BEIJING (Reuters) - China's plan to spend $6.5 trillion on urbanization to bolster the economy is running into snags, sources close to the government said, as top leaders fear another spending binge could push up local debt levels and inflate a property bubble.
Premier Li Keqiang has rejected an urbanization proposal drafted by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), seeking changes to put more emphasis on economic reform, according to the sources, who are familiar with the matter.
Many local authorities have already lobbied to get funding for projects, ringing alarm bells among top leaders in Beijing.
State-owned China Development Bank recently pledged to lend 150 billion yuan ($24.47 billion) to southeastern Fujian province to support its urbanization and channel 30 billion yuan into urban projects in central Anhui province, according to Chinese media.
"The urbanization plan could be delayed. Top leaders have seen potential risks if the program cannot be kept on the right path," said an economist at a top think-tank which advises the cabinet.
"The leadership aims to jumpstart reforms, but local governments see this in a different perspective - they view this as the last opportunity to boost investment," said the economist who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
China plans to spend some 40 trillion yuan ($6.5 trillion) to bring 400 million people to its cities over the next decade as leaders such as Li try to sustain economic growth that slowed to a 13-year low of 7.8 percent in 2012.
Li, the driving force behind urbanization, has turned more cautious following warnings from leading academics over the risks, said the think-tank sources who are involved in the policy discussions.
The NDRC is racing against the clock to amend the long-term plan in a bid to publish it by the end of June.
STIMULUS HANGOVER
Beijing is still nursing a hangover from its 4 trillion yuan stimulus package launched in 2008 to counter the global financial crisis, which left local governments under a mountain of debt and sent house prices rocketing.
To fund the urbanization plan, local governments would issue long-term bonds to finance spending on roads, housing and social safety nets, Reuters reported in March, quoting sources with ties to the leadership.
But a fiscal overhaul is needed because local governments don't have steady tax revenues to back the issuance of bonds. Under China's tax structure, in place since 1994, the central government gets most receipts while local governments do the spending, forcing them to rely on land sales for survival.
To support the process, Beijing needed to overhaul its land and tax codes as well as free up the rigid residency registration, or "hukou", system to give migrant workers access to education, health and other services where they work, experts have said. Li wanted more detail on these sorts of reforms in the plan, the sources said.
"The focus of the urbanization drive should be land and hukou reforms. It's doomed if China continues to rely on local government spending to support urbanization," said Yi Xianrong, senior economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), a leading government think-tank in Beijing.
Ratings agency Fitch estimates local government debt at 13 trillion yuan, or a quarter of GDP. Government data puts the number at 10.7 trillion yuan.
China's housing inflation accelerated to its fastest pace in April in two years, despite stricter measures by Beijing to calm a frothy real estate market.
"RIDING A TIGER"
The government hopes 60 percent of China's population of almost 1.4 billion will be urban residents by 2020.
China's official urbanization rate is near 53 percent, but the real level is only around 35 percent as millions of migrant workers have been artificially included in the urban population, sparking criticism of "fake urbanization".
Some analysts are looking for guidance from a key meeting of the ruling Communist Party, expected in October, that will set the agenda for the next decade. Others are not so sure.
"I don't expect any policy breakthroughs this year as government departments still have different views," said Xiang Songzuo, chief economist at the Agricultural Bank of China.
"I feel that the top leadership may not have a clear idea on how to proceed with the urbanization strategy," said Xiang, who has been advising the government on urbanization issues.
Li Yining, the premier's former teacher at Peking University, recently said Chinese banks could be dragged into another spending binge that could spark a financial crisis.
But Premier Li is unlikely to backpedal on the urbanization drive, with his interest in the issue seen as far back as the early 1990s when he wrote a doctoral thesis on the subject. One of his key arguments was to reform the hukou system.
"It's like riding a tiger - it's not easy to get off once you're on," said a government economist who declined to be identified. ($1 = 6.1311 Chinese yuan)
Immigration reform advocates pray before the start of a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting in the Senate Hart Building on May 9. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bipartisan immigration reform bill on Tuesday evening, ushering through to the full Senate a bill that would provide a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants.
