Canadian police have released new videos showing the
moments before the deadly attack on the country's parliament in Ottawa,
saying that the slain suspect is likely to have acted alone.
Authorities also said on Thursday that they believed 32-year old Michael Zehaf-Bibeau was planning to travel to Syria.
The grainy surveillance camera video showed a man rushing out of a
vehicle, brandishing a firearm, as several people in the nearby street
scrambled for cover.
Earlier on Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper told
parliament members that his government would speed up plans to bolster
laws on "surveillance and arrest" following the attack.
Zehaf-Bibeau was shot dead after storming into the main parliament
building shortly after killing Nathan Cirillo, a soldier guarding the
nearby national war memorial.
Parliament opened with applause for the sergeant who shot Zehaf-Bibeau, and a moment's silence for the dead soldier.
"The objective of these attacks was to instill fear and panic in our
country," Harper said. "Canadians will not be intimidated. We will be
vigilant, but we will not run scared. We will be prudent but we will not
panic."
Mother 'crying for victims'
According to family members and friends, the suspect's past included robbery and drug offenses.
The mother of the attacker said she was crying for the victims of the shooting, not her son.
"Can you ever explain something like this?'' Susan Bibeau said in an interview with the Associated Press. "We are sorry.''
"If I'm crying it's for the people. Not for my son."
"I am mad at my son," she said in a separate email to the agency. "I,
his mother, spoke with him last week over lunch, I had not seen him
for over five years before that,'' the email said. "So I have very
little insight to offer."
She said that no words could express the sadness she and her husband were feeling over the death of the soldier
"We are so sad that a man lost his life. He ... leaves behind a
family that must feel nothing but pain and sorrow. We send our deepest
condolences to them although words seem pretty useless. We are both
crying for them."
"We also wish to apologise for all the pain, fright and chaos he [Zehaf-Bibeau] created. We have no explanation to offer."
The Ottawa attack came two days after another man, whom Harper described as an "ISIL-inspired terrorist" ran over two soldiers in a car park in Quebec, killing one and injuring another before being shot and killed by police.
The First Lady Michelle Obama posts a Vine showing her throwing some moves
with a turnip to promote her healthy living campaign.
This could be the epitome of mum dancing.
During a Vine Q & A session to promote her healthy living Let's Move!
campaign, Michelle
Obama was asked how many calories she burned "when you turn up."
Cue the First Lady recording a clip of her dancing to Lil Jon's 'Turn Down for
What?' and giving it a foody twist.
The cringe-worthy clip is irresistible and has gone viral since it was posted
late on Tuesday.
Scotland
has voted against ending its 307-year-old union with England and Wales,
with the Scottish National party conceding defeat in the historic
referendum.
The result was mathematically certain to be a victory
for the Better Together campaign after 30 of Scotland's 32 local
authorities declared, including the major cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh
and Aberdeen. An estimated 55% of voters are expected to reject First
Minister Alex Salmond's prospectus for independence when all the results
are declared.
The yes campaign scored four big successes, winning
53% in the largest city of Glasgow, 54% in West Dunbartonshire, 57% in
Dundee and 51% in North Lanarkshire.
However, the no camp was
victorious in 26 authorities. It won overwhelmingly in areas where it
was expected to do well, including Edinburgh, Aberdeenshire and Borders,
but also in areas that could have gone to the yes campaign, including
Falkirk, Inverclyde, Eilean Siar and Clackmannanshire.
Awaking to a likely victory for Better Together, David Cameron, the
prime minister, tweeted that he had spoken to Labour former chancellor
Alistair Darling, leader of the no campaign, and congratulated him on a
"well-fought campaign".
The outcome was a deep disappointment to the vocal, enthusiastic
pro-independence movement led by the Scottish first minister, Alex
Salmond, who had seen an opportunity to turn a centuries-old nationalist
dream into reality, and forced the three main British parties into
panicked promises to grant substantial new power to the Scottish
Parliament.
