Pakistan has been described by Newsweek magazine as "the most dangerous place in the world". However, as intense fighting continues and casualties rise, Mohammed Hanif in Karachi says that for the moment there is still a thriving social life.
Last week I received an e-mail from the foreign editor of a European newspaper who said: "So I wonder if you could write a story for us about living in Pakistan which, looking from here, seems to be the bottom of hell."
Pakistani cricket fans celebrate their country"s team victory in the final of Twenty20 World Cup against Sri Lanka, in Islamabad, Pakistan on Sunday, June 21, 2009
Pakistan is also a place for celebrations following sporting victories.
I was tempted to write to him and tell him that we were not at the bottom of hell yet, but we were trying hard to get there.
Or something like, yes, we are at the bottom of the hell but at least the weather is fine.
I also thought of asking whether the bottom of hell is supposed to have hole-in-the-wall cash machines and art galleries.
Do they allow children to play cricket in the street there? Is dancing at weddings allowed?
'Bad name'
I did not write it because I realised that I was thinking like a certain kind of Pakistani.
There is a certain kind of man or woman here who is very concerned about the image of their country.
Not that they are unconcerned about suicide bombers, or about the electricity crisis or about urban slums or the fluctuating fortunes of the Pakistani cricket team.
They do care about these things. But they think that the Taliban and the power crisis and dropped catches are bad because they bring their beloved country a bad name.
Earlier this year there was a film celebrating the lives of four professional Pakistanis. According to the makers of Made in Pakistan, the show was a response to a Newsweek cover story which described Pakistan as "the most dangerous place in the world".
The documentary might not have made Newsweek change its editorial judgment but it played to packed houses with a red-carpet reception and half-a-dozen television crews.
A mother with her daughter who was injured in the bombing at Islamabad's Islamic University
During the first two weeks of October there were 13 attacks in Pakistan, including one on the Pakistani Army's headquarters
Image conscious Pakistanis are likely to point out that despite all the country's troubles it is a vibrant democracy.
They never forget to remind us that Pakistan has some of the liveliest pop music in South Asia, our contemporary art is hot property at Sotheby's, our writers are nominated for international awards and our philanthropists fund world-class hospitals.
They tend to forget that this is no consolation for someone trying to escape South Waziristan with American drones in the sky, the Pakistan army closing in and the Taliban digging in their heels for yet another last stand.
'Bottom of hell'
During the first two weeks of October there were 13 attacks in Pakistan, including one on the Pakistani army's headquarters.
During the same two weeks, a painfully detailed production of Chekov's The Seagull had a successful 10-day run in Karachi.
At another venue local actors put together a female version of The Odd Couple and the Abba musical Mamma Mia opened to a standing ovation.
There were scores of other events across the country, such as the 25th anniversary of a street theatre group, a film festival for children, dozens of music concerts, thousands of weddings and endless games of street cricket. One does not expect so many people frolicking at the bottom of hell.
Social networking sites were split between people who were commenting on the authenticity of the Mamma Mia costumes and those asking 'What is happening to my country?'
The other day I was reading an article by a friend who hates musicals. She had written that the Karachi opening of Mamma Mia might be the last stand against the Taliban, but it was still girls in spandex singing Abba songs.
While reading the piece, I turned on the TV and saw that the Taliban had been on the rampage in Pakistan's cultural capital, Lahore.
Recently these attacks have been happening with such frequency that I have come to believe that if you turn on a local news channel and stare at the screen long enough a bomb will go off somewhere.
On this morning, an explosion in Kohat killed more than 50 civilians. As I was reeling from the gory images, another story broke... an attack was under way on a police commandoes facility in Lahore. Then more breaking news... an investigation centre had been targeted.
Soon my TV screen was split in three and I could follow the progress of all three attacks.
'Bright spots'
Later in the day, social networking sites were split between people who were commenting on the authenticity of the Mamma Mia costumes and those asking "What is happening to my country?".
Searching for bright spots in Pakistan, many foreign newspapers have recently done soft stories on the country.
They have covered Pakistani painters, philanthropists, rock stars and, in one desperate piece, Facebook protesters.
What we tend to often forget is that the cultural activities we want the world to focus on take place in a middle-class, affluent bubble, with electricity generators on standby, private security guards with scanners, and which are often bankrolled by mobile-phone companies or fast food chains.
Outside this bubble, millions try to eke out a living, then go home to watch the horrors of the day on their split screens.
Not too many of them get to go to the theatre to sing along with those jaunty Abba songs even if Money Money Money is the only anthem allowed at the bottom of hell.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Doubts over Latvia 'meteor crash'
Scientists investigating a large crater in a field in northern Latvia, believed to have been caused by a meteorite, now suspect it was a hoax.
Fire crews were called to the scene on Sunday outside the town of Mazsalaca by locals who said something had fallen from the sky and set the land on fire.
One expert who had said the 9m (27ft) wide crater was caused by an impact, said he now thought it was artificial.
The hole was too tidy to have been caused by a meteorite, he said.
It would be unusual for such a large meteorite to hit the Earth, as most objects burn up in the atmosphere and never reach the surface.
In 2007, a meteorite ploughed into the countryside near the Andean town of Carancas in Peru, creating a 15m (50ft) wide crater.
'Pyrotechnic compound'
On Monday, a spokeswoman for the Latvian State Fire and Rescue Service said firefighters had been told by a witness about a fire in a field near Mazsalaca at 1730 (1530 GMT) the previous day.
"We concluded that the impact must have come from the air and this is why we believe it could have been a meteorite," Inga Vetere said.
Meteorites are not 'on fire' or even hot when they land on Earth
Caroline Smith, Meteorite Curator, Natural History Museum, London
A military unit sent to the site found normal radiation levels.
Uldis Nulle, a scientist at the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre, said his first impression after visiting the site late on Sunday had been that the crater was caused by a meteorite.
However, on closer inspection in daylight he found that the hole was too tidy to have been caused by a genuine impact.
"This is not a real crater. It is artificial," he told the Associated Press.
Caroline Smith, meteorite curator at London's Natural History Museum, told the BBC that the photographs and video footage of the site, and the material burning in the bottom of the hole, indicated that it was not an impact crater.
"Meteorites are not 'on fire' or even hot when they land on Earth," she said.
"Additionally, there have been no witness reports of any large 'fireball' sightings in the region on Sunday afternoon, when the crater was allegedly formed."
Latvian Geologist Dainis Ozols said he believed someone had dug a hole and tried to make it look like a meteorite crater by burning a pyrotechnic compound at the bottom.
It is thought the meteorite would have to have been at least 1m (3ft) in diameter to create a crater that size.
The owner of the land is now selling tickets to people who want to see the crater, reportedly to pay for wear and tear on the road.
Fire crews were called to the scene on Sunday outside the town of Mazsalaca by locals who said something had fallen from the sky and set the land on fire.
One expert who had said the 9m (27ft) wide crater was caused by an impact, said he now thought it was artificial.
The hole was too tidy to have been caused by a meteorite, he said.
It would be unusual for such a large meteorite to hit the Earth, as most objects burn up in the atmosphere and never reach the surface.
In 2007, a meteorite ploughed into the countryside near the Andean town of Carancas in Peru, creating a 15m (50ft) wide crater.
'Pyrotechnic compound'
On Monday, a spokeswoman for the Latvian State Fire and Rescue Service said firefighters had been told by a witness about a fire in a field near Mazsalaca at 1730 (1530 GMT) the previous day.
"We concluded that the impact must have come from the air and this is why we believe it could have been a meteorite," Inga Vetere said.
Meteorites are not 'on fire' or even hot when they land on Earth
Caroline Smith, Meteorite Curator, Natural History Museum, London
A military unit sent to the site found normal radiation levels.
Uldis Nulle, a scientist at the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre, said his first impression after visiting the site late on Sunday had been that the crater was caused by a meteorite.
However, on closer inspection in daylight he found that the hole was too tidy to have been caused by a genuine impact.
"This is not a real crater. It is artificial," he told the Associated Press.
Caroline Smith, meteorite curator at London's Natural History Museum, told the BBC that the photographs and video footage of the site, and the material burning in the bottom of the hole, indicated that it was not an impact crater.
"Meteorites are not 'on fire' or even hot when they land on Earth," she said.
"Additionally, there have been no witness reports of any large 'fireball' sightings in the region on Sunday afternoon, when the crater was allegedly formed."
Latvian Geologist Dainis Ozols said he believed someone had dug a hole and tried to make it look like a meteorite crater by burning a pyrotechnic compound at the bottom.
It is thought the meteorite would have to have been at least 1m (3ft) in diameter to create a crater that size.
The owner of the land is now selling tickets to people who want to see the crater, reportedly to pay for wear and tear on the road.
Call to act on maternal mortality
Health ministers from around the world have agreed that swift action must be taken to reduce the number of women dying during pregnancy and childbirth.
At the UN Population Fund meeting in Addis Ababa the ministers said the number of women dying in this way was actually increasing in some nations.
The ministers seemed to agree that family planning was the most cost-effective way of tacking the problem.
However, no unanimous declaration was adopted at the Addis Ababa talks.
Brain drain
The ministers said the world must act swiftly to stand any chance of reaching the UN's development goal of reducing global maternal mortality rates.
The ministers also recognised that more investment was needed in primary and emergency healthcare to save the lives of both mothers and babies in 15% of birth when complications arise, the BBC's Pascale Harter in Addis Ababa says.
But many governments - like that of the host company Ethiopia - have already invested heavily in training midwives only to have them work abroad. There are said to be more Ethiopian midwives working in Chicago now than in Addis Ababa, our correspondent says.
She adds that the Hamlin college of midwives in Ethiopia, however, is about to graduate its first intake of students and it believes it may have come up with a solution to the brain drain.
"We are actually hand-picking girls. Some of these girls wouldn't have the opportunities to go onto further education. We draw up a contract with their families that we will give them a full scholarship and if they work for six years post graduation back in their own area," says Annette Bennett, the college's dean.
"And many of them are really excited to be given this opportunity to then go back and work with their communities. They come from where the hardships are," she says.
But to really meet demand in countries like Ethiopia both government and aid donors would need to commit more money to this kind of primary healthcare, our correspondent says.
And yet while donor aid to fight HIV/Aids more than doubled earlier this decade, aid for primary healthcare dropped by nearly half, she adds.
At the UN Population Fund meeting in Addis Ababa the ministers said the number of women dying in this way was actually increasing in some nations.
The ministers seemed to agree that family planning was the most cost-effective way of tacking the problem.
However, no unanimous declaration was adopted at the Addis Ababa talks.
Brain drain
The ministers said the world must act swiftly to stand any chance of reaching the UN's development goal of reducing global maternal mortality rates.
