Paris, Berlin push for EU treaty change by March (Reuters)

PARIS (Reuters) ? The leaders of France and Germany said on Monday they would push for EU treaty change by March to introduce closer fiscal union and sanctions for countries flouting deficit limits in a bid to shore up confidence in the euro zone.

President Nicolas Sarkozy said after talks with his German counterpart Angela Merkel in Paris that he hoped their plan would win backing from all 27 EU members at a summit this week but otherwise the 17 states of the euro zone would press ahead with a separate treaty.

The proposal would oblige all countries in the single currency to write a "golden rule" to balance their budgets into their constitutions.

It would also bring forward the introduction of the euro zone's ESM bailout fund by a year to 2012, allow it to take decisions by a qualified majority and modify its statutes to make clear that a debt write-down for Greece was a one-off.

Sarkozy said the Franco-German blueprint would be sent to European Council President Herman Van Rompuy on Wednesday, in time for EU leaders to debate it at a two-day summit starting on Thursday evening, when it should become clear if there was support from all 27 member states to approve it.

"We want to make sure that the imbalances which led to the situation in the euro zone today cannot happen again. Therefore we want a new treaty, to make clear to the peoples of Europe, members of Europe and members of the euro zone, that things cannot continue as they are," Sarkozy told a news conference, flanked by the German leader.

"The aim that Madame Merkel and I have is that the entire accord should be negotiated and concluded between the 17 members in March, because we need to go fast," he said.

While the new rules will introduce automatic sanctions for countries which breach a deficit limit of 3 percent of gross domestic product, Berlin dropped its demands for the European Court of Justice to have the power to prosecute rule breakers.

The court will instead have the mandate to review whether balanced-budget rules which countries will have to write into their constitutions comply with the new or revised treaty.

"The court will not have the right to cancel national budgets," Sarkozy said.

The two leaders reiterated their opposition to the introduction of common euro zone bonds, which Germany fears would simply encourage peripheral members of the bloc to dodge painful fiscal and economic reforms and continue overborrowing.

Germany, however, dropped its insistence on an explicit mention of a clause in new bonds issued in the bloc stipulating that private bondholders may have to share the cost of any future bailout of a euro zone country.

"Greece was a one-off case, and the voluntary debt write-down is a one-off," Merkel said.

(Additional reporting by Geert De Clercq and Catherine Bremer)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111205/bs_nm/us_eurozone_talks

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Video: Axelrod: Gingrich a man with ?expansive thoughts?

October 30: Plouffe, roundtable

Nearly a year away from the 2012 election, we?ll talk to the president?s 2008 campaign manager, now White House Senior Adviser, David Plouffe. Then author of the definitive new biography on the late Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson; Author of the new book ?The Time of Our Lives,? NBC News Special Correspondent, Tom Brokaw; Former Governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm; and Republican strategist, Mike Murphy.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/45541697#45541697

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6 Chinese charged for turtle catch in Philippines (AP)

MANILA, Philippines ? A court in the Philippines charged six Chinese fisherman with poaching endangered sea turtles in proceedings Monday aimed at protecting threatened wildlife along the country's coastline.

Authorities discovered a batch of giant green turtles after intercepting the fishermen's speedboat in waters off the western province of Palawan on Friday, said military spokesman Maj. Niel Estrella. A joint team from the Philippine navy, coast guard and the Environment Department made the seizure.

The boat was likely attached to a mother ship that escaped after the fishermen were detained, Estrella said.

Nine of the turtles were already dead, but three were released alive into the waters after being tagged, Glenda Cadigal, a wildlife specialist at the Palawan Council, told The Associated Press.

The sea turtles, also known as Chelonia mydas, are often caught for food and for use in traditional medicine. They can grow as long as 5 feet (150 centimeters) and weigh as much as 290 pounds (130 kilograms). They are endangered because of overharvesting of both eggs and adults.

On Monday, authorities filed criminal charges under the Philippines' Wildlife Act and Fisheries Code at the Palawan Regional Trial Court in the capital Puerto Princessa, said Adelina Villena, chief lawyer for the government's Palawan Council for Sustainable Development.

If found guilty on all charges, the fishermen would face up to 24 years in prison. They were not requested to enter a plea Monday and a date for their arraignment was not immediately set, Villena said.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China was "paying attention to the incident" and asked the Philippines to ensure the safety and legal rights of the fishermen. "The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines has sent staff to visit the detained fishermen," Hong said.

Last year, six Chinese fishermen also on a speedboat were arrested near the same area with more than 50 turtles, many of them already butchered and one bearing a monitoring tag of the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute, said Cadrigal, the wildlife specialist.

The trial of those fisherman is still continuing.

"These kind of practices endanger the lives of other creatures in the sea because marine turtles have their function in the balance of the ecosystem," Cadigal said.

Sea turtles feed on sea grass, which keeps the blades short and promotes their growth across the sea bed, and also provide sand beaches with nutrients, partly because of the eggs they lay that remain unhatched.

Palawan, about 510 miles (820 kilometers) southwest of Manila, is the nearest Philippine province to the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, which are claimed by China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei.