The decision spared Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain a shattering
defeat that would have raised questions about his ability to continue
in office and diminished his nation’s standing in the world.
But
while the result preserved a union molded in 1707, it left Mr. Cameron
facing a backlash among some of his Conservative Party lawmakers. They
were angered by the promises of greater Scottish autonomy that he and
other party leaders made just days before the vote, when it appeared
that the independence campaign might win. Some lawmakers called for
similar autonomy for England itself, and even the creation of a separate
English Parliament.
The
outcome headed off the huge economic, political and military
imponderables that would have flowed from a vote for independence. But
it also presaged a looser, more federal United Kingdom. And it was
unlikely to deter Scottish nationalists from trying again.
The
passion of the campaign also left Scots divided, and Mr. Salmond was
expected to call later on Friday for reconciliation after a vibrant
exercise in democracy that had episodes of harshness and even
intimidation.
President
Obama had made little secret of his desire that the United Kingdom
remain intact. Indeed, Britain had long prided itself on a so-called
special relationship with the United States, and Britain’s allies had
been concerned by, among other things, Mr. Salmond’s vow to evict
Britain’s nuclear submarine bases from Scotland, threatening London’s
role in Western defenses.
As
the vote approached, the margin between the two camps narrowed to a few
percentage points, and at one point, the “yes” campaign seemed to have
the momentum.
That
was enough to alarm Britain’s political leaders from the three main
parties in the Westminster Parliament in London. In a rare show of
unity, they promised to extend significant new powers of taxation to
Scotland, while maintaining a formula for public spending that many
English voters saw as favoring Scots with a higher per-capita
contribution.
The Ebola outbreak which has resulted in over 930 deaths in West
Africa has officially been declared a global health emergency by the
World Health Organisation.
The outbreak has been placed in the category of "public health
emergencies of international concern" at an emergency meeting in Geneva.
WHO officials called the spread of the disease an "extraordinary
event" and said the possible global consequences were "particularly
serious", the BBC reports.
The announcement will trigger a "coordinated international response"
which will aim to contain and control the deadly outbreak. However,
action would stop short of a widespread ban on travel or trade.
Containment of the disease is becoming "impossible for these
governments to handle themselves", Stephen Morrison, the director of the
Global Health Policy Centre at the Centre for Strategic and
International Studies.
While health officials at the WHO said the threat was serious, they
also said "it is an infection which can be controlled". Much of the
blame of the spread of the disease has been placed on the region's poor
public health infrastructure.
Ebola virus factfile
What is the Ebola virus and what are the symptoms?
The World Health Organization describes Ebola as "a severe acute
viral illness". Early symptoms are similar to malaria and include the
sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, diarrhoea,
vomiting and both internal and external bleeding.
Is there a cure?
There is no known cure or vaccine for the virus and the disease kills
between 25 and 90 per cent of its victims. The only treatment doctors
can offer is "supportive intensive care" such as rehydration of infected
patients under strict quarantine.
Where did it come from?
Scientists believe it was initially present in wild animals such as
fruit bats living in tropical rainforests in equatorial Africa. The
disease spread to humans when they came into contact with the organs,
blood or other bodily fluids from infected animals through hunting.
How is it spread?
Ebola is highly infectious. It can be transmitted through contact
with the blood, bodily fluids and organs, including skin, of sufferers
or through indirect contact with environments contaminated by the
disease. The disease can also have a long incubation period, up to three
weeks, which allows it to spread rapidly before diagnosis and
quarantine can take place.
Eight months after the BJP named him its prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, 63, proved he was worth the opposition the party originally encountered over its decision. Mr Modi has delivered the BJP's best result ever, giving it more than the 272 seats it needs to form a government. This is the first parliamentary majority by a single party since 1984.