The ministers also recognised that more investment was needed in primary and emergency healthcare to save the lives of both mothers and babies in 15% of birth when complications arise, the BBC's Pascale Harter in Addis Ababa says.
But many governments - like that of the host company Ethiopia - have already invested heavily in training midwives only to have them work abroad. There are said to be more Ethiopian midwives working in Chicago now than in Addis Ababa, our correspondent says.
She adds that the Hamlin college of midwives in Ethiopia, however, is about to graduate its first intake of students and it believes it may have come up with a solution to the brain drain.
"We are actually hand-picking girls. Some of these girls wouldn't have the opportunities to go onto further education. We draw up a contract with their families that we will give them a full scholarship and if they work for six years post graduation back in their own area," says Annette Bennett, the college's dean.
"And many of them are really excited to be given this opportunity to then go back and work with their communities. They come from where the hardships are," she says.
But to really meet demand in countries like Ethiopia both government and aid donors would need to commit more money to this kind of primary healthcare, our correspondent says.
And yet while donor aid to fight HIV/Aids more than doubled earlier this decade, aid for primary healthcare dropped by nearly half, she adds.
The man who walks with bears
Black bears are often considered among the most dangerous animals in North America, depicted down the years as ferocious predators threatening to man.
But, says one man, that perception could not be further from the truth.
For 43 years, Professor Lynn Rogers has studied wild bears, walking and playing with them, gaining amazing insights into their behaviour.
His studies reveal the bears as peaceful, playful creatures, which even hum when they are content.
The new understanding of wild black bear (Ursus americanus) behaviour unveiled by Prof Roger's research is depicted by the BBC natural history programme Natural World: "Bearwalker of the Northwoods".
For the first half of my life, I struggled to control my fear of bears. But bears like June have taught me that they are not the ferocious animals we once thought
Professor Lynn Rogers
As part of the programme, the BBC film crew working with Prof Rogers recorded wild black bears mating for the first time.
When the male bear mounts the female, his body shakes in a behaviour that Prof Rogers calls "fluttering".
Contrary to popular opinion, mating bears aren't particularly dangerous.
In all his years observing the black bears, he has never been threatened by a black bear that is attempting to attract or mate with another.
Following in a black bear's footsteps
In fact, he has never been attacked by any bear.
Black bear attacks on humans are incredibly rare, with most happening in the remote parts of Canada and Alaska, says Prof Rogers, who is director of the Wildlife Research Institute and the North American Bear Centre in Ely, Minnesota, US.
"In the eastern US, there have been only three fatalities caused by black bears in the last hundred years," he says.
Black bear drawing
A classic depiction of the black bear
When Prof Rogers started his research in the 1960s, they had to tranquilise bears to get close to them.
But now he has worked out how to get the bears' trust.
One bear, which Prof Rogers has named June, is particularly amenable, allowing him to walk and rest with her in the forest.
"Everyone warns you never to go near a mother bear with cubs," says Prof Rogers.
Yet he is able to sit alongside June and her cubs as they exit their den and play. He is also able to do the same with another bear, named Juliet.
Before June hibernates for the winter, the bear allows Prof Rogers to monitor her heart rate on a daily basis.
Each day, prior to her entering her den, June's heart rate falls.
BEAR FACTS
Bear cub
Black bears once ranged over most of the forested regions of North America. Their current distribution is restricted to relatively undisturbed forested regions
Their population is estimated at 750,000
Wild males weigh between 125 and 500lbs. Females weigh between 90 and 300lbs
Black bears groom each other for parasites as primates do
This species does not growl. Black bears make loud blowing noises and clack their teeth when frightened
"It is not that she likes me, she trusts me," says Prof Rogers.
"For the first half of my life, I struggled to control my fear of bears. But bears like June have taught me that they are not the ferocious animals we once thought."
A knee jerk fear of bears often leads to people attempting to hunt them, says Prof Rogers, even out of season when it is illegal to do so.
"Walking with bears allows us to see the dangers they face," says Prof Rogers.
"Some people are so afraid of bears, they shoot them on sight, even when they pose no threat."
In the film, Prof Rogers and his field researcher Ms Sue Mansfield can be seen approaching a 400lb male bear that they believe had earlier been shot and wounded by a hunter.
Yet even this wounded bear is not aggressive towards them.
During the six week annual hunting season, Prof Rogers and his team tie pink ribbons around the bears they are researching, so that they are obvious to hunters, which hopefully will spare the animals.
Bears temporarily marked in this way are four times less likely to be shot by hunters.
Suckle and hum...
There is also an assumption that feeding black bears may cause the animals to aggressively seek food out from walkers and campers.
"The funny thing is, there is no scientific evidence to support this," says Prof Rogers. "It is not what we see."
Other revelations gleaned by Prof Rogers during his research include the fact that black bears are susceptible to a parasite of deer.
Young bears can die after being infected by the pathogen, and Prof Rogers and his colleagues are now studying its impact on the black bear population.
Along with colleagues Dr Gustav Peters and Dr Megan Owen, Prof Rogers has also studied in detail a particular behaviour of bears, known as "humming".
While humming, bears will exhale producing a series of between nine and 15 loud sounds a second.
When they reach the end of each breath, they quickly and silently inhale, before exhaling loudly again, continuing the humming sound.
As yet, it is unclear why bears do this.
All bear species hum in this way, apart from giant pandas.
Natural World: 'Bearwalker of the Northwoods', Wednesday 28 October, 2000GMT, BBC Two
But, says one man, that perception could not be further from the truth.
For 43 years, Professor Lynn Rogers has studied wild bears, walking and playing with them, gaining amazing insights into their behaviour.
His studies reveal the bears as peaceful, playful creatures, which even hum when they are content.
The new understanding of wild black bear (Ursus americanus) behaviour unveiled by Prof Roger's research is depicted by the BBC natural history programme Natural World: "Bearwalker of the Northwoods".
For the first half of my life, I struggled to control my fear of bears. But bears like June have taught me that they are not the ferocious animals we once thought
Professor Lynn Rogers
As part of the programme, the BBC film crew working with Prof Rogers recorded wild black bears mating for the first time.
When the male bear mounts the female, his body shakes in a behaviour that Prof Rogers calls "fluttering".
Contrary to popular opinion, mating bears aren't particularly dangerous.
In all his years observing the black bears, he has never been threatened by a black bear that is attempting to attract or mate with another.
Following in a black bear's footsteps
In fact, he has never been attacked by any bear.
Black bear attacks on humans are incredibly rare, with most happening in the remote parts of Canada and Alaska, says Prof Rogers, who is director of the Wildlife Research Institute and the North American Bear Centre in Ely, Minnesota, US.
"In the eastern US, there have been only three fatalities caused by black bears in the last hundred years," he says.
Black bear drawing
A classic depiction of the black bear
When Prof Rogers started his research in the 1960s, they had to tranquilise bears to get close to them.
But now he has worked out how to get the bears' trust.
One bear, which Prof Rogers has named June, is particularly amenable, allowing him to walk and rest with her in the forest.
"Everyone warns you never to go near a mother bear with cubs," says Prof Rogers.
Yet he is able to sit alongside June and her cubs as they exit their den and play. He is also able to do the same with another bear, named Juliet.
Before June hibernates for the winter, the bear allows Prof Rogers to monitor her heart rate on a daily basis.
Each day, prior to her entering her den, June's heart rate falls.
BEAR FACTS
Bear cub
Black bears once ranged over most of the forested regions of North America. Their current distribution is restricted to relatively undisturbed forested regions
Their population is estimated at 750,000
Wild males weigh between 125 and 500lbs. Females weigh between 90 and 300lbs
Black bears groom each other for parasites as primates do
This species does not growl. Black bears make loud blowing noises and clack their teeth when frightened
"It is not that she likes me, she trusts me," says Prof Rogers.
"For the first half of my life, I struggled to control my fear of bears. But bears like June have taught me that they are not the ferocious animals we once thought."
A knee jerk fear of bears often leads to people attempting to hunt them, says Prof Rogers, even out of season when it is illegal to do so.
"Walking with bears allows us to see the dangers they face," says Prof Rogers.
"Some people are so afraid of bears, they shoot them on sight, even when they pose no threat."
In the film, Prof Rogers and his field researcher Ms Sue Mansfield can be seen approaching a 400lb male bear that they believe had earlier been shot and wounded by a hunter.
Yet even this wounded bear is not aggressive towards them.
During the six week annual hunting season, Prof Rogers and his team tie pink ribbons around the bears they are researching, so that they are obvious to hunters, which hopefully will spare the animals.
Bears temporarily marked in this way are four times less likely to be shot by hunters.
Suckle and hum...
There is also an assumption that feeding black bears may cause the animals to aggressively seek food out from walkers and campers.
"The funny thing is, there is no scientific evidence to support this," says Prof Rogers. "It is not what we see."
Other revelations gleaned by Prof Rogers during his research include the fact that black bears are susceptible to a parasite of deer.
Young bears can die after being infected by the pathogen, and Prof Rogers and his colleagues are now studying its impact on the black bear population.
Along with colleagues Dr Gustav Peters and Dr Megan Owen, Prof Rogers has also studied in detail a particular behaviour of bears, known as "humming".
While humming, bears will exhale producing a series of between nine and 15 loud sounds a second.
When they reach the end of each breath, they quickly and silently inhale, before exhaling loudly again, continuing the humming sound.
As yet, it is unclear why bears do this.
All bear species hum in this way, apart from giant pandas.
Natural World: 'Bearwalker of the Northwoods', Wednesday 28 October, 2000GMT, BBC Two
Indian royal splendour on display
When it comes to majestic grandeur, few monarchies in the world matched the opulence of India's royal courts in their heyday.
The Victoria and Albert (V&A) museum in London has brought some of that splendour to life in a new exhibition featuring more than 250 rarely seen objects, including thrones, gem-encrusted weapons and even a life-sized and bejewelled maharaja's model elephant.
Organisers say that Maharaja: The Splendour of India's Royal Courts is the first display that comprehensively explores the world of these exotic rulers and their rich culture.
The exhibition centres on the golden period of maharaja power: from the beginning of the 18th century to the mid-20th century. Many of the magnificent objects on display have been loaned by India's royal families.
The aim is to illuminate the plush and sometimes ostentatious lifestyles of maharajas that existed right up until the end of British rule in 1947.
'Fascinating story'
"There has never been an exhibition like this before, showing the spectacular treasures of the courts of the maharajas," said V&A director Mark Jones.
Howdah, 19th century
Exhibition in pictures
"Many of the objects have left India for the first time to come to the V&A.
"This exhibition shows that India's rulers were significant patrons of the arts, in India and the West, and tells the fascinating story of the changing role of the maharaja from the early 18th century to the final days of the Raj."