Relations between the Philippines and China have recently soured after Manila accused Beijing of interfering with its oil exploration activities in the sea China claims in its entirety.

___

Associated Press writer Louise Watt in Beijing contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111205/ap_on_re_as/as_philippines_chinese_fishermen

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Embattled Cain ends 2012 bid (reuters)

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Herman Cain on the campaign trail (cbsnews)

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Ex-Wis. Gov. Thompson launches GOP bid for Senate (AP)

MADISON, Wis. ? The toughest opponent Tommy Thompson may have to overcome in next year's U.S. Senate race is Tommy Thompson himself.

The former Wisconsin governor and U.S. Cabinet secretary formally launched his Senate bid with a rally Thursday, 13 years after his name last appeared on a ballot, though he had already been fending off attacks from Democrats and more conservative Republicans.

Thompson has been criticized by both sides about his shifting position on President Barack Obama's health care reform law. And conservatives in his party say his record as governor and as President George W. Bush's first health and human services secretary was far too moderate.

"The world has changed since he was elected to office," said Chris Chocola, president of the conservative Club for Growth, which has endorsed one of his opponents, former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann. "Now we're talking about how much less we'll spend rather than how much more we'll spend."

The growth in state spending and the size of government during his 14 years as governor are being cast as a liability by Thompson's rivals, and his consensus-building approach to politics seems almost quaint in the current bitterly partisan political environment.

But Thompson has some things the two more conservative GOP candidates in the race don't: more than 40 years in public life, unparalleled name recognition, and a vast reservoir of good will.

"It's going to be a very bloody, divisive primary where most of the fire is focused on Thompson and his big spending record and flip flopping on issues," said Matt Canter, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

The seat, which has been in Democratic hands since 1957, is opening due to Herb Kohl's retirement. A victory in Wisconsin would be a major pickup for Republicans looking to regain control of the Senate.

Thompson formally kicked off his campaign during a rally at a manufacturing facility in Waukesha, a city about 18 miles west of Milwaukee.

"I refuse to stand on the sidelines and let out children and grandchildren inherit a nation that is less prosperous, less competitive and less free," he told several hundred supporters at the event.

One of those challenging Thompson is Jeff Fitzgerald, the conservative speaker of the Wisconsin state Assembly, who helped shepherd through the Legislature Gov. Scott Walker's proposal attacking union rights. The other is Neumann, who also has support from U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican who is a favorite among tea party conservatives.

The only Democrat running is U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, a liberal from Madison.

Fitzgerald said his recent record delivering on the conservative agenda sets him apart from Thompson and Neumann.

"I'm kind of the outside guy, the dark horse," Fitzgerald said. "I have the clear cut message that I just delivered on these promises."

Fitzgerald said Thompson's former statements in support of health care reform are a liability.

"I think he's got a problem with that with our base," Fitzgerald said.

Neumann said repealing Obama's health care reform package is one of the top issues with conservative voters and his call for repealing it has been the most consistent message from Republican candidates.

Thompson said in an interview before his announcement Thursday that his opponents are purposefully misrepresenting his position on health care reform.

He defended his conservative credentials, including opposition to Obama's health care law, and said he has a proven record over 14 years as governor of creating jobs, implementing welfare reform and starting school choice programs.

Thompson said he was "by far the best candidate who understands health care to draft and replace Obamacare with something that will actually work."

His position on Obama's health care reform law is the biggest issue Thompson's had to deal with in the nascent campaign, and one that could be pivotal as he tries to survive a Republican primary.

Thompson initially spoke favorably of the need for health care reform, and worked on an early version of the bill, while also raising concerns about some parts of Obama's proposal, including the mandate forcing people to buy health insurance. As it was working its way through Congress, Thompson called Obama's proposal "another important step" toward achieving health care reform.

Just hours before Thompson's event Thursday, Club for Growth circulated computer screen shots showing Thompson as recently as 2010 was a board member for a coalition called America's Agenda, which included labor unions and others that advocated passage of Obama's health care reform law.

Thompson said his opponents are "trying to say because I was trying to build a coalition of bipartisan people on health care ... that I was for Obamacare, which is absolutely a leap of faith. I never supported Obamacare, I never have."

Thompson reiterated that he was committed to repealing the Obama health care reforms.

Thompson was the strongest Republican advocate for the law at the time it was being debated, said Canter with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Obama himself even mentioned Thompson in 2009 as a supporter of health care reform, even though most congressional Republicans oppose it.

By now arguing for repeal, Thompson is "catering to what's in his best political interests," Canter said.

Thompson is facing a problem common to candidates who run for election after long absences from office, said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College. Often the issues of the day and the focus of a party's agenda shift if there's a long gap between runs, he said.

"In the 1990s this country was in a time of great prosperity, and at least the federal budget was in surplus," he said. "It's a completely different situation now."

Thompson, who was first elected to the state Assembly in 1966 and was elected governor four times starting in 1986, has cultivated a base of supporters unlikely to leave him, while Fitzgerald and Neumann are fighting over largely the same pool of more conservative voters, said University of Wisconsin political science professor Charles Franklin.

