Chavez swearing-in can be delayed: Venezuelan VP

CARACAS (Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez's formal swearing-in for a new six-year term scheduled for January 10 can be postponed if he is unable to attend due to his battle to recover from cancer surgery, Venezuela's vice president said on Friday.

Nicolas Maduro's comments were the clearest indication yet that the Venezuelan government is preparing to delay the swearing-in while avoiding naming a replacement for Chavez or calling a new election in the South American OPEC nation.

In power since 1999, the 58-year-old socialist leader has not been seen in public for more than three weeks. Allies say he is in delicate condition after a fourth operation in two years for an undisclosed form of cancer in his pelvic area.

The political opposition argues that Chavez's presence on January 10 in Cuba - where there are rumors he may be dying - is tantamount to the president's stepping down.

But Maduro, waving a copy of the constitution during an interview with state TV, said there was no problem if Chavez was sworn in at a later date by the nation's top court.

"The interpretation being given is that the 2013-2019 constitutional period starts on January 10. In the case of President Chavez, he is a re-elected president and continues in his functions," he said.

"The formality of his swearing-in can be resolved in the Supreme Court at the time the court deems appropriate in coordination with the head of state."

In the increasing "Kremlinology"-style analysis of Venezuela's extraordinary political situation, that could be interpreted in different ways: that Maduro and other allies trust Chavez will recover eventually, or that they are buying time to cement succession plans before going into an election.

Despite his serious medical condition, there was no reason to declare Chavez's "complete absence" from office, Maduro said. Such a declaration would trigger a new vote within 30 days, according to Venezuela's charter.

RECOVERY POSSIBLE?

Chavez was conscious and fighting to recover, said Maduro, who traveled to Havana to see his boss this week.

"We will have the Commander well again," he said.

Maduro, 50, whom Chavez named as his preferred successor should he be forced to leave office, said Venezuela's opposition had no right to go against the will of the people as expressed in the October 7 vote to re-elect the president.

"The president right now is president ... Don't mess with the people. Respect democracy."

Despite insisting Chavez remains president and there is hope for recovery, the government has acknowledged the gravity of his condition, saying he is having trouble breathing due to a "severe" respiratory infection.

Social networks are abuzz with rumors he is on life support or facing uncontrollable metastasis of his cancer.

Chavez's abrupt exit from the political scene would be a huge shock for Venezuela. His oil-financed socialism has made him a hero to the poor, while critics call him a dictator seeking to impose Cuban-style communism on Venezuelans.

Should Chavez leave office, a new election is likely to pitch former bus driver and union activist Maduro against opposition leader Henrique Capriles, the 40-year-old governor of Miranda state.

Capriles lost to Chavez in the October presidential election, but won an impressive 44 percent of the vote. Though past polls have shown him to be more popular than all of Chavez's allies, the equation is now different given Maduro has received the president's personal blessing - a factor likely to fire up Chavez's fanatical supporters.

His condition is being watched closely by Latin American allies that have benefited from his help, as well as investors attracted by Venezuela's lucrative and widely traded debt.

"The odds are growing that the country will soon undergo a possibly tumultuous transition," the U.S.-based think tank Stratfor said this week.

(Additional reporting by Marianna Parraga; editing by Christopher Wilson)

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Merit is more than just academics: PM Lee

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said "merit" is not just defined by academics, but also character, leadership and a broad range of talents.

He added that academic performance cannot be neglected and is still important, although it is not the only measure of success.

Mr Lee was speaking at the Teck Ghee Bursary and Edusave Award Ceremony on Saturday, where 1,500 students received awards.

Mr Lee said the Edusave Scholarships, Edusave Merit Bursaries and Good Progress Awards recognise students who have done well academically.

He said if one works hard, they can succeed in Singapore regardless of schools, streams or family backgrounds.

Parents also must guide their children, set good examples and instill good moral values.

"The Edusave awards reflect the government's commitment to meritocracy, and to help every student achieve their best. To the students, congratulations and keep on trying to do better," added Mr Lee on his Facebook page.

- CNA/xq

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Game on: Sony won't block used games -- analyst

Sony won't try to block used games on its PlayStation 4, despite a patent application indicating plans to the contrary, one analyst says.

