governors are both Democrats, but the Republican state legislature rejected the Democratic state auditor's request to start setting up a state exchange. So a federal exchange will be set up in Montana as well.

The Indiana outgoing and incoming governors are both Republicans and outgoing Gov. Mitch Daniels deferred the decision to governor-elect and U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, who said his preference is not to set up a state health care exchange, paving the way for the feds to come in too.

In Missouri, Gov. Jay Nixon is a Democrat, but Prop E passed on Nov. 6, which barred his administration from creating a state-based exchange without a public vote or the approval of the state legislature. After the election, he sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services saying he would be unable to set up a state-based exchange, meaning the federal government would have to set up its own.

1 State Waiting for the White House -- Utah

Utah already has a state exchange set up, a Web-based tool where small-business employees can shop and compare health insurance with contributions from their employee. In a letter Republican Gov. Gary Herbert sent to the White House Tuesday, he asked for its exchange, called Avenue H, to be approved as a state-based exchange under the Affordable Care Act as long as state officials can open it to individuals and larger businesses.

Norm Thurston, the state's health reform implementation coordinator, says authorities there "haven't received an official response" from the White House, but "we anticipate getting one soon."

There are some sticking points that don't comply with the exchanges envisioned by the Affordable Care Act and Utah would like to keep it that way.

Read More..

UK government urged to consider relaxing drug rules

JUST say yes to considering relaxed drug controls, urged a panel of UK parliamentarians this week - but Prime Minister David Cameron has rejected the calls.

Many countries have loosened their penalties for drug use, including the Czech Republic and Portugal, which introduced a "de-penalisation" strategy in 2000. Citizens caught in possession avoid criminal records but must attend drug advice sessions. Last month, the US states of Colorado and Washington voted to legalise the recreational use of cannabis.

The UK report calls for the effects of these legal moves to be monitored. "Drugs policy ought to be evidence-based as much as possible," it concludes. "We recommend that the government fund a detailed research project to monitor the effects of each legalisation system."

The report notes that 21 countries have now introduced some form of decriminalisation. But the government's response has been lukewarm. "I don't support decriminalisation," said Cameron. "We have a policy which actually is working in Britain. Drugs use is coming down."

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Philippines typhoon death toll tops 900

MANILA: The death toll from the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year has climbed above 900, with hundreds still missing, the government said Thursday.

Typhoon Bopha killed 902 people mostly on the southern island of Mindanao, where floods and landslides caused major damage in nearly 2,000 villages on December 4, the civil defence office said.

A total of 615 people remain missing, it said, a big reduction from the previous tally after rescuers found 296 tuna fishermen who had put to sea before Bopha made landfall. The government agency did not give further details.

The typhoon, the deadliest natural disaster to hit the Philippines this year, destroyed 149,000 houses, it said.

About 80,000 people remain in government shelters, where they face months in difficult, crowded conditions as relief officials look for safe areas to build more permanent shelters.

Fifteen "stress debriefers" are now at work in the 63 shelters still in operation to help survivors come to terms with the loss of relatives, homes and possessions.

The United Nations launched a $65 million global aid appeal for typhoon victims on Monday, saying more than five million people faced difficult conditions as they seek to rebuild their lives.

The death toll from Bopha could top the 1,200 people who died last year when Tropical Storm Washi hit Mindanao's north coast.

- AFP/ck

Read More..

Mall gunman: 'I have lived one crazy life so far'

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Gunman's mother died at childbirth; he never met father, friend says


• NEW: He was an 'outgoing' skateboarder in high school, another friend says


• NEW: He told a friend he left aunt's home at age 14 and raised himself


• Jacob 'Jake' Roberts uses edgy, dark humor on his Facebook page

(CNN) -- Intended or not, the central image on the Facebook page of Jacob "Jake" Roberts, the Oregon shopping mall gunman, is haunting.

A "Follow Your Dreams" slogan painted on a wall is stamped "Cancelled" in red.

His humor is equally edgy.

"Hey what's up guys my names Jake and I'm an alcoholic... Lol just kidding," Roberts wrote in the first line of his introduction, which included grammatical errors. "If you were to ask someone that knows me they would probably say that I am a pretty funny person that takes sarcasm to the max.

Read more: Oregon mall shooting victims remembered

"I'm the conductor of my choo choo train," he continued. "I may be young but I have lived one crazy life so far."

Authorities have released a photograph of Roberts, 22, who wore a hockey-like face mask and opened fire on holiday shoppers Tuesday at the Clackamas Town Center in Happy Valley, Oregon, near Portland. He killed two people and then himself.