One of the most fascinating items on display is the Patiala Necklace - one of jeweller Cartier's largest single commissions. Completed in 1928, it originally contained 2,930 diamonds.
Divided into sections, the exhibition starts with a recreation of an Indian royal procession, before examining the political, religious and military leadership roles a maharaja had to assume.
A brilliant and no doubt priceless display of oils, watercolours and sketches show how the secular and sacred power of an Indian king was expressed most spectacularly in the grand public processions that celebrated royal events and religious festivals.
Lavishly dressed maharajas can be seen riding richly caparisoned elephants or horses, surrounded by attendants bearing the symbolic attributes of kingship: a royal parasol, fans and staffs of authority.
Justice and punishment
"The vision of a king in all his splendour was believed to be auspicious. It was central to the concept of darshan, the propitious act of seeing and being seen by a superior being, whether a god or a king," exhibition co-organiser Anna Watson told the BBC.
Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III, Late 19th century
Maharajas have worn some of the world's most splendid jewellery
"Although originally a Hindu notion, the idea of darshan became an integral aspect of kingship throughout the subcontinent."
The exhibition also examines changes in the balance of power and changes in taste in the 18th and 19th centuries, including the disintegration of the Mughal empire and the impact of expanding British influence.
It explains how even under the British, Indian rulers were expected to exercise rajadharma - the duties and behaviour appropriate to a king.
These duties include the protection of their subjects, the adjudication of disputes, and the ministering of justice and punishment.
"Martial skills were as important as administrative and diplomatic ones; as well as being wise and benevolent, kings were expected to be fierce warriors and skilled hunters. Rajadharma was also exercised through the patronage of poets, musicians, architects, artists, craftsmen and religious foundations," Ms Watson is quoted as saying in exhibition publicity material.
When Mughal power collapsed completely in 1739, a new breed of maharajas popped up all over India to replace them.
'Modern maharajas'
The exhibition explains that they were seldom known as "maharajas" - a word meaning "great king".
Instead, they enjoyed a multiplicity of titles - Raja, Rana, Maharana, Nawab and Nizam.
Detail showing Maharana Ari Singh at the Jagmandir , 1767
Maharajas were renowned for their patronage of the arts
The final section explores the role of "modern" maharajas and the increasing European influence on their lives and possessions.
The exhibition explains the Raj essentially operated as a two-tier system - the British had direct control over three-fifths of the subcontinent, known as "British India", and indirect control over the remaining territory.
Although Indian rulers were guaranteed their borders and rights, the British continued to interfere in the day-to-day running of their states and to limit royal authority - most dramatically in deposing rulers they viewed as unsuitable.
Around this time the number of Indian princes - as rulers were now termed - grew enormously as the British bestowed titles on landowners and chieftains.
A system of imperial orders was introduced to integrate Indian rulers into a western-style feudal hierarchy.
The most important states were ranked within a system of gun salutes; Queen Victoria was entitled to 101 guns, the viceroy and members of the royal family to 31, while the princes had between 21 and nine depending on their status.
But just as Indian rulers began to become fully adapted to the new imperial regime - as they did with the Mughals centuries earlier - they had to change again when India became a republic after independence in 1947.
The Victoria and Albert (V&A) museum in London has brought some of that splendour to life in a new exhibition featuring more than 250 rarely seen objects, including thrones, gem-encrusted weapons and even a life-sized and bejewelled maharaja's model elephant.
Organisers say that Maharaja: The Splendour of India's Royal Courts is the first display that comprehensively explores the world of these exotic rulers and their rich culture.
The exhibition centres on the golden period of maharaja power: from the beginning of the 18th century to the mid-20th century. Many of the magnificent objects on display have been loaned by India's royal families.
The aim is to illuminate the plush and sometimes ostentatious lifestyles of maharajas that existed right up until the end of British rule in 1947.
'Fascinating story'
"There has never been an exhibition like this before, showing the spectacular treasures of the courts of the maharajas," said V&A director Mark Jones.
Howdah, 19th century
Exhibition in pictures
"Many of the objects have left India for the first time to come to the V&A.
"This exhibition shows that India's rulers were significant patrons of the arts, in India and the West, and tells the fascinating story of the changing role of the maharaja from the early 18th century to the final days of the Raj."
One of the most fascinating items on display is the Patiala Necklace - one of jeweller Cartier's largest single commissions. Completed in 1928, it originally contained 2,930 diamonds.
Divided into sections, the exhibition starts with a recreation of an Indian royal procession, before examining the political, religious and military leadership roles a maharaja had to assume.
A brilliant and no doubt priceless display of oils, watercolours and sketches show how the secular and sacred power of an Indian king was expressed most spectacularly in the grand public processions that celebrated royal events and religious festivals.
Lavishly dressed maharajas can be seen riding richly caparisoned elephants or horses, surrounded by attendants bearing the symbolic attributes of kingship: a royal parasol, fans and staffs of authority.
Justice and punishment
"The vision of a king in all his splendour was believed to be auspicious. It was central to the concept of darshan, the propitious act of seeing and being seen by a superior being, whether a god or a king," exhibition co-organiser Anna Watson told the BBC.
Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III, Late 19th century
Maharajas have worn some of the world's most splendid jewellery
"Although originally a Hindu notion, the idea of darshan became an integral aspect of kingship throughout the subcontinent."
The exhibition also examines changes in the balance of power and changes in taste in the 18th and 19th centuries, including the disintegration of the Mughal empire and the impact of expanding British influence.
It explains how even under the British, Indian rulers were expected to exercise rajadharma - the duties and behaviour appropriate to a king.
These duties include the protection of their subjects, the adjudication of disputes, and the ministering of justice and punishment.
"Martial skills were as important as administrative and diplomatic ones; as well as being wise and benevolent, kings were expected to be fierce warriors and skilled hunters. Rajadharma was also exercised through the patronage of poets, musicians, architects, artists, craftsmen and religious foundations," Ms Watson is quoted as saying in exhibition publicity material.
When Mughal power collapsed completely in 1739, a new breed of maharajas popped up all over India to replace them.
'Modern maharajas'
The exhibition explains that they were seldom known as "maharajas" - a word meaning "great king".
Instead, they enjoyed a multiplicity of titles - Raja, Rana, Maharana, Nawab and Nizam.
Detail showing Maharana Ari Singh at the Jagmandir , 1767
Maharajas were renowned for their patronage of the arts
The final section explores the role of "modern" maharajas and the increasing European influence on their lives and possessions.
The exhibition explains the Raj essentially operated as a two-tier system - the British had direct control over three-fifths of the subcontinent, known as "British India", and indirect control over the remaining territory.
Although Indian rulers were guaranteed their borders and rights, the British continued to interfere in the day-to-day running of their states and to limit royal authority - most dramatically in deposing rulers they viewed as unsuitable.
Around this time the number of Indian princes - as rulers were now termed - grew enormously as the British bestowed titles on landowners and chieftains.
A system of imperial orders was introduced to integrate Indian rulers into a western-style feudal hierarchy.
The most important states were ranked within a system of gun salutes; Queen Victoria was entitled to 101 guns, the viceroy and members of the royal family to 31, while the princes had between 21 and nine depending on their status.
But just as Indian rulers began to become fully adapted to the new imperial regime - as they did with the Mughals centuries earlier - they had to change again when India became a republic after independence in 1947.
Particle beams injected into LHC
Engineers working on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have successfully injected beams of particles into two sections of the vast machine.
An LHC spokesperson said this was the first time particle beams had been inside the LHC since it was shut down late in September 2008.
Scientists working on the giant particle accelerator described the success as "a milestone".
They plan to circulate a beam around the 27km-long tunnel in November.
The LHC was closed down shortly after its switch-on last year, when a magnet problem called a "quench" caused a tonne of liquid helium to leak into its tunnel.
This is a work of synchronisation
Gianluigi Arduini, Cern
Since then, engineers have been working to repair the damage. Recently, all eight sectors of the LHC were cooled to their operating temperature of 1.9 kelvin (-271C; -456F) - colder than deep space.
On 23 and 25 October, beams of protons and of lead ions were injected into the LHC ring, and successfully guided both clockwise and anti-clockwise through two of the eight sectors. Each sector is approximately 3.5km long.
The extreme cold allows the magnets inside the LHC, which align and accelerate the beam, to become "superconducting". This means they channel electric current with zero resistance and very little power loss.
Gianluigi Arduini, deputy head of hardware commissioning for the LHC, told BBC News the beam test showed that the collider's machinery was operating properly.
LHC tunnel (Cern/M.Brice)
The LHC's tunnel runs for 27km under the Franco-Swiss border
"This is a work of synchronisation," he said.
"The fast magnets must be synchronised to accelerate the beam and transfer it from one accelerator to the next and eventually to the LHC, which must be synchronised to accept it.
"This whole process happens within a few hundred picoseconds - one picosecond is a millionth of a millionth of a second."
The beams were injected at 450 billion electron volts, only a fraction of the energy that scientists will aim for when they attempt to collide two particle beams.
Two beams of particles will be fired down pipes running through the magnets - travelling in opposite directions at close to the speed of light.
Mr Arduini said: "The aim once the beam is circulating is to accelerate [it] up to 3.5 [trillion electron volts].
"But that will be in stages. We will first go to one, then 3.5... then from 2011 we're going to try to go to seven."
At allotted points around the tunnel, the proton beams cross paths, smashing into one another.
Scientists hope to see new particles in the debris of these collisions that could reveal insights into the "Big Bang" and the nature of the Universe.
An LHC spokesperson said this was the first time particle beams had been inside the LHC since it was shut down late in September 2008.
Scientists working on the giant particle accelerator described the success as "a milestone".
They plan to circulate a beam around the 27km-long tunnel in November.
The LHC was closed down shortly after its switch-on last year, when a magnet problem called a "quench" caused a tonne of liquid helium to leak into its tunnel.
This is a work of synchronisation
Gianluigi Arduini, Cern
Since then, engineers have been working to repair the damage. Recently, all eight sectors of the LHC were cooled to their operating temperature of 1.9 kelvin (-271C; -456F) - colder than deep space.
On 23 and 25 October, beams of protons and of lead ions were injected into the LHC ring, and successfully guided both clockwise and anti-clockwise through two of the eight sectors. Each sector is approximately 3.5km long.
The extreme cold allows the magnets inside the LHC, which align and accelerate the beam, to become "superconducting". This means they channel electric current with zero resistance and very little power loss.
Gianluigi Arduini, deputy head of hardware commissioning for the LHC, told BBC News the beam test showed that the collider's machinery was operating properly.
LHC tunnel (Cern/M.Brice)
The LHC's tunnel runs for 27km under the Franco-Swiss border
"This is a work of synchronisation," he said.
"The fast magnets must be synchronised to accelerate the beam and transfer it from one accelerator to the next and eventually to the LHC, which must be synchronised to accept it.