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter, who has followed the industry for years and conducts research on a wide range of game companies, said in a note to investors yesterday that any claim that Sony would try to block used games on its next console fails to realize that the company "benefits little from a unilateral decision to block games."

"Sony would be materially hurt if its console blocked used games and competitor consoles from Microsoft and Nintendo did not," Pachter wrote. "The
Wii U is already on the market with no used game prohibition, and we believe that Microsoft would take advantage of Sony's prospective decision to block used games by marketing that its own next generation did NOT block used games."

Pachter went on to say that an unidentified Sony "senior official" has said that the company "has no desire to limit consumer choice."

Used games have long been a concern for developers. Though developers and publishers generate revenue off the sale of new titles, they see nothing from used games. Several prominent developers over the years have decried the practice, which benefits retailers like GameStop.

Sony's technology, which was documented in a patent application that popped up yesterday, attaches contactless RF "tags" to each game and a
PlayStation 4 user's player account. As long as the tag and the player account match up, the game can be played. A used title, which would be purchased by another user, and thus would be connected to a separate player account, would not be playable.

After the patent was discovered, GameStop, which generates a large portion of business from used games, saw its shares slide nearly $1. Pachter said today that the shareholder sell-off was "overblown," and he believes the games retailer will have a strong 2013. Over the next 12 months, Pachter expects GameStop's price to hit $33. The company's shares are currently trading at $24.74.

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House passes $9.7B Sandy relief bill

The House today passed a bill approving more than $9 billion in aid for regions impacted by superstorm Sandy, the first of two Sandy relief measures making their way through Congress between now and the end of the month.

The measure, which allows FEMA to temporarily increase the National Flood Insurance program's borrowing limit by $9.7 billion, needed two thirds support to pass through the House.

On January 15, the first full day of legislative business on Capitol Hill, House Speaker John Boehner is expected to bring up a vote for additional Sandy relief measures totaling the remaining $51 billion requested by President Obama.

The House was expected to vote on a Sandy relief package earlier this week, before the close of the 112th Congress. But after the House passed a Democrat-crafted deal to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff" -- a deal many Republicans disliked due to a lack of spending cuts and an increase in tax rates -- Boehner pulled the Sandy legislation at the last minute.

His decision was met with outrage on both sides of the aisle, and Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie lashed out at the speaker in a press conference the following day. Several House Republicans also threatened to vote against Boehner's bid to be re-elected Speaker of the House.

In light of the backlash, Boehner quickly scheduled the $9.7 billion flood insurance package for today and pledged to conduct a vote on the remaining funds on January 15.

The first portion of Sandy aid was expected to pass, though there were objections among conservative Republicans. The Club for Growth sent out a press release urging House members to vote "no" on the bill, arguing that "Congress should not allow the federal government to be involved in the flood insurance industry in the first place, let alone expand the national flood insurance program's authority."

Republican Jeb Hensarling, R-Tex., also expressed his opposition to the legislation, citing general objections to the national flood insurance program as well as a desire for the $9.7 billion to be offset by reductions elsewhere.

"There is no doubt that Hurricane Sandy rendered unspeakable damage to both lives and property on our East Coast," he said in remarks on the House floor. "The tragic reality [is] the national flood insurance program is broke. It is beyond broke... Members are faced with a tragic choice of not paying contractual claims to victims who pay premiums or adding $9.7 billion to an an insane national debt that threatens our national security, our economic well-being, and our children's future."

He continued: "Emergency bills like this should not come to the floor without offsets to pay for it or structural reforms to ensure that taxpayer bailouts are never needed again. Regrettably, less than 24 hours into a new congress, there is simply not time for this."

Democrats fiercely defended the legislation, and continued to blast Republicans for stalling on the original vote. They also expressed some concern that the bill could be held up by the Senate, which is expected to pass the package by voice vote this afternoon.

"I am concerned that whatever here passes in the United States Senate," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in a press conference today. "That's why I thought, really in the interest of confidence-building, comfort to those affected by loss of life, loss of home, loss of job, loss of community, character of their community, that it would have been important just to pass that bill."

"The victims of superstorm sandy can wait no longer. It's been 11 weeks," added Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., in remarks during debate over the bill. "Haven't they suffered and waited long enough?"

