BJP suspends Ram Jethmalani from party for indiscipline

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Sunday evening suspended senior party leader Ram Jethmalani from the party and cancelled his membership. This comes in the wake of Jethmalani criticizing his own party for attacking the Congress-led UPA government over the appointment of Ranjit Sinha as the new CBI director.

Earlier, Jethmalani stirred a major controversy when he called for the resignation of BJP president Nitin Gadkari after Arving Kejriwal-led India Against Corruption (IAC) labelled graft charges against him in the operations and shareholdings of his Purti group of companies.

BJP's spokeman Shahnawaz Hussein in a statement said that Jethmalani's comments have only helped the Congress and the party will not tolerate any indiscipline. He also said that taking into account Jethmalani's grave indiscipline, party president Nitin Gadkari has decided to expel him from BJP with immediate effect and a letter regarding the decision has been sent to party's national executive.

With Jethmalani's expulsion, the BJP has sent a strong warning to other dissenters not to go against the party's official line.

Earlier on Sunday, a belligerent Jethmalani dared the party leadership to take action against him for his stand on the issue of the appointment of the new CBI director. He said, "If there is any action taken against me, I will welcome it but I don't think anyone has the guts to take any action against me."

Replying to questions, the Rajya Sabha MP said, "I cannot speak for the party. I am a very small person in the party, I can't predict its action but that does not permit me from speaking the truth ... I have expressed my view and I am very happy that at least 3-4 persons have supported me."

On if there were more people in the party having a similar stand, Jethmalani said, "I am sure there are more. I am 100 per cent sure that there are many more, many more but all don't have the capacity to speak the truth publicly and openly."

Actor-turned MP from Patna Sahib, Shatrughan Sinha joined Jethmalani and Yashwant Sinha in demanding resignation of party President Nitin Gadkari facing allegations of corruption, saying the issue raised by them should be looked at seriously.

"The issue raised by them (Jethmalani and Yashwant Sinha) should be looked at seriously," Sinha had told reporters on Saturday in Patna replying to a question whether he agreed with the other two BJP leaders' demand for Gadkari's resignation.

Jethmalani, while demanding Gadkari's resignation, had also claimed some other BJP leaders were with him on the demand for Gadkari's exit as party chief.

(With inputs from PTI)

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AP PHOTOS: Simple surgery heals blind Indonesians

PADANG SIDEMPUAN, Indonesia (AP) — They came from the remotest parts of Indonesia, taking crowded overnight ferries and riding for hours in cars or buses — all in the hope that a simple, and free, surgical procedure would restore their eyesight.

Many patients were elderly and needed help to reach two hospitals in Sumatra where mass eye camps were held earlier this month by Nepalese surgeon Dr. Sanduk Ruit. During eight days, more than 1,400 cataracts were removed.

The patients camped out, sleeping side-by-side on military cots, eating donated food while fire trucks supplied water for showers and toilets. Many who had given up hope of seeing again left smiling after their bandages were removed.

"I've been blind for three years, and it's really bad," said Arlita Tobing, 65, whose sight was restored after the surgery. "I worked on someone's farm, but I couldn't work anymore."

Indonesia has one of the highest rates of blindness in the world, making it a target country for Ruit who travels throughout the developing world holding free mass eye camps while training doctors to perform the simple, stitch-free procedure he pioneered. He often visits hard-to-reach remote areas where health care is scarce and patients are poor. He believes that by teaching doctors how to perform his method of cataract removal, the rate of blindness can be reduced worldwide.

Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness globally, affecting about 20 million people who mostly live in poor countries, according to the World Health Organization.

"We get only one life, and that life is very short. I am blessed by God to have this opportunity," said Ruit, who runs the Tilganga Eye Center in Katmandu, Nepal. "The most important of that is training, taking the idea to other people."

During the recent camps, Ruit trained six doctors from Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.

Here, in images, are scenes from the mobile eye camps:

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No Powerball Winner; Jackpot Grows to $425 Million


Nov 25, 2012 10:37am







ap powerball jackpot jt 121125 wblog No Powerball Winner; Jackpot Grows to Record $425 Million

                                                                (Image Credit: Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo)


The Powerball jackpot has swelled to $425 million, the largest in the lottery’s history, after no tickets matched the winning numbers in a drawing Saturday night.