The measure moved only after a controversial amendment that would have allowed same-sex couples to petition for legal status for a spouse or partner was dropped after Republicans made it clear they would not support the bill if the provision was included.
?I take the Republican sponsors of this important legislation at their word that they will abandon their own efforts if discrimination is removed from our immigration system,? Sen. Patrick Leahy explained in a statement about his decision to withdraw the amendment.
?So, with a heavy heart, and as a result of my conclusion that Republicans will kill this vital legislation if this anti-discrimination amendment is added, I will withhold calling for a vote on it. But I will continue to fight for equality.?
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer said he found it ?excruciating? to agree to drop the provision. But ?as much as it pains me, I cannot support this [LGBT] amendment if it would bring down the bill,? he said.
The committee?s final vote was 13-5. Three Republicans?Sens. Jeff Flake of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Orrin Hatch of Utah?joined with Democrats to pass the amended bill. Five Republican senators voted against the bill:? Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn of Texas, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Mike Lee of Utah and? Jeff Sessions of Alabama.
Senators Flake and Graham are members of the bipartisan Gang of Eight that drafted the legislation, with Hatch siding with the group after he secured changes to provisions for hiring of high-skilled foreign workers. Hatch?s amendment raises the minimum number of visas annually for high-skilled foreign workers?known as H-1B visas?to 115,000 from 110,000 in the bill.
It also includes a mechanism that would increase the number of visas available for foreign workers if skilled Americans are not available, and decreases the visa allowance if there is a sufficient supply of qualified American workers.
The legislation now moves to the full Senate, where debate is expected to begin after Memorial Day. The committee?s vote comes after the group debated more than 150 amendments over five days, with the Gang of Eight banding together to fend off any major changes to their original legislation. In its current form, the bill provides a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented workers, invests in border security and sets in motion a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. legal immigration.
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, one of the key champions of the bill, praised the committee?s ?extensive, open and transparent process? but conceded there was still work to be done in securing final passage.
?We have a historic opportunity to end today?s de facto amnesty and modernize our immigration system to meet our 21st century needs,? Rubio said in a statement. ?I remain optimistic that the Senate, by improving the bill through and open and deliberative floor debate, will seize this opportunity.?
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell signaled Tuesday that he wouldn?t block debate of the bill, telling reporters that the committee ?hasn?t in any fundamental way undone the agreements that were agreed by the eight senators, so I?m hopeful we can get a bill that we can pass here in the Senate.?
President Obama praised the bill?s movement to the full Senate and the work by the Gang of Eight, saying the legislation ?was ?largely consistent with the principles of commonsense reform I have proposed and meets the challenge of fixing our broken immigration system.?
?None of the Committee members got everything they wanted, and neither did I, but in the end, we all owe it to the American people to get the best possible result over the finish line,? the president said in a statement. ?I encourage the full Senate to bring this bipartisan bill to the floor at the earliest possible opportunity and remain hopeful that the amendment process will lead to further improvements.?
This week marks the first time I will be celebrating my birthday as a gluten-free, dairy-free, and refined-sugar-free person. Friends have expressed their condolences, staring into space with looks of pity (or is that horror?) as they imagine a birthday without a "real" cake. Me, on the other hand, I'm feeling energized and ready to pile my plate with a tumble of biscuits, strawberries, and cream. It's strawberry shortcake season!
To be honest, traditional birthday cakes have never been my favorite. Berries are where my heart lies, and as a child I always requested either a fruit tart or shortcake for my special day. So fresh strawberries, which hardly need any sweetener, are an ideal treat. For these shortcakes I just toss the strawberries with a tiny bit of maple syrup and lemon juice, and they're ready to go.?
Perhaps it's because I grew up in Texas with its Southern traditions, but to me a strawberry shortcake must be on a biscuit, not a sponge cake, pound cake, or any other kind of non-biscuity cake.?