"This whole process happens within a few hundred picoseconds - one picosecond is a millionth of a millionth of a second."
The beams were injected at 450 billion electron volts, only a fraction of the energy that scientists will aim for when they attempt to collide two particle beams.
Two beams of particles will be fired down pipes running through the magnets - travelling in opposite directions at close to the speed of light.
Mr Arduini said: "The aim once the beam is circulating is to accelerate [it] up to 3.5 [trillion electron volts].
"But that will be in stages. We will first go to one, then 3.5... then from 2011 we're going to try to go to seven."
At allotted points around the tunnel, the proton beams cross paths, smashing into one another.
Scientists hope to see new particles in the debris of these collisions that could reveal insights into the "Big Bang" and the nature of the Universe.
Net set for 'language shake-up'
The internet is on the brink of the "biggest change" to its working "since it was invented 40 years ago", the net regulator Icann has said.
The body said it that it was finalising plans to introduce web addresses using non-Latin characters.
The proposal - initially approved in 2008 - would allow domain names written in Asian, Arabic or other scripts.
The body said if the final plans were approved on 30 October, it would accept the first applications by 16 November.
The first Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs) could be up and running by "mid 2010" said the president of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann).
"Of the 1.6 billion internet users today worldwide, more than half use languages that have scripts that are not Latin-based," said Rod Beckstrom at the opening of Icann's conference in Seoul, South Korea.
"So this change is very much necessary for not only half the world's internet users today but more than half, probably, of the future users as the internet continues to spread."
Relaxed rules
Plans for IDNs were approved at a meeting in June 2008. However, testing of the system has been going on for much longer, said Peter Dengate Thrush, chairman of the board in charge of reviewing the change.
"You have to appreciate what a fantastically complicated technical feature this is," he said.
"What we have created is a different translation system."
The changes will be applied to the net's Domain Name System. This acts like a phone book, translating easily understood domain names such as bbc.co.uk into strings of computer readable numbers known as IP addresses.
The tweaks will allow this system to recognise and translate the non-Latin characters.
"We are confident that it works because we have been testing it for a couple of years," said Mr Dengate Thrush. "We're really ready to start rolling it out."
Some countries, such as China and Thailand, have already introduced workarounds that allow computer users to enter web addresses in their own language. However, these were not internationally approved and do not necessarily work on all computers.
The meeting in South Korea will also discuss its plans to introduce generic Top Level Domains (TLDs), such as .uk or .com.
Last year, the body voted to relax rules on TLDs meaning companies could turn brands into web addresses, while individuals could use their names.
Icann, set up by the US government, was founded in 1998 to oversee the development of the net.
Last month, after years of criticism, the US government eased its control over the non-profit body.
It signed a new agreement that gave Icann autonomy for the first time. The agreement came into effect on 1 October and puts it under the scrutiny of the global "internet community".
The body said it that it was finalising plans to introduce web addresses using non-Latin characters.
The proposal - initially approved in 2008 - would allow domain names written in Asian, Arabic or other scripts.
The body said if the final plans were approved on 30 October, it would accept the first applications by 16 November.
The first Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs) could be up and running by "mid 2010" said the president of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann).
"Of the 1.6 billion internet users today worldwide, more than half use languages that have scripts that are not Latin-based," said Rod Beckstrom at the opening of Icann's conference in Seoul, South Korea.
"So this change is very much necessary for not only half the world's internet users today but more than half, probably, of the future users as the internet continues to spread."
Relaxed rules
Plans for IDNs were approved at a meeting in June 2008. However, testing of the system has been going on for much longer, said Peter Dengate Thrush, chairman of the board in charge of reviewing the change.
"You have to appreciate what a fantastically complicated technical feature this is," he said.
"What we have created is a different translation system."
The changes will be applied to the net's Domain Name System. This acts like a phone book, translating easily understood domain names such as bbc.co.uk into strings of computer readable numbers known as IP addresses.
The tweaks will allow this system to recognise and translate the non-Latin characters.
"We are confident that it works because we have been testing it for a couple of years," said Mr Dengate Thrush. "We're really ready to start rolling it out."
Some countries, such as China and Thailand, have already introduced workarounds that allow computer users to enter web addresses in their own language. However, these were not internationally approved and do not necessarily work on all computers.
The meeting in South Korea will also discuss its plans to introduce generic Top Level Domains (TLDs), such as .uk or .com.
Last year, the body voted to relax rules on TLDs meaning companies could turn brands into web addresses, while individuals could use their names.
Icann, set up by the US government, was founded in 1998 to oversee the development of the net.
Last month, after years of criticism, the US government eased its control over the non-profit body.
It signed a new agreement that gave Icann autonomy for the first time. The agreement came into effect on 1 October and puts it under the scrutiny of the global "internet community".
'Younger wife' for marital bliss
The secret to a happy marriage for men is choosing a wife who is smarter and at least five years younger than you, say UK experts.
These pairings are more likely to go the distance, particularly if neither has been divorced in the past, according to the Bath University team.
The findings predict a happy future for pop star Beyonce Knowles, 28, and rapper husband Jay-Z, 39.
The work is published in the European Journal of Operational Research.
The researchers studied interviews of more than 1,500 couples who were married or in a serious relationship.
Five years later, they followed up 1,000 of the couples to see which had lasted.
For better or worse
They found that if the wife was five or more years older than her husband, they were more than three times as likely to divorce than if they were the same age.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Not so long ago the husband had to be older than his wife in order to be able to support a family, but such criteria are not so relevant now women have been educated to be able to command good jobs, so I suggest the basis for a successful marriage should be tolerance
Marion Monahan, Bristol
Send us your comments
If the age gap is reversed, and the man is older than the woman, the odds of marital bliss are higher.
Add in a better education for the woman - Beyonce has her high school diploma, unlike husband Jay-Z - and the chances of lasting happiness improve further.
Those who have never divorced fare better too. But couples in which one member has been through a divorce in the past are less stable than those in which both members are divorcees.
Dr Emmanuel Fragniere and colleagues do say that men and women choose partners "on the basis of love, physical attraction, similarity of taste, beliefs and attitudes, and shared values."
But they say that using "objective factors" such as age, education and cultural origin "may help reduce divorce".
These pairings are more likely to go the distance, particularly if neither has been divorced in the past, according to the Bath University team.
The findings predict a happy future for pop star Beyonce Knowles, 28, and rapper husband Jay-Z, 39.
The work is published in the European Journal of Operational Research.
The researchers studied interviews of more than 1,500 couples who were married or in a serious relationship.
Five years later, they followed up 1,000 of the couples to see which had lasted.
For better or worse
They found that if the wife was five or more years older than her husband, they were more than three times as likely to divorce than if they were the same age.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Not so long ago the husband had to be older than his wife in order to be able to support a family, but such criteria are not so relevant now women have been educated to be able to command good jobs, so I suggest the basis for a successful marriage should be tolerance
Marion Monahan, Bristol
Send us your comments
If the age gap is reversed, and the man is older than the woman, the odds of marital bliss are higher.
Add in a better education for the woman - Beyonce has her high school diploma, unlike husband Jay-Z - and the chances of lasting happiness improve further.
Those who have never divorced fare better too. But couples in which one member has been through a divorce in the past are less stable than those in which both members are divorcees.
Dr Emmanuel Fragniere and colleagues do say that men and women choose partners "on the basis of love, physical attraction, similarity of taste, beliefs and attitudes, and shared values."
But they say that using "objective factors" such as age, education and cultural origin "may help reduce divorce".
Castro's sister 'spied for CIA'
A sister of Cuba's former long-time leader, Fidel Castro, has admitted spying for the CIA in the 1960s.
Juanita Castro, who now lives in Miami, said she had gathered sensitive information for the US for three years.
In her memoirs, she said she had fallen out with Fidel and her other brother Raul - Cuba's current president - over the killing of their opponents.
Ms Castro, 76, said she had helped to warn and hide Cuban dissidents before finally fleeing the island in 1964.
There has been no immediate reaction from the US or Cuban governments.
'Donna'
In her memoirs - Fidel and Raul, My Brothers, the Secret History - Ms Castro says she was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency in Havana two years after the 1959 revolution brought Fidel Castro to power.
I didn't betray him. He betrayed me
Juanita Castro
She agreed to help because she had become disenchanted when Fidel abandoned the nationalist democratic revolution he promised and instead imposed a one-party Marxist state "simply out of the need to hold power", she said.
"Did I feel remorse about betraying Fidel by agreeing to meet with his enemies? No, for one simple reason: I didn't betray him. He betrayed me," she wrote.
"He betrayed the thousands of us who suffered and fought for the revolution that he had offered, one that was generous and just and would bring peace and democracy to Cuba, and which, as he himself had promised, would be as 'Cuban as palm trees'," she wrote.
Ms Castro said that at a meeting with a CIA officer called "Enrique" at a hotel in Mexico City in 1961, she was given the codename "Donna" and codebooks so she could receive instructions.
She agreed on the condition that she received no money and was not asked to participate in any violent acts against the Cuban government.
She would help people persecuted by the Cuban secret police escape capture, imprisonment and possible execution, often by sheltering them at the home of her mother, Lina Ruz Gonzalez, she added.
Ms Castro fled Cuba a year after her mother died, believing she would no longer be protected from the attention of the secret police, and settled in Miami, where she ran a pharmacy until 2007. Raul helped her get a visa to leave.
Fidel relinquished power to Raul in February 2008. He has not been seen in public since falling ill in July 2006.
Juanita Castro, who now lives in Miami, said she had gathered sensitive information for the US for three years.
In her memoirs, she said she had fallen out with Fidel and her other brother Raul - Cuba's current president - over the killing of their opponents.
Ms Castro, 76, said she had helped to warn and hide Cuban dissidents before finally fleeing the island in 1964.
There has been no immediate reaction from the US or Cuban governments.
'Donna'
In her memoirs - Fidel and Raul, My Brothers, the Secret History - Ms Castro says she was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency in Havana two years after the 1959 revolution brought Fidel Castro to power.
I didn't betray him. He betrayed me
Juanita Castro
She agreed to help because she had become disenchanted when Fidel abandoned the nationalist democratic revolution he promised and instead imposed a one-party Marxist state "simply out of the need to hold power", she said.
"Did I feel remorse about betraying Fidel by agreeing to meet with his enemies? No, for one simple reason: I didn't betray him. He betrayed me," she wrote.
"He betrayed the thousands of us who suffered and fought for the revolution that he had offered, one that was generous and just and would bring peace and democracy to Cuba, and which, as he himself had promised, would be as 'Cuban as palm trees'," she wrote.
Ms Castro said that at a meeting with a CIA officer called "Enrique" at a hotel in Mexico City in 1961, she was given the codename "Donna" and codebooks so she could receive instructions.