Here's a summary of a big day in Indian politics:
The Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi has swept to power in India after his Bharatiya Janata Party secured an election victory by an unexpectedly wide margin. The BJP is on course to win on a scale not seen since in an Indian election since 1984.
Modi declared victory in a tweet which claimed "India has won". He also promised "good days are coming" after a lucratively financed pro-business campaign. The message quickly became India's most retweeted Twitter posting.
In his a victory speech Modi sought to dispel fears that he would be a divisive figure. "We have a responsibility to take everyone with us," he told an ecstatic rally in his constituency of Vadodara. The hardline Hindu group, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sena, which helped Modi to victory said it would not seek to run his government by "remote control".
Outgoing prime minister, Manmohan Singh, who had warned that Modi would be a disaster for India, congratulated his anointed successor in a telephone call. Singh's Congress Party slumped to its worst ever election results.
The result represents a crushing blow for Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi and has raised questions about the future of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. Even in the Amethi constituency, considered a Gandhi stronghold, loyalties were wavering during the campaign. Gandhi said he took responsibility for the defeat. "The Congress has done pretty badly, there is a lot for us to think about. As vice president of the party I hold myself responsible," he told a press conference.
There were mixed results for India's female regional leaders. In Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa Jayaram's party, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, was leading in 37 of 39 seats. And in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee is reported to have won 34 seats so far. But the controversial chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati Kumari, was facing a wipe out.
India's anti-corruption champion Arvind Kejriwal failed to win a seat. "It was a good start for us for a first election ... but we are disappointed with the results in Delhi," a visibly disappointed Kejriwal told reporters.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa will inaugurate the World Conference on Youth (WCF) 2014 at the Magampura Ruhunupura International Conference Centre at 9 a.m. today.
This is the first time that the WYC is being hosted by an Asian country. United Nations General Assembly President Dr. John W. Ashe and UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth Ahmad Al Hindawi arrived in Colombo yesterday to participate in the event.
Addressing the media at the Information Department yesterday, National Youth Services Council Chairman and WCY official media spokesman Lalith Piyum Perera said Dr. Ash is the first UN special delegate to visit Sri Lanka after seven years since UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon visited the country for the assessment of tsunami recovery in 2007.
According to the Chairman, 13 Youth Affairs Ministers representing Fiji, Cuba, Ambon, Algeria, Myanmar, Nepal, Afghanistan, Seychelles, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Donga, Crimea and Bulgaria had arrived yesterday. UN regional directors and deputy directors will also be in Sri Lanka for the conference. Youth delegates numbering 375 from 94 countries had already arrived in Sri Lanka. The first International Conference on Youth was held in 1936. Since then, 14 conferences have been held so far. The last was held in Mexico with the participation of 107 countries.
It will be an event where Sri Lanka geo-spatial community share their ideas related to role of open source GIS tools in Sri Lankan GIS context in a simple and informal setting.
Join us and be part of open source GIS community of Sri Lanka!
Date : Sunday 23rd February 2014
Time : 9.00 a.m- 4.00 p.m.
Venue : Hall D202 , Sri Lanka institute of Information Technology, New Kandy road, Malabe
Nelson Mandela, the revered South African anti-apartheid icon who spent 27 years in prison, led his country to democracy and became its first black president, died Thursday at home. He was 95.
"He is now resting," said South African President Jacob Zuma. "He is now at peace."
"Our nation has lost its greatest son," he continued. "Our people have lost a father."
A state funeral will be held, and Zuma called for mourners to conduct themselves with "the dignity and respect" that Mandela personified.
"Wherever we are in the country, wherever we are in the world ... let us reaffirm his vision of a society in which none is exploited, oppressed or dispossessed by another," he said as tributes began pouring in from across the world.
President Obama said his first political action was an anti-apartheid protest inspired by Mandela, who "achieved more than could be expected of any man."
“I cannot fully imagine my own life without the example Nelson Mandela set," he said.
Obama called Zuma on Thursday evening to express his heartfelt condolences, according to the White House.
