Sequestration doesn’t fly

Forget threats of furloughed workers or reduced security at embassies.

Here’s what might be the most powerful incentive yet for members of Congress to come up with a deal to avert the sequester: The head of the Air Force warned Monday that the spending cuts that will go into effect March 1 could cause the military to eliminate those lovely miljet flights that lawmakers enjoy.

Members of Congress adore flying on Air Force jets, particularly for overseas trips — there are no security lines, check-in is a breeze, the service couldn’t be better, and all seats are business-class.

But if the government-wide cuts aren’t thwarted and the military has to pinch pennies, lawmakers might have to kiss those perks goodbye, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley told the crowd at the Air Force Association’s winter conference in Orlando, according to a transcript. They might have to nix “interagency and congressional senior leader travel,” he warned.

Lawmakers flying commercial? The horror.

And if members of Congress are forced into such dire circumstances, they’re in for even more delays. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood
cautioned Friday that the sequester could cause major backups in airports around the country.

So much for all those fact-finding trips.

The House divided?

It may not have snagged the Oscar for best picture, but the movie “Lincoln” is still a smash hit in official Washington.

LaHood suggested last week that the flick about the 16th president could offer a template for averting the sequester.

“Go and see ‘Lincoln,’ ” the transportation secretary advised Republicans during an appearance at a White House press briefing during which he outlined the impact of the budget cuts (think airport delays, angry passengers calling lawmakers, etc.).

He indicated that congressional negotiators should learn from Honest Abe, who “gathered people around him” to negotiate and solve tough problems.

Not that the sequester can be equated with, you know, the potential dissolution of the Union, but still . . .

Maybe if the White House offered to buy the popcorn?

Something in the airwaves

Speculation has long been swirling around who might replace Federal Communications Commission Chairman
Julius Genachowski
. But hold the phone — all that sturm and drang may be for naught.

It appears he’s staying put for a bit.

Yes, technically, Genachowski’s term expires June 30. But by law, he can remain until Congress leaves town at the end of 2014. Other signs that he’s sticking around include a planned appearance at the National Association of Broadcasters conference in April, and his continued interest in the FCC’s plan to buy back television licenses and auction the spectrum to wireless providers, something we’re told Genachowski feels ownership of.

The White House is plenty busy filling all the actual vacancies that have cropped up in President Obama’s second term (starting with seven Cabinet or Cabinet-rank jobs), so finding a replacement for Genachowski apparently isn’t high on the to-do list.

For his part, Genachowski has deflected questions about when he might step down.

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UN calls for independent inquiry into Palestinian death

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations called Monday for an independent inquiry into the death of a Palestinian in Israeli custody, warning that mounting tensions risk an eruption of violence in the occupied territories.

The Palestinians also demanded an independent investigation in a letter to the UN Security Council, which said that Arafat Jaradat, who died at the weekend, could have been tortured.

UN Middle East peace envoy Robert Serry made the call for an investigation in a statement after talks with Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad on the Jaradat's death.

Serry noted that Israeli and Palestinian experts had examined the body.

"The United Nations expects the autopsy to be followed by an independent and transparent investigation into the circumstances of Mr Jaradat's death, the results of which should be made public as soon as possible," the envoy added.

Jaradat was detained on February 18 and died five days later.

Israeli prison authorities said Jaradat appeared to have died of a heart attack. But the Palestinian minister of prisoner affairs, Issa Qaraqaa, citing the preliminary findings of the joint autopsy, reported bruises on Jaradat's body, muscle damage and broken ribs.

A letter sent by Palestinian UN ambassador Riyad Mansour to the Security Council said the autopsy revealed that Jaradat "was subjected to severe beatings, abuse and medical negligence during his captivity, possibly amounting to torture."

The letter said Jaradat had six broken bones in his neck, spine, arms and legs, along with other injuries.

Israel has said the prisoner could have suffered broken bones in attempts to resuscitate him after the heart attack.

"This horrific incident is further proof of the inhumane treatment systematically meted out by Israel against Palestinians in its jails," added the letter, which called for an "impartial investigation" and Security Council action to make Israel abide by humanitarian law.

Thousands attended the Jaradat's West Bank funeral on Monday and some militants have threatened revenge for his death.

Serry's statement said "mounting tensions present a real risk of destabilisation".

UN leader Ban Ki-moon expressed concern last week about the deteriorating state of Palestinian hunger strikers in Israeli jails and said that the rights of all Palestinian detainees must be fully respected.

-AFP/sb

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Isro does it again, 7 SATS in orbit

A five-minute delay to pre-empt an encounter withdebrisdid not dampen the spirit at Sriharikota on Monday as the satellite launch vehicle PSLV-C20 took to the skies to catapult seven satellites into orbit,including Indo-Frenchsatellite SARAL.

While initially the control room at Sriharikota was bristling with activity, a deadsilence prevailed as launch time drew close. While initially the launch time was slated for 5.56pm, the PSLV, dubbed workhorse of the Indian Space Research Organisation, took off at 6.01pm after Isro officials got wind of some debris, close to three hours before the scheduled lift-off time.