She agreed on the condition that she received no money and was not asked to participate in any violent acts against the Cuban government.
She would help people persecuted by the Cuban secret police escape capture, imprisonment and possible execution, often by sheltering them at the home of her mother, Lina Ruz Gonzalez, she added.
Ms Castro fled Cuba a year after her mother died, believing she would no longer be protected from the attention of the secret police, and settled in Miami, where she ran a pharmacy until 2007. Raul helped her get a visa to leave.
Fidel relinquished power to Raul in February 2008. He has not been seen in public since falling ill in July 2006.
McDonald's pulls out of Iceland
McDonald's is to close its business in Iceland because the country's financial crisis has made it too expensive to operate its franchise.
The fast food giant said its three outlets in the country would shut - and that it had no plans to return.
Besides the economy, McDonald's blamed the "unique operational complexity" of doing business in an isolated nation with a population of just 300,000.
Iceland's first McDonald's restaurant opened in 1993.
'No sense'
For a kilo of onion, imported from Germany, I'm paying the equivalent of a bottle of good whiskey
Jon Gardar Ogmundsson
McDonald's Icelandic franchisee
The franchises are run by a firm called Lyst, with owner Jon Gardar Ogmundsson saying the decision was "not taken lightly".
He said that the restaurants imported the goods from Germany, but that costs had almost doubled, with the falling krona making imports prohibitively expensive.
Mr Ogmundsson said the restaurants had "never been this busy before... but at the same time profits have never been lower".
"It just makes no sense. For a kilo of onion, imported from Germany, I'm paying the equivalent of a bottle of good whisky," he added.
He now plans to run the restaurants under another name so that he is able to buy cheaper Icelandic products.
Iceland's banks collapsed at the height of the global credit crisis - wrecking the country's economy and forcing it to rely on as $10bn (£6.1bn) international aid package.
The fast food giant said its three outlets in the country would shut - and that it had no plans to return.
Besides the economy, McDonald's blamed the "unique operational complexity" of doing business in an isolated nation with a population of just 300,000.
Iceland's first McDonald's restaurant opened in 1993.
'No sense'
For a kilo of onion, imported from Germany, I'm paying the equivalent of a bottle of good whiskey
Jon Gardar Ogmundsson
McDonald's Icelandic franchisee
The franchises are run by a firm called Lyst, with owner Jon Gardar Ogmundsson saying the decision was "not taken lightly".
He said that the restaurants imported the goods from Germany, but that costs had almost doubled, with the falling krona making imports prohibitively expensive.
Mr Ogmundsson said the restaurants had "never been this busy before... but at the same time profits have never been lower".
"It just makes no sense. For a kilo of onion, imported from Germany, I'm paying the equivalent of a bottle of good whisky," he added.
He now plans to run the restaurants under another name so that he is able to buy cheaper Icelandic products.
Iceland's banks collapsed at the height of the global credit crisis - wrecking the country's economy and forcing it to rely on as $10bn (£6.1bn) international aid package.
Afghan rivals row over poll chief
Afghan rivals row over poll chief
Hamid Karzai andAbdullah
Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah have ruled out a power-sharing deal
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has rejected a call by rival presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah to sack the head of the Afghan election commission.
Mr Abdullah made his demand ahead of a 7 November run-off, after a UN-backed panel threw out first-round votes.
He said commission chief Azizullah Lodin had "no credibility", but Mr Karzai said he had done nothing wrong.
The row came as US President Barack Obama pledged not to "rush" a decision about whether to send extra US troops.
Mr Obama held a sixth meeting with his national security team on Monday to discuss the future US strategy in Afghanistan.
He then spoke at a military base in Florida, telling troops he would "never hesitate" to use force if necessary.
But, he added: "I will never rush the solemn decision of sending you into harm's way."
'Legal duties'
In Afghanistan the incumbent president dismissed Mr Abdullah's allegations, saying that sudden upheaval could upset the voting process.
"The changes would not be helpful to the elections and the country," Hamid Karzai said.
Afghan employees from the Independent Election Commission (IEC) load ballot boxes into a truck to be sent to provinces, in Kabul on October 22, 2009
A UN-backed panel found evidence of widespread fraud in the first round
Mr Abdullah and his aides insist the IEC is dominated by officials loyal to Mr Karzai, and the challenger has called for some to be removed from their posts.
However, Mr Karzai, who appointed the commissioners, said they "have just done their legal duties".
There has been no statement from the IEC or Mr Lodin as yet.
Earlier, Mr Abdullah and Hamid Karzai earlier ruled out a power-sharing deal.
Both candidates told US media they were committed to another poll.
Speaking to CNN, Mr Karzai - who bowed to international pressure to hold a run-off - said a deal would be "an insult to democracy".
List of conditions
Mr Abdullah made his demand for Mr Lodin's dismissal during a news conference at which he outlined a list of conditions for a fair second round.
KARZAI V ABDULLAH
Hamid Karzai:
First popularly elected president of Afghanistan
Opposed Soviet occupation in 1980s
Critics say he has done little to rein in corruption
Abdullah Abdullah:
Tajik-Pashtun, doctor by profession
Senior Northern Alliance leader during Taliban rule
Removed from Karzai's cabinet in 2006
Profile: Hamid Karzai
Profile: Abdullah Abdullah
"He has left no credibility for the institution," Mr Abdullah was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.
"What's the solution? Another commissioner from the same commission should take his position," he said.
After the 20 August poll, initial results suggested that Mr Karzai had received 55% of the vote, and former foreign minister Mr Abdullah 28%.
But the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) deducted hundreds of thousands of votes from the main candidates.
Its investigation focused on 600 of the most serious complaints, and a sample audit of suspect votes at 3,377 polling stations. At 210 polling stations all the ballots were invalidated.
This meant Mr Karzai's total was reduced to below the 50% plus one vote threshold for outright victory, indicating a second round was needed.
The panel also recommended replacing thousands of officials and scrapping polling stations where the fraud was worst.
Officials involved in flawed polling are being removed ahead of the run-off, the UN has said.
But there are still concerns about the ability of the run-off to avoid mistakes made in the first round, correspondents say.
Campaigning officially began over the weekend but the Taliban threatened to launch a fresh wave of violence and urged people not to vote in what they called an "American process".
Hamid Karzai andAbdullah
Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah have ruled out a power-sharing deal
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has rejected a call by rival presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah to sack the head of the Afghan election commission.
Mr Abdullah made his demand ahead of a 7 November run-off, after a UN-backed panel threw out first-round votes.
He said commission chief Azizullah Lodin had "no credibility", but Mr Karzai said he had done nothing wrong.
The row came as US President Barack Obama pledged not to "rush" a decision about whether to send extra US troops.
Mr Obama held a sixth meeting with his national security team on Monday to discuss the future US strategy in Afghanistan.
He then spoke at a military base in Florida, telling troops he would "never hesitate" to use force if necessary.
But, he added: "I will never rush the solemn decision of sending you into harm's way."
'Legal duties'
In Afghanistan the incumbent president dismissed Mr Abdullah's allegations, saying that sudden upheaval could upset the voting process.
"The changes would not be helpful to the elections and the country," Hamid Karzai said.
Afghan employees from the Independent Election Commission (IEC) load ballot boxes into a truck to be sent to provinces, in Kabul on October 22, 2009
A UN-backed panel found evidence of widespread fraud in the first round
Mr Abdullah and his aides insist the IEC is dominated by officials loyal to Mr Karzai, and the challenger has called for some to be removed from their posts.
However, Mr Karzai, who appointed the commissioners, said they "have just done their legal duties".
There has been no statement from the IEC or Mr Lodin as yet.
Earlier, Mr Abdullah and Hamid Karzai earlier ruled out a power-sharing deal.
Both candidates told US media they were committed to another poll.
Speaking to CNN, Mr Karzai - who bowed to international pressure to hold a run-off - said a deal would be "an insult to democracy".
List of conditions
Mr Abdullah made his demand for Mr Lodin's dismissal during a news conference at which he outlined a list of conditions for a fair second round.
KARZAI V ABDULLAH
Hamid Karzai:
First popularly elected president of Afghanistan
Opposed Soviet occupation in 1980s
Critics say he has done little to rein in corruption
Abdullah Abdullah:
Tajik-Pashtun, doctor by profession
Senior Northern Alliance leader during Taliban rule
Removed from Karzai's cabinet in 2006
Profile: Hamid Karzai
Profile: Abdullah Abdullah
"He has left no credibility for the institution," Mr Abdullah was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.
"What's the solution? Another commissioner from the same commission should take his position," he said.
After the 20 August poll, initial results suggested that Mr Karzai had received 55% of the vote, and former foreign minister Mr Abdullah 28%.
But the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) deducted hundreds of thousands of votes from the main candidates.
Its investigation focused on 600 of the most serious complaints, and a sample audit of suspect votes at 3,377 polling stations. At 210 polling stations all the ballots were invalidated.
This meant Mr Karzai's total was reduced to below the 50% plus one vote threshold for outright victory, indicating a second round was needed.
The panel also recommended replacing thousands of officials and scrapping polling stations where the fraud was worst.
Officials involved in flawed polling are being removed ahead of the run-off, the UN has said.
But there are still concerns about the ability of the run-off to avoid mistakes made in the first round, correspondents say.
Campaigning officially began over the weekend but the Taliban threatened to launch a fresh wave of violence and urged people not to vote in what they called an "American process".
Say farewell to GeoCities, the vintage Web-hosting site
(CNN) -- The flashing banner ads, questionable color schemes and omnipresent "Under Construction" signs of GeoCities are no more.
The personal Web-hosting site, launched in 1995 and owned by Yahoo Inc. since 1999, was to be shut down by Tuesday.
It's a move that will scrub from the Web a significant, albeit dated, piece of Internet history and the pages where millions first tried their hands at coding and designing.
GeoCities, in its heyday, was an online hub for Internet communities, connecting related pages through "web rings" that predated the massive footprints of MySpace and Facebook by nearly a decade.
For some, creating guest books, visitor counters and streaming HTML marquee tags on GeoCities was a stepping-off point into a new digital age.
Carrie Musgrave, a professional photographer from Toronto, said she got two Web-design jobs by showing off her GeoCities creation: a U2 fan page she coded by hand in her college library in 1998.
"There were a bunch of people who applied and they all had computer science degrees," she said of one of her interviews. "I showed them my U2 page and ended up getting the job."
She said she didn't think about the site for years, but after hearing news of GeoCities' pending closure, was surprised to find that her page, where she once got messages from fans thinking it was the band's official site, still existed.
"It's humorous somewhat to go back and look at it -- it's so simple compared to what Web sites are now," she said. "It almost seems innocent."
