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The presence in the internet site Facebook socialization of several groups of fans who defend the Sicilian Mafia and praise to two chiefs of the Cosa Nostra provoked strong condemnation Tuesday from the families of the victims mafiosos attacks.

With the names' Toto Riina Free ',' Fans of Toto Riina, a misunderstood man 'or' All those who respect Toto Riina, 'several groups of users that would pay homage to the supreme leader of the Sicilian Mafia, 78 years old, nicknamed 'The Beast' and detained in 1993, after which he was sentenced to 15 life terms.


In the pages of some groups, which rarely go beyond the 200-member fans celebrated the figure of "a man of honor," a "father" that "if hubera free state, would have prevented the crisis" or even an "innocent "andalusia to be" kissing the hand. "

His successor, Bernardo Provenzano, 75 years old, is not outside the group of fans, and one of them suggested that the "sanctity" of the last historic leader of the Cosa Nostra, was arrested in April 2006 after more than forty fled years.


"I'm outraged, the 'evil' fascinanción still exerts on young people. We must do everything necessary so that this does not happen, but some messages on the Internet and some films do not help," lamented on Tuesday in the daily La Repubblica Maria Falcone, sister of Judge Giovanni Falcone, figurehead of the fight against the Mafia who was killed with his wife and his bodyguard on May 23, 1992.

"They (these groups) to admire the mafia bosses and joke about serious crimes," his complaint, in a communique Maggiani Giovanna Chelli, head of an association of victims of the Mafia.


By contrast with the hundreds of fans, the Facebook site dedicated to the memory of Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, another judge murdered by the mafia with its escort of five police officers in July 1992, have tens of thousands of members.

The Israeli army set up its own channel on the website for the dissemination of YouTube videos, which went up images of offensive air strikes against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The creation of the channel to address youtube.com / user / idfnadesk on Monday, aims "to help send our message to the world," he explained in a statement to the page the press office of the armed forces of Israel.


The channel currently has more than 2,600 sucritos and has 10 videos, some of whom were viewed more than 26,000 times.

The videos include black and white images of aerial attacks by the Israeli Air Force on what he described as launch pads, weapons caches and a complex of tunnels for smuggling of the Islamist movement Hamas.


The press office said that some of the videos broadcast were removed by YouTube, but then returned to make available to Internet users.

YouTube's policy, which had not responded to AFP on the censored material and the reasons for withdrawing, not comment on individual videos.


Israeli attacks on Gaza which began on Saturday in retaliation for the firing of rockets from the Hamas Islamist movement that controls this territory, so far left over 370 dead and 1,700 injured.

President-elect Barack Obama returned to the gym on Monday where shipbuilding has gone almost every morning, except one, since it began 12 days of vacation in his native Hawaii.

Obama, his wife Michelle Martin and his friend visited the gym Nesbitt Semper Fit Center at the Marine Corps at a naval base in Hawaii. She did not speak with the press but greeted about two dozen people after exercise.


The president-elect, who was not only to the gym on Christmas Day, posed for some pictures.

Obama has sought to stay away from public gaze, opting more for making private lunch at his house rented former teachers for their vacation or at the residence of a friend.

On Sunday, the family made a tour of scenic two hours north on the coast of the island of Oahu to the home of Bobby Titcomb, a friend from high school in Mokuleia, where they spent nearly seven hours.

The president-elect has no scheduled public activities during his break, but his relatives say they have been receiving reports on national security and has spoken with his transition team.


Obama, his wife and daughters left Chicago on December 20. They were expected back on January 1, before the president-elect to assume the post on 20 March.

Aircraft of the Israeli air force on Tuesday continued their relentless attacks in Gaza, destroying government buildings, properties of the security forces and Hamas leaders' homes, while thousands of troops , tanks and artillery teams on the border waiting for a sign of attack.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Tuesday the chairman Shimon Peres that the air phase of the operation was "the first of several, which have been approved, said a spokesman for Olmert.


Over 360 Palestinians have died, most of them members of the security forces of Hamas, but also have killed 64 civilians, according to UN figures. Among the fatalities were two sisters of 4 and 11 years who died in an air strike on Tuesday to a gang of extremists in northern Gaza.

Israel allowed the passage of 100 trucks of humanitarian aid to Gaza, and five ambulances from Turkey, defense officials reported. A Jordanian diplomat said that 21 military medical personnel in his country and four hospitals will traveling to Gaza on Wednesday, but the Israeli authorities could not immediately confirm that information.


Also on Tuesday the Israeli navy boat was back to one of demonstrators in favor of the Palestinians who were trying to enter Gaza to express their rejection of the Israeli blockade.

So far there have been only attack drones and armed forces. But the army has already moved thousands of infantry troops, dozens of tanks and artillery arsenal. While air forces demolished goal after goal, including the houses of Hamas leaders, expectations for a possible ground attack on the rise.


On Monday, the border area was declared a closed military zone, so you only have increased uncertainty about the situation in Gaza.

The government of George W. Bush called again on Tuesday the end of violence in the Middle East and demanded that the Sunni Islamist group Hamas to "stop launching rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip.

Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the White House issued a statement from President George W. Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, noting that the U.S. wants to see a lasting peace in the region and that the government seeks to help achieve it.


He indicated that the end of the new wave of violence that has left hundreds dead and wounded, it depends on the willingness of Hamas to "respect a ceasefire is sustainable and lasting."

Johndroe told the press that Bush said in Texas a short conversation with Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of the White House Josh Bolten and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, to receive updates on the situation.


Johndroe blamed Hamas for the violence, saying it broke a cease-fire six months and had "shown its true face as a terrorist organization."

At the same time, said the United States asked Israel to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza.


Later, Johndroe told reporters in Crawford that the population in southern Israel can not live in peace due to the rockets fired from Gaza by extremists. "They have to live a long time in bomb shelters and that is unacceptable."

In Israel, 17 people have died this year in attacks from Gaza.


Johndroe said the victims in Gaza must be given access to food and medical supplies.

When asked whether Washington believes that Israel has justified the attacks in Gaza, said that "The United States understands that Israel needs to take action to defend itself."


Also from the farm in Crawford, Bush spoke by phone with King Abdullah of Jordan, who on Monday donated blood for the victims in Gaza.

In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, made efforts by telephone to several parts in order to reinstall the truce.


Gordon Duguid, a spokesman for Rice said the secretary had called five times to his Israeli counterpart, Tzipi Livni, on Friday. He noted that Rice had spoken with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, both Israel and the Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

He also drew three times the Egyptian foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, and the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, said Duguid.


"We are working for a ceasefire now, where Hamas should stop rocket attacks," he added.

Meanwhile, the transition team of President-elect Barack Obama tries to carefully define its position.


The outgoing government has blamed the violence on Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, saying it broke the ceasefire by launching rockets and mortars at Israeli territory.

Meanwhile, Obama is not known whether both expressed support for Israel as Bush has done.

The death of hundreds of Palestinians in the Israeli attack against the Islamic group has generated strong criticism in the Arab world and the renewed violence has complicated plans for Obama to achieve peace in the Middle East, something that governments could not Bill Clinton and Bush .

David Axelrod, Obama adviser, said the president-elect will keep the "important link" between the U.S. and Israel.

"He wants to be a constructive force in helping bring peace and security they want and deserve both Israelis and Palestinians," Axelrod said Sunday on "Face the Nation" of CBS.

This year saw the lowest number of deaths of illegal immigrants at the border between Texas and Mexico, as compared to the last four years, according to representatives of the Mexican government in Paso.

Rescue services recovered in the past 12 months a total of four bodies of people attempting to cross the border compared with those from the years 2004 to 2007.


According to the supervisor of the Border Patrol in El Paso sector, Ramiro Cordero, the decline in deaths this year is explained by the decrease of 60 per cent in the number of arrests of illegal immigrants in southwest Texas and New Mexico.

Representatives of the Mexican consulate in El Paso indicates that the decrease in the number of deaths may be due to the implementation of areas of 'zero tolerance' combined with the economic recession in the United States.


This is in preventive action and join rescue authorities on both sides of the border, according to the same sources.

Among the deaths is a registered on April 9, when an immigrant was killed by drowning in the American Canal that runs parallel to the dividing line between the two countries.


The victim was a man from Ecatepec in the state of Mexico.

On September 15 a man drowned in the canal while trying to cross into U.S. territory without legal documents.


The last body was discovered by employees of the company Kiewit, who work in building the border fence, between the Rio Grande and the irrigation canal.

In Ciudad Juarez, there were two other deaths were of people who cross the border without legal documents, according to reports from headquarters consular.


In contrast, during 2007 there were 29 deaths of illegal immigrants, four of whom were never identified.

In 2006 there were 28 dead, while in 2005 there were 33 to 18 years earlier.


The consul general of Mexico in El Paso, Roberto Rodriguez Hernandez, attributed the decline "historic" undocumented deaths this year in part to the three operational 'zero tolerance' of the Border Patrol, which had a deterrent effect among those who aspire to cross the border illegally.

The actions of 'zero tolerance' are used on some 21 miles (33 kilometers) from the border between the Paso del Norte international bridge to the international crossing Columbus, New Mexico and Puerto Palomas, Chihuahua.