Five minutes is a significant amountof timeduring a launch since any object in space at above 500km moves at 8km per second. The delay ensured that the rocket reached the altitude after thedebrishad moved away.

Besides the Indo-French satellite with ARgos and ALtika (SARAL), India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C20), on its 23rd flight, also launched six commercial payloads from Austria, Britain, Canada and Denmark into a 785km polar sun synchronous orbit.

With seven satellites in total, this is the second highest number of satellites to be flown on a PSLV. In April 2008, it put in orbit 10 satellites, including the national Cartosat-2A, on the PSLV-C9 rocket.

The 668.5kg 44.4-metre tall rocket, with a lift-off mass of 229.7 tonnes, has been configured in a 'core-alone' format without solid strap-on motors. According to officials this is the ninthcore-aloneflightof a PSLV.

The PSLV put the 407-kg Indo-French satellite with ARgos and ALtika (SARAL) into orbit in 1077-72 seconds. SARAL will help study ocean surface and the environment using the two devices — ARgos and the ALtika. The French ALtika altimeter works on the principle of RADAR,emitting microwave pulse and picking up signals that bounce back. The time taken for the signal to return provides the distance between satellite and the sea. "This way we'll be able to measure the height of the waves and assess changes in the ocean,"said an Isro official.

Of the six smaller satellites, two each are from Canada and Austria and one each from the U K and Denmark. This includes NEOSSAT from Canada which will detect and track either near-earth asteroids or satellites in geostationary orbit.

President Pranab Mukherjee, who witnessed the launch, hailed Isro for its track record and wished the team success in its future ventures.

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Sharks Warn Off Predators By Wielding Light Sabers

Diminutive deep-sea sharks illuminate spines on their backs like light sabers to warn potential predators that they could get a sharp mouthful, a new study suggests.

Paradoxically, the sharks seem to produce light both to hide and to be conspicuous—a first in the world of glowing sharks. (See photos of other sea creatures that glow.)

"Three years ago we showed that velvet belly lanternsharks [(Etmopterus spinax)] are using counter-illumination," said lead study author Julien Claes, a biologist from Belgium's Catholic University of Louvain, by email.

In counter-illumination, the lanternsharks, like many deep-sea animals, light up their undersides in order to disguise their silhouette when seen from below. Brighter bellies blend in with the light filtering down from the surface. (Related: "Glowing Pygmy Shark Lights Up to Fade Away.")

Fishing the 2-foot-long (60-centimeter-long) lanternsharks up from Norwegian fjords and placing them in darkened aquarium tanks, the researchers noticed that not only do the sharks' bellies glow, but they also had glowing regions on their backs.

The sharks have two rows of light-emitting cells, called photophores, on either side of a fearsome spine on the front edges of their two dorsal fins.

Study co-author Jérôme Mallefet explained how handling the sharks and encountering their aggressive behavior hinted at the role these radiant spines play.

"Sometimes they flip around and try to hit you with their spines," said Mallefet, also from Belgium's Catholic University of Louvain. "So we thought maybe they are showing their weapon in the dark depths."

To investigate this idea, the authors analyzed the structure of the lanternshark spines and found that they were more translucent than other shark spines.

This allowed the spines to transmit around 10 percent of the light from the glowing photophores, the study said.

For Predators' Eyes Only

Based on the eyesight of various deep-sea animals, the researchers estimated that the sharks' glowing spines were visible from several meters away to predators that include harbor seals (Phoca vitulina), harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena), and blackmouth catsharks (Galeus melastomus).

"The spine-associated bioluminescence has all the characteristics to play the right role as a warning sign," said Mallefet.

"It's a magnificent way to say 'hello, here I am, but beware I have spines,'" he added.

But these luminous warning signals wouldn't impede the sharks' pursuit of their favorite prey, Mueller's bristle-mouth fish (Maurolicus muelleri), the study suggested. These fish have poorer vision than the sharks' predators and may only spot the sharks' dorsal illuminations at much closer range.

For now, it remains a mystery how the sharks create and control the lights on their backs. The glowing dorsal fins could respond to the same hormones that control the belly lights, suggested Mallefet, but other factors may also be involved.

"MacGyver" of Bioluminescence

Several other species use bioluminescence as a warning signal, including marine snails (Hinea brasiliana), glowworms (Lampyris noctiluca) and millipedes (Motyxia spp.).

Edith Widder, a marinebiologist from the Ocean Research and Conservation Association who was not involved in the current study, previously discovered a jellyfish whose bioluminescence rubs off on attackers that get too close.

"It's like paint packages in money bags at banks," she explained.

"Any animal that was foolish enough to go after it," she added "gets smeared all over with glowing particles that make it easy prey for its predators."

Widder also points out that glowing deep-sea animals often put their abilities to diverse uses. (Watch: "Why Deep-Sea Creatures Glow.")

"There are many examples of animals using bioluminescence for a whole range of different functions," she said.

Mallefet agrees, joking that these sharks are the "MacGyver of bioluminescence."

"Just give light to this shark species and it will use it in any possible way."

And while Widder doesn't discount the warning signal theory, "another possibility would be that it could be to attract a mate."

