Football: Bosses on notice as owners eye Premier promotion

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LONDON: Henning Berg, sacked by Blackburn after just 57 days, and Sean O'Driscoll, dismissed by Nottingham Forest just six months into his reign, became the latest managers to discover that patience is an increasingly rare quality among chairmen chasing the dream of a lucrative place in the Premier League.

Owen Coyle, booted out by Bolton in October after a slow start to the season, and Paul Jewell, fired by Ipswich with a relegation battle looming, had already been losers in the Championship's frantic game of managerial musical chairs.

There have been eight bosses on the move with only half the season gone and more casualties are certain to follow in the new year.

And, as ever in modern day football, money is the root cause of the blood-letting.

The rewards of promotion are estimated at around £90 million, but the cost is even greater for the managers who fall short of that goal.

The prospect of buying a sleeping giant and turning them into a cash cow has convinced a series of investors from across the world to pitch up at second-tier clubs with a wad of cash and promises of instant success.

But when that seductive talk of promotion falters on the pitch, there is no apology from the owners for spreading false hope. Instead it is the managers who are made the scapegoats.

Nowhere is that more apparent than at Blackburn, where Indian owners Venky's are searching for their third manager of the season following the brutal dismissal of Berg on Thursday.

Berg, who played in the Blackburn team that won the Premier League in 1995, had been appointed as successor to the much-criticised Steve Kean, who avoided the sack despite relegation from the top-flight last season but then quit in September amid suggestions Venky's were meddling in his team selections.

Although Berg had won only one of his first 10 matches -- a 1-0 defeat on Wednesday to Middlesbrough was their fifth loss in six matches -- he surely deserved longer to get a troubled club back on an even keel.

In the circumstances, it was hardly surprising that the Norwegian should talk of being "bitterly disappointed" at his treatment.

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand summed up the disbelief felt by the football world when he tweeted: "Henning Berg was given loads of time to implement his coaching ideas and get the team playing the way he wanted, 50 something days... NOT!!

"Berg didn't even get to see a transfer window let alone take part in one?!?"

While O'Driscoll was given a little longer than Berg by Forest's Kuwaiti owners, he still had plenty of cause for complaint.

Forest were just one point outside the play-off places after a 4-2 win over Leeds on Wednesday, yet even that wasn't good enough for impatient Kuwaiti chairman Fawaz Al Hasawi, who talked of the need for a manager with Premier League experience after sacking O'Driscoll, widely regarded as one of the most astute managers in the lower divisions.

Danny Collins, one of O'Driscoll's first signings when he took charge at Forest in July, said: "To hear the news that the gaffer had gone was obviously a surprise, and we're shocked and disappointed at the same time."

Forest striker Simon Cox added on Twitter: "So we win 4-2 and the manager gets the sack. Gutted for Sean, pleasure to work under. Wonder who will walk through the door next."

And as the stakes get even higher in the coming months, there will be plenty more managers and players nervously wondering when the next change will come.

The pressure will be most intense for under-achieving Wolves boss Stale Solbakken, Malky Mackay at leaders Cardiff, where the Malaysian owners are determined to secure promotion at all costs, and Nigel Pearson at Leicester, whose Thai owners have been spent big to reach the top-flight.

- AFP/al



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Varun Gandhi likely to contest Lok Sabha 2014 from Sultanpur

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LUCKNOW: Pilibhit MP of the Bharatiya Janata Party Varun Gandhi might contest 2014 Lok Sabha election from Sultanpur-the constituency adjoining Amethi represented by his cousin Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi. Congress' Sanjay Singh is the sitting MP from Sultanpur.

So far, two things have actually given credence to the speculation that Varun might contest from Sultanpur. A team of around 24 persons from the BJP has visited all five assembly segments falling in the constituency to mobilise youth in favour of Varun's candidature.

Also, there are posters of Varun everywhere that read, 'Naam wahi jo kaam karaye, Sultanpur ka samman badhaye'. During a rally in 2009, Varun had announced that he would, one day, turn Sultanpur into his 'karmabhoomi' (ground of action).