The Powerball numbers for Saturday were 22-32-37-44-50, and the Powerball was 34.


Iowa Lottery spokeswoman Mary Neubauer said the jackpot could get even bigger before Wednesday, because sales tend to increase in the run-up to a big drawing.


The previous top windfall was $365 million. The jackpot was claimed by eight co-workers in Lincoln, Neb., in 2006.


PHOTOS: Biggest Lotto Jackpot Winners


While millions of Americans can have fun dreaming about how they’d spend the jackpot, the odds of winning are 1 in 175,000,000, according to lottery officials.


To put that in perspective, a ticket holder is 25 times less likely to win the jackpot then they are to win an Academy Award.


Even still, the old saying holds true: “You’ve got to be in it to win it.”




SHOWS: Good Morning America






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Egypt stocks plunge after Mursi power grab

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's stock market plunged on Sunday in its first day open since Islamist President Mohamed Mursi's seizure of new powers set off street violence and a political crisis, unraveling efforts to restore stability after last year's revolution.


More than 500 people have been injured in protests since Friday, when Egyptians awoke to news Mursi had issued a decree temporarily widening his powers and shielding his decisions from judicial review.


Mursi and the judiciary hinted at compromise to avert a full-scale political crisis.


The Supreme Judicial Council said Mursi's decree should apply only to "sovereign matters". Although it did not specify what that meant, its statement, read on television, suggested it did not reject his decree outright. It called on judges and prosecutors who have called for a strike to return to work.


Mursi's office repeated assurances that the measures would be temporary, and said he wanted dialogue with political groups.


"This declaration is deemed necessary in order to hold accountable those responsible for corruption as well as other crimes during the previous regime and the transitional period," the presidency said in a statement.


Justice minister Ahmed Mekky, who has said he has some reservations over Mursi's decree, launched an effort to mediate between Mursi and judges.


Sunday's stock market fall of nearly 10 percent - halted only by automatic curbs - was the worst since the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak in February, 2011.


Images of protesters clashing with riot police and tear gas wafting through Cairo's Tahrir Square were an unsettling reminder of that uprising. Activists were camped in the square for a third day, blocking traffic with makeshift barricades. Nearby, riot police and protesters clashed intermittently.


Mursi's supporters and opponents plan big demonstrations on Tuesday that could be a trigger for more street violence.


"We are back to square one, politically, socially," said Mohamed Radwan of Pharos Securities, an Egyptian brokerage firm.


Mursi's late Thursday decree marks an effort to consolidate his influence after he successfully sidelined Mubarak-era generals in August. It reflects his suspicions of a judiciary little reformed since the Mubarak era.


Issued just a day after Mursi received glowing tributes from Washington for his work brokering a deal to end eight days of violence between Israel and Hamas, the decree drew warnings from the West to uphold democracy. Washington has leverage because of billions of dollars it sends in annual military aid.


"The United States should be saying this is unacceptable," former presidential nominee John McCain, ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on Fox News.


"We thank Mr. Mursi for his efforts in brokering the cease fire with Hamas.... But this is not what the United States of America's taxpayers expect. Our dollars will be directly related to progress toward democracy."


Forged out of the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood, the Mursi administration has defended his decree as an effort to speed up reforms that will complete Egypt's democratic transformation.


Yet leftists, liberals, socialists and others say it has exposed the autocratic impulses of a man once jailed by Mubarak.


"There is no room for dialogue when a dictator imposes the most oppressive, abhorrent measures and then says 'let us split the difference'," prominent opposition leader ElBaradei said on Saturday in an interview with Reuters and the Associated Press.


Floating one possible way out of the crisis, political scientist Moataz Abdelfattah said he had told Mursi's advisors that the president should issue an "explanatory memo" outlining what he would and would not do with the decree.


WARNINGS FROM WEST


Investors had grown more confident in recent months that a legitimately elected government would help Egypt put its economic and political problems behind it. The stock market's main index had risen 35 percent since Mursi's victory. It closed on Sunday at its lowest level since July 31.


Political turmoil also raised the cost of government borrowing at a treasury bill auction on Sunday.