Immigrants arrested in the area of 'zero tolerance' are judged according to whether they are repeat offenders or have criminal records.

Cordero told Efe that this year has placed special emphasis on aid and sometimes dangerous situations to rescue immigrants who sought to enter and detain undocumented.


He added that the Border Patrol seeks to reduce further the number of deaths in the area and El Paso, so the players are constantly training in water rescue techniques and first aid.

The officers also receive first aid kit, and there are rescue operations in which the Border Patrol uses helicopters flying over the desert when it detects that an immigrant is gone.

According to the Border Patrol in fiscal year 2008, from 1 October 2007 to September 30, 2008, there were 30,312 arrests of individuals attempting to enter the country without documents, which means a decrease of 60 percent over the previous fiscal year and the lowest number in a decade.

A new law which comes into force on January 1 in Florida to require hospitals to give an estimate of the costs of medical procedures and treatments to patients.

This is the new Law on Right to Information Consumer, which is an amendment to the Law on the Rights and Obligations of Patients Florida.


This legislation aims to help the thousands of Florida residents who lack health insurance to make educated decisions when looking for a health service plan, which does not fall into the category of emergency.

The estimate, which must be made in writing in detail and in language easily understood, it must also reflect the political cost of the medical center or doctor.


Hospitals and doctors not affiliated with the government must also publish in a visible place of the reception room, the Web site on the Internet, where patients can find a detailed report on the costs of regular medical procedures more common for adults and children.

Similarly, health centers and doctors should give patients information on where to find details of discounts on their policies and the existence of charitable services and health insurance that could be eligible, including information on Medicare and Medicaid.


The Law on the Right to Information Consumer also provides a fine for doctors, hospitals and health centers that do not comply with providing information to patients.

With nearly 3 million people, 31 percent Hispanic, who lack health insurance details on the costs of health care will be a useful tool, according to the law so that they can make decisions regarding the treatment and medical procedure to follow based on their skills and economic cost comparison between health centers.


Could be particularly useful for thousands of parents who need to take medical decisions for their children, since according to Families USA, a nonprofit organization based in Washington and to ensure accessibility to health services, economic, 1 in every six children, or 797,000 children in Florida lack health insurance.

Knowing the cost of medical procedures would improve the chances of people who have no insurance, since according to the Robert Johnson Foundation, 40 percent of the residents of Florida last year did not seek medical treatment because of the cost of them.


Among other laws that come into effect on January 1 in Florida found that states that public employees, after a year of probation required, may only be dismissed for certain causes, while municipal and government agencies should take into account the prior years of service to promote or dismiss an employee.

As of January agencies changes checks will undergo frequent audits by the state, according to another new law on consumer protection.

The 2008 has been a bloody years in Puerto Rico, where last weekend surpassed the 800 murders in the island, the highest figure since 1996, when it committed 868 of these crimes.

With some four million inhabitants, the Free Associated State to the U.S. are more than two murders every day until Sunday and police had reported 802, 80 more than for the same date in 2007.


According to authorities, about 80 percent of these murders are related to the flow of drugs.

Whereas until the middle of the 1990s occurred in the municipalities of metropolitan San Juan, Bayamon, Carolina, Guaynabo and southern Ponce, has since been observed throughout the island.


The trend itself is maintained over time is that the majority of victims are men between 20 and 30 years.

The number of murders had remained below 800 since 1996 were 868, in 1995 there were 864 in 1993 and 1994 and reached the highest figures of the past 50 years, with 954 and 995, respectively.


To try to remedy this situation, the Commission for the Prevention of Violence (COPREVI) of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) is carrying out the campaign "Let us be instruments of peace" to "raise awareness about the importance of all assume an active role "to the problem.

Statistics, studies and research presented alarming figures from the harmful effects of violence, "said the rector of the compound Cayey (center) of the UPR, Ram S. Lamba, who said that "this campaign went from prevention to action."


The campaign COPREVI, civic entity created by executive order in 2004 with the view that violence is a public health problem that should be analyzed from an ecological perspective, "is a series of television and print ads that use the example to Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

"We are not only carrying a message of prevention. These ads are calling for action by using humans as models that have worked to improve the quality of life in their countries," Lamba said.


Others, although more local, which appear in the campaign are COPREVI Sister Isolina Ferre, who left a legacy of service to the needy in places that bear his name, and Jose Vargas Vidot, director of Community Initiative, " which provides services to marginalized sectors such as drug addicts and prostitutes. "

The campaign to call for peace include the call to wear a white shirt next January 19 as a show of support and the upcoming publication of a magazine dedicated to highlighting the efforts of individuals and companies that stand out as "builders of peace."


"We all have a responsibility to contribute to building peace. Therefore, we wanted to become the umbrella body of the efforts we are making various sectors to achieve our goal," said the director of COPREVI, Samuel Figueroa.

Meanwhile, the public view of the problem of violence begins to change and the Police Superintendent Pedro Toledo, acknowledges that it is not something that can be corrected simply by increasing the number of agents and said that an analysis must be "seriously" with the participation of all social sectors.


Ever encountered in Puerto Rico more voices calling for a revision of traditional purely punitive system against criminals.

The secretary of the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation of Puerto Rico, Miguel Pereira, has introduced a new program to combat addiction in prison based on the administration of methadone is having good results.


At the website COPREVI, www.coprevi.org, educational brochures are available to help resolve conflicts, reduce and prevent the anger from the family habits that can result in future situations of violence.

Also offered at this site lectures by experts who advocate preventive and rehabilitative and strictly legal question the police because, they say, violence is a public health problem that can be addressed from multiple angles.

The year 2008 was difficult for the immigrant community in Arizona for the enforcement of employer sanctions and ongoing operations against undocumented immigrants.

"The year 2008 was a lot of concern, fear and pain for undocumented immigrants in Arizona, many families were separated and parents were deported, leaving their children unprotected," Efe said Magdalena Schwartz, a representative of the Alliance of Religious Leaders Valley in Phoenix, Arizona.


2008 began in January with the implementation of state law sanctions on employers, which penalizes businesses that hire undocumented immigrants.

The owners of these companies may lose their operating license for up to 10 days and those who repeat a period of three years could lose them permanently.


The new regulation requires all employers to verify the immigration status of new employees through the federal E-verify. "

Although so far no business in Arizona has been punished, the entry into force of the law caused a domino effect among the immigrant community and the fear among business owners who started to lay off their employees, "without papers".


"This state law also affected legal residents and naturalized citizens, who are denied work because of flaws in the Social Security office," said Schwartz.

"Many businesses were forced to lay off employees despite being excellent workers," said the activist.


Fear and fear among undocumented migrants was much higher in Maricopa County because of the constant raids and operations against this community by agents of the Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

To date, Arpaio is the only authority in the Arizona state law to implement anti-coyote, which allows the arrest and prosecution of illegal immigrants who agree to have paid the coyotes to cross the United States illegally.


Under this law, the sheriff's office has arrested 1,161 illegal immigrants since it began to deploy in 2006, according to information from its website.

Throughout the years, Arpaio held steady operating on the streets of the cities of Phoenix, Mesa and Guadalupe, which ended with the arrest of dozens of undocumented immigrants.


"Many people were arrested only because they do not understand the direction to turn or bring the windshield broken," said Antonio Bustamante, a lawyer and local activist.

These operations were criticized by community members and politicians who said that agents of the Maricopa County sheriff these arrests were based solely on racial profiling.


Arpaio also carried out raids against businesses after receiving reports of possible violations of state law sanctions employers through a phone line set by his office.

Bailiffs arrested several illegal immigrants during these operations and some of them face charges of identity theft.


"It's very sad what has had to live our community, to live with constant fear, even to take to the streets for fear of being arrested and deported," said Schwartz.

According to the activist, his office has reached many families asking for help because a family member was arrested and deported.

"We hope once again that many families will be Arizona, some to other states or return to Mexico," he said.

"Our only hope is that in 2009 an immigration reform is achieved, if not, things can continue the same or worse in Arizona," concluded the activist.

Stock markets around the world showed mixed results on Monday before a rebound in oil prices amid a bloody attack by extremists in Israel to Gaza.

The Stock Exchange of New York closed with moderate losses in an erratic session after the violence in the Middle East reminded investors other problems apart from the recession. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 31.62 points (0.37%) to 8483.93.

The broader indexes also declined to. The Standard & Poor's fell 3.38 points (0.39%) to 869.42 while the Nasdaq composite index fell 19.92 whole (1.30%) to 1510.32.

The Latin American stock markets moved up slightly after the general increase in oil prices and other raw materials produced in the region.

The benchmark Bovespa in Sao Paulo Stock Exchange advanced 0.5% to 37,060 points, while the price index and quote of the Mexican market fell 0.6% to 22,392.

For its part, Buenos Aires Merval index rose 1.7% to the whole 1076, the Chilean IPSA rose 1% to 2373 and the Colombian IGBC fell 0.5% to 7523 points.

In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 closed with a rise of 2.44%, the German DAX index rose 1.63% and the French CAC-40 advanced 0.47%.

The shares of raw materials and Japanese financial companies gained ground.

In Tokyo the Nikkei 225 index advanced 7.65 points (0.1%) to 8747.17 and units in Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index index gained 1.0% to 14,328.48.