Though he was in power for only five years, Mandela was a figure of enormous moral influence the world over – a symbol of revolution, resistance and triumph over racial segregation.
He inspired a generation of activists, left celebrities and world leaders star-struck, won the Nobel Peace Prize and raised millions for humanitarian causes.
South Africa is still bedeviled by challenges, from class inequality to political corruption to AIDS. And with Mandela’s death, it has lost a beacon of optimism.
In his jailhouse memoirs, Mandela wrote that even after spending so many years in a Spartan cell on Robben Island – with one visitor a year and one letter every six months – he still had faith in human nature.
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion,” he wrote in “Long Walk to Freedom.”
“People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
Actor Paul Walker, 40, and another person are killed in a single car accident in Valencia.
Actor Paul Walker, who gained fame as an undercover detective in the hugely successful "The Fast and the Furious" franchise, was killed Saturday in a car accident in Valencia, his representatives confirmed. The single vehicle crash occurred about 3:30 p.m. in the 28300 block of Rye Canyon Loop. Deputies from the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff's station and the Los Angeles County Fire Department arrived to find a vehicle engulfed in flames. Two people in the vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene. According to a statement on his Twitter account, Walker, 40, was attending a charity event to aid Filipino victims of Typhoon Haiyan for his organization Reach Out Worldwide, formed in 2010 as a quick response first-aid organization.
"It is with a truly heavy heart that we must confirm that Paul Walker passed away today in a tragic car accident while attending a charity event for his organization Reach Out Worldwide," the statement read. "He was a passenger in a friend's car, in which both lost their lives. We appreciate your patience as we too are stunned and saddened beyond belief by this news."
Officials with the Los Angeles County coroner's office said they were still at the scene and could not confirm the names of either victim.
Representatives with Universal Pictures confirmed Walker's identity and released a statement:
"All of us at Universal are heartbroken. Paul was truly one of the most beloved and respected members of our studio family for 14 years, and this loss is devastating to us, to everyone involved with the 'Fast and Furious' films, and to countless fans. We send our deepest and most sincere condolences to Paul's family."
At the time of his death, Walker, who also starred in "Pleasantville" and "Varsity Blues," was working on the seventh film of the "Fast and Furious" franchise.
One Florida woman has taken to a whole new approach to getting what she wants.
Christina Andrews is not happy with her breasts and is looking for a change but instead of forking up the funds herself to purchase a new pair, she’s begging on the roadside.
"I just want bigger boobs, because I'm not happy with the ones that I have," the woman told a local TV station while brandishing her homemade sign.
"I figured this was a good way to do it. People put out signs that they’re homeless. I'm not...I’m just being honest."
Andrews has managed to raise some money for surgery already but we’re not sure how much...
Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has arrived in Moscow Airport, where he remains in the transit area. He added that Snowden's arrival was unexpected but that he will not be extradited. It comes after Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, bluntly rejected U.S. demands to extradite Snowden, insisting that Russia has nothing to do with the whistleblower or his travel plans. Lavrov lashed out angrily at Washington for demanding the extradition and warning of negative consequences if Moscow fails to comply. China has also hit back at U.S. accusations that it facilitated the departure of Snowden from Hong Kong saying they were 'groundless and unacceptable'. A foreign ministry spokeswoman said the Hong Kong government had handled the former US intelligence officer's case in accordance with the law.
The U.S. State Department said diplomats and Justice Department officials were engaged in discussions with Russia, suggesting they were looking for a deal to secure his return. 'Given our intensified cooperation working with Russia on law enforcement matters ... we hope that the Russian government will look at all available options to return Mr. Snowden back to the U.S. to face justice for the crimes with which he is charged,' spokesman Patrick Ventrell told reporters. Snowden flew to Moscow after being allowed to leave Hong Kong on Sunday, even though Washington had asked the Chinese territory to detain him pending his possible extradition on espionage charges. Julian Assange, founder of anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks which is assisting Snowden, said the 30-year-old had fled to Moscow en route to Ecuador and was in good health in a 'safe place' but did not say where he was now. Ecuador, like Cuba and Venezuela, is a member of the ALBA bloc, an alliance of leftist governments in Latin America that pride themselves on their 'anti-imperialist' credentials.