Now for the non-traditional part: making it gluten-free and vegan! For the flour, I use a blend of sorghum flour, potato starch, and tapioca starch flecked with ground chia seeds, which act as a binder. Coconut milk and coconut oil give the biscuits a flaky texture and buttery flavor. Top them with coconut whipped cream and juicy strawberries, and make a wish!?
Gluten-Free and Vegan Strawberry Shortcake
Serves 4
For the biscuits: 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon coconut milk, divided 2 teaspoons maple syrup 1 teaspoon vanilla? 1 tablespoon ground chia seeds 1 cup white sorghum flour, plus more for dusting 2/3 cup potato starch 1/3 cup tapioca starch 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 3/4 teaspoon salt 5 tablespoons virgin coconut oil, cool enough to be solid but malleable
For the strawberries: 2 pints strawberries, hulled and sliced or chopped 1 tablespoon maple syrup, or more to taste 2 teaspoons lemon juice
For the cream: 1 1/2 cups (or one 13 1/2-ounce can) full-fat coconut milk, refrigerated overnight 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional) 1 teaspoon maple syrup, or more to taste (optional)
Preheat oven to 400?F.?
To make the biscuits, combine 3/4 cup coconut milk with the maple syrup and vanilla. Add the ground chia seeds and mix with a fork to make a slurry. Let sit for about 10 minutes.?
In a large bowl, whisk together the sorghum flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, baking powder, and salt. Add the coconut oil and mix with a fork until pea-size clumps form.?Stir the coconut milk slurry and add it to the bowl. Mix with a fork until just combined. Gently knead the dough a few times around the bowl until it forms a loose ball.?
Transfer the dough to a surface lightly dusted with sorghum flour. Pat the dough to 3/4-inch thick and cut into 8 (2 1/2-inch) rounds. Place the biscuits on a parchment-lined baking sheet and brush the tops with the remaining tablespoon of coconut milk. Bake until the biscuits are just golden, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. Best served warm or at the very least on the same day.?
While the biscuits are baking and cooling, prepare the strawberries and cream. Toss the strawberries with the maple syrup and lemon juice, and let macerate for at least 10 minutes before serving.?
To make the cream, remove the coconut milk from the refrigerator ? move it?carefully?to avoid agitating the contents. Scoop off the cream that has solidified at the top and place it in the bowl of a stand mixer, or a bowl if using a hand mixer. (Save the coconut water at the bottom for smoothies or other dishes.) Beat the coconut cream until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes. Mix in the vanilla and maple syrup, if using. (Can refrigerate up to 3 days and re-whip before serving.)
To serve, place a biscuit on a plate, pile with berries and cream, top with another biscuit, and add another dollop of cream.?
Recipe Notes
For a variation, substitute or mix in other fruit such as blackberries, blueberries, ?raspberries, peaches, or nectarines.?
IRS official Lois Lerner is sworn in on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2013, before the House Oversight Committee hearing to investigate the extra scrutiny IRS gave to Tea Party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status. Lerner told the committee she did nothing wrong and then invoked her constitutional right to not answer lawmakers' questions. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
IRS official Lois Lerner is sworn in on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2013, before the House Oversight Committee hearing to investigate the extra scrutiny IRS gave to Tea Party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status. Lerner told the committee she did nothing wrong and then invoked her constitutional right to not answer lawmakers' questions. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. holds up a document as he speaks to IRS official Lois Lerner on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2013, during the committee's hearing to investigate the extra scrutiny IRS gave to Tea Party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status. Lerner told the committee she did nothing wrong and then invoked her constitutional right to not answer lawmakers' questions. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
From left, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George, former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, Lois Lerner, head of the IRS unit that decides whether to grant tax-exempt status to groups, and Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin, are sworn in on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2013, prior to testifying before the House Oversight Committee hearing to investigate the extra scrutiny the Internal Revenue Service gave Tea Party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
IRS official Lois Lerner arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2013, to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing to investigate the extra scrutiny IRS gave to Tea Party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status. Lerner told the committee she did nothing wrong and then invoked her constitutional right to not answer lawmakers' questions. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
IRS official Lois Lerner arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2013, to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing to investigate the extra scrutiny IRS gave to Tea Party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status. Lerner told the committee she did nothing wrong and then invoked her constitutional right to not answer lawmakers' questions. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Internal Revenue Service official at the center of the storm over the agency's targeting of conservative groups told Congress on Wednesday that she had done nothing wrong in the episode, and then invoked her constitutional right to refuse to answer lawmakers' questions.