As the Web evolved, visits to the largely stagnant GeoCities declined sharply and had continued to fall in the months since April, when Yahoo announced the site would be closed.
In September, GeoCities pages had about 10.3 million unique users, according to analysts comScore Inc. That was a 16 percent drop from the 12.1 million they'd seen just a year earlier.
GeoCities was the third most-visited site on the Web in December 1998, behind AOL and Yahoo!, with 19 million unique visitors, according to a CNNMoney report.
In a message Monday on the GeoCities site, Yahoo urged users to try the company's pay Web-hosting service.
In a written statement, a spokeswoman said that Yahoo decided "after careful consideration" to shut down the site.
"We have enjoyed hosting Web sites created by Yahoo! users all over the world, and we're proud of the community that has been built," the statement said. "Yahoo! discontinued GeoCities on October 26, 2009, as part of our ongoing effort to prioritize our portfolio of products and services in order to deliver the best products to consumers."
The statement noted that other Yahoo features, including Yahoo! 360, My Web and Yahoo! Briefcase, have also been closed recently.
"We plan to share details of further changes with people who use our products in the months ahead," the statement said.
Yahoo will not be archiving user pages and has been encouraging GeoCities users to download content to their computers if they want to rebuild them on another site.
The online message notes that the Internet Archive, a nonprofit group trying to document as much of the public Web as possible, was working to record as many GeoCities pages as it could before the site went down.
While many Internet users have long abandoned GeoCities, the Web was filled with nostalgia on Monday. "RIP GeoCities" was a trending topic on Twitter, where one user summed up his feelings in a sub-140-word blast.
"If you're making fun of GeoCities dying," he wrote, "you're too young to understand."
The personal Web-hosting site, launched in 1995 and owned by Yahoo Inc. since 1999, was to be shut down by Tuesday.
It's a move that will scrub from the Web a significant, albeit dated, piece of Internet history and the pages where millions first tried their hands at coding and designing.
GeoCities, in its heyday, was an online hub for Internet communities, connecting related pages through "web rings" that predated the massive footprints of MySpace and Facebook by nearly a decade.
For some, creating guest books, visitor counters and streaming HTML marquee tags on GeoCities was a stepping-off point into a new digital age.
Carrie Musgrave, a professional photographer from Toronto, said she got two Web-design jobs by showing off her GeoCities creation: a U2 fan page she coded by hand in her college library in 1998.
"There were a bunch of people who applied and they all had computer science degrees," she said of one of her interviews. "I showed them my U2 page and ended up getting the job."
She said she didn't think about the site for years, but after hearing news of GeoCities' pending closure, was surprised to find that her page, where she once got messages from fans thinking it was the band's official site, still existed.
"It's humorous somewhat to go back and look at it -- it's so simple compared to what Web sites are now," she said. "It almost seems innocent."
As the Web evolved, visits to the largely stagnant GeoCities declined sharply and had continued to fall in the months since April, when Yahoo announced the site would be closed.
In September, GeoCities pages had about 10.3 million unique users, according to analysts comScore Inc. That was a 16 percent drop from the 12.1 million they'd seen just a year earlier.
GeoCities was the third most-visited site on the Web in December 1998, behind AOL and Yahoo!, with 19 million unique visitors, according to a CNNMoney report.
In a message Monday on the GeoCities site, Yahoo urged users to try the company's pay Web-hosting service.
In a written statement, a spokeswoman said that Yahoo decided "after careful consideration" to shut down the site.
"We have enjoyed hosting Web sites created by Yahoo! users all over the world, and we're proud of the community that has been built," the statement said. "Yahoo! discontinued GeoCities on October 26, 2009, as part of our ongoing effort to prioritize our portfolio of products and services in order to deliver the best products to consumers."
The statement noted that other Yahoo features, including Yahoo! 360, My Web and Yahoo! Briefcase, have also been closed recently.
"We plan to share details of further changes with people who use our products in the months ahead," the statement said.
Yahoo will not be archiving user pages and has been encouraging GeoCities users to download content to their computers if they want to rebuild them on another site.
The online message notes that the Internet Archive, a nonprofit group trying to document as much of the public Web as possible, was working to record as many GeoCities pages as it could before the site went down.
While many Internet users have long abandoned GeoCities, the Web was filled with nostalgia on Monday. "RIP GeoCities" was a trending topic on Twitter, where one user summed up his feelings in a sub-140-word blast.
"If you're making fun of GeoCities dying," he wrote, "you're too young to understand."
52 children recovered, 60 alleged child pimps arrested in crackdown
(CNN) -- Law enforcement authorities have recovered 52 children and arrested 60 pimps allegedly involved in child prostitution, the FBI announced Monday.
More than 690 people in all were arrested on state and local charges, the FBI stated.
The arrests were made over the past three days as part of a nationwide law enforcement initiative conducted on the federal, state and local levels, the bureau said.
"Child prostitution continues to be a significant problem in our country, as evidenced by the number of children rescued through the continued efforts of our crimes against children task forces," Kevin Perkins, assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division, said in a written statement.
"There is no work more important than protecting America's children and freeing them from the cycle of victimization."
The three-day operation, tagged Operation Cross Country IV, included enforcement actions in 36 cities across 30 FBI divisions nationwide. It is part of the FBI's ongoing Innocence Lost National Initiative, which was created in 2003 with the goal of ending sex trafficking of children in the United States.
The initiative, conducted with assistance from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, has so far resulted in the recovery of almost 900 children, according to the FBI. It has also led to more than 500 convictions.
More than 690 people in all were arrested on state and local charges, the FBI stated.
The arrests were made over the past three days as part of a nationwide law enforcement initiative conducted on the federal, state and local levels, the bureau said.
"Child prostitution continues to be a significant problem in our country, as evidenced by the number of children rescued through the continued efforts of our crimes against children task forces," Kevin Perkins, assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division, said in a written statement.
"There is no work more important than protecting America's children and freeing them from the cycle of victimization."
The three-day operation, tagged Operation Cross Country IV, included enforcement actions in 36 cities across 30 FBI divisions nationwide. It is part of the FBI's ongoing Innocence Lost National Initiative, which was created in 2003 with the goal of ending sex trafficking of children in the United States.
The initiative, conducted with assistance from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, has so far resulted in the recovery of almost 900 children, according to the FBI. It has also led to more than 500 convictions.
30 children among 160 killed in Iraq bombings, Interior Ministry says
Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- At least 30 Iraqi children riding in a bus were among the 160 people killed in Sunday's twin car bombings in Baghdad, the Interior Ministry said Monday.
At least 540 people were wounded in Sunday's attacks, the deadliest in the capital in more than two years, the ministry said.
One of the bombs exploded outside Baghdad's governorate building, the other outside the Justice Ministry. The bombs detonated in quick succession about 10:30 a.m., officials said.
The children were packed in a mini bus that was outside the Justice Ministry building, a ministry official said.
The vehicle carrying the explosives that detonated outside the ministry building was a stolen white pick-up from Falluja, Baghdad Gov. Salah Abdul Razzaq told CNN during his inspection of the bomb site. Images from the time of the attack showed the truck, linked to the Department of Water, pull up to the side of the building and blow up, he said.
Plumes of smoke billowed from the sites as victims fled, some with blood streaming down their faces. The streets were strewn with debris, including charred cars and chunks of concrete. Some government buildings and others in the area were heavily damaged.
Video: Suicide bombings kill dozens
RELATED TOPICS
* Baghdad
* Iraq
* Iraqi Politics
Among the wounded were three American security contractors, the U.S. Embassy said, declining to provide further details. The area struck is close to the heavily guarded "Green Zone," which houses the embassy.
The blasts sparked questions about Iraq's security and national elections planned for January.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who visited the scene shortly after the explosions, said holding the elections as scheduled would send a strong message to the attackers.
"The cowardly attack ... should not affect the determination of the Iraqi people from continuing their battle against the deposed regime and the gangs of criminal Baath party, and the terrorist al Qaeda organization,'" al-Maliki said in a written statement.
U.S. President Barack Obama called the attacks an attempt to derail progress in Iraq, and pledged to work closely with the country as it prepares for elections. Obama spoke with the prime minister and President Jalal Talabani to express his condolences and reiterate U.S. support.
In August, more than 100 people were killed in a series of bombings that led to tightened security in Baghdad. Blast walls were installed across the city and checkpoints were added.
Two years earlier, three truck bombings killed hundreds in Qahtaniya, in northern Iraq. Sunday's attacks were the deadliest on Iraqi civilians since those blasts in August 2007.
A day before Sunday's explosions, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, visited Iraq for the first time. During her trip, she made a condolence stop at the Foreign Ministry, one of six sites attacked in August.
Iraqis are supposed to go to the polls January 16, but parliament has not passed key election legislation, putting the balloting in limbo.
The president, prime minister and other top officials are scheduled to meet Monday to discuss the elections law and security concerns.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh, Mohammed Jamjoom, and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.
At least 540 people were wounded in Sunday's attacks, the deadliest in the capital in more than two years, the ministry said.
One of the bombs exploded outside Baghdad's governorate building, the other outside the Justice Ministry. The bombs detonated in quick succession about 10:30 a.m., officials said.
The children were packed in a mini bus that was outside the Justice Ministry building, a ministry official said.
The vehicle carrying the explosives that detonated outside the ministry building was a stolen white pick-up from Falluja, Baghdad Gov. Salah Abdul Razzaq told CNN during his inspection of the bomb site. Images from the time of the attack showed the truck, linked to the Department of Water, pull up to the side of the building and blow up, he said.
Plumes of smoke billowed from the sites as victims fled, some with blood streaming down their faces. The streets were strewn with debris, including charred cars and chunks of concrete. Some government buildings and others in the area were heavily damaged.
Video: Suicide bombings kill dozens
RELATED TOPICS
* Baghdad
* Iraq
* Iraqi Politics
Among the wounded were three American security contractors, the U.S. Embassy said, declining to provide further details. The area struck is close to the heavily guarded "Green Zone," which houses the embassy.
The blasts sparked questions about Iraq's security and national elections planned for January.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who visited the scene shortly after the explosions, said holding the elections as scheduled would send a strong message to the attackers.
"The cowardly attack ... should not affect the determination of the Iraqi people from continuing their battle against the deposed regime and the gangs of criminal Baath party, and the terrorist al Qaeda organization,'" al-Maliki said in a written statement.
U.S. President Barack Obama called the attacks an attempt to derail progress in Iraq, and pledged to work closely with the country as it prepares for elections. Obama spoke with the prime minister and President Jalal Talabani to express his condolences and reiterate U.S. support.
In August, more than 100 people were killed in a series of bombings that led to tightened security in Baghdad. Blast walls were installed across the city and checkpoints were added.