While many investors were out for the celebrations of the end of the year and its books of the year have already been closed, the volume of trade declined.

Investors remained cautious in a week shortened by the New Year holidays, reluctant to risk much in the last three days of transactions in 2008. The increasing attacks by Israel on the Islamic extremist group Hamas in Gaza that have left over 300 dead affected the morale of the market.

The tensions prompted the crude above $ 40.02 a barrel during the session, with an increase of $ 2.31 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Moreover, the recent wave of government stimulus helped bolster spirits despite concerns about the first half of next year will have the worst returns for companies and a weak global economy.

"There is expectation and hope about what governments may give support to the economy and thus lead to a better second half in 2009," said Song Seng Wun, an economist at CIMB-GK consultancy in Singapore.

The main indicators in Singapore, Australia and India advanced more than 1%, while in Shanghai and South Korea closed unchanged. The bags in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines were closed.

Japanese financial companies progressed despite the country's second insurer, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group Holdings Inc, discusses a possible merger with two of its smaller rival, to create the largest insurer in the country. Mitsui advanced 8.3%.

Despite the Israeli bombardment and the overwhelming need to go into hiding, Hamas continues to operate and has even managed to launch several rockets into the Jewish state's territory, whose defense minister warned that his country is ready to fight until the bitter end.

In three days of bombing, the number of deaths rose to 315, including seven children under 15 years who died in separate attacks Sunday night and Monday, doctors reported.

There are some 1,400 wounded, according to reports from a UN agency that provides aid to the Palestinians. The agency said that at least 51 of those killed in the offensive were civilians.

In northern Gaza, a father raises his arms in the body of her son four years old during a funeral for a family of five children killed in an Israeli missile attack.

On Sunday night an Israeli missile killed a hunt for a woman, three girls and a baby, said Health Ministry official in Gaza, Dr. Moaiya Hassanain.

In the southern town of Rafah, a baby and her two teenage brothers were killed in an attack aimed at a Hamas commander, said Hassanain. In Gaza, another attack killed one man and his wife.

The nine hospitals in Gaza are not cope with the number of wounded have been hospitalized, said Hassanain. Some of the 1,400 injured were being taken to private clinics and even homes to be served.

Egypt on Monday opened its borders with Gaza, allowing trucks loaded with humanitarian aid entering the Rafah terminal. It was also getting injured Palestinians in Gaza. More than a dozen ambulances waited at the Egyptian border to transport the injured.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel, Tzipi Livni, told reporters on Monday that Israel was trying to avoid civilian deaths and that "Hamas are trying to kill children."

In Damascus, Syria, a senior Hamas official said that there will be no truce talks with Israel until the attack and Israel reopened its crossings with Gaza.

"We need our freedom. We need to be independent," said Abu Marzouk, told The Associated Press. "If we do not achieve this goal, we must resist. It is our right."

The attacks have forced Hamas leaders to go into hiding and have affected the organization's ability to launch rockets against Israel, but the barrage continued.

A medium-range rocket fired at the Israeli city of Ashkelon on Monday, killing a construction worker of Arab origin, and wounded others. It was the second Israeli to die since the start of the offensive.

Ehud Barak, the Israeli defense minister, said the army's fight is not against the people of Gaza, but that his country is ready to fight until the bitter end "and that the operation" will be expanded and deepened in line as necessary. "

Israel began its campaign, the most offensive against Palestinians in decades, on Saturday in response to a series of rocket attacks against civilians in a city south of Israel.

On Sunday, rockets Hamas came close to Ashdod, the largest city in southern Israel, located about 38 kilometers (23 miles) from Gaza and a few 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Tel Aviv. It is the increased penetration of missiles into Israeli territory of Palestinians living memory.

At dawn on Monday, the winds lifted the black smoke of the sites bombed in Gaza surrounded by deserted streets. You could hear the hum of aircraft autopilots and the noise of the jets along with the explosion of new attacks.

The intense bombardment _unos 300 Israeli air strikes since midday sábado_ caused unprecedented destruction in Gaza. Some buildings were reduced to rubble.

One attack destroyed a five-storey building in the section for women in the Islamic University, one of the most important symbols of Hamas. Another attack blew up a set of preventive security forces of the leaders of the group and a third destroyed the house next to the residence of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas prime minister. Like the other leaders of Hamas, Haniyeh remains hidden.

The National People's Congress (Chinese Legislature) amended a law to compel schools in China to improve its standards of construction, a reform that occurs in the wake of the earthquake in Wenchuan, last May 12, 14,000 schools were destroyed or suffer damage.

The amendment of the law on earthquake safety and disaster attention was approved yesterday, Saturday, at the last annual session of the assembly, reported today the state agency Xinhua.

It stipulates that schools must have standards of construction even higher than the houses and other buildings, especially in case of earthquake, and also bind to carry out improvement works and strengthening of existing schools.

In addition, the law will introduce courses of action in case of earthquake for the students, which until now did not exist despite the fact that many areas of China have a high seismic activity.

The Chinese government refuses to provide figures on how many students died in schools collapsed in the earthquake of May, although it is known that they were an important part of the nearly 90,000 victims totals.

There was relatively remote villages to the epicenter of the earthquake, as Juyú (Sichuan province), where most of the houses resisted the earthquake of 8 degrees of magnitude but the local school collapsed.

The earthquake brought to light the poor quality of the materials with which many schools are built in China and aroused the suspicions of embezzlement and corruption in local governments to grant projects to construction of schools.

According to the agency Xinhua, the poor quality of construction in Chinese schools, especially in rural areas, "has long been a concern for many," but it had to happen an earthquake to show the seriousness of the issue.

The legal amendment, which comes into force on May 1 2009, also requires raising the standards of construction of public buildings such as hospitals, shopping centers and communications hubs.

The facial expressions of emotions are set in the genes and are innate rather than a result of cultural learning, according to a study published today the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

"Since the birth of blind individuals can not be learned behavior at moments of pride or embarrassment of looking at others, their expressions of victory or defeat are probably an innate biological propensity to humans, rather than a learned behavior," said Jessica Tracy, of the University of British Columbia.

Tracy and his collaborator, David Matsumoto of the State University of San Francisco-both are professors of psychology, originally published his study of expressions of blind athletes and non-blind, last August in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Matsumoto and Tracy compared the facial expressions of blind and partially sighted Judo at the Olympic and Paralympic games of 2004 with an analysis of more than 4,800 photographs of athletes from 23 countries.

The researchers found that individuals who are or who are blind, handled their expressions of emotion in the same manner in accordance with the social context.

For example, because of the public nature of the handover ceremony of Olympic medals, 85 percent of the winners of silver-dams that are the ones who lost the competition for the gold-showed "social smiles" during the ceremony.

The "social smiles" you only use the muscles around the mouth, while the genuine smile that makes his eyes shine and entrecierren and cheeks rise.

"The losers stretched upward by the lower lip, as if seeking to control the emotion in their faces, and many have achieved social smile," said Matsumoto.

"But the individuals who are blind from birth could not have learned to control his emotions in this way so visual, so there must be another mechanism," he added.

"The statistical correlation between facial expressions of individuals who can see and those who are blind was almost perfect," said the researcher. "This suggests that something which lies in our genes is the source of the facial expressions of emotion."

"Maybe our emotions and the systems that regulate traces of our ancestors are," said the researcher.

He added "it is possible that in response to negative emotions humans have developed a system that shuts the mouth so that they can not scream, bite or throw insults."

In an earlier study on this subject, published in 2005 by the National Geographic magazine, Matsumoto was the view of some 50,000 people who observed 12 different facial expressions on the internet.

Each represents a different level of anger. It was the first comprehensive study that tested the recognition of expressions in different cultures, and although women were slightly better than men in their view of emotions, most participants did not recognize subtle nuances of expressions.

"Most people can not distinguish the subtle nuances in facial expressions," said Matsumoto. "And in tense situations that can be extremely important 'reading' of facial expressions, when you have a few seconds to alleviate a potentially dangerous encounter."

The year 2009 officially begin a second later after the world's clocks adjust to the increasingly slow rotation of the Earth's axis, today announced the U.S. Naval Observatory.

In this way, when the clocks mark the time 23:59:59 on Wednesday the so-called "universal time", better known as the meridian of Greenwich, was officially added a second.

The observatory, which is responsible for maintaining the "master clock" of the Pentagon, said that the pace of change in the rotation of the earth "occurs at rates affected by changing tides and other factors."

"This is the twenty-fourth extra second is added to the universal time, a uniform scale for measuring the time kept by atomic clocks around the world since 1972," the communique added Observatory.

"Historically the measurement of hourly time was related to half the rotation of the Earth in relation to celestial bodies and the second was defined in this frame of reference," explained the institution.

The invention of atomic clocks defined an "atomic time" much more precise scale and a second that is independent of the rotation of the planet.

In 1970 an international agreement established two scales of measurement of time: one related to the rotation of the Earth and the other in the atomic time.

"The problem is that the rotation of the Earth is becoming more slowly in a very gradual, requiring periodic insertion of a second of extra time scale atomic scales to maintain both a second of each other," said Naval Observatory.