In one of the most electric moments since the IRS controversy erupted nearly two weeks ago, Lois Lerner defended herself during a brief appearance before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The committee is investigating the agency's improper targeting of tea party and other conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status from 2010 to 2012, and Lerner oversees the IRS office that processes applications for that designation.
"I have done nothing wrong," said a stern-looking Lerner, sitting next to three other witnesses and reading from a written statement. "I have not broken any laws. I have not violated any IRS rules or regulations and I have not provided false information to this or any other committee."
Members of Congress have angrily complained that Lerner and other high-ranking IRS officials did not inform lawmakers that conservative groups were targeted, even though legislators asked the IRS multiple times about it after local tea party groups told lawmakers they were being treated unfairly.
Lerner then said she would invoke her constitutional right to avoid incriminating herself.
"One of the basic functions of the Fifth Amendment is to protect innocent individuals, and that is the protection I am invoking today," she said.
After Oversight committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., asked her to reconsider, she said, "I will not answer any questions or testify about the subject matter of this committee's meeting."
Nine minutes after she began speaking, Issa excused Lerner but said she might be recalled, saying he might explore whether she would testify later if granted some immunity.
Lerner left the hearing room through a rear door, escorted by her lawyer and several other men. The men quickly whisked Lerner into an elevator, where several of the men physically pushed back television camera operators who were trying to film them.
Lerner's refusal to answer questions was not a surprise. Her attorney, William W. Taylor III, wrote a letter to the committee this week saying she would do so.
Issa and other members of the committee were not pleased with Lerner's decision to not testify. Even before she spoke, Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., warned the witnesses that their refusal to cooperate would result in the eventual appointment of a special prosecutor to examine the case.
"There will be hell to pay if that's the route we choose to go down," Lynch said.
Lerner revealed the agency's targeting two weeks ago and apologized for the actions. Since then, Washington has been awash in questions about why the nonpartisan IRS focused on conservative groups, who instigated it and whether it was politically motivated ? which many Republicans suspect but participants have rejected.
J. Russell George, the Treasury Department inspector general who focuses on taxes, released a report last week that detailed the targeting and called it inappropriate. He has said there is no evidence that the screening was politically motivated or that IRS officials were influenced by others, and blamed poor management by IRS officials for allowing the screening system to be instituted.
Lerner, 62, is an attorney who joined the IRS in 2001. She expressed pride in her 34-year career in federal government, which has included work at the Justice Department and Federal Election Commission, and said she currently oversees 900 workers and a budget approaching $100 million.
She has come under fire from members of both parties, including Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, who has said she should lose her job and criticized top IRS officials for not being more forthcoming.
"We're talking about truth and trust," Cummings said.
At Wednesday's hearing ? Congress' third since the controversy began ? the No. 2 Treasury Department official said his agency played no role in the episode.
"There is no indication that Treasury was involved in the inexcusable behavior at the IRS," said Deputy Secretary Neal Wolin.
Wolin told the committee that it was "absolutely unacceptable and inexcusable" that the IRS subjected tea party and other conservative groups seeking non-profit status to extra scrutiny from 2010 to 2012.
He said George told him last year "that he had undertaken an audit of the IRS's review of tax-exempt applications."
"I told him that he should follow the facts wherever they lead. I told him that our job is to stay out of the way and let him do his work," Wolin said.