The photograph of Jacob Tyler Roberts depicts someone in tune with the latest fashion trends. He sports a thin chin beard and gauge earrings embedded in both lobes. Black, wavy hair frames a half-smile and almond-shaped eyes.

One of his Facebook friends, Brittany Curry, 21, told CNN she dated Roberts for five months last year. They met through mutual friends in the Portland area, she said.

"I am in shock. I don't know what to feel," Curry said in a telephone interview. "He was really a good guy. He was really happy. He put everybody before himself."

Roberts owned one gun, Curry said, but she didn't want to elaborate.

His Facebook page lists "shooting" as one of his 10 interests, along with camping, sleeping, rafting, BMX, sushi and spending money.

Read more: Details, but no answers, in Oregon mall shooting

Roberts told Curry that his mother died at childbirth and he never met his father, she said. He left his maternal aunt's home at age 14, Curry said.

"He raised himself," Curry said. "He was doing it all on his own."

A friend from high school, Jordan Salazar, said she understood that Roberts' parents were not present in his life. He was a skateboarder back then, she said.

"In high school Jake was a nice guy, outgoing," Salazar told CNN.

"I saw him a few times in the last year. He seemed normal" and a "good guy," she added.

Roberts valued his friends, Curry said.

Roberts wrote on his Facebook page: "My friends are my family and I don't think that will ever change. I have done a lot for myself in the past year some good and some bad but I still press on.

"I like hanging out with my friends and having a good time maybe get a little drunk every now and then. I like to think of myself as a bit of an adrenaline junkie... Yup that's right I'm a junkie lol. But I'm just looking to meet new people and see the world," Roberts typed.

When they were dating, Roberts was living in an apartment across from the Clackamas Town Center mall, Curry said.

Roberts wanted to be a firefighter and was taking classes at Clackamas Community College, Curry said.

"It was always his dream," Curry said.

In the meantime, he had been working as a cook at Big Bertha's gyro eatery in Portland for more than two years, Curry said.

About that job, Roberts commented on Facebook: "Right now I work at the most badass gyro shop in town. I am one of the few people that can say I love my job and actually mean it."

Read more: Inside Clackamas Town Center Mall

CNN's Paul Vercammen contributed to this report from Portland, Oregon.

Read More..

Bruce Springsteen kicks off Sandy benefit

Updated: 9:00 p.m. ET

Music filled New York's Madison Square Garden Wednesday night for the "12-12-12" gig all in the name of helping superstorm Sandy victims.

Bruce Springsteen kicked off the star-studded concert, a fitting start for the benefit, which will aid hard-hit storm areas such as the rocker's native New Jersey. The Boss launched into "Land of Hope and Dreams" as audience members rose to their feet, before singing "Wrecking Ball," a song he wrote about Jersey and Giants Stadium at The Meadowlands. He changed a lyric to "My home is on the Jersey shore."

And it's no surprise Springsteen performed "My City of Ruins," a song that has taken on various meanings through the years, especially having debuted around the 9/11 attacks. But Wednesday night, it meant something different to many people watching.

"This was a song I wrote for my adopted hometown -- Asbury Park, which was struggling through hard times," he said, later adding, "Tonight this is a prayer for all of our struggling people in New York and New Jersey."

After slipping in a few lines of "Jersey Girl," Springsteen brought out his friend Jon Bon Jovi for a New Jersey-rocker musical mash-up of "Born to Run."

"The size of the destruction was shocking," said Springsteen in a taped interview with concert organizers prior to the show. "It took days and days to even understand the level of destruction that occurred along the Jersey shore."

After Springsteen and Bon Jovi left the stage, Billy Crystal took the reins, injecting some humor into the night, mixed with touching remarks about the devastation that Sandy brought along with it.

"You can feel the electricity in the building, which means that Long Island power isn't involved," said Crystal, a Long Beach, Long Island, native, before rattling off a series of other jokes that took jabs at New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. Chris Christie.

Roger Waters took the stage next, playing Pink Floyd classics, including "Us and Them," "Another Brick in the Wall" and "Money." Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder took the stage to join Waters for a collaboration of "Comfortably Numb."

Adam Sandler performed a very different version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," swapping lyrics out for the occasion, singing: "Halleluja/Sandy screw ya/We'll get through ya."

Actress Kristen Stewart introduced Bon Jovi before the band got its set started with "It's My Life" before launching into "Wanted Dead or Alive."