Lead author Julien Claes added by email, "I also discovered during my PhD thesis that velvet belly lanternsharks have glowing organs on their sexual parts."

And that, he admits, "makes it very easy, even for a human, to distinguish male and female of this species in the dark!"

The glowing shark study appeared online in the February 21 edition of Scientific Reports.

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Americans Targeted for Allegedly Running Underage Prostitution in Philippines

Arthur Benjamin is sitting at the edge of a small stage, wearing a lavender Hawaiian shirt and nursing a bottle of San Miguel Light beer. The 6-foot-6 mustachioed Texan lazily watches the half dozen or so girls dancing rather unenergetically around the stage's pole.

"I forgot your gift again, it's in the car," Benjamin says to one of the girls on stage, shouting above the pop music blaring from the speaker system.

The small, dingy bar, which Benjamin says he owns, is called Crow Bar. It's in a rundown part of the picturesque Subic Bay in the western Philippines, about a three hour drive from the capital, Manila. Home for 50 years to a United States naval base, Subic Bay has become synonymous with foreigners looking for sex in the long string of bars that line the main road along the coast.

Watch the full story on "Nightline" TONIGHT at 12:35 a.m. ET

The bars in this area are often packed with older foreign men ogling the young Filipina women available for the night for a "bar fine" of around 1,500 Filipino pesos, or just over $35. Many of the bars are owned and operated by Americans, often former military servicemen who either served on the base or whose ships docked here until the base was shuttered under political pressure in 1992.

Most of the prostitutes working in the bars are indeed 18 or older. But in the Philippines, just a small scratch to the surface can reveal a layer of young, underage girls who have mostly come from impoverished rural provinces to sell their bodies to help support their families.

Benjamin, 49, is, according to his own statements, one of the countless foreigners who has moved beyond just having sex with underage girls to owning and operating a bar where girls in scantily-clad outfits flaunt their bodies for patrons.

"My wife recently found out that I have this place," he tells an ABC News "Nightline" team, unaware they are journalists and recording the conversation on tiny hidden cameras disguised as shirt buttons.

Benjamin said that a "disgruntled waitress" had written his wife on Facebook, detailing his activities in Subic Bay.

"She sent her this thing saying that I have underage girls who stayed with me, that I [have anal sex with them], I own a bar, I've got other girls that I'm putting through high school, all this other crap," he said.

"All of which is true," he laughed. "However, I have to deny."

He sends a text message summoning his current girlfriend, a petite dark-skinned girl called Jade, who he said is just 16 years old. Benjamin says he bought the bar for her about a year ago and while most still call it Crow Bar, he officially re-named it with her last name.

"She needed a place to stay, I needed a place to do her. I bought a bar for her," he says, explaining that she lives in a house out back by the beach.

"You're not going to find anything like this in the States, not as a guy my age," he said as he looked down at Jade. "Ain't going to happen."

Benjamin is the latest target of Father Shay Cullen, a Catholic priest with a thick Irish brogue and fluency in the local language, Tagalog. Through his non-profit center called Preda, he's been crusading against underage sex trafficking in the Philippines for 40 years.

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Legislative branch prepares for spending cuts

Lawmakers will return to work Monday after a week-long break, with $85 billion in automatic spending cuts set to take effect in four days.

Congressional offices and agencies have remained largely quiet on the issue compared with the executive branch, where top officials — from President Obama to Cabinet members such as Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta — have warned against the budget cuts known as sequestration, in speeches and with testimonies before congressional committees.

But that doesn’t mean the legislative branch would escape cuts.

The sequester would not affect lawmaker salaries, since their pay does not come from discretionary spending. But the reductions would hit their individual offices, as well as all legislative-branch agencies such as the Library of Congress, the Congressional Budget Office and U.S. Capitol Police.

Agencies that have sent letters to employees have noted similar strategies: imposing hiring freezes, reducing travel expenses, trimming funding for technology upgrades and reworking some contracts.

Furloughs stand out as one of the greatest concerns among federal workers, because they mean less pay for the year and fewer days for employees to do their jobs.

Some congressional agencies have said they expect to avoid unpaid leave if the sequester happens, while others have said they may resort to the measure for a few days.

The Government Accountability Office told employees in a memo last week that furloughs probably wouldn’t be necessary for the agency, based on the latest estimates for a reduction target.

“We have been allocating our funds since the start of the fiscal year in a very conservative manner, recognizing that sequestration might go into effect,” Comptroller General Gene L. Dodaro said in the memo.

“We project that we would no longer require furloughs at GAO this year to absorb the potential reduction associated with sequestration,” Dodaro added.

Likewise, a spokesman for the Architect of the Capitol said in an e-mail last week that the organization doesn’t think furloughs will be necessary to meet the reduction target.

What remains to be seen is just what the reduction targets would be. The latest estimate from the White House budget office said the sequester would require across-the-board cuts of “roughly 5 percent for non-Defense programs.”

The Congressional Budget Office calculated 5.3 percent for the same category.

Even based on those estimates, some legislative agencies don’t think they can avoid furloughs under the sequester.