It seems BJP's plan for Uttar Pradesh would be full of surprises this time - from Varun shifting to Sultanpur to Rajnath switching over from his Ghaziabad constituency and Narendra Modi contesting from Lucknow.

Varun told TOI: "Sultanpur has been my father's political ground, so I don't have to start afresh. There is no need for any survey, as I understand the constituency well."

About the team propagating his candidature, Varun said they were locals. On whether he had decided to contest from Sultanpur, Varun said it would not be right to say anything on this count as election was still a year away.

In 1984, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and father of Rahul Gandhi was pitted against his sister-in-law and Varun's mother Maneka Gandhi in the election that took place after Indira Gandhi's death, Rajiv won by a huge margin defeating Maneka, who wanted to establish her claim to her late husband Sanjay's legacy.

In 1977, former prime minister Indira Gandhi's son Sanjay Gandhi had contested from Amethi, which was then part of Sultanpur district. Amethi is from where both Sanjay and Rajiv Gandhi started their political careers.

Sanjay's was a debut that didn't happen because of the Emergency. He lost to Ravindra Pratap Singh of the Janata Party by a few thousand votes. However, he bounced back in the '80 elections, defeating Singh this time.

After Sanjay's death, Indira persuaded Rajiv to help her and in June 1981, he entered politics formally getting elected to the Lok Sabha from Amethi. Since then, Amethi has been the battleground for major showdowns.

Yet another showdown, will it be?

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How to Live to a Ripe Old Age

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Cento di questi giorni. May you have a hundred birthdays, the Italians say, and some of them do.

So do other people in various spots around the world—in Blue Zones, so named by National Geographic Fellow Dan Buettner for the blue ink that outlines these special areas on maps developed over more than a decade. (National Geographic News is part of the National Geographic Society.)

In his second edition of his book The Blue Zones, Buettner writes about a newly identified Blue Zone: the Greek island of Ikaria (map). National Geographic magazine Editor at Large Cathy Newman interviewed him about the art of living long and well. (Watch Buettner talk about how to live to a hundred.)

Q. You've written about Blue Zones in Sardinia, Italy; Loma Linda, California; Nicoa, Costa Rica and Okinawa, Japan. How did you find your way to Ikaria?

A. Michel Poulain, a demographer on the project, and I are always on the lookout for new Blue Zones. This one popped up in 2008. We got a lead from a Greek foundation looking for biological markers in aging people. The census data showed clusters of villages there with a striking proportion of people 85 or older. (Also see blog: "Secrets of the Happiest Places on Earth.")

In the course of your quest you've been introduced to remarkable individuals like 100-year-old Marge Jetton of Loma Linda, California, who starts the day with a mile-long [0.6-kilometer] walk, 6 to 8 miles [10 to 13 kilometers] on a stationary bike, and weight lifting. Who is the most memorable Blue Zoner you've met?

Without question it's Stamatis Moraitis, who lives in Ikaria. I believe he's 102. He's famous for partying. He makes 400 liters [100 gallons] of wine from his vineyards each year, which he drinks with his friends. His house is the social hot spot of the island. (See "Longevity Genes Found; Predict Chances of Reaching 100.")

He's also the Ikarian who emigrated to the United States, was diagnosed with lung cancer in his 60s, given less then a year to live, and who returned to Ikaria to die. Instead, he recovered.

Yes, he never went through chemotherapy or treatment. He just moved back to Ikaria.

Did anyone figure out how he survived?

Nope. He told me he returned to the U.S. ten years after he left to see if the American doctors could explain it. I asked him what happened. "My doctors were all dead," he said.

One of the common factors that seem to link all Blue Zone people you've spoken with is a life of hard work—and sometimes hardship. Your thoughts?

I think we live in a culture that relentlessly pursues comfort. Ease is related to disease. We shouldn't always be fleeing hardship. Hardship also brings people together. We should welcome it.

Sounds like another version of the fable of the grasshopper and the ant?

You rarely get satisfaction sitting in an easy chair. If you work in a garden on the other hand, and it yields beautiful tomatoes, that's a good feeling.

Can you talk about diet? Not all of us have access to goat milk, for example, which you say is typically part of an Ikarian breakfast.

