UK government urged to consider relaxing drug rules

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

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

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

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

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Asian markets mostly up after Fed move

HONG KONG: Asian stock markets mostly rose Thursday as the US Federal Reserve announced fresh monetary easing and said it would not lift interest rates until unemployment was under control.

However, the gains were capped after the central bank's chief Ben Bernanke said the looming fiscal cliff of huge tax hikes and deep spending cuts was already hitting the economy.

The yen continued its slide ahead of the weekend's general election in Japan that is expected to see a victory for the opposition, whose leader has vowed to press for more aggressive measures to kickstart growth.

Tokyo climbed 1.15 per cent, lifted by the weakening yen, Hong Kong gained 0.22 per cent, Sydney added 0.10 per cent and Seoul was 0.60 per cent higher, but Shanghai lost 0.36 per cent.

After a two-day meeting the policy committee of the US central bank said it would replace its "Operation Twist" bond swapping programme with $45 billion a month in straight bond buys, on an open-ended basis.

That comes on top of the $40 billion a month purchasing announced in September.

The Fed also provided a surprise by saying it would not lift rates as long as the inflation outlook was below 2.5 per cent and the jobless rate, now at 7.7 per cent, stays above 6.5 per cent.

"The Fed's decisions did not really surprise anyone, although its comments about expecting rates to remain very low as long as unemployment remains above 6.5 per cent were somewhat novel," said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of equities at SMBC Nikko Securities.

"The bottom line is that it will continue its aggressive steps to foster economic growth," he told Dow Jones Newswires.

However, the Fed's announcement was followed by a warning by Bernanke that Washington needed to come to an agreement in their talks on avoiding the fiscal cliff, adding that the lack of action was already causing problems.

"Even though we have not even reached the point of the fiscal cliff potentially kicking in, it's already affecting business investment and hiring decisions by creating uncertainty or creating pessimism," he said at a news conference.

On Wall Street the Dow and S&P 500 ended flat, while the Nasdaq fell 0.28 per cent, with earlier gains from the Fed announcement cut back by Bernanke's comments.

On currency markets the yen remained under pressure as Sunday's poll approaches, with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's Democratic Party of Japan likely to lose to the Liberal Democratic Party, which is headed by Shinzo Abe.

Abe, a former prime minister, has promised to push a more aggressive monetary easing policy to jumpstart the economy.

The dollar was changing hands at 83.42 yen in early Asian trade, from 83.24 yen in New York late Wednesday, while the euro was at 108.95 yen from 108.85 yen. That compares with 82.67 yen and 107.48 yen earlier on Wednesday in Asia.

The euro bought $1.3063 against $1.3075.

Oil was lower in Asia Thursday, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January, falling 19 cents to $86.58 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for January delivery shedding 15 cents to $109.35.

Gold was at $1,699.60 at 0230 GMT compared with $1,713.22 late Wednesday.

- AFP/ck

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Woman Tasered after trying to buy too many iPhones

Resisting arrest?

(Credit:
WMUR-TV Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

Normally, when you hear screams outside an Apple store, it's because, oh, the doors have opened and there's a new gizmo for the insatiable.

However, at the Apple store in the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua, N.H. on Tuesday, the screams were those of a 44-year-old Chinese woman being Tasered by police.

As WMUR-TV reports, Xiaojie Li, of Newton, N.H. says -- through her 12-year-old daughter's translation -- that she isn't proficient in English.

"She's certainly capable of coming up here and purchasing these things from the Apple store here. Whether her language inhibited that, I really don't know." Those were the words of Captain Bruce Hansen of the Nashua Police Department.

What seems clearer is that she tried to buy more iPhones than was the store's maximum of two. Li told WMUR-TV that they were for family members in China.

On Friday, she had bought two -- which would suggest her English had been good enough to make the purchases. On Tuesday, she came back to buy more.

Her daughter says that the Apple store asked her to leave, but her mother didn't understand.

The store called the police, who claim that she resisted arrest.

WCVB-TV offers a more nuanced take. It says that last Friday Li filmed other people in the Apple store who were allegedly buying more than two iPhones.

According to Hansen, she was asked to leave then too and allegedly complied.

Her daughter told WCVB-TV about the arrest: "So then the police took my mom's phone and tried to take my mom's bag. And my mom tried to ask them why, and they just threw her to the ground."

More Technically Incorrect

Her fiance, John Hugo, told WCVB-TV that Li has been "brutalized by the police."