Issa and other members of the committee complained repeatedly Wednesday that IRS officials had ample opportunity to tell Congress earlier about the targeting but didn't do so. Issa said his committee has privately interviewed another IRS official, Holly Paz, who said the IRS conducted an internal investigation that reached similar conclusions to George's report, but a year earlier.
"Think about it. For more than a year, the IRS knew it had inappropriately targeted groups of Americans based on their political beliefs, without mentioning it" to Congress, Issa said.
While the targeting began in early 2010, Lerner learned of it in June 2011 and ordered that the criteria be changed, according to George's report.
In early May 2012, Steven Miller, who was deputy commissioner, was told by staff that conservative groups were being inappropriately targeted, George's report said. Miller later became acting commissioner but has been ousted by President Barack Obama in the wake of the disclosures.
Staff of the Oversight Committee questioned Lerner and other IRS officials last year after receiving complaints from Ohio tea party groups that they were being mistreated by the IRS. In responses to the committee, Lerner didn't mention that tea party groups had ever been targeted, according to documents. Her responses included 45-page letters in May 2012 to Issa and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
Lerner also met twice in early 2012 with staff from the House Ways and Means oversight subcommittee to discuss the issue, according to a timeline constructed by committee staff. The timeline said she didn't mention at either meeting that conservative groups had been targeted.
Also coming under fire Wednesday for not telling Congress about the targeting was Douglas Shulman, who was IRS commissioner from 2008 until last November, while the screening was occurring. Shulman was appointed by President George W. Bush.
On Tuesday, Shulman told the Senate Finance Committee that he learned in the spring of 2012 about his agency's targeting of conservatives and George's probe. He said he didn't tell lawmakers or officials at Treasury ? of which the IRS is part ? because he only had sketchy information about the situation, was told it was being handled and believed it proper to let George's office conduct its investigation.
"When you learned that there was a list, you did nothing," said Lynch, the Massachusetts congressman.
Just a quick heads up that LG has confirmed that its May 30 event in Macau, China, indeed is for the Optimus G Pro, as we originally suspected, and not a successor to the smaller Optimus G. That makes more sense from a release-cycle standpoint, as the Optimus G is all of eight months old at this point.
In the United States, the Optimus G Pro is currently (and exclusively) available on AT&T.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Carole King isn't done with music ? not yet anyway.
The 71-year-old singer-songwriter known for such hits as "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and "You've Got A Friend" was awarded the nation's highest prize for popular music in a concert Tuesday. She received the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song at the Library of Congress and will be honored Wednesday by President Barack Obama at the White House
King told The Associated Press it's a tremendous honor to be recognized at such an historic place with a place in history that she never would have expected. King is the first woman to receive the Gershwin Prize. Previous honorees include Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon.
"It is yet another of the many important messages to young women that women matter, women make a difference," King said. "That popular music is recognized by the Library of Congress as being worthy of a place in history is especially significant to me."
A concert in King's honor Wednesday at the White House will include performances by Gloria Estefan, Billy Joel, Jesse McCartney, Emeli Sande, James Taylor and Trisha Yearwood. It will be broadcast May 28 on PBS.
Last year, King hinted that she would like to retire from music as her memoir, "A Natural Woman," began to sell. But since then, she's gone on tour in Australia and plans to sing at a benefit concert to support victims of the Boston Marathon bombings.
Now she plans to introduce a new song during the Gershwin Prize concert that she wrote with Hal David, entitled "I Believe in Loving You." She told the AP she plans to release it as a single next month as a tribute to David, who won the prize and died last year.
"I'm hoping that this will become a song that people will want to play at their weddings," she said. "It's so romantic. Hal is such a great writer, and his words live on forever."
King said she's staying too busy to retire.
This month she received an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music along with Willie Nelson and Annie Lennox. There's even a Broadway musical in the works based on King's life.
"I still feel that it would be lovely to retire, but that time is not yet here apparently," she said.
King got her start in music from the time she could barely reach the piano growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y., constantly asking her mother, "what's that note?"
The piano, she said, brought a "magical connection" for her innate interest in music. She was hooked from the start, she said.