There is nothing exotic about their diet, which is a version of a Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes vegetables, beans, fruit, olive oil, and moderate amounts of alcohol. (Read more about Buettner's work in Ikaria in National Geographic Adventure.)

All things in moderation?

Not all things. Socializing is something we should not do in moderation. The happiest Americans socialize six hours a day.

The people you hang out with help you hang on to life?

Yes, you have to pay attention to your friends. Health habits are contagious. Hanging out with unhappy people who drink and smoke is hazardous to your health.

So how has what you've learned influenced your own lifestyle?

One of the big things I've learned is that there's an advantage to regular low-intensity activity. My previous life was setting records on my bike. [Buettner holds three world records in distance cycling.] Now I use my bike to commute. I only eat meat once a week, and I always keep nuts in my office: Those who eat nuts live two to three more years than those who don't.

You also write about having a purpose in life.

Purpose is huge. I know exactly what my values are and what I love to do. That's worth additional years right there. I say no to a lot of stuff that would be easy money but deviates from my meaning of life.

The Japanese you met in Okinawa have a word for that?

Yes. Ikigai: "The reason for which I wake in the morning."

Do you have a non-longevity-enhancing guilty pleasure?

Tequila is my weakness.

And how long would you like to live?

I'd like to live to be 200.


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Gen. 'Stormin' Norman Schwarzkopf Dead at 78

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H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the retired general credited with leading U.S.-allied forces to a victory in the first Gulf War, died today at age 78.


The man who Defense Secretary Leon Panetta today called "one of the great military giants of the 20th century" died in Tampa, Fla., where he lived in retirement, the Associated Press reported.


Schwarzkopf, called "Stormin' Norman" because of his reportedly explosive temper, led America to two military victories: a small one in Grenada in the 1980s and a big one as de facto commander of allied forces in the Gulf War in 1991.


"'Stormin' Norman' led the coalition forces to victory, ejecting the Iraqi Army from Kuwait and restoring the rightful government," read a statement by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Gulf War. "His leadership not only inspired his troops, but also inspired the nation."


WATCH: Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf to Saddam Hussein: 'Get Outta Town'


Schwarzkopf's success during that fight, also known as Operation Desert Storm, came under President George H.W. Bush, who through his office today mourned "the loss of a true American patriot and one of the great military leaders of his generation."


"Gen. Norm Schwarzkopf, to me, epitomized the 'duty, service, country' creed that has defended our freedom and seen this great nation through our most trying international crises," Bush said. "More than that, he was a good and decent man -- and a dear friend."








Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf to Saddam Hussein: 'Get Outta Town' Watch Video









Gen. Schwarzkopf's '5 Minutes of Unimportant Questions' Watch Video









George H.W. Bush Hospitalized in ICU After 'Setbacks' Watch Video





Bush's office released the statement though the former president, himself, was ill, hospitalized in Texas with a stubborn fever and on a liquids-only diet.


The current White House occupant, President Obama, also memorialized Schwarzkopf, declaring him "an American original" who "stood tall for the country and Army he loved."


The future four-star general was born Aug. 24, 1934, in Trenton, N.J.


Schwarzkopf's father, who shared his name, directed the investigation of the Lindbergh baby kidnapping as head of the New Jersey State Police, later becoming a brigadier general in the U.S. Army.


Schwarzkopf was raised as an army brat in Iran, Switzerland, Germany and Italy, following in his father's footsteps to West Point, earning an engineering degree and being commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1956.


WATCH: Gen. Schwarzkopf's '5 Minutes of Unimportant Questions'


He earned three Silver Stars for bravery during two tours in Vietnam, gaining a reputation as an opinionated, plain-spoken commander with a sharp temper who would risk his own life for his soldiers.


"He had volunteered to go to Vietnam early just so he could get there before the war ended," said former Army Col. William McKinney, who knew Schwarzkopf from their days at West Point, according to ABC News Radio.


In 1983, as a newly-minted general, Schwarzkopf once again led troops into battle in President Reagan's invasion of Granada, a tiny Caribbean island where the White House saw American influence threatened by a Cuban-backed coup.


But he gained most of his fame in Iraq, where he used his 6-foot-3, 240-pound frame and fearsome temper to drive his forces to victory.