"Is this proper procedure, beating her up?" he added.

The police offered to WVCB-TV that Apple had a problem with people trying to buy multiple iPhones and then selling them overseas at inflated prices. Which some might deem capitalism.

They also claimed that Li had $16,000 in cash, at the time of her being subdued.

I have contacted Apple to see if the company might like to comment on this peculiar turn of events. I will update, should the company offer its opinion.

Li is due to appear in court in January. It will be interesting to hear then what evidence both sides present to support their versions of events.

It does seem odd, however, that such force was needed to detain a 44-year-old woman.

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Hubble Discovers Oldest Known Galaxy

The Hubble space telescope has discovered seven primitive galaxies formed in the earliest days of the cosmos, including one believed to be the oldest ever detected.

The discovery, announced Wednesday, is part of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field campaign to determine how and when galaxies first assembled following the Big Bang.

"This 'cosmic dawn' was not a single, dramatic event," said astrophysicist Richard Ellis with the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Rather, galaxies appear to have been formed over hundreds of millions of years.

Ellis led a team that used Hubble to look at one small section of the sky for a hundred hours. The grainy images of faint galaxies include one researchers determined to be from a period 380 million years after the onset of the universe—the closest in time to the Big Bang ever observed.

The cosmos is about 13.7 billion years old, so the newly discovered galaxy was present when the universe was 4 percent of its current age. The other six galaxies were sending out light from between 380 million and 600 million years after the Big Bang. (See pictures of "Hubble's Top Ten Discoveries.")

Baby Pictures

The images are "like the first ultrasounds of [an] infant," said Abraham Loeb, a specialist in the early cosmos at Harvard University. "These are the building blocks of the galaxies we now have."

These early galaxies were a thousand times denser than galaxies are now and were much closer together as well, Ellis said. But they were also less luminous than later galaxies.

The team used a set of four filters to analyze the near infrared wavelengths captured by Hubble Wide Field Camera 3, and estimated the galaxies' distances from Earth by studying their colors. At a NASA teleconference, team members said they had pushed Hubble's detection capabilities about as far as they could go and would most likely not be able to identify galaxies from further back in time until the James Webb Space Telescope launches toward the end of the decade. (Learn about the Hubble telescope.)

"Although we may have reached back as far as Hubble will see, Hubble has set the stage for Webb," said team member Anton Koekemoer of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. "Our work indicates there is a rich field of even earlier galaxies that Webb will be able to study."

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McAfee Lands in Miami: I'm Free

Software mogul John McAfee has been released from detention in Guatemala City and has landed in Miami.

Immediately upon landing, according to passengers on the plane, McAfee's name was called and he was whisked off the aircraft. Federal officials escorted the 67-year-old Internet antivirus pioneer through customs spirit him out a side door, out of the view of reporters, according to Miami International Airport's communication director, Greg Chin.

It was not clear whether officials intended to help McAfee avoid the inevitable media circus or wanted to question him. However, he has not been charged with committing a crime in Guatemala or Belize, where the authorities have sought to question him about the murder of his neighbor.

McAfee's departure from Guatemala came earlier today.

"They took me out of my cell and put me on a freaking airplane," he told ABC News. "I had no choice in the matter."

McAfee said, however, that Guatemalan authorities had been "nice" and that his exit from the Central American country was "not at all" unpleasant.

"It was the most gracious expulsion I've ever experienced," he said. "Compared to my past two wives that expelled me this isn't a terrible trip."

McAfee said he would not be accompanied by his 20-year-old Belizean girlfriend, but is seeking a visa for her. He also said he had retained a lawyer in the U.S.

Guatemala's National Police/AP Photo

John McAfee Arrested in Guatemala Overnight Watch Video

Software Founder Breaks Silence: McAfee Speaks on Murder Allegations Watch Video

When he was released earlier today, McAfee told the Associated Press, "I'm free. ... I'm going to America."

McAfee, who had been living in a beachfront house in Belize, went on the run after the Nov. 10 murder of his neighbor, fellow American expatriate Greg Faull. Belize police said they wanted to question McAfee about the murder, but McAfee said he feared for his life in Belizean custody.

He entered Guatemala last week seeking asylum, but was arrested and taken to an immigration detention center. He was taken to the hospital after suffering a nervous collapse and then returned to the detention center. The U.S. State Department has visited McAfee, who is a dual U.S.-British citizen, several times during his stay in Guatemala.