"I think I was drawn to it and it was drawn to me. Whatever it was, it was not something I tried to manipulate," King said. "The only thing I did do was seek to have the songs heard."
King wrote her first No. 1 hit at age 17 with "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" for the Shirelles with her then-husband Gerry Goffin. Her breakout 1971 album "Tapestry" remains one of the best-selling records of all time. It is the first female solo album to reach Diamond status, surpassing 10 million copies sold. The album included No. 1s "It's Too Late" and "I Feel the Earth Move, as well as "You've Got a Friend" recorded by James Taylor.
Hundreds of artists have recorded her songs, including The Beatles, Mary J. Blige, Cher, Phil Collins, Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand and many others.
That's in part what makes King so remarkable, said Librarian of Congress James Billington.
"When the Beatles got off the plane, the first person they wanted to meet was Carole King when they first came to America," he said. "She was kind of a phenomenon among the performers themselves. That's an important endorsement."
In 1990, King and Goffin were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Singer Colbie Caillat, who performed "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" in King's honor Tuesday night, told the AP she grew up listening to King's records, especially "Tapestry," at home with her parents. She said she most admires the honesty in King's music and the simple chords that allow melodies and vocals to soar.
"When I think of her, my heart just has a warm spot because her songs just inspire me to be better as a songwriter and to be genuine and honest and open in my lyrics and melodies," Caillat said. "With the tone of her voice, she doesn't try too much. She just lets it be what it is."
Producers aim to replay King's rise to fame next year on Broadway with "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical." But King is keeping her distance. Her daughter and manager, Sherry Kondor, is shepherding the project. King said she went to a reading for the production but couldn't stay through the end. It was just too painful.
The story focuses on the 1960s when King was married to Goffin and her rise to become a musical icon, as well as their personal difficulties along the way.
"I love the idea. I support it. I think it's a wonderful story in many ways that will have resonance for people," she said. "Maybe there are things people can learn from my mistakes and also what I did right."
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Brett Zongker covers arts and culture for The Associated Press. Follow him online at https://twitter.com/DCArtBeat
Founding donor doubles his gift to Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired EngineeringPublic release date: 21-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kristen Kusek kristen.kusek@wyss.harvard.edu 617-432-8266 Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard
Hansjoerg Wyss doubles his gift from $125 million to $250 million to advance Institute efforts
May 21, 2013, Boston and Cambridge, MA -- The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University announced today that Hansjrg Wyss (Harvard MBA, '65), the entrepreneur and philanthropist who enabled the Institute's creation in 2009 with a $125 million gift, has donated a second $125 million gift to the University to further advance the Institute's pioneering work.
The Wyss Institute seeks to solve some of the world's most complex challenges in healthcare and the environment by drawing inspiration from Nature's design principles. In addition to uncovering new knowledge about how nature builds, controls, and manufactures, the Institute measures success in the ability of its faculty and staff to translate their discoveries into products that can have near-term impact.
"Mr. Wyss is extraordinarily generous, and we are deeply grateful that he has expanded his support of multidisciplinary research at Harvard," said Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard's president and Lincoln Professor of History. "Through the Wyss Institute, we are realizing his visiongenerating promising technologies and building partnerships that extend far beyond our campus. This additional gift will enable the Institute's continued success and create new opportunities to improve people's lives and the world in which we live."
The Institute has grown at a rapid pace since its founding in January 2009, and now includes over 350 full-time staff located in 100,000 square feet of research space distributed between Harvard's Longwood Medical Campus and Cambridge sites. This burgeoning community of scientists, biologists, physicists, chemists, engineers, and clinicians includes 27 core and associate faculty and their students and fellows, as well as 40 staff with extensive experience in product development and team management across multiple industries. The work at the Institute ranges from early-stage exploration of new ideas to focused technology translation, with an emphasis on validating and de-risking technologies to enable their commercialization.