Recently, Todd Pierce made a risky gamble that could have put at risk even their jobs.

To meet the computing needs of 16,300 employees and contractors in Genentech Inc., Pierce ran the risk and decided not to depend entirely on entrepreneurship programs from Microsoft, IBM or other traditional supplier, a conventional model in which the purchasing company becomes the owner of licenses for use.



Instead, Pierce, who is chief technology officer of Genentech Inc., Decided to lease these products are essential to Google Inc.

Google, the search giant of the information and advertising on the Internet, would arrange the e-mail system for Genentech, as well as the programs used in the office, as the word processor, spreadsheet and calendar , And would do all that through a connection "online", a novel called "cloud computing."

The decision has turned Genentech, a pioneer in biotechnology, in a guinea pig for Google and other alternative services software, trying to convince skeptical corporate executives that the "cloud" is a valid and appropriate.

In the process, Google Inc. Downplay expects revenue to Microsoft Corp. And exceed its fierce rival in the struggle to seize control of the programs most commonly used in computation.

The CEO of Genentech, Arthur Levinson, is part of Google's board of directors, but Pierce insists that such links were not the main reason for the transition to cloud computing.

After lengthy internal tests, Pierce became convinced that Google was reliable to provide crucial Genentech software, with such precision as it shows that company to decode the search requests made on the Web and annex them ads.

"You do not want to stay trapped in the past," said Pierce, managing director of informatics at Genentech. "I think we are at the forefront of this trend respect."

Cloud computing has grown into a market of approximately 36,000 million dollars this year, or approximately 13% of the sales of software in the world. The big question now is whether this can become a major technological trend to re obsolete business models of Microsoft and other companies for computer programs.

Despite the uproar that has caused this mode, it will be difficult to break old habits, especially since the powers of enterprise software _ Microsoft, IBM Corp., Oracle Corp.. _ And SAP have reacted to protect their existing business and lucrative software while creating their own online services to compete against emerging companies.

Not even Genentech, the biggest company so far has bought the package of software applications from Google, is poised to leave entirely to Microsoft. Still acquire licenses to use programs such as word processor Word and Excel to create spreadsheets.

Typically, companies are masters of software licenses, which require installing any software on each computer, which are still years of costly maintenance for the technology to continue operating.

In contrast, cloud computing allows someone else to take care of business programs, distance and in exchange for a monthly or annual fee. Users enter the program through connections to the Internet.

The idea was pleased the owners of small businesses, government agencies and schools. Now, the larger companies are beginning to show interest, particularly in the midst of the recession, while looking for ways to save money.

"Almost everyone has a good part of his personal life on the internet and there is no doubt that the future enterprise programs will also be there," said Zachary Nelson, NetSuite Inc. chief. Specialist in computer science. "I just have to see when companies are ready to make this move."

The economics persuaded Genentech. Based on the number of employees who have accounts with Google software, the company's South San Francisco pays at least 800,000 U.S. dollars annually by using the packet based on the internet.

The purchase and maintenance of a similar system from Microsoft, Oracle or IBM would have cost much more, although Genentech declined to say how much has been saved by subscribing to the office suite of Google.

Whatever the figure, the savings do not stop there. Pierce believes that the company would invest between 70 and the final $ 80 million to build a data center full of servers, so that their software worked, and would have had to hire more engineers and technology specialists.

"It's a huge cost that will not generate a million dollars in sales for my company," reasoned Pierce.

The construction of a Nicaragua Canal will be run by investors whether guarantees that the transit of the ships do not pollute the Great Lake of Granada and the San Juan River, said the president Daniel Ortega.

In statements broadcast by the radio station today the very first, Ortega noted that the project of building the channel for this country will be carried out if investors also provide resources to reforest the basins of the Great Lake of Nicaragua and the river San Juan.

"We have to take care of the Great Lake (or Lake of Granada) and we can not risk (with) the draft of the Grand Canal," said Ortega.

The president said that he is willing to "listen to proposals and showing me where he is guaranteed not to jeopardize the (Great) Lake" or the San Juan River, located near the border with Costa Rica.

Ortega said that the canal project, whose cost is approximately 30,000 million dollars, he said, "would generate enough resources" to reforest the banks of these bodies of freshwater.

He gave the example of the Panama Canal, which carries scored almost 100 years of operation, and "there have been no problems" of pollution.

"Rather, the resources it has generated (the Panama Canal) has enabled them to achieve sustainable and have immense forests everywhere," he said.

Ortega also denied that he is seeking a new path to build the canal, which would build a Nicaragua from south to north, but would run on the same route used by U.S. investors in their studies.

That route starts in San Juan del Norte (Caribbean south), passing through San Juan River, then through the Great Lake and crosses the Isthmus of the province of Rivas, until leaving on the beaches of Tola, in the Pacific south of Nicaragua, said.

"There is going to affect the Lake of Nicaragua," reaffirmed the Sandinista leader, who reiterated that it will be "open to listen to offers and approaches" on that project.

Ortega and the president of Russia, Dmitri Medvedev, signed in Moscow on December 18 a joint statement, a cooperation agreement and seven memorandums of understanding.

Managua official sources indicated that among the matters discussed Ortega and Medvedev in the Kremlin contains the proposed construction of a Canal by Nicaragua. EFE

* The credit crisis cybernetics: the cyber-criminals are taking advantage of the anxiety of consumers to benefit from online fraud known type of get rich quick. People are registering on websites to add malicious code to other Web sites, lured by the promise of easy money. At the same time, was recruited as mules for money to job seekers desperately to wash the earnings of cyber criminals in the guise of international sales representatives or managers of traffic. Due to the economic slowdown is pushing more people to use the Web in search of better transactions, the chances of attack by cyber criminals are on the rise since it is easier to attract people.

* Governments are distracted: because governments are concentrating on the economic slowdown, the fight against cyber crime is not a priority in its agenda, thus creating an opportunity for cyber crime in severity scale.

* Shortage of cyber police: the police forces of the first line of defense often lack the specialized skills that are needed to effectively combat cyber crime. The absence of dedicated training and steady income sufficient or a career plan makes clear that the cyber police are recruited by the private sector or lured into underground economies.

* Crime hidden: Russia and China have become safe havens key to cyber criminals. Brazil has become one of the fastest growing countries as a scapegoat for the cyber crime, where traffic often changes its route as a decoy, which is a great help to significantly mislead the origin of the attacks.

* Isolated silos of information: the problems are expanding exponentially: the application of the law is limited by physical borders of the countries, while cyber criminals operate rapidly across borders. The communication between the countries remains limited and inconsistent. The problems and priorities take precedence over the global efforts and international laws are implemented with regional variations that impede the ability to negotiate jurisdiction and extradition between countries.

Become the only benchmark for high-definition discs, the Blu-ray, the successor of DVD, has failed to become the star of this Christmas gift, slowed by the crisis and its price still very high.

On February 18, Toshiba threw in the towel in the battle that he faced from months ago to impose a Sony format of high-definition discs, abandoning its HD-DVD, with the Blu-ray from Sony went as single format throughout the world.



But nearly a year after the invasion of Blu-ray that presaged some, has not taken place.

"It is still a small market," he said Michael Mathieu, analyst GfK research institute, who added that the conversion to this format will be "longer than what we met in 1995-1997 with the passage of the VHS video cassette disc DVD ".

Sales of readers living room Blu-ray, excluding the PlayStation 3 video game consoles, yet off: they expect sales of four million in 2008, according to figures from Strategy Analytics, far from the traditional readers (111 million ). The sale of Blu-ray only account for 2% of the securities market.

"The public is not the same" when it appeared on DVD, according to Mathieu: "Then we were going to homes with TV. Now we need to have a high definition screen to access, which reduces the public (potential) to a third. "

Moreover, according to recent scientific research, the technological leap from DVD to Blu-ray is less perceptible to the public that it marked the transition from video to DVD.

Another factor that hampers the development of this technology is the current economic crisis. "We believe that the economic climate will slow the transition to Blu-ray," said Helen Davis, in charge of the department's video cabinet British Screen DIGESA.

"People will delay the purchase unless the DVD were damaged, and even in that case, prefer to spend 50 euros in a classic reader," he explained.

Blu-ray readers, who are also capable of reading the "old" DVD, are still very expensive: cost Europe at an average of 300 euros, more than double what they cost in the United States.

According to analysts, by 2009, the first since the supremacy of the Blu-ray, should be decisive for the future of this technology.

"The market should more than double," predicted the secretary general of the association Blu-ray Partners France, Arnaud Brunet: "Already we see an acceleration, especially in the U.S.," where titles like 'Iron Man' and 'The dark knight 'And recorded record sales.

As for the new means of distributing movies, such as video pre-payment, do not, according to Brunet, an immediate threat. "Consumers are still very attached to hardware," he said.

However, according to Toshiba, big loser of the war of the formats for high definition and, therefore, compelled to make a radical turn in its strategy, this "dematerialization" is an inevitable trend.

"My impression (of the Blu-ray) is just a phase," predicted the general manager of Toshiba in France, François Séguineau, convinced that the boxes and DVD players will soon be relics of the past.

A new market is booming thanks to the Internet, where citizens eager to know more about themselves can purchase tests for predisposition to various diseases, paternity tests and genetic testing.