The Library of Congress last week warned its employees that the cuts would probably require four days of unpaid leave, with individual workers scheduling one of those days in coordination with supervisors, while the other three would come during library closings at times when the facilities would normally be open.

The Government Printing Office wasn’t so specific, saying by e-mail that “furloughs may also have to be implemented” in addition to plans for a hiring freeze, limits on overtime and reductions in travel and training.

Although the sequester could have an impact on lawmakers’ local and Capitol Hill offices, it remains unclear how many members of Congress would impose layoffs, furloughs or pay cuts to meet the reduction targets. Only those who expect to avoid such measures commented for this report.

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said his office prepared for the sequester during the past year by stopping pay raises, reducing travel, eliminating its staff retreat and cutting back on mailings — resorting to more cost-effective digital communications instead.

“We’ve kept awfully lean this year just on the assumption that this might happen,” Cole said. “We’ll make the adjustments, but we won’t have to furlough and we won’t reduce services in terms of case work or answering constituent questions.”

The automatic cuts were established with the intent that they would be so undesirable that lawmakers would be motivated to reach a budget compromise. But with the cuts days away and Democrats and Republicans as far apart as ever, observers say the reductions appear to be inevitable.

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Castro picks 'young' new heir to take regime into future

HAVANA: Cuban President Raul Castro on Sunday won re-election to what he pledged will be his last term, and finally unveiled a 52-year-old political heir he wants to bring the regime into the future.

"This will be my last term," Castro, 81, told lawmakers after the National Assembly reelected him and named a new regime number two -- Council of State Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel, 52.

Choosing the former military man and professor from Villa Clara, who has represented the president on foreign trips in recent months, "marks a final step in configuring the country's future leadership, through the slow and orderly transfer of the main leadership positions to new generations," Castro said.

This is not the transition Cuba's nemesis, the United States, has fruitlessly spent decades and millions of dollars seeking.

Washington has long prodded neighbor Cuba to open up to a multiparty system and market economics, much of the time during the more than 40-year rule of revolution icon Fidel Castro.

Through the Cold War and now for over two decades after it, the United States has kept trying to isolate Cuba to press for democratic change.

It has had a full trade embargo on Havana, the only one-party Communist regime in the Americas, since 1962 to pressure the communist island to open up democratically and economically.

Cuba finally appears poised to have new leadership lined up -- if only it can continue to prop up its dysfunctional economy while keeping the regime afloat.

In addition to depending on Venezuelan aid, Cuba has so far failed to discover oil in its waters that experts say lies beneath the seabed off its Gulf of Mexico coast.

The fate and future of the Cuban regime also depends on the health of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Cuba's main economic supporter and political ally, who is recovering from cancer surgery.

There is no guarantee a successor would feed Cuba's economy as much as Chavez.

Diaz-Canel, who turns 53 in April, is an electrical engineer by training, a former education minister and the president's de facto political heir seeking to project the Americas' only one-party Communist regime into the future.

Since March, Diaz-Canel has been one of the eight vice presidents on the Council of Ministers.

He took the number two spot from Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, 82, who relinquished the post but remains among Cuba's vice presidents.

Diaz-Canel, as political heir, cuts a starkly different profile from the revolutionary leadership, whose members are mostly in their 80s.

If he comes to lead Cuba, he would be the first leader of the regime whose entire life has been under the Castro regime that started in January 1959.

Barring any changes, Diaz-Canel would succeed Raul Castro, who will be 82 in June, if the president serves out his term through 2018.

A careful speaker, the lanky Diaz-Canel also has been a leader of the Communist Youth Union, and went on an international "mission" to Nicaragua during the first leftist Sandinista government.

He rose up the ranks, leading the party in Villa Clara in central Cuba, before being chosen to lead it in Holguin province in the east.

Diaz-Canel was then bumped up to the Politburo in 2003.

There was more new blood among the five vice presidents on the Council of State, in the person of Mercedes Lopez Acea, 48, the former leader of the Communist Party's Havana provincial assembly.

Raul Castro became Cuba's interim president when Fidel took ill in 2006. He formally became president in 2008.

The National Assembly, whose members ran for office in October unopposed, also chose Esteban Lazo, 68, as their new speaker.

Seen as an ideological hardliner, he is also the regime's most prominent Afro-Cuban leader.

"The choice of Lazo to lead the National Assembly confirms that the approach to any ideological change is a really cautious one.

Lazo has been all about ideological orthodoxy," said professor Arturo Lopez-Levy, at the University of Denver in the US state of Colorado.

On Friday, Raul Castro surprised some by joking publicly about resigning.

"I am going to resign. I am about to turn 82. I have the right to retire. Don't you believe me?" Castro said.

-AFP/sb

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Copter deal fixer specializes in India

NEW DELHI: Security services in Algeria, commercial promotions in India, supply of specialized personnel in the Middle East and more.

Guido Haschke, the Swiss resident who was allegedly one of the key middlemen in the VVIP helicopter deal with India, almost sounds like a global consortium with several specializations across the globe in the internal documents of Finmeccanica group. Or was he a key conduit for funneling out money from the Italian group`s various companies?