"Investors know that Mursi's decisions will not be accepted and that there will be clashes on the street," said Osama Mourad of Arab Financial Brokerage.


Just last week, investor confidence was helped by a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund over a $4.8 billion loan needed to shore up state finances.


Mursi's decree removes judicial review of decisions he takes until a new parliament is elected, expected early next year.


It also shields the Islamist-dominated assembly writing Egypt's new constitution from a raft of legal challenges that have threatened it with dissolution, and offers the same protection to the Islamist-controlled upper house of parliament.


"I am really afraid that the two camps are paving the way for violence," said Hassan Nafaa, a professor of political science at Cairo University. "Mursi has misjudged this, very much so. But forcing him again to relinquish what he has done will appear a defeat."


Many of Mursi's political opponents share the view that Egypt's judiciary needs reform. Mursi's new powers allowed him to sack the prosecutor general, a holdover from the Mubarak era who is unpopular among reformists of all stripes. But his liberal critics see the decree as a threat to democracy.


"What is confusing is that it seems the revolutionaries are meshing with the remnants of the old regime," said Nafaa.


(Additional reporting by Yasmine Saleh in Cairo and Philip Barbara in Washington; Editing by Peter Graff)


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Motor Racing: Triple-top Vettel wins third world title






SAO PAULO: Sebastian Vettel became the youngest triple champion in Formula One history on Sunday when he finished sixth behind the victorious Jenson Button in a tumultuous Brazilian Grand Prix.

The 25-year-old German, who was involved in an opening lap collision, made light of the damage to his Red Bull car as he fought through the field in a dramatic race run in treacherous rain-swept conditions at the Interlagos circuit.

Vettel's only title rival, two-time champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso, finished a fine second after a courageous drive for Ferrari, but it was not enough to overhaul a pre-race 13-point deficit as his German rival won the crown by just three points.

The race was littered with accidents and incidents and ended behind a Safety Car with Vettel bringing his car home in the rain in tears, unable to respond to the screamed congratulations from Red Bull team chief Christian Horner.

Vettel became only the third driver in history to win three successive titles, equalling the feats of the great Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio and his own childhood idol Michael Schumacher, who finished seventh for Mercedes in his final race before retiring.

Alonso's Ferrari team-mate, local hero Brazilian Felipe Massa, drove brilliantly to finish third ahead of Australian Mark Webber in the second Red Bull and German Nico Hulkenberg of Force India.

"We lost communication at the start but Sebastian stuck at it. He drove with determination," said Horner.

"He just never gives up. After the first lap spin I thought that was it because we knew Fernando would be on the podium. But he got back to the top six, the rain came, we went to inter (tyres) and then slicks.

"It was maximum stress throughout the race, but Seb stayed cool. Fernando did a great job but he knew he was up against one of the best. What Seb achieved was incredible."

Hulkenberg played a prominent role in the race, not only leading for a spell but also crashing into Lewis Hamilton's McLaren to wreck the Briton's hopes of a triumphant conclusion to his career with the British team just when he looked sure of winning.

Vettel was sixth, Schumacher seventh and Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne eighth for Toro Rosso ahead of Japanese Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber and Finn Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus.

Vettel, whose Red Bull team took a third constructors' championship in succession last weekend in Texas, finished with 281 points and Alonso with 278.

It was Briton Button's first win in Brazil, his third of the season and the 15th of his career.

Alonso paid tribute to his Ferrari team.

"First of all I'm very proud of the team. We lost the championship before today, not in Brazil, this is a sport after all," said the Spaniard.

"When you do something with your heart and do it 100 percent you have to be proud of yourself and your team and we'll try again next year."

Button added: "First of all I want to congratulate the whole team. This is the perfect way to end the season. We have had ups and downs and to end on a high bodes well for 2013."

-AFP/ac



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Missile launch centre to come up in coastal Andhra

HYDERABAD: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) plans to set up a missile launch site in the coastal town of Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh with an investment of Rs.1,000 crore.

DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat, who is also the scientific advisor to the defence minister, told reporters here Friday that they had asked the state government to allot 260 acres of land to set up the long-range missile testing centre.

"As soon as the government clearance comes for land, we will start creating infrastructure. It will take three years to set up the centre," he said.