The emerging market for genetic testing on open access has increased significantly, responding to increasing demands for autonomy of individuals.

However, this raises many problems, particularly with respect to reliability, its secrecy, its usefulness, its impact on the user and their ability to correctly interpret the results.

The number of genetic tests available - more than 1,000 now - was multiplied by three between 2001 and 2007. Its scope is broad, ranging from identification of a suspect until predictive medicine through the establishment of a pedigree.

The legal framework varies from country to country, but the Internet allows easily overcome the barriers imposed by states.

Since late 2007, several start-up "(under construction companies) were launched for sale online testing kits on the genome that allow, paying between 640 and 1,600 euros, to know his ancestry or his predisposition for certain ills : Alzheimer's, cancer of the breast, colon, prostate, glaucoma or diabetes. All this, without going through a doctor.

Google has invested four million dollars in each of the two U.S. companies 23andMe and Navigenics, the best known along with DecodeMe offshoot of the company DeCode Genetics.

Some 30 Internet sites, mostly American, currently offer tests of susceptibility to diseases, according to a recent French parliamentary report.

Many of the diseases for which there are these tests, according to the experts, put into play simultaneously several genes and environmental factors. That requires great caution in the interpretation of which depends on the "probability".

It also raises ethical questions when it comes to "predict" the emergence of a disease is not known neither prevent nor cure. Or when it is used for research data of individual customers.



Do you need then a regulation of the commercial offer on the Internet at international level? In an article published in November in the scientific journal Nature, Barbara Prainsack (Center for Biomedicine and Society, King's College, London) recognized the need for regulation, but warned against an "overreaction."

Dra. Prainsack explained in the text that genetic testing on the Internet destroy the traditional boundaries (between doctors and those who are not among the experts and the "profane"). "We must go into these waters with open eyes, but without fear mojarnos," he concluded.

Internet in 2008 became the second largest source of information for the Americans, beyond the traditional print media, but television remains by far the preferred means of communication, according to a survey by the Pew study center.

About 40% of Americans reported using the internet to be informed, against 35% who prefer to read the newspaper.

The study, revealed on Tuesday, shows an increase in Internet use between 2007 and 2008, an increase of 16 points, while the newspapers show a growing decline in readership in recent years.

Television remains the main source of information for about 70% of Americans. However, among people younger than 30 years, the number of people who prefer television fell to 59%, equivalent to 9 points less than an earlier study published in September 2007.

The poll was conducted among 1489 people between 3 and Dec. 7. The margin of error was not specified.

The team record Warner has ordered YouTube to remove all videos of its artists on your page, following the failure of talks between both sides. The measure could affect hundreds of thousands of videos, because it includes not just the singers but the songs published by the subsidiary Warner-Chappell.

Warner was the first company authorized by the vision of its videos on YouTube, following an agreement signed in 2006 but decided not to renew the contract when it expired. The record company was looking to receive a larger share of potential earnings by traffic on the Internet site, which receives nearly one million hits per month just in the U.S..



The music companies are, in general, a portion of the advertising revenue generated by their videos and a small amount for every time that these images are on the Internet. Warner had hoped that the total volume of these amounts was important, but according to his version, the figures have been minimal.

A month after the initial agreement with Warner, YouTube was acquired by Internet giant Google, which paid for the site 1650 million dollars.

This is the situation: you're working with two or more applications at the same time, something quite typical, and you have to be changing between them. At that time wanted to have two screens to avoid having to come and go. Lenovo has the solution: ThinkPad W700ds.

Will feature two LCD screens: a 17-inch, and another 10.6 inches. One is a little bigger than normal in a laptop, and the other is about the size of a typical NETBOOK. It will be much heavier than normal, and also a little more expensive (starting at $ 3600 when released onto the market in January).



But perhaps the specifications make use of these disadvantages. This mobile work station, as was baptized by Lenovo, will come equipped with 2 Intel quad-core processors, Nvidia Quadro mobile graphics card, 8 GB of RAM and two hard drives with a total capacity of 960 GB.

Any machine without a doubt. However, for users much weight and size could be a big problem in this day and age where gadgets and electronic devices tend to be increasingly small and portable.

The Japanese pioneer of video games, Nintendo announced that it will launch a service for disseminating popular videos exclusively for the Wii console, which can be connected to television and internet from one side to another.

About 80% of the Wii are installed in the family room and connected to the main television, Nintendo stressed, to justify the appropriateness of use Wii as a vector of visual content than just games.



The new offer, which consists of programs specifically produced for Nintendo, will be available from next spring in Japan. Will build on the platform in the Internet Wii, in which there are video games that are downloaded, channels of information and virtual stores.

The same service will be offered abroad, but later as from a date yet determined. Nintendo has sold nearly 40 million Wii in the world (more than seven million in Japan) from the marketing of this console at the end of 2006, which makes this machine one of the biggest commercial success of video games.

Until May next year, the distribution companies can buy licenses of Windows XP and indestructible. The operating system meets and 7 years, and for the vast majority of experts and users is the best software for PCs that Microsoft has released.

In theory, this system was discarded by Microsoft, except for netbooks versions, but the reality is that every day thousands of users by disgruntled Windows Vista prefer to go back to XP, an operating system and acknowledged by its users.



Now the deadline is extended until next May 31 and according to analysts' opinions might be the reason for the difficulties encountered by the company to put Vista on the market, mainly in economic teams and therefore with less hardware resources. It is worth noting that Vista requires a minimum of 2GB of RAM for proper function.

Some sources take for granted that Microsoft could extend the shelf life of Windows XP until the end of 2009 coinciding with the arrival of Windows 7.

The U.S. chain of department stores Wal-Mart, the world's largest company by sales and number of employees, announced it will begin to sell certain models of the iPhone, the mobile phone from Apple, in about 2,500 establishments.

The black model of the iPhone 3G 8 gigabytes of memory will leave with a sale price of 197 dollars, which has 16 gigabytes, which in this case also will be sold in white, will be offered by 297 dollars, as detailed in the company a press release.



To purchase these models, customers must enter a contract for two years with the telephone company AT & T or update certain requirements under the service we already have with her.

These same prices and conditions are very similar to those offered by AT & T and Apple in their stores and just eight U.S. dollars higher than the offer that has temporarily Best Buy, so far the only large chain stores that sold the equipment.

In that sense, Wal-Mart explained that their establishments can match the sales price to those offered by their local competitors during the promotion.

In the New Year 2006, life seemed to smile at Bruce and Sylvia Brown, newly married, with combined revenues of about $ 150,000 annually, a house half a million dollars on a quiet street closed and a dog named Saki.

But soon, things are complicated, and court documents reflect the increasing desperation of Bruce Brown after losing his wife, and then become unemployed without a dog. In late 2008, Brown was asking a judge to give his wife a pension and cover attorney's fees.

The debacle ended in Pardo Eve, when the electrical engineer for 45 years were dressed in Santa Claus and killed nine people in the house of his former in-laws in Covina, where he made a feast. Then the attacker used a home-made device, which was hidden as a Christmas gift for spraying fuel into the house and burned.

Brown had planned to flee to Canada after the killing, but suffered third degree burns in the fire - which melted part of his disguise, adhering to the skin - and decided to commit suicide, according to researchers.

His body, with a shot in the head, was found in his brother's house about 64 kilometers (40 miles) from the scene of the attack.

The killings occurred six days after the Brown and his former wife appeared in court to consummate their divorce. The police believed that among the dead are Sylvia, for 43 years and their parents, Joseph Ortega of 80 years and Alicia, 70.

The other victims were two brothers of Sylvia Brown and their wives, and the attacker's former sister-in-law and a nephew of 17 years.

But police have not identified the victims because, according to the coroner, nine corpses were so burned it was impossible.

Friends, dismayed, they said that there was one trait in Bruce Brown suggested that the impending attack. Brown had told a friend who planned to help usher during mass as a rooster on the occasion of Christmas in their church. He promised to visit you in Iowa, to congratulate him.

The attacker had no criminal record.

"I can not believe you're seeing my ex-boyfriend on television, and all the people who destroyed their lives," said Carol Sanchez, who had a relationship with Brown four years, when both were high school students to 18. "I'm shattered."

"He was a very kind and friendly person," he added. "I never would have thought he was capable of doing something well."

Brown had a child of 9 years, Matthew, with another former girlfriend, Elena Lucano. The child had not seen for years, but reportedly said the child was dependent on it economically, in its report for the payment of taxes. Lucano told the newspaper Los Angeles Times that she was unaware of the fact that Matthew Pardo said that depended on him.

The child suffered a severe brain injury in a fall at the pool, January 6, 2001, when Brown was alone with him in his former home in Woodland Hills, according to attorney Jeffrey Alvírez, who represented in the case Lucano resulting in the courts.

Medical expenses reached $ 340,000. Lucano Pardo sued him for money from your home insurance policy for $ 100,000, and $ 36,000 were deposited into a trust for the child, who requires constant attention.

Brown never made money for the care of the child.

"I never spent a penny on his son," said Alvírez, who noted that it had not surprised that Brown concealed his wife that aspect of his life.

