Govt will miss Tendulkar in retail FDI test

NEW DELHI: As Congress managers do their arithmetic — counting UPA's vote in the Rajya Sabha — they would dearly wish cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar sits out the Kolkata test beginning next week.

Having conceded a floor test on FDI in multi-brand retail, Congress strategists are aware the vote in the Rajya Sabha is set to go down to the wire and the ruling coalition will need to pull off a few surprises to pip the Opposition to the post.

As it banks on 10 nominated MPs to press the button in its favour, the government will eye Tendulkar's seat number 103 wistfully, perhaps hoping the batting maestro scores in the Upper House rather than at Eden Gardens.

The problem for the government is that even if the full complement of nominated MPs, including film star Rekha and businesswoman Anu Aga, vote for the FDI motion, it may still find it difficult to conjure a majority.

Crunching numbers in the Rajya Sabha is hardly a Rubik's cube exercise. UPA with "inside supporters" has 90 MPs. Its "outside" supporters add up to 31. But as of now BSP with 15 and SP with nine are threatening not to vote for the government. So the total adds up to 97.

Now, if we toss the 10 nominated MPs and BJD rebel Pyarimohan Mohapatra into the broth, UPA numbers inch up to 108. This is still short of what the government needs because even if SP and BSP abstain, the half way mark is 111.

Not willing to cut things so fine, the government managers will use the breathing space they gain before the vote comes up later next week to persuade SP and BSP to do the rescue act. It may find the going easier with BSP and this could see UPA through.

SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav continues to tantalize the Congress, saying politics cannot be foretold and much depends on the evolving situation, though he remains opposed to FDI in retail. In doing so he seems to be over ridding his cousin Ramgopal Yadav's earlier statement that SP will vote against the FDI proposal.

BSP is insistent on the government moving a Bill, providing quotas in promotions for scheduled castes and tribes. The government is hoping to bring BSP chief Mayawati around, pointing out that the Bill has been listed.

The Rajya Sabha is a lot trickier than Lok Sabha where the FDI vote will go its way even without SP and BSP voting in favour of the government. In the Upper House, the Opposition is also expected to work on votes like those of independent MP Rajeev Chandrashekar. Unattached MP Amar Singh may suddenly find both camps wooing him.

A crucial vote always throws up the unexpected and as Congress managers are no rookies in rustling up support, some MPs can go missing or fall ill as was seen when the contentious Lokpal Bill was hotly debated last December.

This time, the government will have to pull out all stops to get some of the committed one-MP parties to switch sides even as the role of its former ally Trinamool Congress can prove to be important. If Trinamool abstains along with SP and BSP, the effective strength of the House becomes 212; the halfway mark is 106.

This can help the Congress, but it will need quite a remarkable alignment of constellations to ensure that BSP, SP and Trinamool act in concert.

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Clinton releases road map for AIDS-free generation

WASHINGTON (AP) — In an ambitious road map for slashing the global spread of AIDS, the Obama administration says treating people sooner and more rapid expansion of other proven tools could help even the hardest-hit countries begin turning the tide of the epidemic over the next three to five years.

"An AIDS-free generation is not just a rallying cry — it is a goal that is within our reach," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who ordered the blueprint, said in the report.

"Make no mistake about it, HIV may well be with us into the future but the disease that it causes need not be," she said at the State Department Thursday.

President Barack Obama echoed that promise.

"We stand at a tipping point in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and working together, we can realize our historic opportunity to bring that fight to an end," Obama said in a proclamation to mark World AIDS Day on Saturday.

Some 34 million people worldwide are living with HIV, and despite a decline in new infections over the last decade, 2.5 million people were infected last year.

Given those staggering figures, what does an AIDS-free generation mean? That virtually no babies are born infected, young people have a much lower risk than today of becoming infected, and that people who already have HIV would receive life-saving treatment.

That last step is key: Treating people early in their infection, before they get sick, not only helps them survive but also dramatically cuts the chances that they'll infect others. Yet only about 8 million HIV patients in developing countries are getting treatment. The United Nations aims to have 15 million treated by 2015.

Other important steps include: Treating more pregnant women, and keeping them on treatment after their babies are born; increasing male circumcision to lower men's risk of heterosexual infection; increasing access to both male and female condoms; and more HIV testing.

The world spent $16.8 billion fighting AIDS in poor countries last year. The U.S. government is the leading donor, spending about $5.6 billion.