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Quadruple Amputee Gets Two New Hands on Life

It's the simplest thing, the grasp of one hand in another. But Lindsay Ess will never see it that way, because her hands once belonged to someone else.

Growing up in Texas and Virginia, Lindsay, 29, was always one of the pretty girls. She went to college, did some modeling and started building a career in fashion, with an eye on producing fashion shows.

Then she lost her hands and feet.

Watch the full show in a special edition of "Nightline," "To Hold Again," TONIGHT at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC

When she was 24 years old, Lindsay had just graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University's well-regarded fashion program when she developed a blockage in her small intestine from Crohn's Disease. After having surgery to correct the problem, an infection took over and shut down her entire body. To save her life, doctors put her in a medically-induced coma. When she came out of the coma a month later, still in a haze, Lindsay said she knew something was wrong with her hands and feet.

"I would look down and I would see black, almost like a body that had decomposed," she said.

The infection had turned her extremities into dead tissue. Still sedated, Lindsay said she didn't realize what that meant at first.

"There was a period of time where they didn't tell me that they had to amputate, but somebody from the staff said, 'Oh honey, you know what they are going to do to your hands, right?' That's when I knew," she said.

After having her hands and feet amputated, Lindsay adapted. She learned how to drink from a cup, brush her teeth and even text on her cellphone with her arms, which were amputated just below the elbow.

"The most common questions I get are, 'How do you type,'" she said. "It's just like chicken-pecking."

PHOTOS: Lindsay Ess Gets New Hands

Despite her progress, Lindsay said she faced challenges being independent. Her mother, Judith Aronson, basically moved back into her daughter's life to provide basic care, including bathing, dressing and feeding. Having also lost her feet, Lindsay needed her mother to help put on her prosthetic legs.

"I've accepted the fact that my feet are gone, that's acceptable to me," Lindsay said. "My hands [are] not. It's still not. In my dreams I always have my hands."

Through her amputation recovery, Lindsay discovered a lot of things about herself, including that she felt better emotionally by not focusing on the life that was gone and how much she hated needing so much help but that she also truly depends on it.

"I'm such an independent person," she said. "But I'm also grateful that I have a mother like that, because what could I do?"

Lindsay said she found that her prosthetic arms were a struggle.

"These prosthetics are s---," she said. "I can't do anything with them. I can't do anything behind my head. They are heavy. They are made for men. They are claws, they are not feminine whatsoever."

For the next couple of years, Lindsay exercised diligently as part of the commitment she made to qualify for a hand transplant, which required her to be in shape. But the tough young woman now said she saw her body in a different way now.

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Damascus blames "terrorists" for petrol station blast

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria on Friday said a car bomb at a crowded petrol station in Damascus on Thursday night was set off by "terrorists", a term it uses for rebels seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad.

The bomb killed 11 people and wounded 40 at a station packed with Syrians queuing for fuel, which has become scarce in the 21-month insurgency against Assad, in the second petrol station attack in the capital this week, opposition activists said.

"Terrorists ... blew up an explosive device at Qassioun Petrol Station near Hamish Hospital in Barzeh, Damascus, martyring several civilians," state news agency SANA said.

The United Nations says more than 60,000 people have been killed in the civil war, the longest, bloodiest conflict born from uprisings across the Arab world in the past two years.

Dozens of people were incinerated in an air strike as they waited for fuel at another Damascus petrol station on Wednesday, according to opposition sources.

The semi-official al-Ikhbariya television station aired its own footage from Barzeh, indicating the attack struck a government-held area. Barzeh's residents include members of the Sunni Muslim majority and religious and ethnic minorities.

The rebels hold a crescent of suburbs on the southern and eastern edges of Damascus, which have come under bombardment by government forces. Rebel forces also seized territory in Syria's north and east during advances in the second half of 2012.

The war pits rebels, mainly from the Sunni Muslim majority, against a government supported by members of Assad's Shi'ite-derived Alawite sect and some members of other minorities who fear revenge if he falls. Assad's family has ruled for 42 years since his father seized power in a coup.

Fighting has forced 560,000 Syrians to flee to neighboring countries, according to the U.N.

Lebanon, a country which has so far tried to distance itself from the conflict next door for fear it will inflame sectarian tensions, approved a plan to start registering 170,000 Syrian refugees and ask international donors for $180 million in aid.