The divorce papers before the court are a couple who had trouble from the start and sparked a bitter dispute.

The couple married on January 29, 2006, and moved to the house that Brown had in Montrose, about 24 kilometers (25 miles) north of Los Angeles. The house is located in the top of a hill near the Church of the Holy Redeemer, where Brown helped usher during mass as for children.

Two days after the attack, cintilaban Christmas lights still on the fence and the roof, as well as an orange, while two police officers searched the house.

At least eight people died and 15 more were wounded on Sunday when a suicide bomber tried sacrificing during a meeting of tribal leaders, ending by doing so on Sunday near a primary school, authorities said.

Five of the dead were children, like the 15 wounded.

The detonation occurred at the entrance of a police headquarters and army, said Yacub Jan, the deputy chief of police in the eastern province of Jost. U.S. troops are also prominent in the barracks, but there were no soldiers injured or killed in the attack.

In addition to the five children, said Jan, killing at least one soldier and a private security guard.

Dr. Abdul Rahman, a doctor from a nearby hospital, said the young victims were between eight and 10 years.

Abdullah Fahim, spokesman of the Ministry of Health in Kabul, said that eight people died and 51 more were wounded. Asif Nang, a spokesman of the Ministry of Education, said the injured students were hit, most by broken glass.

Jan said the attack occurred when Pashtun tribal leaders, district Mandozai, met at the complex to deal with security issues. It is unknown how many of them may have wounded or killed.

The attack occurs on the last day of school in the year. The students had gathered in classrooms to receive licenses this year, said Nang. The teachers also were delivering books to students, he said.

An alleged suicide bomber of the Tamil rebel left at least seven soldiers killed when sacrificing at a facility near the capital of Sri Lanka, the authorities said. 17 other people, including four civilians, were injured.

The detonation occurs while developing heavy fighting between the rebels of the Tamil tiges and government forces in the north. The navy said it destroyed a rebel boat and a website that supports the Tigers said that at least 50 soldiers were killed in a battle near a rebel stronghold.

The suicide bomber was opened way for a module of the Civil Defense in the town of Wattala and triggered the explosives he was carrying, said Brigadier General Uday Nanayakkara. Wattala is located a few kilometers (miles) north of Colombo.

The blast left six soldiers and one civilian dead, while another 13 soldiers and four civilians were wounded, said Nanayakkara, who blamed the separatist rebels of the Tamil Tigers.

The Tamil Tigers, who are regarded by the United States and the European Union as a terrorist organization, often deny any involvement in suicide bombings. Sri Lankan authorities have accused of conducting more than 240 such attacks against political, military and economic centers since the mid-1980.

One person died and 16 more were wounded, said police in Iraq, when a suicide bomber blew on Sunday was in the midst of a demonstration in northern Iraq against Israeli air strikes in Gaza.

The attacker penetrated his bicycle in the demonstration, about 1,300 people at the center of the northern city of Mosul, said a police officer who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

The demonstration was organized by the Iraqi Islamic Party, a Sunni cutting. His spokesman in Mosul, Yahiya Abid Mahjub, was that the police and army in Iraq had not taken precautions for the event.

So far nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack, said police.

"Those who attack our brothers in Gaza are the same ones that attacked us today in Mosul. They are agents of Israel," said Mahjub.

U.S. forces and Iraq maintain the fight against al-Qaida and other rebels in Mosul, the third largest city in Iraq, where tensions persist econ omicas + and policies. These issues have been complicated by tensions between Arabs and Kurds in the city.

Also on Sunday, police in Fallujah said that a bomb exploded on the outskirts of the city, killing two civilians and wounding four more,

A policeman said the bomb exploded in a parking lot, where farmers and merchants gathered to buy and sell.

The trucks and other vehicles are not allowed to enter Fallujah can not enter their charges to the city, west of Baghdad.

The police asked not be identified, was not authorized to speak to news media.

Waimanalo, Hawaii (AP) - The president-elect Barack Obama and his family were among the thousands of people whose vacations were interrupted when the island of Oahu, Hawaii, suffered a blackout during a heavy rain and lightning.

Hawaiian Electric Co.. Sent an emergency generator to the house rented by the Obama family next to the beach after the blackout on Friday night, which left 800,000 people in the dark, said spokeswoman Jan Loose. He added that the office of Gov. Linda Lingle and the Marines also worked to "keep their communications and keep you safe."

Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann told the radio KSSK that Obama is one of the safest places and going to be okay. "

The newspaper The Honolulu Advertiser reported on its website on the internet that the mayor said that he spoke with Obama at 2130 on Friday and that the president-elect told him it was fine and planned to sleep during the blackout.

The power company and the civilian authorities warned residents to remain home and after the blackout and saving water. Several radio stations broadcast emergency information.

Lingle said he hoped that electricity was restored in the morning. Hawaiian Electric had restored service to about 30,000 users for 2.40, Loose said to The Advertiser.

Obama and his family conducted a 12-day trip to Hawaii, the home state of President-elect, a holiday in private.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Pakistan's decision to relocate thousands of troops on the border with India having to remove them from the border with Afghanistan, threatening the goal of the United States to rely on its Southeast Asian ally in its global fight against terrorism .

The campaign of President-elect Barack Obama promised to give new impetus to the stalled war in Afghanistan. That would be the first casualty as a result of action by Pakistan. The second would be low thwart U.S. efforts to destroy al-Qaida.

The sudden change in the face of Pakistan is recorded in the midst of a transition between two governments, and for Obama represents a dangerous escalation of tension that his predecessor had been unable to avoid.

As we discovered, President George W. Bush, the U.S. can not wage this war on their own. Nor can it persuade its allies to put aside their own agendas and internal policies.

According to experts, to win in Afghanistan, not only to conserve the land, the United States and its allies must seal the bastions of militia along the border with Pakistan. The United States can not do it without the help of Pakistan, and Pakistani and Afghan militia are well aware.

Bush administration officials have frequently traveled to New Delhi and Islamabad after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, praying on both sides that the well-founded suspicion that the militiamen left Pakistan should not become an excuse for a new conflict . India and Pakistan have fought three wars and now have atomic weapons.

If Pakistan takes its forces from the border with Afghanistan could show that the militias can easily exploit the old rivalry with India.

"We hope that both sides refrain from taking actions that unnecessarily increase tensions in the already tense moments," he said on Friday the White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of the armed forces of the United States, traveled to Islamabad in recent days, noting with approval at the beginning of the month that neither of the two sides had planned a military response to the bombings in Mumbai.

Mullen has focused on Pakistan. He has visited the Islamic country for more than half a dozen times in the turbulent years after the assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Apparently Mullen has established good ties with the army chief of Pakistan, and noted that the Islamic insurgency in Pakistan and terrorism could destroy the country unless its institutions choose to confront it.

CHICAGO, USA (AP) - The committee of the House of Representatives from Illinois who is studying a possible impeachment to the governor Rod Blagojevich did not call to testify two members of the team's president-elect Barack Obama, said on Saturday the president's panel , Thereby rejecting a request from the governor's lawyer.

In a letter received by the committee on Friday, the federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald asked the panel investigating not called to testify to the Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, the chief of staff appointed Rahm Emanuel, the Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. Nor Nils Larsen, executive vice president of media conglomerate Tribune Co..

Fitzgerald said that such appointments "interfere with the ongoing criminal investigation on the activities of Governor Rod Blagojevich and others."

The governor's lawyer, Ed Genson, had previously asked the panel to issue subpoenas.

"It is the turn of Mr Genson," he said on Saturday the legislative committee's chairwoman, Democrat Barbara Flynn Currie, to The Associated Press. "We are not interested in weakening the federal prosecutor's investigation."

Genson did not immediately responded to a call Saturday for comment on the matter.

Blagojevich was arrested on Dec. 9 on charges of conspiring to sell the Senate seat vacated by Obama, extort money from an executive of a hospital for donase campaign funds and other crimes.

Genson has said that the testimony of Emanuel, Jarrett and Jackson would help prove the governor's assertion that he did nothing improper to fill the seat of Obama.

Fitzgerald, however, said any testimony from Jarrett, Emanuel, Jackson or Larsen "in line with the theme of this criminal investigation."

It has been reported that Larsen was the financial advisor of the Tribune, which the governor's aides were instructed to talk about the dismissal of editorial writers in exchange for a grant to help sell the stadium Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, a team baseball ownership of the journalistic enterprise.

Flynn Currie had said on Thursday that the panel received a letter from Genson asking its members to testify that citasen Emanuel, Jarrett and more than a dozen other people.

On December 22, Fitzgerald had asked the committee did not delve into the criminal case against Blagojevich, saying that interviewing current or past members of the governor's staff would jeopardize their investigation.

The panel of the lower house will meet again on Monday.

CRAWFORD, Texas, USA (AP) - The United States on Saturday blamed the Hamas militia for violating a cease-fire and attack Israel, which responded with attacks in the bloodiest day of fighting in recent years.

The White House called for restoring the height of fire, although there was little evidence of cessation of violence, which left over 200 dead and nearly 400 injured. Israeli officials said they would expand their operations in Gaza if necessary.

It was "completely unacceptable" that Hamas, which controls Gaza, to attack Israel after several months of truce, said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the National Security Council.