Thursday's report from PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, outlines how progress could continue at current spending levels — something far from certain as Congress and Obama struggle to avert looming budget cuts at year's end — or how faster progress is possible with stepped-up commitments from hard-hit countries themselves.

Clinton warned Thursday that the U.S. must continue doing its share: "In the fight against HIV/AIDS, failure to live up to our commitments isn't just disappointing, it's deadly."

The report highlighted Zambia, which already is seeing some declines in new cases of HIV. It will have to treat only about 145,000 more patients over the next four years to meet its share of the U.N. goal, a move that could prevent more than 126,000 new infections in that same time period. But if Zambia could go further and treat nearly 198,000 more people, the benefit would be even greater — 179,000 new infections prevented, the report estimates.

In contrast, if Zambia had to stick with 2011 levels of HIV prevention, new infections could level off or even rise again over the next four years, the report found.

Advocacy groups said the blueprint offers a much-needed set of practical steps to achieve an AIDS-free generation — and makes clear that maintaining momentum is crucial despite economic difficulties here and abroad.

"The blueprint lays out the stark choices we have: To stick with the baseline and see an epidemic flatline or grow, or ramp up" to continue progress, said Chris Collins of amFAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research.

His group has estimated that more than 276,000 people would miss out on HIV treatment if U.S. dollars for the global AIDS fight are part of across-the-board spending cuts set to begin in January.

Thursday's report also urges targeting the populations at highest risk, including gay men, injecting drug users and sex workers, especially in countries where stigma and discrimination has denied them access to HIV prevention services.

"We have to go where the virus is," Clinton said.

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Petraeus Tells Friend He 'Screwed Up Royally'

One of David Petraeus' closest friends says the former CIA director admitted that he "screwed up royally" by having an affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell.

Retired Brigadier Gen. James Shelton has been friends with Petraeus for more than three decades and reached to out to him after he resigned from the CIA. Shelton told ABC News that the former four-star general wrote him a letter recently confessing to the affair.

Petraeus, 60, writes in the letter, "Team Petraeus will survive…. though [I] have obviously created enormous difficulty for us," according to Shelton.

A former spokesman for Petraeus told ABC News that fury was an inadequate description for Holly Petraeus after learning her husband of 38 years had an affair.

But in the letter, Petraeus writes that his wife is "…once again demonstrating how incredibly fortunate I was to marry her."

Shelton said he has shocked when news of the affair broke. Shelton says he has never met Broadwell but talked to her on the phone as she worked on the Petraeus biography, "All In." Broadwell thanked Shelton in the book's acknowledgments as "being wonderfully helpful."

Shelton says he found Broadwell engaging.

David Petraeus Affair: Woman Who Blew the Whistle Watch Video

David Petraeus Affair: Paula Broadwell in Hiding Watch Video

"I don't think she wove a web around Dave and dragged him in, I don't think that at all. I think it was mutual," Shelton told ABC News.

The disgraced general also stuck by his decision to step down as head of the CIA, writing, "I paid the price (appropriately) and I sought to do the right thing, at the end of the day."

Neither Broadwell nor Petraeus would comment when ABC News tried to reach them overnight.

However, there are many in Washington who now wonder if Shelton's talking about this letter is the beginning of a carefully choreographed campaign by Petraeus to rehabilitate his image.

Shelton says while he was disappointed in Petraeus' actions, he thinks it was a one-time mistake.

"I believe that Dave Petraeus was that kind of guy. He wasn't looking for it, it happened," he said.

While it is unclear who may have initiated the affair, what is clear is the scope of their relationship. An FBI investigation has uncovered hundreds if not thousands of emails exchanged between the two.

The 40-year-old author was stripped of her military security clearance after a federal probe alleged she was storing classified military material at her home.

The FBI found classified material on a computer voluntarily handed over by Broadwell earlier in the investigation.

Prosecutors will now have to determine how important the classified material is before making a final decision on how to proceed. Authorities could decide to seek disciplinary action against her rather than pursue charges.

Since announcing his resignation from the CIA last month, Petraeus has kept a low profile only appearing in closed door hearings before the House and Senate intelligence committees to testify about what he learned first-hand about the Sept. 11 attack in the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.

ABC News' Mosheh Gains contributed to this report.