"We wanted to create a place where the innovation and imagination of the world's best minds could work beyond disciplinary boundaries to deliver life-changing medicines and technologies that are inspired by Nature," said Mr. Wyss, who, after graduating from Harvard Business School in 1965, started a successful medical research and design company whose products have helped millions of patients recover from skeletal and soft tissue trauma and injuries. "I could not have dreamt of the Institute's remarkable discoveries thus far, and am proud and excited to help them continue to build, explore, and improve lives."
A native of Switzerland who now lives in Wilson, Wyoming, Mr. Wyss's philanthropy fosters new ideas, new tools, and new collaborations in areas ranging from medicine, education and the arts to economic opportunity, conflict resolution, and land conservation. The Wyss Foundation, which Mr. Wyss established in 1998, is known for helping protect some of the country's most iconic landscapes from Montana's Crown of the Continent to the Wyoming Range and ensuring they remain open and accessible to all. All together, the Wyss Foundation has invested more than $175 million to help local communities, land trusts and non-profit partners conserve nearly 14 million acres in the West for future generations to explore and enjoy.
Mr. Wyss is also a founder of the AO Foundation, a medically guided nonprofit led by an international group of surgeons who specialize in the treatment of trauma and disorders of the musculoskeletal system, and PeaceNexus, a non-profit foundation that brings together and advises government institutions, non-governmental organizations, and businesses to expand peacebuilding capacity in conflict areas around the world. His significant contributions to the Beyeler Foundation have helped conserve and display some of the world's most important pieces of modern art.
At Harvard, Mr. Wyss's support for the Institute's model of interdisciplinary work has led to impressive productivity in intellectual property creation, numerous corporate collaborations, multiple licensing agreements, and technology translation at an accelerated pace, with two potential products currently entering human clinical trials a cancer vaccine and a vibrating shoe insole that promises to restore balance in the elderly. At the same time, the Institute's faculty members have an unparalleled publication record, with an average of one breakthrough publication in Science or Nature every month since its founding 52 months ago.
"Four years ago, we were tasked with developing an entirely new model for innovation, collaboration, and technology translation that more effectively bridges academia and industry, and that is precisely what we did," said Wyss Founding Director Don Ingber, M.D., Ph.D.
Part of what makes the Institute so effective, Ingber said, is its ability to harness expertise of members from its nine partner institutions, and to leverage the intellectual and commercial power of the Greater Boston region and beyond. Other members of the Institute consortium include Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston University, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts University Medical Center, Spaulding Rehabilitation Center, and Tufts University.
"The Wyss Institute has rapidly established itself as a hub for the new field of biologically inspired engineering," said Alan M. Garber, M.D., Ph.D., provost of Harvard University. "Thanks to Mr. Wyss's critical support, the Institute has developed novel insights into living organisms with remarkable speed and productivity and it has applied those insights to create an array of bioinspired devices and materials that promise to advance medicine and many other fields."
The Wyss Institute organizes its research priorities around six synergistic technology platforms including: Bioinspired Robotics, Programmable Nanomaterials, Biomimetic Microsystems, Adaptive Material Technologies, Anticipatory Medical and Cellular Devices, and Synthetic Biology. Examples of projects under way include:
The RoboBee - a tiny robot inspired by the biology of a fly that may be used in search and rescue missions or to carry out pollination and replace dying bee populations (Related video: https://vimeo.com/65313515)
Human Organs-on-Chips - microchips lined by human cells that are poised to revolutionize drug development and environmental testing by replacing animal studies (Related video: https://vimeo.com/22999280)
SLIPS - a novel surface coating that repels just about everything from oil and water to blood which is being applied to increase energy efficiency of refrigeration systems, prevent fouling of water and waste treatment plants, and to prevent blood coagulation in dialysis devices and tubing (https://vimeo.com/44345824)
An Anticipatory Medical Device a vibrating mattress that senses when an infant is about to stop breathing and then transmits signals that prevent apnea (https://vimeo.com/43054680)
MAGE - a genome reengineering instrument that fast-forwards the evolutionary process to produce more efficient and cost-effective microbial manufacturing plants for the chemical, pharmaceutical, and agricultural industries
A Biospleen for sepsis therapy - a dialysis-like therapeutic device that cleanses blood of a diverse array of pathogens and toxins by mimicking the body's innate immune system
The continued support will ensure that the Institute maintains its fast pace, Ingber said. "Mr. Wyss's additional gift for which we are beyond grateful ensures that our adventure in high-risk research and technology translation will continue," he said.