According to internal documents of Finmeccanica group reviewed by TOI, Haschke and his companies were paid at least 2.65 million euros (approx Rs 18.55 crore) between 2005 and 2011 for several activities across several countries. These are besides the payments that were made to companies such as IDS Infotech and Aeromatrix, and other front companies.

The documents point towards an extremely cozy relationship between the Italian-US citizen and the consortium. It also shows the blessings enjoyed by Haschke from the Finmeccanica top brass, especially former chairman Giuseppe Orsi, which emerges in the several taped conversations between Hashcke and other suspects during the ongoing Italian probe.

Without such a considerate approach from Finmeccanica, he couldn`t have won so many diverse contracts. There is no clear indication yet that Haschke and his companies had all these capabilities shown in the contracts.

India definitely was his main playground. Haschke had several contracts with Finmeccanica group companies in India at least until March 2012 when details of the scandal began to emerge in Italian media. Investigations show that Haschke and his companies handled kickbacks of 21 million euros in the Rs 3,546 crore deal for buying 12 VVIP helicopters for the IAF in 2010. Christian Michel, a UK citizen based in Dubai, handled another 30 million euros in kickbacks, according to Italian investigators.

AgustaWestland entered into three consultancy agreements between December 2005 and September 2007 with Haschke in India. According to a report submitted to the Finmeccanica board after the scandal broke, these were "concerning scouting for the sale of civilian helicopters in India, for which fees totalling 400,000 euros were paid". The report told the board, "Those agreements have no connection with the subsequent supply of the 12 helicopters discussed" in the controversy.

Alenia Aermacchi, the aerospace arm of Finmeccanica, paid Haschke 300,000 euros in financial year 2011-12 under what is called a "service agreement". It is not clear what specific services Haschke provided to the company, which is pitching its C-27J transport aircraft to the Indian military.

Another Finmeccanica company OtoMelara, which is looking to supply its land and naval systems to Indian forces, had a "service agreement" with Haschke in the 2011-12 financial year for 58,000 euros. Ansaldo Energia, the power engineering company of Finmeccanica group, entered into two commercial support contracts and one contract for the supply of specialized personnel with Haschke in India. Under a contract signed on June 15, 2006, he was paid 202,000 euros for "acquisition of an order from a private Indian party". A second contract dated January 15, 2011 was for supply of spare parts for a plant in India, with a fee of 249,000 euros.

Ansaldo Breda, which is into road and rail systems, entered into a commercial promotion contract in India from November 1, 2008 to October 31, 2009, and paid Haschke 120,000 euros. Haschke`s contracts with Finmeccanica group companies were not just limited to India.

Ansaldo Energia, through its Abu Dhabi branch, had a contract for "specialized personnel" for assembly and work site activities in the Middle East and North Africa with Haschke. The agreement started from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2006 at an annual cost of 600,000 euros. Ansaldo Energia also had a contract with Haschke for security services for a work site in Algeria during 2007-2010, and he was paid a total fee of 1.14 million euros.

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Picture Archive: Dorothy Lamour and Jiggs, Circa 1938

Dorothy Lamour, most famous for her Road to ... series of movies with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, never won an Oscar. In her 50-plus-year career as an actress, she never even got nominated.

Neither did Jiggs the chimpanzee, pictured here with Lamour on the set of Her Jungle Love in a photo published in the 1938 National Geographic story "Monkey Folk."

No animal has ever been nominated for an Oscar. According to Academy Award rules, only actors and actresses are eligible.

Uggie, the Jack Russell terrier from last year's best picture winner, The Artist, didn't rate a nod. The equines that portrayed Seabiscuit and War Horse, movies that were best picture contenders in their respective years, were also snubbed.

Even the seven piglets that played Babe, the eponymous star of the best picture nominee in 1998, didn't rate. And the outlook seems to be worsening for the animal kingdom's odds of ever getting its paws on that golden statuette.

This year, two movies nominated in the best picture category had creatures that were storyline drivers with significant on-screen time. Neither Beasts of the Southern Wild (which featured extinct aurochs) or Life of Pi (which featured a CGI Bengal tiger named Richard Parker) used real animals.

An Oscar's not the only way for animals to get ahead, though. Two years after this photo was published, the American Humane Association's Los Angeles Film & TV Unit was established to monitor and protect animals working on show business sets. The group's creation was spurred by the death of a horse during the filming of 1939's Jessie James.

Today, it's still the only organization that stamps "No Animals Were Harmed" onto a movie's closing credits.

Editor's note: This is part of a series of pieces that looks at the news through the lens of the National Geographic photo archives.

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Oscars 2013: Live Blog of the Academy Awards

Feb 24, 2013 1:13pm

10: 49 p.m.: “Lincoln” wins Best Production Design.

READ MORE: Full Wrap of the Oscars

10: 47 p.m.: Dubbed “boy wizard” and “girl vampire” by MacFarlane, Daniel Radcliffe and Kirsten Stewart present the award for Achievement in Production Design. Stewart is sans the crutches she was sporting on the red carpet earlier. Here’s the picture in case you missed it.