"He was known as a soldier's general," said retired Maj. Gen. Donald Shepperd, as he explained the "Stormin' Norman" nickname to ABC News Radio. "In other words, he really liked the troops and was soft on the troops. But boy, on his general officers, his officers, his NCO's, he was very, very tough and he had a real quick temper."


PHOTOS: In Memoriam: People We Lost in 2012


Gruff and direct, Schwarzkopf said during the Gulf War that his goal was to win the war as quickly as possible and with a focused objective: getting Iraq out of Kuwait.






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Hawaii’s lieutenant governor is named to the U.S. Senate

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Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D) selected Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz on Wednesday to fill the vacancy created by the death last week of veteran U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D).


With the “fiscal cliff” five days away and critical decisions facing the Senate, the White House said Schatz would fly to Washington on Wednesday evening with President Obama. Schatz said he would be in place to be sworn in Thursday.


Abercrombie chose Schatz, 40, a former state Democratic Party chairman and state lawmaker, over U.S. Rep. Colleen W. Hanabusa (D), whom Inouye had indicated shortly before his death would be his preference to replace him.

“No one and nothing is pre­ordained,” Abercrombie told reporters in Hono­lulu. He said Inouye’s views were taken into account but so were those of grass-roots activists and his own analysis of what was best for the state.

He said Schatz, a native of Michigan, was best positioned to help Hawaii begin to rebuild its congressional seniority.

He called Schatz “intelligent, forceful, insightful, committed.”

Schatz will be joined in the Senate next month by Rep. Mazie K. Hirono (D), who was elected in November to replace retiring Sen. Daniel K. Akaka (D).

The pair of newcomers will replace one of the nation’s most stable lawmaking teams: A modest World War II hero, Inouye had represented the Aloha State in the Senate since 1963, becoming president pro tempore of the chamber and chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee. Akaka has served in the Senate since 1980.

Schatz will hold the job for two years until Hawaii voters choose a replacement to fill out the final two years of Inouye’s term.

Schatz, who will be one of the Senate’s youngest members, told reporters that he is planning to stand for election in 2014 to complete Inouye’s term and then to run for reelection in 2016.

“No one can fill Senator Daniel K. Inouye’s shoes — but together, all of us, we can try to walk in his footsteps,” Schatz said, indicating he would focus on retaining federal funding for the state and addressing climate change.

The selection of Schatz was something of a surprise, given Inouye’s wishes and the esteem with which he is held in the state. But Abercrombie is close to Schatz and indicated that he was hesitant to choose Hanabusa and force a new special election to fill her House seat.

Jennifer Sabas, Inouye’s chief of staff, indicated in a statement that Hanabusa’s selection was ­Inouye’s “final wish.”

“While we are very disappointed that it was not honored, it was the governor’s decision to make. We wish Brian Schatz the best of luck,” she said.

Rising Democratic star Tulsi Gabbard, 31, an Iraq war veteran and former Hono­lulu City Council member who was elected to the House in November, had some strong supporters nationally, including Newark Mayor Cory Booker, who endorsed her for the Senate seat via Twitter.

The appointment of Schatz came at a particularly critical time, with Democratic leaders anticipating a potentially close vote in the coming days on a tax plan designed to avert the most serious economic impacts of the year-end fiscal cliff.

In the absence of a broad, bipartisan deficit-reduction package, Obama has called on Congress to at least pass a bill to extend tax breaks for the middle class and potentially forestall automatic budget cuts set to hit in January.

Democrats hope that Republicans will agree to forgo a filibuster and allow an up-or-down vote on a temporary fix, requiring only a bare majority to pass. If the GOP requires a 60-vote threshold for the bill, as has increasingly become standard in the Senate, Democrats hope that a handful of Republicans would join Democrats in supporting the measure and send it to the House.

Either way, Democrats will need every vote they can muster if the legislation is brought to the floor. A bill passed by the Senate in July to extend tax rates first enacted under President George W. Bush for those making less than $250,000 a year was adopted by a narrow 51 to 48 margin.

All Republicans opposed the measure, along with Sens. James Webb (D-Va.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.).