The DRDO currently has launch facilities at the Chandipur-on-Sea and Wheeler Island at Balasore in Odisha and they are used to test fire the long-range Agni series, Prithvi and other shorter range missiles.

Saraswat said the proposed facility at Machilipatnam would complement the test range in Balasore.

It would be used for launching long-range missiles and also in carrying out tests for the Ballistic Missile Defence Shield wherein multiple missiles need to be launched for trials.

As the proposed site in Rajhamundry falls under the Krishna-Godavari basin, the ministry of petroleum had raised energy and security issues in view of oil and gas exploration activity in the area.

The scientific advisor, however, said the DRDO had resolved issues with the petroleum ministry. "We have amicably sorted out the issue with them," he said.

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AP PHOTOS: Simple surgery heals blind Indonesians

PADANG SIDEMPUAN, Indonesia (AP) — They came from the remotest parts of Indonesia, taking crowded overnight ferries and riding for hours in cars or buses — all in the hope that a simple, and free, surgical procedure would restore their eyesight.

Many patients were elderly and needed help to reach two hospitals in Sumatra where mass eye camps were held earlier this month by Nepalese surgeon Dr. Sanduk Ruit. During eight days, more than 1,400 cataracts were removed.

The patients camped out, sleeping side-by-side on military cots, eating donated food while fire trucks supplied water for showers and toilets. Many who had given up hope of seeing again left smiling after their bandages were removed.

"I've been blind for three years, and it's really bad," said Arlita Tobing, 65, whose sight was restored after the surgery. "I worked on someone's farm, but I couldn't work anymore."

Indonesia has one of the highest rates of blindness in the world, making it a target country for Ruit who travels throughout the developing world holding free mass eye camps while training doctors to perform the simple, stitch-free procedure he pioneered. He often visits hard-to-reach remote areas where health care is scarce and patients are poor. He believes that by teaching doctors how to perform his method of cataract removal, the rate of blindness can be reduced worldwide.

Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness globally, affecting about 20 million people who mostly live in poor countries, according to the World Health Organization.

"We get only one life, and that life is very short. I am blessed by God to have this opportunity," said Ruit, who runs the Tilganga Eye Center in Katmandu, Nepal. "The most important of that is training, taking the idea to other people."

During the recent camps, Ruit trained six doctors from Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.

Here, in images, are scenes from the mobile eye camps:

Read More..

'Honey Trap' Professor Convicted of Drug Smuggling













A court in Argentina has convicted an Oxford educated University of North Carolina professor of attempting to smuggle four pounds of cocaine into the United States.


Paul Frampton, a 68-year-old esteemed professor of physics and astronomy, says he thought he was flying to South America to meet with a bikini model but ended up getting caught in what they call a "honey trap."


Frampton flew to Bolivia from North Carolina earlier this year after communicating with someone who claimed to be Denise Milani, winner of Miss Bikini World 2007. She never showed up.


Instead, Frampton says he was met by a man who gave him a suitcase, identifying himself as an intermediary for Milani, and instructing him to take it to her in Argentina.


PHOTOS: Sex, Spies and Scandal


Once there, he says he could not find her and decided to board a plane home, with that suitcase in hand. Police opened it up at the airport and found more than four pounds of cocaine inside.


"He has a high IQ, is well-known and very distinguished in the field of physics and other scientific areas, but when it comes to common sense he scored a zero," said former DC homicide investigator Rod Wheeler.




The Argentinean court sentenced Frampton to serve four years and eight months in custody after prosecutors there presented evidence of text messages they say Frampton sent to the person he thought was the model, saying, "I'm worried about the sniffer dogs," and "I'm looking after your special little suitcase."


READ: UNC Professor Held in Argentina on Drug Charges Wants Raise From University


The University of North Carolina has cut off Frampton's salary in a move that prompted dozens of his colleagues at the university to sign a letter of protest to administrators.


"As more information about his case becomes available ... it becomes more and more obvious that Paul was the innocent, although very gullible, victim of a scam," the joint letter said.


Many wrote separate letters of reference on a website they created to support the embattled professor, who is hoping to serve his time under house arrest in Argentina at a friend's apartment.