Watch Live Oscars Coverage Here

10: 44 p.m. ET: Nicole Kidman introduces the third batch of Best Picture nominees — “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Django Unchained” and ”Amour.”

10:35 p.m. ET: The unstoppable Adele performs her hit “Skyfall.” Our eyes are glued to the TV as our everyone’s backstage, including winner Anne Hathaway, Entertainment Weekly’s Jess Cagle tweeted.

Image credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

10: 33 p.m. ET: “Argo” wins Film Editing.

10: 32 p.m. ET: “Editors make so many of us look way better than we ever had a right to,” Sandra Bullock says before presenting the award for Best Film Editing.

10:23 p.m. ET: No surprise! Anne Hathaway takes home Best Supporting Actress. “It came true,” she says, clutching the statue.

Image credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

10:20 p.m. ET: Best Supporting Actress time … finally!It’s between Amy Adams, “The Master”; Sally Field, “Lincoln”; Anne Hathaway, “Les Miserables”; Jacki Weaver, “Silver Linings Playbook”; Helen Hunt, “The Sessions.”

10:15 p.m. ET: “We have a tie,” Mark Wahlberg said before announcing the award for Best Sound Editing. The first one goes to “Zero Dark Thirty.” The second one goes to “Skyfall.” Is a tie allowed, you ask? It’s not the first in Oscars history. The most famous was in 1986 when Barbra Streisand and Katharine Hepburn tied for Best Actress, but there were five in total: Best Actor category in 1949, Best Documentary Short Subject in 1968, Best Actress in 1986, Documentary Feature in 1994, and Live Action Short Film, ABC News’ Alexis Shaw reports.

10:13 p.m. ET: Ted wouldn’t be Ted without a Jewish joke. The bear asks Mark Wahlberg if he’s Jewish because he has “a berg” at the end of his name.  ” Wrong answer. Try again. If you want to work in this town… ” he says. “I was born Theodore Shapiro…”

10:11 p.m. ET: Ted is in the house. The stars of MacFarlane’s box office hit, “Ted,” Mark Wahlberg and Ted, presented the award for Sound Mixing to “Les Miserables.”

Image credit: Getty Images

10:01 p.m. ET: The cast of “Les Miserables” is singing “One Day More.” Anne Hathaway stole the show, as expected.

9:59 p.m. ET: No words. Jennifer Hudson is breaking it down with “Dreamgirls’” “And I’m Telling You.”

Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

9:53 p.m. ET: The movie musical tribute is off to a killer start with Catherine Zeta-Jones’ performance of “All That Jazz” from “Chicago.”

9:50 p.m. ET: Best Foreign Language Film is “Amour.”

9:44 p.m. ET: “Searching for Sugar Man” takes home Best Documentary Feature. Jaws music creeps in again … (An aside: there’s an official Twitter handle for Jaws music already with one tweet: “GET OFF THE STAGE!!!!!!!!”)

Full List of Winners

9:42 p.m. ET: MarFarlane gets some laughs at the expense of Ben Affleck and Jessica Chastain. On Affleck’s facial hair: “The first time I saw him with all that facial hair I thought finally the Kardashians have made the jump to film.” On Jessica Chastain’s character in “Zero Dark Thirty” — a movie about a “woman’s innate ability to never let anything go,” he jokes.

9:40 p.m. ET: Second batch of Best Picture nominees — “Argo,” “Lincoln,” “Zero Dark Thirty” – get their moment in the spotlight.

9: 36 p.m. ET: Best Documentary Short Subject goes to “Inocente.”

9: 33 p.m. ET: Shawn Christensen of “Curfew” wins for Live Action Short Film. Stars of “Django Unchained” Kerry Washington and Jamie Foxx present.

9:27 p.m. ET: Standing ovation for Shirley Bassey singing “Goldfinger.” Thoughts on her performance?

9: 22 p.m. ET: Bond… James Bond! A ravishing Halle Berry takes to the stage in Marchesa for the Academy’s tribute to 50 years of James Bond films.

9:20 p.m. ET: “Les Miserables” picks up Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

9:18 p.m. ET: Jennifer Aniston and Channing Tatum Best Costume Designgoes to Jacqueline Durran for “Anna Karenina.” Click here to see her Oscar-winning costumes.

9:11 p.m. ET: And they’re playing people off with Jaws music. Hilarious and brilliant. Nicole Kidman mouths from her seat: “Poor thing.”

9:10 p.m. ET: That’s two for “Life of Pi.” The film picks up another win for Visual Effects.

9:07 p.m. ET:The Best Oscar for Cinematography goes to… Claudio Miranda for “Life of Pi.” The cast of “The Avengers” hands out the award.

Full List of Winners

9:05 p.m. ET: MacFarlane jokes about nine-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis’ age. “It’ll be 16 years till she’s too old for George Clooney.”

9:03 p.m. ET: Reese Witherspoon just gave us a briefing on the three of the Best Picture nominees: “Les Miserables,” “Life of Pi,” and “Beasts of the Southern Wild.” That song from “Les Mis” — “Do You Hear the People Sing?” — is now in my head.

9:00 p.m. ET: Best Animated Feature Oscar goes to….”Brave.”