Richard Griffiths died after complications following heart surgery. Photograph: Getty
Richard Griffiths, the award-winning actor famous for his roles in Withnail & I and Harry Potter, has died following complications after heart surgery. The celebrated stage and screen star, one of Britain's best-known character actors, was 65.
Tributes poured in for the actor, who died on Thursday at the University Hospital of Coventry and Warwickshire. Daniel Radcliffe, who starred alongside Griffiths in the Harry Potter films, said the actor made any room "twice as funny".
Radcliffe said Griffiths had supported him at two key points in his career, when he first played the young Harry Potter and later when he made his stage debut in Equus.
"In August 2000, before official production had even begun on Potter, we filmed a shot outside the Dursleys', which was my first ever shot as Harry. I was nervous and he made me feel at ease," he said.
"Seven years later we embarked on Equus together. It was my first time doing a play but, terrified as I was, his encouragement, tutelage and humour made it a joy. In fact, any room he walked into was made twice as funny and twice as clever just by his presence. I am proud to say I knew him."
Richard E Grant, who played the title role in Withnail & I, paid tribute to his late co-star on Twitter. He wrote: "My beloved 'Uncle Monty' Richard Griffiths died last night. Chin-Chin my dear friend."
Griffiths was feted for his roles as Withnail's eccentric Uncle Monty in the cult classic and Hector, the unconventional teacher in Alan Bennett's play The History Boys, for which he won the Laurence Olivier Award for best actor, the Drama Desk Award for outstanding actor in a play, the Outer Critics Circle Award for best featured actor in a play, and a Tony Award for best performance by a leading actor in a play.
He gained widespread fame as grumpy Uncle Vernon in the Harry Potter films and was much loved as disillusioned police officer and pie chef, Inspector Henry Crabbe, in the successful TV detective drama series Pie In The Sky.
Sir Nicholas Hytner, director of the National Theatre, said Griffiths' "army of friends" would be devastated by his unexpected death. "Richard Griffiths wasn't only one of the most loved and recognisable British actors – he was also one of the very greatest," he said.
"His performance in The History Boys was quite overwhelming: a masterpiece of wit, delicacy, mischief and desolation, often simultaneously. But that was just one small part of a career that spanned Shakespeare, cutting-edge new plays and major work in film and television."
Hytner, who directed Griffiths in The History Boys and The Habit Of Art, added: "His currency as an actor was truth; as a colleague it was hilarity. His anecdotes were legendary. They were, literally, endless. They would go on for hours, apparently without destination, constantly side-splitting.
"The only way to stop them was to tell him you were walking away, though there were always others in the audience so, as far as I know, he never stopped. He was the life of every party."
Thea Sharrock, who directed Griffiths in Equus, Heroes and Sunshine Boys, said: "I worked with Richard more times than any other actor. Everybody knew he was my favourite. He was the most tender, gentle, kind, generous, loving man. His curiosity was unending, as was his striving for perfection. I cannot imagine a world without all those stories. I will miss him so very, very much."
The producers of Heroes and Equus, David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers, said the actor was a "great man, a great character, a great talent greatly missed".
Griffiths, the son of a steelworker, was born in Thornaby-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, in 1947 were he cared for his deaf parents. He left school at 15 but later studied drama, before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company. He married Heather Gibson in 1980 after they met during a production of Lady Windermere's Fan in 1973.
His portly stature, which made him instantly recognisable on screen, was thought to have been caused by medication he was given as a youngster. He was awarded an OBE for services to drama in 2007.