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Palestinians turn to U.N. for state recognition

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. General Assembly is set to approve an implicit recognition of Palestinian statehood on Thursday despite threats by the United States and Israel to punish the Palestinian Authority by withholding funds for the West Bank government.

A resolution that would lift the Palestinian Authority's U.N. observer status from "entity" to "non-member state," like the Vatican, is expected to pass easily in the 193-nation General Assembly. At least 15 European states plan to vote for it.

Israel, the United States and a handful of other members are set to vote against what they see as a largely symbolic and counterproductive move by the Palestinians, which takes place on the 65th anniversary of the assembly's adoption of resolution 181 on the partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been leading the campaign to win support for the resolution, which follows an eight-day conflict this month between Israel and Islamists in the Gaza Strip, who are pledged to Israel's destruction and oppose his efforts toward a negotiated peace.

The U.S. State Department made a last-ditch effort to get Abbas to reconsider, but the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, gave no sign that it was turning back.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton repeated to reporters in Washington on Wednesday the U.S. view that the Palestinian move was misguided and efforts should focus instead on reviving the stalled Middle East peace process.

"The path to a two-state solution that fulfills the aspirations of the Palestinian people is through Jerusalem and Ramallah, not New York," she said. "The only way to get a lasting solution is to commence direct negotiations."

Speaking at an annual U.N. event in support of the Palestinians, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki appealed to U.N. member states to support Thursday's U.N. resolution. He also repeated his support for peace with Israel.

"Despite diminishing hopes and the decline of the situation on the ground due to Israel violations, we remain committed to the two-state solution and our hand remains extended in peace," he said at U.N. headquarters in New York.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland reiterated U.S. warnings that the move could cause a reduction of U.S. economic support for the Palestinians. The Israelis have also warned they might take significant deductions out of monthly transfers of duties that Israel collects on the Palestinians' behalf.

PALESTINIANS RALLY IN WEST BANK, GAZA

Despite its fierce opposition, Israel seems concerned not to find itself diplomatically isolated. It has recently toned down threats of retaliation in the face of wide international support for the initiative, notably among its European allies.

"The decision at the United Nations will change nothing on the ground," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in Jerusalem. "It will not advance the establishment of a Palestinian state. It will delay it further.

But U.N. diplomats say that Israel's reaction might not be so measured if the Palestinians seek ICC action against Israel on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity or other crimes the court would have jurisdiction over.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as calling on Washington and Israel to avoid "any hasty and destructive decisions."

"Supporting the Palestinian authorities is not only in the interest of the Palestinian side, but also of Israel and the whole international community that is longing for a peaceful political settlement," he said.

The European Union, a key donor for the Palestinians, has made clear it will not curtail aid after Thursday's vote.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also called for a revival of the peace process: "Israelis and Palestinians must break out of a zero-sum mentality, and embrace a peaceful path forward."

Granting Palestinians the title of "non-member observer state" falls short of full U.N. membership - something the Palestinians failed to achieve last year. But it would allow them access to the International Criminal Court and other international bodies, should they choose to join them.

Flag-waving Palestinians thronged the squares of the West Bank and Gaza Strip before Thursday's vote. In a rare show of unity, Abbas's Islamist rivals Hamas, who have ruled Gaza since a brief civil war in 2007, let backers of the president's Fatah movement hold demonstrations there.

Peace talks have been stalled for two years, mainly over Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which have expanded despite being deemed illegal by most of the world. There are 4.3 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

In the draft resolution, the Palestinians have pledged to relaunch the peace process immediately following the U.N. vote, expected sometime after 3 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Thursday.

With strong support from the developing world that makes up the majority of U.N. members, it is virtually assured of securing more than the requisite simple majority. Palestinian officials hope for more than 130 yes votes.

Abbas has focused on securing as many votes as possible from Europe, and his efforts appear to have paid off.

Austria, Denmark, Norway, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland all pledged to support the resolution. Britain said it was prepared to vote yes, but only if the Palestinians fulfilled certain conditions.

The fiercely pro-Israel Czech Republic was planning to vote against the move, dashing European hopes of avoiding any no votes that would create a three-way split on the continent into supporters, abstainers and opposers.

It was unclear whether some of the many undecided Europeans would join the Czechs. Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Estonia and Lithuania plan to abstain.