8: 58 p.m. ET: “Paperman” wins Best Animated Short.

8: 58 p.m. ET: Paul Rudd and Melissa McCarthy lost us in their intro to animated short film.

8: 51 pm. ET: And the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor goes to Christoph Waltz in “Django Unchained.”

Credit: Chris Pizzello/AP

8:49 p.m. ET: Every nominee for Best Supporting Actor already has an Oscar under his belt.

8: 42 p.m. ET: Another musical number with Daniel Radcliffe and Joseph-Gordon Levitt. And then we got a little Disney music too with “Be Our Guest,” which finally scored MacFarlane the “Best Oscars host ever” headline.

Credit: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

8: 39 p.m. ET: Channing Tatum and Charlize Theron are dancing to MacFarlane singing “The Way You Look Tonight.” A shame not to see the “Magic Mike” star shirtless though.

Credit: Mark Davis/Getty Images

Image credit: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

8:38 p.m. ET: Captain Kirk from “Star Trek” has descended on the stage to warn MacFarlane that he’s about to ruin the Oscars and be branded the worst Oscar host ever. “The show is a disaster. I’ve come back in time … to stop you from ruining the Academy Awards,” William Shatner says. “You sing an incredibly offensive song that upsets a lot of women in the audience.” Cut to MacFarlane singing “We Saw Your Boobs,” a hilarious number referencing when we’ve seen actresses nude in movies.

Image credit: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

8:35 p.m. ET: MacFarlane pokes fun at Daniel Day Lewis’ method. “Your process fascinates me. You were totally 100% in character in Lincoln… So if you saw a cell phone, would you have to be like, ‘Oh god, what’s that?’ If you bumped into Don Cheadle on the studio lot, you’d try and free him on the studio lot.”

8: 32 p.m. ET:  Too much? MacFarlane compared “Django Unchained” to Rihanna and Chris Brown’s relationship.

8:30 p.m. ET: Seth MacFarlane is on stage and quips: “The quest to make Tommy Lee Jones laugh begins now.”

8:27 p.m. ET: The stars are seated and the show is about to start. A lot of anticipation about Seth MacFarlane’s opening monologue. Channing Tatum is tweeting that he’s getting ready to take to the stage: “Hope you like what we’ve been working on. Getting ready to hit the #Oscars stage! Wish me luck!” Will there be a musical number right off the bat?

8:20 p.m. ET: Strapless is definitely a trend of the night. We’ve also seen a lot of beauties in blue.

Image credit: Getty Images

8: 15 p.m. ET: We’ve confirmed that Best Supporting Actress nominee Helen Hunt is rocking … H&M! “The Session” actress is in a  custom made midnight-blue full length gown is silk satin gown (also strapless). 

8:14 p.m. ET: Anne Hathaway is talking about her dress. “My mom says it’s business in the front, party in the back.”

8:08 p.m. ET: Do Jacki Weaver and Olivia Munn share a stylist? ABC News’ Alexis Shaw spotted the Best Supporting Actress nominee and Munn in eerily similar crimson gowns with matching gold embellishment on the top. Click here for more.

Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

8:05 p.m. ET: Kristen Stewart is sporting crutches on the red carpet. Might be because she took home the Worst Actress Razzie award last night for “Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2.”

Credit: Christopher Polk/Getty Images

8:00 p.m. ET: The show is now officially a half hour away. In honor of Oscar night, the President tweeted this picture from a White House movie night.

Image credit: Twitter/BarackObama

7: 52 p.m. ET: “Les Mis” star and Best Actor nominee Hugh Jackman just picked up pre-show host Kristin Chenoweth on the red carpet and said she weighs less than an Oscar. Not really though…Each nearly 14-inch-high statue weighs 8.5 pounds and costs $500 to make. Get more Oscar trivia here.

7:40 p.m. ET: If there’s one star you can count on to look fabulous, it’s Jennifer Aniston.  She’s in a Valentino red strapless gown and has fiance Justin Theroux at her side. They’re in the running for Hollywood’s hottest couple on the red carpet.

7:38 p.m. ET: Bradley Cooper brought his mom as his date. She’s rocking a shrug with serious feathers and what look like sneakers with her gown. Cooper is up for Best Actor in “Silver Linings Playbook.”

7:34 p.m. ET: Reese Witherspoon is in head to toe Louis Vuitton. The presenter’s black and royal blue gown with side-swept hairdo scream old Hollywood glamor. Click here.

Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage/Getty Images

7: 28 p.m. ET: Fashion miss: Jane Fonda is slightly blinding in bright yellow.

7: 24 p.m. ET: Best actress nominee Naomi Watts is in a gunmetal Giorgio Armani gown in grey sequins. Does she make your best dressed list? See more arrivals here.

7:20 p.m. ET: Anne Hathaway’s dress may raise eyebrows tonight. The “Les Miserables” star is in a backless, halter dress that appears slightly sheer on the red carpet.

Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

7:18 p.m. ET: We can’t get enough of Quvenzhane Wallis. The “Beasts of the Southern Wild” star has her mom’s permission to stay out a little bit later tonight, she told Lara Spencer on the red carpet.

Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

7:15 p.m. ET: “I feel super tucked in,” Amanda Seyfried said of the corset in her Alexander McQueen gown. “I can’t sit down.” The “Les Miserables” star is performing tonight. Hope she can breathe on stage.

7:07 p.m. ET: Another star goes strapless. Jennifer Lawrence, who’s up for Best Actress in “Silver Linings Playbook,” is in a blush Dior Haute Couture gown with a full skirt.

Credit: Steve Granitz/Getty Images

7:01 p.m. ET: ABC’s pre-show is kicking off! “Red carpet is 500 feet long. That’s about 2,000 of me,” Chenoweth joked. Tune into ABC now and get a behind-the-scenes look via Backstage Pass on the Oscar App.

6:56 p.m. ET: The red carpet is packed, but not everyone is making it through the notorious L.A. traffic. Mark Ruffalo is running late. The actor, who’s presenting tonight, tweeted to the Academy: “Dear @TheAcademy. We are running a good deal behind would you mind starting a little later this year? Mark and Sunrise Ruffalo.”

Credit: ABC News

6:49 p.m. ET: Presenter Kerry Washington is in Miu Miu. The “Django Unchained” and star “Scandal” star always keeps us guessing and never fails to impress.

The Best Apps for Hollywood’s Big Night

6:44 p.m. ET: Who are you most excited to see on the red carpet? What will be the meme of the night? Angelia Jolie’s right leg stole the show last year and Twitter is reminding us. “1 year ago today you met the glorious thing that is ME #neverforget,” @Angelina Jolie’sLeg posted.  

6:35 p.m. ET: The reigning “Sexiest Man Alive” Channing Tatum and a pregnant Jenna Dewan are both glowing on the red carpet. See them canoodling here.

6:25 p.m. ET: Amy Adams looks ethereal in a seafoam green Oscar de la Renta strapless dress. She’s up for Best Supporting Actress for “The Master.”

Credit: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

PHOTOS: Oscar Red Carpet Arrivals

6:22 p.m. ET: Cutest moment of the red carpet so far, as captured by the Academy. Nine-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis, nominated for “Beasts of the Southern Wild” shows off her puppy-shaped purse to fellow Best Actress nominee Jessica Chastain. It’s reportedly named Sammy after her dog at home.

Credit: @TheAcademy/Twitter

6:10 p.m. ET: The winners have arrived, WABC’s Sandy Kenyon reports! In these briefcases are the top secret ballots from the Academy. Read more here.

Credit: Twitter/SandyKenyon7

5:56 p.m. ET: “GMA” anchors Robin Roberts and Lara Spencer smile backstage before the red carpet heats up.

Credit: ABC

5:42 p.m. ET: ABC pre-show hosts Kristin Chenoweth and Kelly Rowland have arrived on the red carpet and are looking fabulous in black and white.

Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

5:30 p.m. ET: See what the stars see as they walk down the grand staircase to the red carpet at the Dolby Theatre. This cool 360 view is courtesy of the Academy.

5:15 p.m. ET: Get your Oscar party on. Impress your friends with these movie-themed recipes and cocktails. We could go for some Spinach “Argo-choke Dip” right about now…

Oscar 2013: Movie-Themed Recipes
9 Cocktails for Your Oscar Party

5:00 p.m. ET: “GMA” anchor Robin Roberts is back and looking better than ever! Roberts, who returned to the morning show Wednesday after undergoing a bone marrow transplant to treat MDS, will be on the red carpet tonight. “To my wonderful, beloved #TeamRobin … This one’s for you. XO,” she tweeted. She’s in a cobalt blue velvet halter gown from designer Marc Bouwer.

Credit: Twitter/RobinRoberts

4:44 p.m. ET: We’re less than an hour away from red carpet arrivals. “Good Morning America” anchor Lara Spencer is getting red-carpet ready to host the Oscar pre-show.  “Hair + Make-up = Butterflies!” @LaraSpencer tweeted. Spencer, actress Kristin Chenoweth, Entertainment Weekly’s Jess Cagle and singer Kelly Rowland will have interviews with all of the stars, starting at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ABC.

Credit: Twitter/LaraSpencer

1:15 p.m. ET: Hollywood’s biggest night of the year is officially here: the Oscars. Funnyman Seth MacFarlane is hosting the 85^th Annual Academy Awards and we’ll be covering all of the big winners, best moments, surprises, and all-important red carpet arrivals. Refresh for the latest updates all night long.

We are just hours away from seeing the gorgeous gowns and finding out who’s going home with those coveted statuettes. It’s not too late to make your picks and predictions on our interactive Oscar ballot. To get up to speed before the festivities begin, check out our complete Oscars coverage.

Credit: Bob D'Amico/ABC

Full List of the Nominees

7 Things to Know About Seth MacFarlane

PHOTOS: The Best Oscar Dresses of All Time

TRIVIA: 15 Things You Don’t Know About the Oscars

PHOTOS: Top 30 Worst Oscar Looks Ever

Backstage Pass: Download the Oscars App for insider views from the red carpet and behind the scenes. Click here to learn how!

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