"The Lebanese state will register the refugees...and guarantee aid and protection for the actual refugees in Lebanon," Social Affairs Minister Wael Abu Faour said after a six-hour cabinet session on Thursday night.

Most Sunni-ruled Arab states, as well as the West and Turkey have called for Assad to step down. He is supported by Russia and Shi'ite Iran.

ARMY WITHDRAWAL?

A Lebanese citizen who crossed into Syria through a mountainous frontier region said the army appeared to have withdrawn from several border posts and villages in the area.

Rebels controlled a line of border towns and villages north of the capital Damascus, stretching about 40 km (25 miles) from Yabroud south to Rankus, said the man, who did not want to be named and visited Syria on Wednesday and Thursday.

Rebels in the area reported that some of Assad's forces have pulled back to defend the main north-south highway linking Syria's main cities of Damascus, Homs, Hama and Aleppo, while others were sent to reinforce the northern approach to Damascus.

"The border is controlled by the Free Syrian Army rebels," he said on Friday, adding he had crossed through mountainous terrain, covered in parts by more than a meter of snow.

(Additional reporting by Dominic Evans in Beirut and Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Amman; Editing by Jason Webb)

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Cognitive science can help educators devise better learning strategies: Education Minister

SINGAPORE : Cognitive science, which is the study of the mind, could become an increasingly important area of research for the Education Ministry.

Education Minister Heng Swee Keat said understanding why different students learn differently would help educators come up with better ways to help them.

What makes some dyslexic children progress better in learning to read than other dyslexic children? The answer could lie in cognitive science, an interdisciplinary field that studies how the mind works.

Mr Heng said cognitive science can help educators design better lessons.

He said: "Understanding students' individual cognitive differences is a new frontier to better devise strategies for teaching and learning.

"If we can grasp the many dimensions that make our students unique and different - be it differences in experience, behaviour or cognition - it will enable us to better help individual students learn."

Mr Heng said cognitive science can help educators understand the learning abilities of young children. An example would be the optimal age to develop abilities in areas like arts and sports, and in Singapore's case, how young children can master two languages or more.

But the Education Minister said that brain scientists and teachers need to work together to have a significant impact in the classrooms.

He said: "Educators and scientists must be able to 'cross-over', that is, work alongside and with each other to hold conversations to learn each others' paradigms and methods and to engage in joint problem solving.

"From these conversations, new questions about teaching and learning will arise, and new answers and insights can be explored and subsequently tested out for efficacy."

At the two-day CogSci Connects conference, participants will explore a variety topics, such as visual perception and how music influences learning.

Most of the 700 participants are students.

Tara Venkatesan, founder-convener of CogSci Connects, said: "The idea of the conference is really not meant to be a technical conference, it is not meant for experts. There are enough of those technical conferences for researchers.

"This is a conference about exciting people and young people specifically, because that is the future of interdisciplinary learning in Singapore and in Asia for that matter."

The conference is the first-of-its-kind in Asia that is organised by students.

- CNA/ms

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State opposes Google chairman's trip to North Korea

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt

(Credit:
Stephen Shankland/CNET)

The U.S. government is opposing Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt's plans to travel to North Korea, Reuters reported today.

According to the report, the U.S. State Department said the timing is not right for Schmidt's humanitarian mission. The trip, first reported by the Associated Press, was planned as a private trip, led by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. It was expected to take place as early as this month.

More to come.

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N.Y. county aims to keep gun permits from paper

CARMEL, N.Y. Officials in Putnam County say they will reject a newspaper's request to release the names and addresses of residents with pistol permits — a move an open government advocate calls illegal.

County Clerk Dennis Sant said officials were meeting Wednesday to discuss legal options.

In December, the Journal News published online maps that allow viewers to see the names and addresses of pistol and revolver permit holders in neighboring Westchester and Rockland counties. The newspaper sought the records under the state Freedom of Information Law after the school shooting in Newtown, Conn.

Critics called the publication an invasion of privacy; some said it could endanger permit holders.

"In Putnam County, I have over 11,000 pistol permit holders, and I refuse to put their lives and their families' lives in danger," Sant told The New York Times. "When these laws were conceived, there was no social media, there was no Google maps."

The Journal News reportedly hired armed guards at one of its offices after receiving numerous "negative" phone calls and emails about the maps.