Two years earlier, three truck bombings killed hundreds in Qahtaniya, in northern Iraq. Sunday's attacks were the deadliest on Iraqi civilians since those blasts in August 2007.
A day before Sunday's explosions, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, visited Iraq for the first time. During her trip, she made a condolence stop at the Foreign Ministry, one of six sites attacked in August.
Iraqis are supposed to go to the polls January 16, but parliament has not passed key election legislation, putting the balloting in limbo.
The president, prime minister and other top officials are scheduled to meet Monday to discuss the elections law and security concerns.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh, Mohammed Jamjoom, and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.
Alabama judge not guilty of sexual abuse of inmates
CNN) -- A former Alabama judge accused of checking male inmates out of jail and forcing them to engage in sexual activity was found not guilty Monday on charges of sexual abuse, attempted sodomy and assault, his lawyer said.
Attorney Robert Clark said former Judge Herman Thomas was found not guilty on several charges and the judge in the case granted a directed verdict of acquittal on all the other counts.
The Mobile County district attorney did not immediately return CNN calls for comment.
Thomas, 48, denied wrongdoing. Clark said on October 20 that the judge was trying to mentor the inmates and did not assault them.
The judge does not deny bringing the inmates into his office, Clark said last week. "He was mentoring them. He was trying to get them to do right, to be productive citizens."
Thomas cried after the verdicts were read, Clark said Monday.
"He hugged me and he hugged his wife. And he had a courtroom full of supporters. It all worked out in the end," the attorney said.
One of the alleged victims testified October 19 that he doesn't know why his semen was found on the carpet of a small room used as an office by Thomas, according to The Mobile Press-Register newspaper. But he did say Thomas spanked him with a belt on several occasions, the newspaper reported, and that the paddlings took place inside a jury room, in the small office and at a Mobile, Alabama, fraternity house.
Another man testified that after he was charged with kidnapping and robbery in 2002, Thomas visited him in jail and urged the man to let Thomas decide the case instead of a jury, according to the Press-Register. Thomas convicted him of lesser charges, he testified, and sentenced him to a 90-day boot camp. He said Thomas also beat him with a belt on his bare buttocks about a dozen times at the courthouse, the newspaper reported. Neither man was identified.
"All of them [the alleged victims] were given preferential treatment at some point," Nicki Patterson, chief assistant district attorney for Mobile County, said earlier this month. "And ultimately, when some of them refused to continue participating [in the activities], they were given what I would view as excessive sentences. But certainly while the inmates were involved with the activities we allege, the state would say, it was extremely lenient sentences."
Clark said his client's next hurdle is the Alabama State Bar.
"They suspended him back in March because he got indicted. And we're fighting to give him his law license back," he said.
Attorney Robert Clark said former Judge Herman Thomas was found not guilty on several charges and the judge in the case granted a directed verdict of acquittal on all the other counts.
The Mobile County district attorney did not immediately return CNN calls for comment.
Thomas, 48, denied wrongdoing. Clark said on October 20 that the judge was trying to mentor the inmates and did not assault them.
The judge does not deny bringing the inmates into his office, Clark said last week. "He was mentoring them. He was trying to get them to do right, to be productive citizens."
Thomas cried after the verdicts were read, Clark said Monday.
"He hugged me and he hugged his wife. And he had a courtroom full of supporters. It all worked out in the end," the attorney said.
One of the alleged victims testified October 19 that he doesn't know why his semen was found on the carpet of a small room used as an office by Thomas, according to The Mobile Press-Register newspaper. But he did say Thomas spanked him with a belt on several occasions, the newspaper reported, and that the paddlings took place inside a jury room, in the small office and at a Mobile, Alabama, fraternity house.
Another man testified that after he was charged with kidnapping and robbery in 2002, Thomas visited him in jail and urged the man to let Thomas decide the case instead of a jury, according to the Press-Register. Thomas convicted him of lesser charges, he testified, and sentenced him to a 90-day boot camp. He said Thomas also beat him with a belt on his bare buttocks about a dozen times at the courthouse, the newspaper reported. Neither man was identified.
"All of them [the alleged victims] were given preferential treatment at some point," Nicki Patterson, chief assistant district attorney for Mobile County, said earlier this month. "And ultimately, when some of them refused to continue participating [in the activities], they were given what I would view as excessive sentences. But certainly while the inmates were involved with the activities we allege, the state would say, it was extremely lenient sentences."
Clark said his client's next hurdle is the Alabama State Bar.
"They suspended him back in March because he got indicted. And we're fighting to give him his law license back," he said.
Police: 'Jane Doe' emptied bank account before surfacing in NYC
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The teen who mysteriously turned up in New York with apparent amnesia emptied her bank account and left behind "everything" before she left her home in Washington, police told CNN.
The woman, now identified as Kacie Aleece Peterson, 18, of Hansville, Washington, withdrew about $400 from her Bank of America account, said Scott Wilson, spokesman for the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office in Washington.
But Peterson "left everything," including her wallet, identification, cell phone, clothes and even her bike, which was secured outside a Wal-Mart, Wilson said.
Police still do not know how Peterson traveled cross-country to New York City.
The woman mysteriously turned up in Manhattan two weeks ago, claiming to have no memory of her family, her home -- or even her own name.
The woman, now identified as Kacie Aleece Peterson, 18, of Hansville, Washington, withdrew about $400 from her Bank of America account, said Scott Wilson, spokesman for the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office in Washington.
But Peterson "left everything," including her wallet, identification, cell phone, clothes and even her bike, which was secured outside a Wal-Mart, Wilson said.
Police still do not know how Peterson traveled cross-country to New York City.
The woman mysteriously turned up in Manhattan two weeks ago, claiming to have no memory of her family, her home -- or even her own name.
Report: Stray jet's pilots were on laptops
(CNN) -- The pilots of the commercial jetliner that last week overshot its destination by about 150 miles have said they were using their laptops and lost track of time and location, federal safety officials said Monday.
The Airbus A320 was flying at 37,000 feet over the Denver, Colorado, area at 5:56 p.m. Wednesday when it last made radio contact, the safety board said.
Northwest Flight 188 had departed San Diego en route to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport carrying 144 passengers, two pilots and three flight attendants. Northwest recently merged with Delta Air Lines.
"Using laptops or engaging in activity unrelated to the pilots' command of the aircraft during flight is strictly against the airline's flight deck policies and violations of that policy will result in termination," Delta said Monday in a statement.
Pilot Timothy B. Cheney, 53, was hired in 1985 and has more than 20,000 hours flight time; First Officer Richard I. Cole, 54, was hired in 1997 and has about 11,000 hours of flight time, the report said.
Neither pilot reported having had an accident, incident or violation, neither had any ongoing medical conditions and neither said he was tired, it said.
They each had a 19-hour layover in San Diego; neither said he had slept or argued during the flight, but both said "there was a distraction" in the cockpit, according to the report.
Video: Military reviews jet overshoot
Video: Flight 188 passenger speaks
Video: Pilot: No one was asleep
RELATED TOPICS
* Air Travel
* U.S. National Transportation Safety Board
* Northwest Airlines Corporation
* Minneapolis
* Federal Aviation Administration
The pilots said there was "a concentrated period of discussion where they did not monitor the airplane or calls" from air traffic control, though both said they heard conversation on the radio, the report said.
Neither pilot said he noticed messages sent by company dispatchers, it added. It said the men were talking about the new monthly crew flight scheduling system put into place in the wake of Northwest's merger with Delta Air Lines.
"Each pilot accessed and used his personal laptop computer while they discussed the airline crew flight scheduling procedure," the report said.
"The first officer, who was more familiar with the procedure, was providing instruction to the captain."Neither pilot said he was aware of where the plane was until a flight attendant called the cockpit about five minutes before the plane was to have landed and asked their estimated time of arrival, the report said.
"The captain said, at that point, he looked at his primary flight display for an ETA and realized that they had passed" the airport, it added. After 78 minutes of radio silence, the pilots re-established radio contact with air traffic controllers, it said.
After landing at Minneapolis-St. Paul, both voluntarily underwent alcohol breath tests, which proved negative, the report said.
The safety board said its investigators interviewed the pilots separately Sunday in Minnesota for more than five hours combined. The investigation will include scrutiny of the flight and voice data recorders, it said.
An airline spokesman said Monday the company has sent the passengers on the plane $500 travel vouchers to compensate them for their inconvenience, and that the pilots have been suspended until the conclusion of the investigations.
The NTSB on Monday interviewed the three flight attendants who were on the plane, a spokesman for the Association of Flight Attendants said.
The lead flight attendant told officers she was unaware there had been an incident aboard, according to the report.
Police who met the wayward jet said the pilots were "cooperative, apologetic and appreciative."
The NTSB is hoping the plane's cockpit voice recorder either will confirm the pilot's account or provide evidence of another possible explanation, including whether the captain and first officer fell asleep.
Watch the co-pilot speak
The voice recorder is capable of recording only 30 minutes of audio, federal accident investigators said. The plane was in the air for another 45 minutes after radio contact was restored, meaning that if the recorder was working properly, anything the pilots would have said during the time they weren't answering radio calls would have been recorded over.
But a former accident investigator said the voice recorder may still provide valuable information, because the pilots could have discussed the earlier events on the way back to Minneapolis after overshooting the airport.
The flight data recorder also could prove valuable because it would have recorded actions taken by the pilots during the 78 minutes they did not respond to repeated calls from air traffic controllers, the ex-investigator said.
Meanwhile, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which scrambled fighter jets for the wayward plane but did not launch them, said it was reviewing procedures for launching the fighters to track potentially hijacked or suspicious aircraft.
At issue is the Federal Aviation Administration's apparent delay in notifying NORAD the Northwest jet was not in contact with controllers, according to a senior U.S. official directly familiar with the timeline of the incident.
Watch how the military is looking at a possible FAA delay
The official, who declined to be identified because the military and the FAA are reviewing the incident, said the FAA's request for military involvement came after the plane passed the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. NORAD scrambled fighter jets at two locations. But as they approached the runway for takeoff, the FAA reported being back in contact with the Northwest flight, and the fighters stayed on the ground.
"My real question is why we did not know of the 'radio out' situation from the FAA sooner," the official said. "The FAA is also looking into that."
Since the September 11, 2001, attacks, NORAD has regularly launched fighter jets to track aircraft in unusual situations such as when they deviate from flight plans, lose radio contact or enter restricted airspace.
According to a second U.S. official, NORAD is in constant contact with the FAA so it can respond when situations arise.
CNN's Mike M. Ahlers and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.
The Airbus A320 was flying at 37,000 feet over the Denver, Colorado, area at 5:56 p.m. Wednesday when it last made radio contact, the safety board said.
Northwest Flight 188 had departed San Diego en route to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport carrying 144 passengers, two pilots and three flight attendants. Northwest recently merged with Delta Air Lines.