"That divides the more conservative wing of the party which is probably to Thompson's benefit in a three-way race," Franklin said. "Anything he does to divide the competition is probably good."

___________

Associated Press writers Henry C. Jackson in Washington and Dinesh Ramde in Waukesha contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111202/ap_on_el_se/us_wisconsin_senate

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Team of astronomers finds 18 new planets

Friday, December 2, 2011

Discoveries of new planets just keep coming and coming. Take, for instance, the 18 recently found by a team of astronomers led by scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

"It's the largest single announcement of planets aside from the discoveries made by the Kepler mission," says John Johnson, assistant professor of astronomy at Caltech and the first author on the team's paper, which was published in the December issue of The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. The Kepler mission is a space telescope that has so far identified more than 1,200 possible planets, though the majority of those have not yet been confirmed.

Using the Keck Observatory in Hawaii?with follow-up observations using the McDonald and Fairborn Observatories in Texas and Arizona, respectively?the researchers surveyed about 300 stars. They focused on those dubbed "retired" A-type stars that are more than one and a half times more massive than the sun. These stars are just past the main stage of their life?hence, "retired"?and are now puffing up into what's called a subgiant star.

To look for planets, the astronomers searched for stars of this type that wobble, which could be caused by the gravitational tug of an orbiting planet. By searching the wobbly stars' spectra for Doppler shifts?the lengthening and contracting of wavelengths due to motion away from and toward the observer?the team found 18 planets with masses similar to Jupiter's.

This new bounty marks a 50 percent increase in the number of known planets orbiting massive stars and, according to Johnson, provides an invaluable population of planetary systems for understanding how planets?and our own solar system?might form. The researchers say that the findings also lend further support to the theory that planets grow from seed particles that accumulate gas and dust in a disk surrounding a newborn star.

According to this theory, tiny particles start to clump together, eventually snowballing into a planet. If this is the true sequence of events, the characteristics of the resulting planetary system?such as the number and size of the planets, or their orbital shapes?will depend on the mass of the star. For instance, a more massive star would mean a bigger disk, which in turn would mean more material to produce a greater number of giant planets.

In another theory, planets form when large amounts of gas and dust in the disk spontaneously collapse into big, dense clumps that then become planets. But in this picture, it turns out that the mass of the star doesn't affect the kinds of planets that are produced.

So far, as the number of discovered planets has grown, astronomers are finding that stellar mass does seem to be important in determining the prevalence of giant planets. The newly discovered planets further support this pattern?and are therefore consistent with the first theory, the one stating that planets are born from seed particles.

"It's nice to see all these converging lines of evidence pointing toward one class of formation mechanisms," Johnson says.

There's another interesting twist, he adds: "Not only do we find Jupiter-like planets more frequently around massive stars, but we find them in wider orbits." If you took a sample of 18 planets around sunlike stars, he explains, half of them would orbit close to their stars. But in the cases of the new planets, all are farther away, at least 0.7 astronomical units from their stars. (One astronomical unit, or AU, is the distance from Earth to the sun.)

In systems with sunlike stars, gas giants like Jupiter acquire close orbits when they migrate toward their stars. According to theories of planet formation, gas giants could only have formed far from their stars, where it's cold enough for their constituent gases and ices to exist. So for gas giants to orbit nearer to their stars, certain gravitational interactions have to take place to pull these planets in. Then, some other mechanism?perhaps the star's magnetic field?has to kick in to stop them from spiraling into a fiery death.

The question, Johnson says, is why this doesn't seem to happen with so-called hot Jupiters orbiting massive stars, and whether that dearth is due to nature or nurture. In the nature explanation, Jupiter-like planets that orbit massive stars just wouldn't ever migrate inward. In the nurture interpretation, the planets would move in, but there would be nothing to prevent them from plunging into their stars. Or perhaps the stars evolve and swell up, consuming their planets. Which is the case? According to Johnson, subgiants like the A stars they were looking at in this paper simply don't expand enough to gobble up hot Jupiters. So unless A stars have some unique characteristic that would prevent them from stopping migrating planets?such as a lack of a magnetic field early in their lives?it looks like the nature explanation is the more plausible one.

The new batch of planets have yet another interesting pattern: their orbits are mainly circular, while planets around sunlike stars span a wide range of circular to elliptical paths. Johnson says he's now trying to find an explanation.

For Johnson, these discoveries have been a long time coming. This latest find, for instance, comes from an astronomical survey that he started while a graduate student; because these planets have wide orbits, they can take a couple of years to make a single revolution, meaning that it can also take quite a few years before their stars' periodic wobbles become apparent to an observer. Now, the discoveries are finally coming in. "I liken it to a garden?you plant the seeds and put a lot of work into it," he says. "Then, a decade in, your garden is big and flourishing. That's where I am right now. My garden is full of these big, bright, juicy tomatoes?these Jupiter-sized planets."

###

California Institute of Technology: http://www.caltech.edu

Thanks to California Institute of Technology for this article.

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