From prison Frampton has said, "It does seem unfair that an innocent scam victim is treated as a professional drug smuggler."


Frampton's Argentinean lawyer told ABC News she would have no comment until having a chance to review the judge's complete ruling, which she expects to be released early next week.


However, it appears this is not the first time Frampton has been in hot water over a woman.


The Telegraph, a London based paper that serves Great Britain , reported that friends say he once met another woman online and flew to China to marry her. This time, the woman was real, but after seeing Frampton, she reportedly canceled the wedding.


If you have a story you would like told you can email correspondent Mark Greenblatt at mark.p.greenblatt@abc.com.



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Egypt's Mursi faces judicial revolt over decree

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi faces a rebellion from judges who accused him on Saturday of expanding his powers at their expense, deepening a crisis that has triggered calls for more protests following a day of violence across Egypt.


Judges in Alexandria, Egypt's second city, threatened to go on strike until it was revoked, and there were calls for the "downfall of the regime" - the rallying cry in the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak - during a meeting of judges in Cairo.


Mursi's opponents and supports - representing the divide between newly empowered Islamists and a more secular-minded opposition - have called rival demonstrations on Tuesday over his decree that has triggered concern in the West.


Issued late on Thursday, it marks an effort by Mursi to consolidate his influence after he successfully sidelined Mubarak-era generals in August. It defends from judicial review decisions taken by Mursi until a new parliament is elected in a vote expected early next year.


It also shields the Islamist-dominated assembly writing Egypt's new constitution from a raft of legal challenges that have threatened the body with dissolution, and offers the same protection to the Islamist-controlled upper house of parliament.


Egypt's highest judicial authority, the Supreme Judicial Council, said the decree was an "unprecedented attack" on the independence of the judiciary.


Youths clashed sporadically with police near Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the uprising that toppled Mubarak in 2011, following Friday's violence in which more than 300 people were injured across Egypt. Activists camped out for a second day in the square, setting up makeshift barricades to keep out traffic.


POLARISATION


Liberal, leftist and socialist parties called a big protest for Tuesday to force Mursi to row back on a decree they say has exposed the autocratic impulses of a man once jailed by Mubarak.


In a sign of the polarization in the country, the Muslim Brotherhood - the group that propelled Mursi to power - called its own protests that day to support the president's decree.


At least three Brotherhood offices were attacked on Friday.


"We are facing a historic moment in which we either complete our revolution or we abandon it to become prey for a group that has put its narrow party interests above the national interest," the liberal Dustour Party said in a statement.


Mursi also assigned himself new authority to sack the prosecutor general - a Mubarak hold over - and appoint a new one. The dismissed prosecutor general, Abdel Maguid Mahmoud, was given a hero's welcome by several thousand judges who attended the session of Egypt's Judges' Club in Cairo on Saturday.


Ahmed al-Zind, head of the Judges' Club, introduced Mahmoud by his old title, in open defiance of Mursi's decree.


The Mursi administration has defended the decree on the grounds that it aims to speed up a protracted transition from Mubarak's rule to a new system of democratic government.


Analysts say it reflects the Brotherhood's suspicion towards sections of a judiciary unreformed from Mubarak's days.


"It aims to sideline Mursi's enemies in the judiciary and ultimately to impose and head off any legal challenges to the constitution," said Elijah Zarwan, a fellow with The European Council on Foreign Relations.


"We are in a situation now where both sides are escalating and its getting harder and harder to see how either side can gracefully climb down."


RIOT POLICE


Following a day of violence in Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said and Suez, the smell of teargas hung over Tahrir Square.


A handful of hardcore activists hurling rocks battled riot police in the streets near the square, where several thousand protesters massed on Friday to demonstrate against the decree that has rallied opposition ranks against Mursi.


Al-Masry Al-Youm, one of Egypt's most widely read dailies, hailed Friday's protest as "The November 23 Intifada", invoking the Arabic word for uprising. "The people support the president's decisions," declared Freedom and Justice, the newspaper run by the Brotherhood's political party.


The ultraorthodox Salafi Islamist groups that have been pushing for tighter application of Islamic law in the new constitution have rallied behind the decree.


The Nour Party, one such group, stated its support for the Mursi decree. Al-Gama'a al-Islamiya, which carried arms against the state in the 1990s, said it would save the revolution from what it described as remnants of the Mubarak regime.