"These people are thugs, so that Israel will defend his people from Hamas as terrorists who kill indiscriminately to their own people," Johndroe said in Texas, while President George W. Bush spent the holidays at his ranch. "They have to desist. We have said in the past to be decided. You can not have one foot in politics and one foot in terror."

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned that the operation in Gaza will expand as necessary. Asked if Washington would support further reprisals, Johndroe said: "The United States does not want to see more violence. I think what we see is a Desisting Hamas firing rockets at Israel. That's what precipitated this situation."

At the ranch of Bush, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, informed the president about the situation. Bush received a call from King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who wanted to discuss the violence that began eight days after the expiry of a six-month truce between Israel and Hamas.

"The United States strongly condemns the repeated attacks with rockets and mortars against Israel considers Hamas and responsible for the violation of the ceasefire and the resumption of violence in Gaza," Rice said in a statement. "We must immediately renew the ceasefire. The United States calls upon all parties concerned to address the urgent humanitarian needs of innocent people in Gaza."

WASHINGTON (AP) - The chairman of the Republican National Committee on Saturday scolding one of his potential successors circulated among members for a CD that included a song entitled "Barack the black magic."

Chip Saltsman, who aspires to the post, sent committee members a CD of 41 tracks on the right-wing comedian Paul Shanklin, which includes the controversial song about the president-elect Barack Obama.

"The elections of 2008 were a wake-up call for Republicans to attract more people to our party," said the president of NBC, Robert M. "Mike" Duncan, said in a statement. "I am outraged and dismayed that anyone thinks that this is appropriate since it obviously does not lead us in the right direction."

The song originated in the radio program's wing commentator Rush Limbaugh, alluding to an opinion column in the newspaper Los Angeles Times by David Ehrenstein, entitled "Obama the 'Black Magic'" (Obama, the black magic). Ehrenstein argues that by voting for Obama, whites relieve their feelings of guilt for the evils of racism.

The parody takes the music of "Puff, The Magic Dragon", a popular nursery rhyme.

"Paul Shanklin is an old friend and I think that members of the NBC have enough sense of humor and wisdom to recognize that their songs for the program of Rush Limbaugh parodies policies are happy," said Saltsman to The Hill, a newspaper in Washington that published a note on the CD on Friday.

Saltsman led the presidential campaign of former governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Israeli Hunts launched on Saturday and the morning of Sunday, more than 100 tons of bombs on security installations in Gaza, which left at least 230 Palestinians dead, in what represents one of the Offensive bloodiest in decades in the conflict in the Middle East.

The Israeli government said that the attack marked the beginning of a campaign to halt rocket attacks and mortars that have traumatized southern Israel.

Killed at least 230 Palestinians, mostly militia members, and over 400 were injured in one of the bloodiest days in decades of fighting between Israelis and Palestinians. The Israelis were killed and six wounded.

The assault triggered unprecedented protests throughout the Arab world. Many Western allies of Israel called for restraint, although the United States blamed Hamas for the fighting.

But there was no end in sight. The first round of attacks began around noon on Saturday, followed by successive waves that continued until the early hours of Sunday.

Israel hinted it would pursue the leaders of Hamas, and the militiamen were still firing a barrage of rockets. Armored units and infantry moved toward the Israeli border with Gaza in preparation for a possible ground offensive, officers said on condition of anonymity imposed by military regulations.

In the first attack Sunday morning, Israeli aircraft destroyed a mosque near the Shifa hospital in Gaza city, Palestinian sources said. There were no initial reports of casualties and the army made no statements.

In a televised statement on Saturday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the aim was to "provoke a fundamental improvement in the security situation of the inhabitants of the south," adding that "could take some time."

The attacks caused great panic and confusion in Gaza, while clouds of black smoke rose over the territory, ruled by Hamas for about 18 months. Some of the Israeli missiles fell in densely populated areas at a time when children were leaving school, and women took to the streets searching frantically for their children. At least 15 civilians died, according to the sources.

The militiamen often operate against Israel from civilian areas, which has caused great mortality in the population over the reprisal of the Jewish state. On Saturday night, Israeli forces flooded the phones of people in Gaza with messages in Arabic that called for moving away from the houses where they might have caches of weapons of the militiamen.

The offensive began eight days after the end of a six-month truce between Israel and the militia. According to the Israeli army, militiamen fired about 300 rockets and mortars against Israeli targets last week and 10 times that number throughout the year.

"There is a time for calm and there is a time to fight, and now it's time to fight. The operation will be expanded if needed," said the Israeli minister of defense, Ehud Barak, during a press conference.

The leaders of the Jewish state had threatened a large-scale offensive.

Hamas said that it will avenge, not only with rocket attacks, but sending suicide commandos to Israel. "Hamas will continue the resistance until their last drop of blood," said Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, told a radio station in Gaza.

When asked whether Israel could now continue their attacks against political leaders in Gaza, the military spokeswoman Avital Leibovitz said: "Any installation of Hamas is a target."

In the main complex of security forces in Gaza City, they found the bodies of more than a dozen uniformed police officers lying on the floor. A survivor lifted the official rate, in a defiant show of faith to the Muslim style. The police chief in Gaza was among the dead.

Protests erupted into Israel, both in the West Bank, the other Palestinian territory _ controlled by the moderate president Mahmud Abbas _, as elsewhere in the Arab world.

Abbas said in a statement that condemned "this aggression" and called containment, said one adviser, Nabil Abu Rdeneh.

Several hundreds of angry Jordanians protested against a UN compound in Amman. "Hamas, goes on! You're the gun, bullets us," was one of the heckling. Several protesters waved the characteristic green banners of Hamas.

In Beirut, dozens of youths took to the streets and burned tires. At al-Yarmouk camp on the outskirts of Damascus, dozens of Palestinians also protested the attack, promising to continue their struggle against Israel.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the Vatican, UN Secretary General and special envoy to the Middle East Tony Blair called for an immediate restoration of calm. The Arab League called an emergency meeting for Sunday to discuss the situation.

In Washington, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said: "The continuing attacks by Hamas against Israel must cease if we want to end the violence. The United States called on Israel to avoid civilian casualties in their attacks against Hamas in Gaza."

CARACAS (AP) - President Hugo Chávez said on Saturday that Venezuela is revoking some concessions to mine for gold, controlled by wealthy businessmen.

Chavez did not mention the specific companies that would be affected, but added that Venezuela is diversifying the economy to not depend so much on oil, in the midst of this crisis of global capitalism ", one of whose purposes is" the fall in oil prices, which is already below 30 dollars per barrel. "

"Next year we will double the production of gold," added the president. "We recovered some concessions that had given the previous governments, and are still in force around richies, who take the gold and was carried by exploiting the miners."

Last month, the Mines Minister, Rodolfo Sanz, Venezuela announced plans to revoke the award of the largest gold mine in the country, operated by Crystallex International Corp.., Based in Canada. Sanz said that the mine Las Cristinas would operate under control of the state starting next year.

"Following the financial crisis that has spread globally, it is necessary to try to recover our gold to increase our international reserves," said Sanz to state radio.

In recent months, the Chavez government has had various confrontations with international companies for the extraction of gold, but the situation has worsened with the collapse of oil prices, something that has reduced government revenues.

Light crude oil prices and low sulfur content have collapsed to less than a quarter of those seen in July, from 147 dollars per barrel. Oil accounts for 94% of Venezuelan exports and almost half the government budget.

"That is going to hit us without a doubt, in the coming years," acknowledged Chavez, who affirmed however that his country will take advantage of this impact and turn it into something "positive".

The president has indicated that the effects of the crisis will be well before the resentful "oligarchy" capitalist, and not for the poor, those who benefit from social spending.

"It is not going to stop social investments - in health, education and missions. That is something sacred for us," he said.

"We are talking about the economy ... preparing for the crisis that continues plunging the world ... to move forward in our productive economy."

Crystallex did not respond to the calls that were made on Saturday, looking for a reaction. But the company reported earlier this month, said in a statement, which has not received an official communication regarding the changes in the control of Las Cristinas.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A spectator exasperated by the noise that was a family sitting near him in a theater the night of Father Christmas shot in the arm, police reported.
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James Joseph Cialella, 29, told the family that was quiet and threw popcorn at the child. The victim told police who stopped to see Cialella was close to his family and was shot.



The police called the United Artists movie Riverview Stadium in Philadelphia found Cialella with his gun, a .380-caliber pistol under his belt.

Cialella was charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault, among other charges. Was in prison on Saturday. The police said that bail was set, but did not know the amount.

Lt. Frank Vanore said it was "shocking that make noise during a movie causing such a level of violence."

The injured, 31, was hospitalized and his condition was stable. His name was not released.

The film was premiered at the recent "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", according to the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper.

HAVANA (AP) - The Cuban parliament on Saturday approved a new Social Security Act which increased the retirement age in five years.

Led by President Raúl Castro, the last meeting of 2008 of the Assembly of People's Power voted unanimously to implement the standard by which men are welcome to retirement at age 65 and women at 60, indicated media local press.



The initiative was presented during periods of debate July - backed by Castro - and then agreed to submit it to workers in assembly with the help of the union and the Ministry's branch in order to raise awareness for those affected.