With tax hikes set to hit virtually every American in a matter of days, a similar measure could pick up additional support this time around. But the possibility of a squeaker vote led Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) to take the unusual step of urging Abercrombie to fill the Hawaii seat quickly.

“It is critically important to ensure that the people of Hawaii are fully represented in the pivotal decisions the Senate will be making before the end of the year,” Reid said in a statement Saturday.

Hawaii law required that Abercrombie choose a replacement from a list of three finalists selected by the state Democratic Party.

The party’s central committee met Wednesday — several days earlier than had been planned before Reid’s request for speed — to hear two-minute speeches from most of the 14 candidates who had formally asked the party to consider them for the role.

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Indian rape victim arrives in S'pore for further treatment

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SINGAPORE: An Indian student who was left fighting for her life after being gang-raped in New Delhi has arrived at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital for further treatment.

The patient arrived at the hospital's Intensive Care Unit at 9.05am in extremely critical condition, said the hospital's spokesperson on Thursday.

The hospital is working with the Indian High Commission, and has requested that the privacy of the patient and the family be respected.

The 23-year-old, whose attack sparked protests across India, had been transferred from the Safdarjung hospital in central Delhi to Medanta hospital in Gurgaon, close to the city's international airport, before being flown to Singapore.

"The decision was taken this morning at cabinet," a source at Safdarjung told AFP early Thursday. "Her mother and father are with her."

The government had earlier announced it was setting up a special commission of inquiry after the gang-rape on December 16 when the woman was allegedly tricked into boarding a bus by six men who then took turns to assault her.

The group also attacked her with an iron bar before throwing her out of the vehicle, along with a male companion.

Six suspects have been arrested in connection with the attack and have been remanded in custody.

- CNA/AFP/al



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Gulvez thought NCC would help him become a cop

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NEW DELHI: By the time Gulvez Ahmad reached the final year of his B Com Honours course, he had changed his mind. He had joined the NCC in school thinking it would boost his chances in a career in policing . But when his father, Kafeel Ahmad, saw him off on December 21, he was looking forward finishing college and joining an MBA programme . Ahmad was one of the five students from the Delhi unit of the National Cadet Corps who drowned in the Periyar at Kochi on Wednesday . The others are Dilshad Alam, Tabish Baqri, Mohammad Zeeshan and Hemanth Kumar.

"He was called Hafiz," says Ahmad's uncle, Faheemuddin, "It means one who has learnt the Quran by heart. He was austere like a maulavi" But Ahmad, a student of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College , was a sharp one as well. Neighbours say he brought home awards and shields, was the "brightest of them all" and was expected to shine more. The news reached his home in Old Govindpura before his father, an embroiderer , did. "He was so young. I even accompanied to the railway station the day he left," says an inconsolable Kafeel Ahmad. Of the 96 cadets attending the trekking camp in Kochi, 53 were from Delhi.

"We've been trying to talk to him on the phone since morning but somebody would disconnect. In the evening, his mobile was switched off," says Dilshad Alam's mother. Dilshad's family was told that two of the five kids had slipped into the river and the other three had been trying to rescue them. "Dilshad could not swim," says his sister Ayesha Jabeen. He, along with Tabish and Zeeshan were engineering students at Jamia Millia Islamia University . Tabish and Zeeshan, were from Uttar Pradesh; Dilshad's family, is based close to the university , in Zakir Nagar. Alam's mother always checked on him when he went out on trips and this was his first one out of the state with the NCC. His father, Khursheed Alam, doesn't hold a steady job and is away most of the time. There was a lot riding on Dilshad's engineering degree.

Baqri came to Delhi from Amroha in Uttar Pradesh three years ago. His younger brother Danish - Baqri was one of six siblings - is concerned about the arrival of his body. "He called us four to five days ago to tell us he is leaving for the trip. My parents are devastated . They have fallen silent," says Danish. They heard of the tragedy on Wednesday evening. Mohammad Zeeshan, another engineering student at Jamia, was from Uttar Pradesh too. The only school student among the casualties was Hemanth Kumar, a student of Government Boys Senior Secondary School at GBlock , Kalkaji.