"Using laptops or engaging in activity unrelated to the pilots' command of the aircraft during flight is strictly against the airline's flight deck policies and violations of that policy will result in termination," Delta said Monday in a statement.
Pilot Timothy B. Cheney, 53, was hired in 1985 and has more than 20,000 hours flight time; First Officer Richard I. Cole, 54, was hired in 1997 and has about 11,000 hours of flight time, the report said.
Neither pilot reported having had an accident, incident or violation, neither had any ongoing medical conditions and neither said he was tired, it said.
They each had a 19-hour layover in San Diego; neither said he had slept or argued during the flight, but both said "there was a distraction" in the cockpit, according to the report.
Video: Military reviews jet overshoot
Video: Flight 188 passenger speaks
Video: Pilot: No one was asleep
RELATED TOPICS
* Air Travel
* U.S. National Transportation Safety Board
* Northwest Airlines Corporation
* Minneapolis
* Federal Aviation Administration
The pilots said there was "a concentrated period of discussion where they did not monitor the airplane or calls" from air traffic control, though both said they heard conversation on the radio, the report said.
Neither pilot said he noticed messages sent by company dispatchers, it added. It said the men were talking about the new monthly crew flight scheduling system put into place in the wake of Northwest's merger with Delta Air Lines.
"Each pilot accessed and used his personal laptop computer while they discussed the airline crew flight scheduling procedure," the report said.
"The first officer, who was more familiar with the procedure, was providing instruction to the captain."Neither pilot said he was aware of where the plane was until a flight attendant called the cockpit about five minutes before the plane was to have landed and asked their estimated time of arrival, the report said.
"The captain said, at that point, he looked at his primary flight display for an ETA and realized that they had passed" the airport, it added. After 78 minutes of radio silence, the pilots re-established radio contact with air traffic controllers, it said.
After landing at Minneapolis-St. Paul, both voluntarily underwent alcohol breath tests, which proved negative, the report said.
The safety board said its investigators interviewed the pilots separately Sunday in Minnesota for more than five hours combined. The investigation will include scrutiny of the flight and voice data recorders, it said.
An airline spokesman said Monday the company has sent the passengers on the plane $500 travel vouchers to compensate them for their inconvenience, and that the pilots have been suspended until the conclusion of the investigations.
The NTSB on Monday interviewed the three flight attendants who were on the plane, a spokesman for the Association of Flight Attendants said.
The lead flight attendant told officers she was unaware there had been an incident aboard, according to the report.
Police who met the wayward jet said the pilots were "cooperative, apologetic and appreciative."
The NTSB is hoping the plane's cockpit voice recorder either will confirm the pilot's account or provide evidence of another possible explanation, including whether the captain and first officer fell asleep.
Watch the co-pilot speak
The voice recorder is capable of recording only 30 minutes of audio, federal accident investigators said. The plane was in the air for another 45 minutes after radio contact was restored, meaning that if the recorder was working properly, anything the pilots would have said during the time they weren't answering radio calls would have been recorded over.
But a former accident investigator said the voice recorder may still provide valuable information, because the pilots could have discussed the earlier events on the way back to Minneapolis after overshooting the airport.
The flight data recorder also could prove valuable because it would have recorded actions taken by the pilots during the 78 minutes they did not respond to repeated calls from air traffic controllers, the ex-investigator said.
Meanwhile, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which scrambled fighter jets for the wayward plane but did not launch them, said it was reviewing procedures for launching the fighters to track potentially hijacked or suspicious aircraft.
At issue is the Federal Aviation Administration's apparent delay in notifying NORAD the Northwest jet was not in contact with controllers, according to a senior U.S. official directly familiar with the timeline of the incident.
Watch how the military is looking at a possible FAA delay
The official, who declined to be identified because the military and the FAA are reviewing the incident, said the FAA's request for military involvement came after the plane passed the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. NORAD scrambled fighter jets at two locations. But as they approached the runway for takeoff, the FAA reported being back in contact with the Northwest flight, and the fighters stayed on the ground.
"My real question is why we did not know of the 'radio out' situation from the FAA sooner," the official said. "The FAA is also looking into that."
Since the September 11, 2001, attacks, NORAD has regularly launched fighter jets to track aircraft in unusual situations such as when they deviate from flight plans, lose radio contact or enter restricted airspace.
According to a second U.S. official, NORAD is in constant contact with the FAA so it can respond when situations arise.
CNN's Mike M. Ahlers and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.
Reid backs health care public option
Washington (CNN) -- The contentious debate over health care took a new twist Monday as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced his decision to craft legislation including a public insurance option allowing states to opt out.
Reid's decision is a major victory for the more liberal wing of the Democratic Party.
Reid, a Nevada Democrat, has been melding legislation from the more conservative Senate Finance Committee and the more liberal Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. The Health Committee included a form of the public option in its bill; the Finance Committee did not.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has insisted that the House of Representatives will pass a health care reform bill including a public option.
President Obama is "pleased that the Senate has decided to include a public option for health coverage," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a written statement.
"He supports the public option because it has the potential to play an essential role in holding insurance companies accountable through choice and competition," Gibbs said.
Video: Reid supports public option
Video: Reid rolls the dice
RELATED TOPICS
* Health Care Policy
* Harry Reid
* U.S. Senate
Although Obama has indicated his preference for a public option, he has not indicated that he would a veto a bill without one. Several top Democrats have expressed concern that the traditionally conservative Senate would not pass a bill with a public option.
"While the public option is not a silver bullet, I believe it's an important way to ensure competition and to level the playing field for patients with the insurance industry," Reid said on Capitol Hill.
Polls show that a wide majority of Americans support a public option, he said. Individual states would have until 2014 to decide whether they want to opt out, he added.
Reid's health care bill, which will be given a cost assessment by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, also includes a provision from the Finance Committee bill allowing for the creation of nonprofit health care cooperatives that would negotiate collective insurance coverage for members.
Reid hopes his compromise will appeal both to liberal senators insisting on a public option and to conservatives wary of a government-run plan, several Democratic sources said.
The sources said Reid does not have firm commitments for the compromise from 60 senators, the number required to break a Republican-led filibuster.
It is likely he would need that number for even a vote to begin Senate debate.
Reid's strategy of publicizing his intention is risky, multiple sources also said. A Reid aide said Sunday, however, that the majority leader is cautiously optimistic, based on a series of conversations with Democratic senators, that he will ultimately find the votes.
"I believe we ... will have the support of my caucus," Reid said Monday.
An administration official went so far as to call Reid's move "dangerous" but quickly followed by saying Reid knows his caucus better than anyone and will therefore have the support of the White House.
Reid said he was disappointed that congressional Republicans have almost unanimously opposed Democratic-led reform efforts. The number of moderate Senate Republicans can now be counted "on two fingers," he argued.
Reid said he hoped to eventually win over Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, the lone Republican to back the Finance Committee bill. Snowe has indicated her preference for a "trigger" provision that would mandate creation of a public health insurance option in the future if specific thresholds for expanded coverage and other changes were not met.
Snowe issued a statement Monday, saying she was "deeply disappointed" with Reid's decision on the public option. She argued that a decision in favor of a trigger "could have been the road toward achieving a broader bipartisan consensus in the Senate."
"It's unfortunate the Senate majority leader decided to take a different path, because he did say it was a pretty good doggone idea with respect to the trigger in September, so I don't what has happened to change his mind," she said later.
"It's regrettable, because I certainly have worked in good faith all of these months on a bipartisan basis and, as you know, have been standing alone at this point as a Republican to do so because I believe in good public policy," Snowe added.
Reid said he was "disappointed that the one issue, the public option, has been something that's frightened" Snowe.
CNN's Dana Bash and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.
Reid's decision is a major victory for the more liberal wing of the Democratic Party.
Reid, a Nevada Democrat, has been melding legislation from the more conservative Senate Finance Committee and the more liberal Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. The Health Committee included a form of the public option in its bill; the Finance Committee did not.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has insisted that the House of Representatives will pass a health care reform bill including a public option.
President Obama is "pleased that the Senate has decided to include a public option for health coverage," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a written statement.
"He supports the public option because it has the potential to play an essential role in holding insurance companies accountable through choice and competition," Gibbs said.
Video: Reid supports public option
Video: Reid rolls the dice
RELATED TOPICS
* Health Care Policy
* Harry Reid
* U.S. Senate
Although Obama has indicated his preference for a public option, he has not indicated that he would a veto a bill without one. Several top Democrats have expressed concern that the traditionally conservative Senate would not pass a bill with a public option.
"While the public option is not a silver bullet, I believe it's an important way to ensure competition and to level the playing field for patients with the insurance industry," Reid said on Capitol Hill.
Polls show that a wide majority of Americans support a public option, he said. Individual states would have until 2014 to decide whether they want to opt out, he added.
Reid's health care bill, which will be given a cost assessment by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, also includes a provision from the Finance Committee bill allowing for the creation of nonprofit health care cooperatives that would negotiate collective insurance coverage for members.
Reid hopes his compromise will appeal both to liberal senators insisting on a public option and to conservatives wary of a government-run plan, several Democratic sources said.
The sources said Reid does not have firm commitments for the compromise from 60 senators, the number required to break a Republican-led filibuster.
It is likely he would need that number for even a vote to begin Senate debate.
Reid's strategy of publicizing his intention is risky, multiple sources also said. A Reid aide said Sunday, however, that the majority leader is cautiously optimistic, based on a series of conversations with Democratic senators, that he will ultimately find the votes.
"I believe we ... will have the support of my caucus," Reid said Monday.
An administration official went so far as to call Reid's move "dangerous" but quickly followed by saying Reid knows his caucus better than anyone and will therefore have the support of the White House.
Reid said he was disappointed that congressional Republicans have almost unanimously opposed Democratic-led reform efforts. The number of moderate Senate Republicans can now be counted "on two fingers," he argued.
Reid said he hoped to eventually win over Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, the lone Republican to back the Finance Committee bill. Snowe has indicated her preference for a "trigger" provision that would mandate creation of a public health insurance option in the future if specific thresholds for expanded coverage and other changes were not met.
Snowe issued a statement Monday, saying she was "deeply disappointed" with Reid's decision on the public option. She argued that a decision in favor of a trigger "could have been the road toward achieving a broader bipartisan consensus in the Senate."
"It's unfortunate the Senate majority leader decided to take a different path, because he did say it was a pretty good doggone idea with respect to the trigger in September, so I don't what has happened to change his mind," she said later.
"It's regrettable, because I certainly have worked in good faith all of these months on a bipartisan basis and, as you know, have been standing alone at this point as a Republican to do so because I believe in good public policy," Snowe added.
Reid said he was "disappointed that the one issue, the public option, has been something that's frightened" Snowe.
CNN's Dana Bash and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.
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