(Andrew Quinn in Washington, Noah Browning in Ramallah, Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem, Michelle Nichols in New York, Robert Mueller in Prague, Gabriela Baczynska and Reuters bureau in Europe and elsewhere; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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British inquiry urges new laws for "outrageous" press

LONDON: A British inquiry called Thursday for a tougher watchdog underpinned by new laws to curb the country's press in a damning verdict that sets up Prime Minister David Cameron for a political battle.

Senior judge Brian Leveson, who led an eight-month inquiry sparked by the phone-hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World tabloid, said there should be an independent self-regulatory body, underpinned by legislation.

But Cameron voiced concerns about any statutory change, putting him on a collision course with his junior coalition partners the Liberal Democrats, the Labour opposition and many hacking victims.

Lord Justice Leveson said in his report that the British newspaper industry had for decades "wreaked havoc with the lives of innocent people" and ignored the codes that it had itself set up.

He said that while the press served the country "very well for the vast majority of the time", its behaviour "at times, can only be described as outrageous."

The prime minister commissioned the Leveson Inquiry in July 2011 in the wake of revelations that the News of the World had hacked the voicemails of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler as well as dozens of public figures.

Murdoch was forced to shut down the 168-year-old newspaper over the scandal.

Victims of phone hacking and press harassment welcomed the inquiry's findings and called on Cameron to implement them in full.

But Cameron told parliament that while he backed the creation of a new newspaper regulator, he feared that bringing in new laws risked curbing the freedom of the British press.

"I have some serious concerns and misgivings on this recommendation," he said.

"We will have crossed the rubicon of writing elements of press regulation into the law of the land... we should think very, very carefully before crossing this line."

Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, taking the unusual step of making a separate statement after Cameron's, said that he backed Leveson's call for new legislation.

"Changing the law is the only way to give us all the assurance that the new regulator isn't just independent for a few months or years, but is independent for good," he said.

Opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband also said Leveson's proposals, which are now likely to go to a vote in the House of Commons, or lower chamber of parliament, should be implemented.

"No more last chance saloons," he said, referring to repeated warnings over the last two decades that the British press has had enough warnings.

Parliament will debate Leveson's recommendations next Monday.

The British press, already suffering huge losses of readers and advertisers, currently regulates itself through the Press Complaints Commission, a body staffed by editors. Its critics say it is toothless.

Leveson said in his report that a new watchdog would have independent members, except for one editor. It would have the power to fine offenders up to £1 million ($1.6 million, 1.23 million euros) and to order the publication of apologies and corrections.

Those powers would be backed by new laws, he said. He summed up his plans as "independent regulation of the press organised by the press, with a statutory verification process".

Leveson also criticised the relationship between the press, police and politicians, which he said was "too close".

Hacked Off, a victims' campaign group featuring Hollywood star Hugh Grant, said they were disappointed by Cameron's opposition.

Mark Lewis, lawyer for the Dowler family and other phone-hacking victims, said: "There wasn't much point in a judicial inquiry unless it's implemented."

But Tom Mockridge, chief executive of Murdoch's newspaper wing News International, welcomed Cameron's "rejection" of the proposal to introduce statutory regulation.

Over eight months of hearings, the Leveson Inquiry heard from victims of press intrusion including actor Hugh Grant and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, politicians, journalists, police and newspaper executives.

Their testimony revealed embarrassing text messages from Cameron to Murdoch newspaper executive Rebekah Brooks, left a minister fighting for his career, and shone a light on the sometimes murky workings of the British establishment.

Police have arrested dozens of people under three linked probes into alleged crimes by newspapers.

Brooks, who was Mockridge's predecessor at News International, and Cameron's former spokesman Andy Coulson both appeared in court earlier Thursday on bribery charges.

-AFP/ac

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Editors' arrests recall Emergency, Zee says

NEW DELHI: Even as the Zee group called it a move to gag the media "without an official declaration of emergency", the two arrested editors of the group were remanded to two days of police custody on Wednesday and chairman Subhas Chandra called by the police to join investigations.

In a clear sign that the crime branch was ready to dig its heels in the case, top officials confirmed that they had served notice to Chandra, who owns the Zee group, on two successive days.

"We had asked him to join the investigation on Tuesday, but he had communicated his inability to do so on that day. We have sent him another notice on Wednesday evening," a top police officer told TOI.