Producer John Sykes said the fundraiser features "the greatest lineup of legends ever assembled on a stage."

"There have been hurricanes, there have been storms," said Bon Jovi before the show. "But I've never seen anything remotely close to what Hurricane Sandy was."

"When I heard there was going to be a concert, I wanted to be there and I wanted to try to do my bit," said McCartney who has an office in Manhattan and spends time with his wife, Nancy Shevell, in Long Island. "Hopefully try to make a bit of difference and give back."

Also in attendance? Steve Buscemi, Martha Stewart, Blake Lively, Scarlett Johansson, James Gandolfini, Jason Sudeikis, Jeremey Piven, Susan Sarandon, Jessica Chastain, Chelsea Clinton, Jimmy Fallon, Adam Sandler, Sean Combs, Billy Crystal, Leo DiCaprio, Jimmy Fallon, Katie Holmes, Jake Gyllenhaal, Karlie Kloss, Seth Meyers, Bobby Moynihan, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Susan Sarandon, Jon Stewart, Kristen Stewart and Quentin Tarantino, among others.

Sarandon was one of the stars answering calls at the evening's telethon.

"It's so moving every time you see a grassroots movement," Sarandon said backstage in the press room. "It's just great that people found a way to come out."

The sold-out "12-12-12" concert is being aired on 37 TV stations in the United States and more than 200 others worldwide. Thirty websites are streaming the show live. All together -- more than two billion people around the world have access to the show, which benefits the Robin Hood Foundation.

The October storm left millions of people in several states without power or heat. It's to blame for at least 125 deaths and damaged 305,000 homes in New York.

Watch live online here.

Read More..

Mall Shooter Quit Job, Was Going to Hawaii

In the days before he stole a semiautomatic weapon and stormed into an Oregon shopping mall, killing two people in a shooting spree, Jacob Roberts quit his job, sold his belongings and began to seem "numb" to those closest to him.

Roberts' ex-girlfriend, Hannah Patricia Sansburn, 20, told ABC News today that the man who donned a hockey mask and opened fire on Christmas shoppers was typically happy and liked to joke around, but abruptly changed in the week before the shooting.

Roberts unleashed a murderous volley of gunfire on the second floor of the Clackamas Town Center on Tuesday while wearing the mask and black clothing, and carrying an AR-15 semiautomatic weapon and "several" magazines full of ammunition. He ended his barrage by walking down to the first floor of the mall and committing suicide.

READ: Why Mass Shooters Wear Masks

"I don't understand," Sansburn said. "I was just with him. I just talked to him. I didn't believe it was him at all. Not one part of me believed it."

She said that in recent weeks, Roberts quit his job at a gyro shop in downtown Portland and sold all of his belongings, telling her that he was moving to Hawaii. He had even purchased a ticket.

She now wonders if he was really planning to move.

Oregon Mall Shooting: 2 Dead in Clackamas Town Center Watch Video

Oregon Mall Shooting: 'Killing of Total Strangers' Watch Video

Oregon Mall Shooting: Woman on Macy's Employee's Heroism Watch Video

"He was supposed to catch a flight Saturday and I texted him, and asked how his flight went, and he told me, 'oh, I got drunk and didn't make the flight,'" she said. "And then this happens... It makes me think, was he even planning on going to Hawaii? He quit his job, sold all of his things."

Roberts described himself on his Facebook page as an "adrenaline junkie," and said he is the kind of person who thinks, "I'm going to do what I want."

Roberts, who attended Clackamas Community college, posted a picture of himself on his Facebook page firing a gun at a target. His Facebook photo showed graffiti in which the words "Follow Your Dreams" were painted over with the word "Cancelled."

Sansburn said the pair had dated for nearly a year but had broke up over the summer. Throughout their relationship, she had never seen him act violently or get angry.

"Jake was never the violent type. He didn't go out of his way to try to hurt people or upset people. His main goal was to make you laugh, smile, make you feel comfortable. I never would have guessed him to do anything like this ever," she said.

"You can't reconcile the differences. I hate him for what he did, but I can't hate the person I knew because it was nothing like the person who would go into a mall and go on a rampage. I would never associate the two at all."

The last time she saw him, which was last week, he "seemed numb," and she didn't understand why, she said.

"I just talked to him, stayed the night with him, and he just seemed numb if anything. He's usually very bubbly and happy, and I asked him why, what had changed, and said 'nothing.' He just had so much he had to do before he went to Hawaii that he was trying to distance himself from Portland," Sansburn said.