His agent, Simon Beresford, said his thoughts were with Griffiths' wife and family. "Richard brightened my days and enriched the life of anyone he came into contact with. On stage he allowed us to share in our own humanity and constantly question our differences," he said.
"Richard gave acting a good name. He was a remarkable man and one of our greatest and best-loved actors. He will be greatly missed."
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died on Tuesday after a two-year battle with cancer, ending 14 years of tumultuous rule that made the socialist leader a hero for the poor but a hate figure to his opponents.
The flamboyant 58-year-old had undergone four operations in Cuba for a cancer that was first detected in his pelvic region in mid-2011. His last surgery was on December 11 and he had not been seen in public since.
"We have just received the most tragic and awful information. At 4.25 p.m. (03.55 p.m. EST) today March the 5th, President Hugo Chavez Frias died," Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced in a televised address, his voice choking.
"It's a moment of deep pain," he said in the address, in which he appeared with senior ministers.
Chavez easily won a new six-year term at an election in October and his death will devastate millions of supporters who adored his charismatic style, anti-U.S. rhetoric and oil-financed policies that brought subsidized food and free health clinics to long-neglected slums.
Detractors, however, saw his one-man style, gleeful nationalizations and often harsh treatment of opponents as traits of an egotistical dictator whose misplaced statist economics wasted a historic bonanza of oil revenues.
Chavez's death opens the way for a new election that will test whether his socialist "revolution" can live on without his dominant personality at the helm.
VICE PRESIDENT MADURO FAVORITE TO WIN ELECTION
The vote should be held within 30 days and will likely pit Maduro against Henrique Capriles, the centrist opposition leader and state governor who lost to Chavez in the October election.
One recent opinion poll gave Maduro a strong lead.
Maduro is Chavez's preferred successor, enjoys support among many of the working class and could benefit from an inevitable surge of emotion in the coming days.
But the president's death could also trigger in-fighting in a leftist coalition that ranges from hard-left intellectuals to army officers and businessmen.
Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves and some of the most heavily traded bonds, so investors will be highly sensitive to any signs of political instability.
A defeat for Maduro would bring major changes to Venezuela and could also upend its alliances with Latin American countries that have relied on Chavez's oil-funded largesse - most notably with communist-led Cuba, which recovered from financial ruin in the 1990s thanks largely to Chavez's aid.
Chavez was a garrulous figurehead for a global "anti-imperialist" alliance stretching as far as Belarus and Iran, and he will be sorely missed by anti-U.S. agitators.
Maduro said he would ensure the future of Chavez's work.
"We call on all compatriots to guarantee the peace. We, his civil and military compatriots, assume the legacy of Hugo Chavez," Maduro said.
"His project, his flags will be raised with honor and dignity. Commander, thank you, thank you so much, on behalf of these people whom you protected."
After the cancer was diagnosed in June 2011, Chavez went through several cycles of disappearing from the public eye for weeks at a time for treatment in Havana, only to return just as his adversaries were predicting his demise.
His health weakened severely just after his re-election on October 7, possibly due to his decision to campaign for a third term instead of stepping aside to focus on his recovery.
HUMBLE ROOTS
Chavez was raised by his grandmother in a house with a mud floor in rural Venezuela and evoked almost religious passion among poor supporters who loved his folksy charm, common touch and determination to put the nation's oil wealth at their service.
He burst onto the national scene by leading an attempted coup in 1992. It failed and he was imprisoned, but he then formed a political party on his release two years later and swept to power in a 1998 election.
It was the first of four presidential election victories, built on widespread support among the poor.
But Chavez alienated investors with waves of takeovers and strict currency controls, often bullied his rivals, and disappointed some followers who say he focused too much on ideological issues at the expense of day-to-day problems such power cuts, high inflation and crime.
Chavez built a highly centralized political system around his larger-than-life image and his tireless, micro-managing style created something close to a personality cult. He was particularly adept at exploiting divisions within a fractious opposition.