Mursi is facing the biggest storm of criticism since he won the presidential election in June.


Samir Morkos, a Christian assistant to Mursi, had told the president he wanted to resign," said Yasser Ali, Mursi's spokesman. "The president has spoken to him today but the decision to resign is yet to be taken," Ali told Reuters.


Mursi addressed his supporters outside the presidential palace on Friday. He said opposition did not worry him, but it had to be "real and strong".


Mursi is now confronted with a domestic crisis just as his administration won international praise for mediating an end to the eight-day war between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.


"The decisions and declarations announced on November 22 raise concerns for many Egyptians and for the international community," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.


The European Union urged Mursi to respect the democratic process, while the United Nations expressed fears about human rights.


(Additional reporting by Omar Fahmy, Marwa Awad and Reuters TV; Editing by Alison Williams)


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Motor Racing: Hamilton on pole, Vettel strikes crucial blow






SAO PAULO: Lewis Hamilton oozed with pride on Saturday after making sure he will start his 110th and final race for McLaren from pole position in Sunday's season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix.

On a tense afternoon, in changing weather conditions, Hamilton and team-mate Jenson Button upstaged title fighters Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso by locking out the front row of the grid.

Hamilton produced a dramatic and supremely fast final qualifying lap to outstrip all his rivals and maintain his end-of-season domination as McLaren delivered their fourth lockout of the year.

The dazzling performance from the two McLaren men left championship contenders, defending champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull down in fourth, and his title rival, two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Ferrari, eighth.

Vettel, who has a 13-point lead over the Spaniard going into the final race of the season, can become the sport's youngest triple champion on Sunday.

In his final session for the team before leaving to join Mercedes next year, 27-year-old Hamilton clocked a fastest lap of one minute and 12.458 seconds to outpace fellow-Briton Button by one-tenth of a second.

"I am grateful to be able to put the car on the front row and to have a one-two for McLaren in my last qualifying is just great. The team did a fantastic job," said Hamilton.

"What a great feeling it is. What a great weekend so far and I hope we can push tomorrow. It is great to be one-two with Jenson Button. I am expecting a difficult race. I have always started from fourth or, once, 18th."

Both Vettel and Alonso were out-qualified by their team-mates, Mark Webber, who was third for Red Bull, and Felipe Massa, who was fifth-fastest on his home track for Ferrari.

"It was not quick enough and I know I could have done a little better," admitted Vettel.

"But let's wait and see what happens tomorrow. Q3 was not perfect. It was not enough. I am keen to go back and look at the data and see where I was as I was not quick enough.

"All in all we are in good shape and we have been competitive and we will see what we can do tomorrow."

A cagey Alonso, who may have run in a set-up that may suit Sunday's forecast wet weather better than the dry, said: "It is more or less what I expected... We didn't gamble and only made minimal changes."

Vettel will secure the title and become the youngest triple champion in F1 history if he finishes in the top four, no matter where Alonso finishes.

By contrast, Alonso must win with Vettel outside the top four to take his own third title, if both drivers finish.

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali gave nothing away.

"We will see. For sure it is not the perfect position to start the race, but a lot of concentration and working hard and we will see what the outcome is in the race. Anything is possible then, it will be an interesting Sunday."

Button said: "I'm happy to be on the front row. The last couple of races have been tricky in qualifying. As Lewis said, it's nice to both be on the front row for his last race for the team."

Looking ahead to a possible wet race at Interlagos, he added: "It is tough to drive here in the wet, you get a lot of rivers on the hill. Lewis and I will have some fun because there are two people with more pressure than us."

Pastor Maldonado was sixth for Williams ahead of Nico Hulkenberg of Force India with Kimi Raikkonen taking ninth spot on the grid for Lotus ahead of Nico Rosberg of Mercedes.

Rosberg's team-mate and German compatriot, seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, heading into retirement after his final race on Sunday, was down in 14th place, but hinting that he too may also have run in a 'wet' set up.

Hamilton's pole was his first in Brazil, his seventh this year and the 26th of his career and helped the team to a record 67th front row lockout in Formula One.

-AFP/ac



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