Sansburn said the last message she sent Roberts was a text, asking him to stay, and saying she didn't want him to leave. He replied "I'm sorry," with a sad face emoticon.

Police are still seeking information about what Roberts was doing in the days leading up to the shooting. They said today they believe Roberts stole the gun he used in the rampage from someone he knew. They have searched his home and his car for other clues into his motive.

Read ABC News' full coverage of the Oregon Mall Shooting

Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts said earlier today on "Good Morning America" that he believes Roberts went into the mall with the goal of killing as many people as he could.

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

Sansburn said she has not talked to police.

Read More..

No attempt to shoot down N.Korea rocket: Japan govt

TOKYO: Japan did not try to shoot down a North Korean rocket as it passed over its southern island chain of Okinawa, the government said Wednesday, strongly condemning the launch.

Tokyo confirmed the launch had taken place and that said it believed parts of the rocket had fallen into the sea off the Korean peninsula, with another part dropping into the ocean near the Philippines.

"Launch time was around 9:49 am (0049 GMT). The missile that North Korea calls a satellite passed over Okinawa around 10:01. We launched no interception," a government statement said.

Japan had been on high alert since the 13-day lift-off window opened, despite a suggestion from Pyongyang that it could delay the much-criticised blast-off.

Tokyo deployed missile defence systems to intercept and destroy the rocket if it looked set to fall on its territory, with missile batteries in and around Tokyo and in the Okinawan archipelago.

Japan reacted quickly to the launch on Wednesday, with national media informed by government-run alert system.

"It is extremely regrettable that North Korea went through with the launch despite our calls to exercise restraint," chief government spokesman Osamu Fujimura said.

"Our country cannot tolerate this. We strongly protest to North Korea."

The impoverished but nuclear-armed nation insists the long-range rocket launch -- its second this year after a much-hyped but botched mission in April -- is for peaceful scientific purposes.

But the United States, and allies South Korea and Japan, say Pyongyang's launch was a disguised ballistic missile test that violates UN resolutions triggered by its two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.

- AFP/ck

Read More..

Two victims, gunman dead after shooting at Oregon mall

By Catherine E. Shoichet and Michael Martinez, CNN

updated 8:55 PM EST, Tue December 11, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Three people are killed in the mall shooting, including the gunman


• One witness in Macy's says she saw a man wearing a hockey mask, wielding an assault rifle


• "Multiple victims" have been shot, authorities say, and 10 ambulances were at the scene

(CNN) -- Two people were killed when a gunman opened fire Tuesday at a mall outside Portland, Oregon, a sheriff's official said.

The shooter was also killed, said James Rhodes of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office.

Panicked customers ran for cover when shots rang out at the Clackamas Town Center mall.

"Multiple victims" were shot, said Happy Valley, Oregon, Public Safety Director Steve Campbell. There were 10 ambulances on scene after the shooting, Randy Lauer of American Medical Response said.

Witnesses told CNN affiliates that many people ran for cover or huddled behind counters at the two-story mall, which is located about 11 miles southeast of downtown Portland.

A woman told CNN affiliate KOIN that she saw a man wearing a hockey mask jogging through Macy's and wielding an assault rifle.

"Everyone ran toward the exits at that point to get out," she said.

Inside Sears, some customers cried as word spread of the shooter going store to store, Christina Fisher told KOIN.

"We were told to stand in a group by the top of the escalators and stay away from the windows out of the aisle. ... We stood there for probably a good 20 minutes," she said. "All of the sudden, somebody came through with a radio, yelling 'get down!'"

A group of customers inside Sears watched television news reports about the shooting inside the store's entertainment center, witness Tylor Pedersen told CNN affiliate KGW.

Pedersen said he heard about the shooting when people ran into the store, saying they had heard shots fired in the middle of the mall.

"I didn't think it was real at first until I saw the reactions on their faces," he said. "They were serious."

Nicole Sutton said she heard gunshots echoing and saw people huddled in the store where she works at the mall.

"It's the scariest thing I've ever experienced," she told KOIN.

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber praised first responders for reacting quickly to the shooting.

"I have directed State Police to make any and all necessary resources available to local law enforcement," he said in a statement.

Authorities closed entrances and exits into the mall parking lot Tuesday evening, said Lt. Gregg Hastings of the Oregon State Police.

Are you there? Share your stories, videos and images.

CNN's Cristy Lenz, Tom Watkins, John Fricke, AnneClaire Stapleton and Joe Sutton contributed to this report.

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