Chavez was briefly toppled in a coup in 2002, but returned triumphantly after his supporters took to the streets.
Apparently realizing the end was nigh, Chavez named Maduro his successor in December, just before his fourth operation, which followed months of grueling chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
MADURO'S PROSPECTS
On February 18, Chavez made a surprise pre-dawn return from Cuba and was taken to a ninth-floor suite of a military hospital in Caracas, surrounded by tight security.
The government published a handful of pictures of Chavez lying in a hospital bed while he was still in Havana - the only time he was seen since the latest surgery. Supporters held tearful vigils around the country to pray for his recovery.
Maduro, 50, will now focus on marshalling support from Chavez's diverse coalition, which includes leftist ideologues, businessmen, and radical armed groups called "colectivos".
Seeking to knock down rumors of tensions at the top of the ruling Socialist Party (PSUV), Maduro has stressed the unity between him and Diosdado Cabello, a powerful former army buddy of Chavez who heads the National Assembly.
Maduro is a former bus driver who rose from union activist to foreign minister and then to president-in-waiting. He won Chavez's confidence by meticulously echoing his vitriolic rhetoric and never airing a dissenting opinion.
Maduro has mimicked Chavez's rabble-rousing style in appearances in recent weeks, peppering speeches with insults aimed at adversaries.
Capriles, Maduro's likely opponent, is a 40-year-old governor of Miranda state who led a hard-fought campaign against Chavez in the October election.
There are clear ideological differences between the 20 or so groups in the opposition's Democratic Unity coalition and without their enmity to Chavez to bind them, the alliance could splinter.
Until recently, polls had shown Capriles would beat any of Chavez's proteges. But the naming of Maduro as Chavez's heir, and the outpouring of emotion that will accompany Chavez's death, have changed the picture.
A survey carried out by local pollster Hinterlaces between January 30 and February 9 gave Maduro 50-percent support, compared to 36 percent for Capriles.
Wall Street investors, who would like to see a more pro-business government in Caracas but have been keen buyers of high-yielding Venezuelan bonds, will be watching closely.
Tributes began pouring in from abroad.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon offered his "deepest condolences" to the people of Venezuela, while Russia's U.N. ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters:
"It's a tragedy. He was a great politician."
[courtesy : Routers ]
While there is no chance that asteroid 2012 DA14 will hit Earth this Friday (Feb. 15), the asteroid's flyby is history-making for several other reasons.
For one thing, scientists will have the unprecedented chance to get an up close and personal view of the near-Earth asteroid, which is half the size of a football, as it passes by the planet at a distance of just 17,200 miles (27,000 kilometers).
What do we know about asteroid 2012 DA14?
Asteroid 2012 DA14 is a little guy, compared to some asteroids, although its size has not been pinned down precisely. It is thought to be about 45 meters across (nearly 150 feet across), with an estimated mass of about 130,000 metric tons.
If a space object 150 feet wide were to strike our planet, it wouldn’t be Earth-destroying. But it has been estimated that it would produce the equivalent of 2.4 megatons of TNT. How does that compare with other known impact events on Earth? In 1908, in a remote part of Russia, an explosion killed reindeer and flattened trees. But no crater was ever found. Scientists now believe a small comet struck Earth. That event has been estimated at 3 to 20 megatons. So 2012 DA14 is in the same approximate realm as the Tunguska comet (which, actually, might have been an asteroid instead). It would not destroy Earth, but it could flatten a city.
Of course, about 70% of our world is covered by oceans. That means the most likely landing spot of any incoming asteroid is in the water – not on a city or other populated area.
Astronomers at the Observatorio Astronómico de La Sagra in Spain discovered 2012 DA14 in early 2012. We know 2012 DA14′s orbit is similar to that of Earth. That is one reason the asteroid eluded astronomers until recently. You can be sure that many astronomers are carefully tracking 2012 DA14 now.
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