As the Zee group launched a major defence of its arrested editors, a trial court sent two - Sudhir Chaudhary and Samir Ahluwalia - to police custody after Delhi police said it needed to unearth the conspiracy. The arrests were made on basis of a complaint by Congress MP Naveen Jindal's group that the two tried to extort Rs 100 crore for not broadcasting news reports linking the firm to the coal scam.

Metropolitan Magistrate Gomati Manocha also rejected the bail plea of Chaudhary, head of Zee News and Samir Ahluwalia, head of Zee Business.

Appearing before the court, Delhi Police told the court that Subhash Chandra and Punit Goenka, MD of the channel, were also accused in the case. It said Chandra was complicit in the demand of money.

A police source, however, clarified that Goenka had not been send a notice yet. The cops have also now charged Chaudhary and Ahluwalia with cheating, claiming that they also need to examine how the CAG report - which was at the centre of the acrimony between Zee News and the Jindal Group - was accessed by the media organization.

Going on the offensive, the Zee group called the arrests "illegal" and said "intimidating the media may further boomerang (on UPA 2)."

The media house it raised three points for the police. First, it asked what was the sudden provocation for the arrests when both editors were always available for questioning. Second, it pointed out that an interaction of around six hours (meetings between the editors and Jindal officals took place on September 10, 13, 17 and 19) was edited into 14 minutes of "distorted" conversation. And third, the group claimed Jindal himself offered the money to them, a fact that the cops were overlooking.

In a statement, Zee News CEO Alok Agarwal said, "In 65 years of democracy in independent India, this is only the second time the media has been censored without putting an official stamp of emergency".

Agarwal accused Jindal of misusing the official machinery, saying the steel tycoon had earlier tried to influence Zee News by offering money. "The fact is that Jindal is the one who offered money first to the editors, and then, to the company. He also tried to influence various senior functionaries in Zee News, not only directly, but also through various other people, including his elder brother, uncle and some political leaders...," he added.

Asked if his statement could be backed with proof, Agarwal said, "Proof will be produced as and when required."

Police sources, however, said they had proof of a conversation between Ahluwalia and Subhas Chandra immediately after the meeting between the editors and Jindal group. "The call lasted 286 seconds and the call location is inside the hotel, which was the venue of the meeting. We believe the call was made to inform Chandra about the meeting. We need to question Chandra on this aspect," the source said.

Naveen Jindal on Wednesday avoided commenting on the fresh allegations levelled against him by Zee News channel, saying all efforts were directed to ensure that the truth comes out. "I would like to repeat that I have a lot of respect for the media. This matter is under investigation by the Delhi Police. Also, it matter is sub judice. So, I think, it is best that we leave it at that," said Jindal.

Meanwhile, the Jindal group said in a statement that the law was taking its own course. "Zee TV's comment that the arrest of its editors is a Black Day for the media is unfortunate. The arrest of the two journalists being termed Black Day is rather demeaning the credibility of the media. Instead, Black Day was the day when these editors tried to extort Rs 100 crore from the Jindal group," the statement said.

The crime branch maintained that the arrests had been made according to the law, after the CFSL reports reached them confirming that the CD was not doctored. The cops claimed they have enough prima facie evidence, including extensive call record details to build their case.

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Simple measures cut infections caught in hospitals

CHICAGO (AP) — Preventing infections from surgery is a major concern for hospitals and it turns out some simple measures can make a big difference.

A project at seven big hospitals reduced infections after colorectal surgeries by nearly one-third. It prevented an estimated 135 infections, saving almost $4 million.

The measures included having patients shower with special germ-fighting soap before surgery, and having surgery teams change gowns, gloves and instruments during operations to prevent spreading germs picked up during the procedures.

Practices were standardized at the seven hospitals.

The Joint Commission hospital regulating group and the American College of Surgeons directed the project. They announced results on Wednesday.

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Online:

Joint Commission: http://www.jointcommission.org

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Obama Taps Twitter for Tax-Cut Push

President Obama today sought to inject a dose of public pressure into the "fiscal cliff" debate, urging Americans who face an across-the-board tax hike in 34 days to lobby lawmakers by phone, email and Twitter.

"If there's one thing I've learned; when the American people speak loudly enough, lo and behold, Congress listens," Obama said from a White House auditorium.

He was flanked by middle-income earners who wrote to the administration about the importance of keeping tax rates low.