State Sen. Greg Ball referred to Journal News editors as "elitist eggheads" and called the decision to publish the maps "asinine," the Times reported.

"I thank God that Putnam County has a clerk with the guts to stand up and draw the line here in Putnam County," said Ball, who plans to appear Thursday at a news conference with county officials.

Robert Freeman, executive director of the state's Committee on Open Government, said the suburban county outside New York City would be violating state law if it withholds the information. "The name and address of any gun licensee are public," he said.

The newspaper stands by the project.

"We believe the law is clear that this is public information and the residents of Putnam County are entitled to see it," said Journal News President and Publisher Janet Hasson. "We're troubled that county officials have apparently switched their position since we first requested the information."

Freeman said the Journal News could appeal a denial, which would be heard within Putnam County government. If a second denial occurred, the newspaper could ask a judge to decide.

The Journal News, a Gannett Co. newspaper covering three counties in the Hudson Valley and operating the website lohud.com, ran an 1,800-word story headlined, "The gun owner next door: What you don't know about the weapons in your neighborhood."

The story included comments from both sides of the gun rights debate and presented the data as answering the concerns of those who would like to know whether there are guns in their neighborhood.

Also on Wednesday, The Journal News reported that emergency officials responded to their office Wednesday afternoon after one of their employees opened an envelope in the mail containing a suspicious white powder.

The newspaper said there were no evacuations and the employee underwent decontamination procedures.

White Plains Public Safety Commissioner David Chong told the newspaper that preliminary tests determined the substance to be non-toxic.

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Senate Swears in Historic 20th Female Senator

Today the Senate will make history, swearing in a record-breaking 20 female senators -- four Republicans and 16 Democrats -- in office.

As the 113th Congress is sworn in today on Capitol Hill, ABC "World News" anchor Diane Sawyer has an exclusive joint interview with the historic class of female senators.

Diane Sawyer's complete interview will air on "World News" and "Nightline" tonight.

"I can't tell you the joy that I feel in my heart to look at these 20 gifted and talented women from two different parties, different zip codes to fill this room," Sen. Barbara Mikulksi, D-Md., said while surrounded by the group of women senators. "In all of American history only 16 women had served. Now there are 20 of us."

Senator-elect Deb Fischer, R-Neb., today becomes the first women to be elected as a senator in Nebraska.

"It was an historic election," Fischer said, "But what was really fun about it were the number of mothers and fathers who brought their daughters up to me during the campaign and said, "Can we get a picture? Can we get a picture?' Because people realize it and -- things do change, things do change."

Tammy Baldwin Becomes First Openly Gay Senator Watch Video

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The women senators all agree that women will be getting things done in this new Congress, a sign of optimism felt for the new Congress, after the bruising battles of the 112th Congress.

"We're in force and we're in leadership positions, but it's not just the position that we hold. I can tell you this is a can-do crowd," Mikulski said of both Democrats and Republican senators in the room. "We are today ready to be a force in American politics."

And while the number of women in the Senate today makes history, many of the women agreed that they want to keep fighting to boost those numbers.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said that women are still "underrepresented" in the Senate.

"I think that until we get to 50, we still have to fight because it's still a problem," Boxer said. "I think this class as you look around, Republicans and Democrats. ... I think that because of this new class and the caliber of the people coming and the quality of the people coming, I think that hopefully in my lifetime -- and I really do hope and pray this is the case -- we will see 50 percent. "

No Sorority Here, Even With the Will to Work Together

The cooperation does not make them a "sorority," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., says. There are real differences in ideology and personality and they don't want their gender to define them as senators.

But the women also admit that they believe having more women in the room would help in fierce negotiations, compromise and legislating on Capitol Hill, traits they say do not come as naturally to their male colleagues in the Senate. That sentiment enjoys bipartisan support among the women of the Senate.

"What I find is with all due deference to our male colleagues, that women's styles tend to be more collaborative," Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said by nature women are "less confrontational." Sen-elect Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, says that women are "problem solvers."

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., says that women have a camaraderie which helps in relationships that are key to negotiations on Capitol Hill, something she says comes natural to women more than men.

"I think there's just a lot of collaboration between the women senators and... advice and really standing up for each other that you don't always see with the men," she said.

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