During his three-week journey, said McAfee, he disguised himself as handicapped, dyed his hair seven times and hid in many different places during his three-week journey.

He dismissed accounts of erratic behavior and reports that he had been using the synthetic drug bath salts. He said he had never used the drug, and said statements that he had were part of an elaborate prank.

Investigators in Belize said that McAfee was not a suspect in the death of Faull, a former developer who was found shot in the head in his house.

McAfee told ABC News that the poisoning death of his dogs and the murder just hours later of Faull, who had complained about his dogs, was a coincidence.

Click Here for the Blotter Homepage.

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Today on New Scientist: 11 December 2012

Out-of-season's greetings from the Arctic frost flowers

Season's regards from an icy meadow in the Arctic, but it's no winter wonderland and please don't dash out into it

How hacking a mosquito's heart could eradicate malaria

Watch how a double-pronged trick helps mosquitoes remain healthy while carrying disease, a process that could be exploited to eliminate malaria

New drug lifts hard-to-treat depression in hours

A new class of drugs that changes the way neurons interact in the brain can rapidly lift people out of depression

E. O. Wilson and poet laureate on altruism and mystery

Leading evolutionary biologist E. O. Wilson and former US poet laureate Robert Hass discuss free will, wilderness and the mysterious origin of the arts

Souped-up immune cells force leukaemia into remission

Genetically engineered white blood cells have been shown to have a strong impact on leukaemia after just three months

War of words: The language paradox explained

If language evolved for communication, how come most people can't understand what most other people are saying?

AC/DC's Highway to Hell sent via a drone's laser beam

A dose of rock music proves that a drone's reconnaisance data can be sent via reflected laser beam instead of radio

'Biology is a manufacturing capability'

Soon we'll be able to engineer living things with mechanical precision, says Tom Knight, father of synthetic biology

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Equipment failure could have caused incident that left serviceman critically injured

SINGAPORE: Preliminary findings indicate equipment malfunction could have led to the incident that left a navy serviceman critically injured.

The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) in an update late Tuesday night said Weapon Systems Supervisor Jason Chee Weng Fai remains in critical condition.

He's warded at the Changi General Hospital.

Channel NewsAsia understands that Mr Chee is expected to be in the Intensive Care Unit for a few days.

The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) declared a 48-hour safety time-out from 10 Dec for its Frigates, Missile Corvettes and Landing Ship Tanks.

MINDEF said the safety time-out will allow the RSN to review its operating and safety procedures.

The Military Expert was injured on Monday when he got caught between a motorised winch and a rope, on the Landing Ship Tank, RSS Endeavour.

He was checking on a berthing rope that was being tightened when the incident happened.

- CNA/ck

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Microsoft unveils more than 40 new apps for Xbox Live

The SkyDrive app for Xbox Live.

(Credit:
Microsoft)

In its continuing effort to prove that the
Xbox 360 is more than just a game console, Microsoft announced more than 40 new apps for Xbox Live that it expects to launch between now and next spring.

In all, the company announced 43 new apps for various regions around the world. The goal is to keep Xbox 360 owners entertained and engaged.

Xbox marketing and strategy chief Yusuf Mehdi told the Los Angeles Times in March that the typical household spends 84 hours each month using Xbox Live to play games and access content. More than half of that time is spent watching videos and playing music.

Microsoft has worked to dramatically increase the amount of nongaming content available to Xbox Live users, launching a major update last year to its dashboard that delivers programming from a host of providers, including ESPN, Hulu Plus, and others.

A slew of new apps rolled out today as well. One of the more prominent new apps for Xbox Live is Microsoft's SkyDrive, which will link users' Xbox 360 with their TVs and the cloud, allowing any filed from a Windows desktop,
Mac, smartphone,
tablet, or the Web to be accessed from the game console. Apps for CNET, Napster, and Maxim also premiered today.

Below is the full list of apps as announced today by Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb , the company's Xbox Live programming director:

1. All3M (United Kingdom, United States)


2. Ameba TV (Canada, United States)


3. ARTE (Germany, France)


4. Azteca (Mexico)


5. Canalplay Infinity (France)


6. CBC's Hockey Night (Canada)


7. CrunchyRoll (Majority of LIVE Regions)


8. Deezer (Majority of LIVE Regions)


9. Eredivisie Live (Netherlands)


10. Fightbox (Austria, Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, United Kingdom)


11. Flixster (United States)


12. GameTrailers (Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Japan, Mexico, United Kingdom, United States)


13. Globosat Muu (Brazil)


14. Gulli Replay (France)


15. HBO Nordics (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden)


16. IndieFlix (Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States)


17. Livesport.tv (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Sweden, United Kingdom)


18. Machinima (Majority of LIVE Regions)


19. Maxim (United States)


20. MTV (United States)


21. MyTF1 (France)


22. MyTF1VOD (France)


23. Napster (Germany, United Kingdom)


24. Pathe Thuis (Netherlands)


25. PBS (United States)


26. PopcornFlix (United States)


27. Rai TV (Italy)


28. Sainsbury (United Kingdom)


29. Saraiva (Brazil)


30. SBS (Netherlands)


31. SF Anytime (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden)


32. Slacker Radio (Canada, United States)


33. SPORT1 (Austria, Germany)


34. The CW Network (United States)


35. Televisa (Mexico)


36. TV3 (Spain)


37. Viaplay (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden)


38. Video a la Demande d'Orange (France)


39. Vimeo (United States)


40. VIVO Play (Brazil)


41. Watchever (Austria, Germany)


42. Zattoo (Germany)


43. Ziggo (Netherlands)

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Best Space Pictures of 2012: Editor's Picks

Photograph courtesy Tunç Tezel, APOY/Royal Observatory

This image of the Milky Way's vast star fields hanging over a valley of human-made light was recognized in the 2012 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition run by the U.K.’s Royal Observatory Greenwich.

To get the shot, photographer Tunç Tezel trekked to Uludag National Park near his hometown of Bursa, Turkey. He intended to watch the moon and evening planets, then take in the Perseids meteor shower.

"We live in a spiral arm of the Milky Way, so when we gaze through the thickness of our galaxy, we see it as a band of dense star fields encircling the sky," said Marek Kukula, the Royal Observatory's public astronomer and a contest judge.

Full story>>

Why We Love It

"I like the way this view of the Milky Way also shows us a compelling foreground landscape. It also hints at the astronomy problems caused by light pollution."—Chris Combs, news photo editor

Published December 11, 2012

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Shooter Kills Self After Oregon Mall Rampage

A masked gunman opened fire today at Clackamas Town Center, a mall in suburban Portland, Ore., killing two people, injuring one, and then killing himself.

"I can confirm the shooter is dead of an apparent self inflicted gunshot wound," Lt. James Rhodes of the Clackamas County, Ore., Sheriff's Department said today. "By all accounts there were no rounds fired by law enforcement today in the mall."

Police have not released the names of the deceased. Rhodes said authorities are in the process of notifying victims' families. The injured victim has been transported to a local hospital.

Rhodes described the shooter as an adult male.

Witnesses from the shooting rampage said that a young man in a white hockey mask and bulletproof vest tore through the Macy's, food court, and mall hallways firing rounds at shoppers beginning around 3:30 p.m. PT today.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from the busy mall full of holiday shoppers after the shooting began.

READ: Guns in America: A Statistical Look

911 Calls From New Jersey Supermarket Shooting Watch Video

The gunman entered the mall through a Macy's store, ran through the upper level of Macy's and opened fire near the mall food court, firing multiple shots, one right after another, with what is believed to be a black, semiautomatic rifle, according to witness reports.

Katie Tate said she was in the parking lot of the mall when she saw the shooter run by, wearing a mask and carrying a machine gun, headed for the Macy's.

"He looked like a teenager wearing a gun, like a bullet-proof vest and he had a machine, like an assault rifle and a white mask and he looked at me," she said.

Witnesses described the shooter as being on a mission and determined, looking straight ahead. He then seemed to walk through the mall toward the other end of the building, shooting along the way, according to witness reports.

Those interviewed said that Macy's shoppers and store employees huddled in a dressing room to avoid being found.

"I was helping a customer in the middle of the store, her and her granddaughter and while we were looking at sweatshirts we heard five to seven shots from a machine gun fire just outside my store," Jacob Rogers, a store clerk, told ABC affiliate KATU-TV in Portland.

"We moved everyone into the back room where there's no access to outside but where there's a camera so we can monitor what's going on out front," Rogers said.

Evan Walters, an employee at a store in the mall, told ABC News Radio that he was locked in a store for his safety and he saw two people shot and heard multiple gunshots.

"It was over 20, and it was kind of surreal because we hear pops and loud noises," he said. "We're next to the food court here and we hear pops and loud noises all the time, but we don't -- nothing like that. It was very definite gunshots."

Police are tracing the weapon used in the shooting.

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