Obama branded the effort "#My2K" for social media users, reflecting White House estimates that the average family of four faces a more than $2,000 income tax increase in 2013, unless Congress extends existing rates as part of a debt- and deficit-reduction deal.

The hashtag rose to a top U.S. trend on Twitter by the conclusion of Obama's remarks. But it's unclear what impact the messaging would have on the broader debate, which hinges on whether to raise tax rates on individuals earning more than $200,000 a year and families earning more than $250,000 a year.

Republicans remain largely opposed to any tax rate increases, even though some have in recent days expressed openness to raising revenue through other means -- breaking a longstanding anti-tax pledge -- or even voting to extend lower rates for the middle class now and debating rates for upper-income earners later.

Jewl Samad/AFP/Getty Images

Obama Back in Campaign Mode, Tackles Fiscal Cliff Crisis Watch Video

Are Republicans Willing to Bend on No New Tax Pledge? Watch Video

Tax Pledge Mutiny as Fiscal Cliff Approaches Watch Video

Obama today pushed for certainty on tax rates for 98 percent of Americans. "If both parties agreed we should not raise taxes on middle-class families, let's begin our work where we agree," he said, voicing optimism that a "framework" for a broader deal can be achieved in the coming weeks with hopes for a final bill by Christmas.

Notably absent from the White House's campaign on "fiscal cliff," however, is any effort to rally public support for corresponding changes in entitlement programs aimed at curbing government spending, something Republicans and leaders of Obama's fiscal commission have called essential to any debt- and deficit-reduction deal.

Administration officials will not say whether an openness to means-testing Medicare, for example, remains on the table even though Obama and his campaign had previously expressed support for asking wealthier seniors to pay higher premiums as part of a deal.

Some top Democrats have even suggested separating entitlement overhaul from the "fiscal cliff" negotiations altogether, focusing only on taxes and other smaller-bore spending reduction measures before the end of the year.

White House spokesman Jay Carney suggested Tuesday that entitlement savings already included in Obama's budget could be sufficient as part of a balanced deal to avert the "cliff," rather than agreeing to potentially more controversial structural changes such as raising the Medicare and Social Security eligibility age.

"It is the president's position that when we're talking about a broad, balanced approach to dealing with our fiscal challenges, that that includes dealing with entitlements," Carney said. "And the president's budget, as you know, includes $340 billion in savings from our entitlement health-care program. So he has demonstrated yet again his commitment to the principle that we need to include as part of our balance approach savings from entitlements."

Republicans and some Democrats, including former Clinton chief of staff and fiscal commission co-chair Erskine Bowles, insist that more sweeping changes must be considered.

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Egypt assembly seeks to wrap up constitution

CAIRO (Reuters) - The assembly writing Egypt's constitution said it could wrap up a final draft later on Wednesday, a move the Muslim Brotherhood sees as a way out of a crisis over a decree by President Mohamed Mursi that protesters say gives him dictatorial powers.

But as Mursi's opponents staged a sixth day of protests in Tahrir Square, critics said the Islamist-dominated assembly's bid to finish the constitution quickly could make matters worse.

Two people have been killed and hundreds injured in countrywide protest set off by Mursi's decree.

The Brotherhood hopes to end the crisis by replacing Mursi's controversial decree with an entirely new constitution that would need to be approved in a popular referendum, a Brotherhood official told Reuters.

It is a gamble based on the Islamists' belief that they can mobilize enough voters to win the referendum: they have won all elections held since Hosni Mubarak was toppled from power.

But the move seemed likely to deepen divisions that are being exposed in the street.

The Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist allies called for protests on Saturday in Tahrir Square, setting the stage for more confrontation with their opponents, who staged a mass rally there on Tuesday.

The constitution is one of the main reasons Mursi is at loggerheads with non-Islamist opponents. They are boycotting the 100-member constitutional assembly, saying the Islamists have tried to impose their vision for Egypt's future.

The assembly's legal legitimacy has been called into question by a series of court cases demanding its dissolution. Its popular legitimacy has been hit by the withdrawal of members including church representatives and liberals.

"We will start now and finish today, God willing," Hossam el-Gheriyani, the assembly speaker, said at the start of its latest session in Cairo, saying Thursday would be "a great day".

"If you are upset by the decree, nothing will stop it except a new constitution issued immediately," he said. Three other members of the assembly told Reuters there were plans to put the document to a vote on Thursday.