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Space Pictures This Week: Green Lantern, Supersonic Star

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Toyota Agrees to $1B Settlement in Acceleration Case

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Toyota has agreed to pay more than $1 billion to customers to settle a class action lawsuit that alleged its vehicles accelerated dangerously and without warning, according to statements by the carmaker and the plaintiffs' attorney.


The deal, which still needs approval by a federal judge in California, includes a $250 million fund to be paid to Toyota owners who sold their cars at a loss following reports of vehicle malfunctions, as well as the installation of a brake override system in about 3.25 million vehicles


An additional $250 million fund will be created to pay those owners whose vehicles are not eligible for the retrofitted brakes.






David Zalubowski/AP PHoto







Toyota recalled more than 14 million vehicles after reports of sudden, unexplained acceleration in several models began to surface between 2009 and 2010. There were also reports of brake problems with the Prius hybrid.


Toyota insists that it was not an electrical flaw that caused the acceleration problems, but driver error, floor mats and sticky gas pedals.


Both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and NASA have said there is nothing in wrong with programs that run the vehicles' onboard computers


"From the very start, this was a challenging case," said Steve Berman, the plaintiffs' lawyer. "We brought in automotive experts, physicists and some of the world's leading theoreticians in electrical engineering to help us understand what happened to drivers experiencing sudden acceleration."


The settlement also includes $30 million to be given to outside groups to study automotive safety.


In a statement, Toyota agreed to the deal.


"In keeping with our core principles, we have structured this agreement in ways that work to put our customers first and demonstrate that they can count on Toyota to stand behind our vehicles." said Toyota spokesman Christopher P. Reynolds.



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Democrats push for tax cuts they once opposed

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Democrats seeking a deal to avert the year-end “fiscal cliff” are trying to etch into stone the signature economic achievement of Republican President George W. Bush by permanently extending tax cuts enacted during his tenure.


President Obama has put the extension of the tax cuts for most Americans at the top of his domestic agenda, a remarkable turnaround for Democrats, who had staunchly opposed the tax breaks when they were written into law about a decade ago.


With Obama coming back from vacation Wednesday and lawmakers returning Thursday, the main dividing line between Republicans and Democrats has come down to whether tax rates should increase for top earners at the end of the year, when the Bush-era tax cuts are set to expire. While Republicans want to extend all of the cuts, Democrats are pushing to maintain lower rates on household income below $250,000. Those lower rates significantly reduce the taxes of nearly all American households that earn less than $250,000 — and many who earn more, even if tax rates are allowed to increase on income above that figure.

While it is increasingly unlikely that the two parties will reach an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff before Jan. 1, it is all but certain that their ultimate deal, whenever it comes, will make permanent the lower rates for most Americans.

R. Glenn Hubbard, dean of the Columbia Business School and an architect of the Bush tax cuts, said it is “deeply ironic” for Democrats to favor extending most of them, given what he called their “visceral” opposition a decade ago. Keeping the lower rates even for income under $250,000 “would enshrine the vast bulk of the Bush tax cuts,” he said.

Democrats say they have reconsidered their opposition to the Bush tax cuts for several reasons. The cuts were written into law from 2001 to 2003 after a decade in which most Americans saw robust income growth. Over the past decade, by contrast, median wages have declined, after adjusting for inflation, amid a weak economy. Allowing tax cuts for the middle class to expire would further reduce take-home pay.

“We’ve had these tax cuts in place since 2001. The world changes, and the economy is where it is,” said Steven Elmendorf, who was chief of staff to former House minority leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.), a primary opponent of the Bush tax cuts. “With people’s economic status, we should not be raising taxes on people earning under $250,000.”

What’s more, income inequality has been growing. Sparing the middle class higher taxes while requiring the wealthy to pay more would tip the scales slightly in the other direction.

“The reason there’s been this movement toward broad consensus on renewing the tax cut for working- and middle-class families is that will give us a sharper progressivity in the tax system that is very much desired by Democrats and progressives who’ve seen an income distribution more and more distorted toward the wealthy,” said Betsey Stevenson, former chief economist in Obama’s Labor Department and a professor at the University of Michigan, who added that taxes may have to rise even more than currently contemplated to meet the country’s needs.

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