According to a report from the official press, with unique access to the plenary of more than 500 deputies, some three million employees were consulted on the rule and they made proposals about 900,000.

It was noted that the increase in the retirement age will be done gradually over 7 years, from 2009 until 2015, with the goal of affecting as little as possible to workers nearing retirement age today.

The rule also includes the basis for the calculation of what will become the new pensioners and extended the protection of orphaned more than 17 years, provided they are studying.

In addition stipulated that retirees can return to work to receive their social security payments and wages.

The new rules respond to the need to adapt to the demographic reality of the island, which began aging dramatically and has a low birth rate.

According to local media, as a result of the aging population will have Cuba in 2025 about 770,000 fewer people of working age today. In 1970 there were 7.1 workers for every retired last year, this ratio dropped to 3.1 and in 2025 will be 2.3, serious problem in a nation with low rates of productivity.

CHICAGO (AP) - The rains and a rapid rise in temperatures on Saturday caused some flooding in central Colombia, after the area was battered for days by a cold snap that left a covering of snow and ice.

The cold and slippery roads were identified as the cause of at least 44 deaths this week: 11 in Indiana, eight in Wisconsin, five in Ohio, five in Michigan, four in Kentucky, four in Missouri, two in Kansas, and one in Illinois, Oklahoma, Iowa, Massachusetts and West Virginia.

The thick layer of ice on the roads has melted mountain snow and turned into puddles and water currents.

"We are emerging from a problem, ice, with another to suffer flooding," said Marisa Kollias, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Transportation.

The National Weather Service issued flood warnings Saturday for parts of Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and Missouri. Up to five centimeters (two inches) of rain fell in two hours during the night in central and western Illinois, reported the service on Saturday.

And then that the air was warm with the cold, the weather service posted tornado warnings for parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois and Kansas.

The intense winds left 42,000 people without electricity in the west of Missouri. The problem was resolved in large part to Saturday night.

After icy temperatures recorded in several locations this week, the thermometer marked on Saturday, even five degrees above zero centigrade (40 Fahrenheit), the agency said. However, heavy snowfalls were expected in Michigan for Sunday night.

The service said the Chariton River had overflowed and caused minor flooding in Chariton, Iowa. He said that floods were reported in parts of Missouri.

By Saturday night, the rain stopped, and an ice storm hit much of Iowa.

Near Chicago, the Cook County offered sandbags to protect communities in need of low-lying areas, said the county government spokesman Sean Howard.

Hundreds of people spent the night at Midway Airport in Chicago, where all flights on Friday night were canceled because of fog. There were also 400 cancellations at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, the second most transited the country.

The president-elect of the United States, Barack Obama, on Friday praised the decision by the outgoing president, George W. Bush to support the automotive industry with a package of U.S. $ 17,000 million.

Obama warned, however, the three major automotive companies (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) not wasting this opportunity, to make a reform of poor management practices and move forward in the development of less polluting cars.



President George W. Bush justified the decision to offer financial assistance to the automotive industry because, otherwise, its collapse would seriously the economic crisis facing the country.

The president stressed that allowing the industry fell into bankruptcy would not be "a responsible action."

In the short term the car manufacturers will receive U.S. $ 13,400 billion package of U.S. $ 700,000 million approved to rescue Wall Street. The rest will arrive before the end of March.

However, Bush noted that the companies have to make tough decisions, as the industry needs to change. The reform will require "significant concessions from all players in the automotive industry," said the president.

The BBC correspondent in Washington, Kevin Connolly, said that the high salaries paid by the three major U.S. companies compared with their competitors, in addition to the benefits of their pension plans and health care for retirees, are among the aspects that Manufacturers will have to deal with, in exchange for receiving the money.

Plan rejected

The companies had originally requested the government about U.S. $ 34,000 million in soft loans to stay afloat, but not even an agreement between the House of Representatives and the White House for only U.S. $ 14,000 million managed to overcome the reluctance in the Senate.

Precisely, the last hope for the automotive era that finally the government decided to assist them with a financial rescue fund of U.S. $ 700,000 million that was approved for the rescue of banks and investment funds.

All the automotive companies have announced production cuts since the economic crisis caused a decline in sales.

On repeated occasions, Chrysler, Ford and GM warned that millions of jobs would be lost if the government did not approve an aid package.

The reporter economic issues from the BBC, Mark Gregory, said that without the aid package Chrysler and GM probably would have been declared bankrupt in a few weeks.

Gregory added that not everyone thought the breakup of the companies would have an effect as devastating as suggested by the automotive sector.

Under the rules for U.S. companies that fall into bankruptcy are given the opportunity to renegotiate their debts.

Our correspondent says that many Republicans think they would have been better in the long run, let broken to create conditions that would facilitate decision-making tough, especially the cut in wages, which would allow companies to maintain a truly competitive level.

The snowstorms and freezing rain have created chaos in much of the United States and Canada. Many were unable to reach their destinations due to the cancellation of hundreds of flights or because of how dangerous it has proven to travel around the highways of the country.



The warnings remain in place in Western U.S. Due to the existence of winter storms in one of the Christmas season most affected by the cold and snow.

According to Andrew Craig, a BBC northwest of the country has been hardest hit by snow, especially in the states of Oregon and Washington.

A little further south east in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado, there have been 90 centimeters of snow.

Closure of highways

In the Sierra Nevada of California police had to close the Interstate 80 in a strip of 129 kilometers for several hours.

Thousands of travelers were stranded at many airports waiting for the bad winter weather.

Even in Canada was the first "White Christmas" from coast to coast for the first time in 37 years.

In Washington state collapsed the roof of a school in the city of Olympia because of the weight of the snow.

Across the country, in New Hampshire, the winter wind blew at 50 miles per hour felling of the electrical poles and leaving it without electricity to more than 100 communities.

The airport's worst affected country was the Chicago O'Hare, although there were no delays on Christmas Day.



However, about 100 flights were canceled on Christmas Eve and the city had to enable dozens of beds for travelers.

Similar situations occurred in the airport terminals in Boston, San Francisco, Dallas and New York.

The railway system was also affected with hundreds of passengers experiencing delays of up to 24 hours.

On the highways of the country have also reported 30 deaths due to accidents related to bad weather.

Aircraft of the Israeli air force launched a series of attacks on the Gaza Strip, killing and wounding dozens of people.




According to reports, more than twenty missiles were aimed at the headquarters of the security forces of the Palestinian militant organization Hamas in central Gaza.

Hamas sources said that at least 155 persons were killed and nearly 200 were injured.

The BBC correspondent in Jerusalem, Paul Wood, said that there is no way to verify these figures, in the midst of the chaos that was generated after the bombing.

Wood added that air strikes could be the prelude to a military offensive by land.

The bombing, the most intense it has been carried out on the Palestinian territories recently came days after the end of the truce between Israel and Hamas.

The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, whose faction, Fatah, was ousted from Gaza by Hamas in 2007 - condemned the attacks and called for restraint.

"Operating on terror"

Hamas is pledged to avenge. Shortly after the bombing, Palestinian militants fired rockets into southern Israel, killing a woman in the town of Netivot.

The Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak, warned that the army is prepared to deploy a larger military offensive if necessary.



"The operation will continue and be extended when needed, based on the evaluation (the commanders) ... We are facing a period that will not be simple or easy," said Barak, said in a statement.

According to the document, the attacks were intended to eliminate "terror operatives of Hamas," as well as training camps and military hardware stores.

The Israeli government had warned that it would carry out a military offensive in the event of persisting launching missiles from the Gaza Strip by Hamas militants.

The day before, Israel opened its border with Gaza to allow the entry of humanitarian aid.

U.S. asked India and Pakistan to avoid an unnecessary escalation of tensions after reports that confirm a movement of troops on the border between the two countries.

"We hope that both sides can avoid steps that lead even unnecessary increase in tension," said White House spokesman, Gordon Johndroe.



Pakistan has made a redeployment of troops in the north-west and some permits were canceled for the troops, according to sources from the army of that country.

The Indian government also recommended its citizens not to travel to Pakistan because of the increased tension following the attacks in Mumbai that left more than 170 people dead.

A spokesman for the Pakistani armed forces described the troop movements as a minimum defensive measure.

Pakistani reshuffling

On the other hand, a senior security official said that a limited number of troops had been withdrawn from non-essential positions on the border with Afghanistan and areas where there were no military operations.

Pakistani media have confirmed that indeed the soldiers were reinforcing positions along the border with India.

The so-called Line of Control that divides the disputed Kashmir region as well as the towns of Kasur and Sialkot are named in the reports.


India continues to insist that the attacks in Mumbai were carried out by the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba (or Army of the Pure) and suggests that Islamabad has taken only superficial steps against it.



The government of Pakistan said that India has not provided sufficient evidence to enable it to justify stronger actions.

The Pakistani authorities fear that India may launch air strikes against suspected bases of the militants.

A military official said that Pakistan has reduced air operations against Taliban militants in the northeast, near the border with Afghanistan to deploy aircraft to the vicinity of the border with India.


Any significant reduction of military presence on the Afghan border to worry about the United States, which relies on Pakistan to curb cross-border attacks by the Taliban against NATO forces.