ENTRENCHING AUTHORITARIANISM

Just down the road from the meeting convened at the Shura Council, protesters were again clashing with riot police in Tahrir Square. Members of the assembly watched on television as they waited to go into session.

"The constitution is in its last phases and will be put to a referendum soon and God willing it will solve a lot of the problems in the street," said Talaat Marzouk, an assembly member from the Salafi Nour Party, as he watched the images.

But Wael Ghonim, a prominent activist whose online blogging helped ignite the anti-Mubarak uprising, said a constitution passed in such circumstances would "entrench authoritarianism".

The constitution is supposed to be the cornerstone of a new, democratic Egypt following Mubarak's three decades of autocratic rule. The assembly has been at work for six months. Mursi had extended its December 12 deadline by two months - extra time that Gheriyani said was not needed.

The constitution will determine the powers of the president and parliament and define the roles of the judiciary and a military establishment that had been at the heart of power for decades until Mubarak was toppled. It will also set out the role of Islamic law, or sharia.

The effort to conclude the text quickly marked an escalation, said Nathan Brown, a professor of political science at George Washington University in the United States.

"It may be regarded with hostility by a lot of state actors too, including the judiciary," he said.

Leading opposition and former Arab League chief figure Amr Moussa slammed the move. He walked out of the assembly earlier this month. "This is nonsensical and one of the steps that shouldn't be taken, given the background of anger and resentment to the current constitutional assembly," he told Reuters.

Once drafted, the constitution will go to Mursi for approval, and he must then put it to a referendum within 15 days, which could mean the vote would be held by mid-December.

COURTS DECLARE STRIKE

Deepening the crisis further on Wednesday, Egypt's Cassation and Appeals courts said they would suspend their work until the constitutional court rules on the decree.

The judiciary, largely unreformed since the popular uprising that unseated Mubarak, was seen as a major target in the decree issued last Thursday, which extended his powers and put his decisions temporarily beyond legal challenge.

"The president wants to create a new dictatorship," said 38-year-old Mohamed Sayyed Ahmed, an unemployed man, in Tahrir.

Showing the depth of distrust of Mursi in parts of the judiciary, a spokesman for the Supreme Constitutional Court, which earlier this year declared void the Islamist-led parliament, said it felt under attack by the president.

In a speech on Friday, Mursi praised the judiciary as a whole but referred to corrupt elements he aimed to weed out.

"The really sad thing that has pained the members of this court is when the president of the republic joined, in a painful surprise, the campaign of continuous attack on the Constitutional Court," said the spokesman Maher Samy.

Senior judges have been negotiating with Mursi about how to restrict his new powers.

Mursi's administration insists that his actions were aimed at breaking a political logjam to push Egypt more swiftly towards democracy, an assertion his opponents dismiss.

The West worries about turbulence in a nation that has a peace treaty with Israel and is now ruled by Islamists they long kept at arms length.

Trying to ease tensions with judges, Mursi said elements of his decree giving his decisions immunity applied only to matters of "sovereign" importance, a compromise suggested by the judges.

A constitution must be in place before a new parliament can be elected, and until that time Mursi holds both executive and legislative powers. An election could take place in early 2013.

(Additional reporting by Tom Perry and Marwa Awad; Writing by Edmund Blair and Tom Perry; Editing by Will Waterman and Giles Elgood)

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Indian minister in strong attack on microfinance

NEW DELHI: Microfinance is a "discredited model" and to believe that poverty alleviation in India is possible through such methods is "c**p", Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said Wednesday.

"Nothing can stop an idea whose time has gone," Ramesh told a microfinance conference in New Delhi, according to the Press Trust of India.

"It is a discredited model," he said, referring to the system in which small loans are made to people who do not have access to the mainstream banking system.

Ramesh, known for being outspoken, conceded that "there are many advantages when it comes to delivery of finance through the microfinance route".

"But one should be somehow more modest in the expectation of microfinance and microfinance institutions," he went on.

"To think that we are going alleviate poverty is a tall, tall claim. Poverty alleviation through microfinance -- it is c**p."

The multi-billion-dollar industry in India, once seen as a saviour of the poor, has been in crisis since a backlash against alleged abusive practices by debt collectors and extremely high interest rates for loans.

The sector has also under been fire in neighbouring Bangladesh where the micro-lending model was pioneered, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina accusing the industry of "sucking blood from the poor" due to high lending rates.

-AFP/ac

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