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IMAGES and additional VIDEO/B-roll AVAILABLE.
For more information about Mr. Wyss, visit http://www.wyssfoundation.org.
For an overview of the Wyss Institute: https://vimeo.com/59545745.
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Founding donor doubles his gift to Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired EngineeringPublic release date: 21-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kristen Kusek kristen.kusek@wyss.harvard.edu 617-432-8266 Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard
Hansjoerg Wyss doubles his gift from $125 million to $250 million to advance Institute efforts
May 21, 2013, Boston and Cambridge, MA -- The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University announced today that Hansjrg Wyss (Harvard MBA, '65), the entrepreneur and philanthropist who enabled the Institute's creation in 2009 with a $125 million gift, has donated a second $125 million gift to the University to further advance the Institute's pioneering work.
The Wyss Institute seeks to solve some of the world's most complex challenges in healthcare and the environment by drawing inspiration from Nature's design principles. In addition to uncovering new knowledge about how nature builds, controls, and manufactures, the Institute measures success in the ability of its faculty and staff to translate their discoveries into products that can have near-term impact.
"Mr. Wyss is extraordinarily generous, and we are deeply grateful that he has expanded his support of multidisciplinary research at Harvard," said Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard's president and Lincoln Professor of History. "Through the Wyss Institute, we are realizing his visiongenerating promising technologies and building partnerships that extend far beyond our campus. This additional gift will enable the Institute's continued success and create new opportunities to improve people's lives and the world in which we live."
The Institute has grown at a rapid pace since its founding in January 2009, and now includes over 350 full-time staff located in 100,000 square feet of research space distributed between Harvard's Longwood Medical Campus and Cambridge sites. This burgeoning community of scientists, biologists, physicists, chemists, engineers, and clinicians includes 27 core and associate faculty and their students and fellows, as well as 40 staff with extensive experience in product development and team management across multiple industries. The work at the Institute ranges from early-stage exploration of new ideas to focused technology translation, with an emphasis on validating and de-risking technologies to enable their commercialization.
"We wanted to create a place where the innovation and imagination of the world's best minds could work beyond disciplinary boundaries to deliver life-changing medicines and technologies that are inspired by Nature," said Mr. Wyss, who, after graduating from Harvard Business School in 1965, started a successful medical research and design company whose products have helped millions of patients recover from skeletal and soft tissue trauma and injuries. "I could not have dreamt of the Institute's remarkable discoveries thus far, and am proud and excited to help them continue to build, explore, and improve lives."
A native of Switzerland who now lives in Wilson, Wyoming, Mr. Wyss's philanthropy fosters new ideas, new tools, and new collaborations in areas ranging from medicine, education and the arts to economic opportunity, conflict resolution, and land conservation. The Wyss Foundation, which Mr. Wyss established in 1998, is known for helping protect some of the country's most iconic landscapes from Montana's Crown of the Continent to the Wyoming Range and ensuring they remain open and accessible to all. All together, the Wyss Foundation has invested more than $175 million to help local communities, land trusts and non-profit partners conserve nearly 14 million acres in the West for future generations to explore and enjoy.
Mr. Wyss is also a founder of the AO Foundation, a medically guided nonprofit led by an international group of surgeons who specialize in the treatment of trauma and disorders of the musculoskeletal system, and PeaceNexus, a non-profit foundation that brings together and advises government institutions, non-governmental organizations, and businesses to expand peacebuilding capacity in conflict areas around the world. His significant contributions to the Beyeler Foundation have helped conserve and display some of the world's most important pieces of modern art.
At Harvard, Mr. Wyss's support for the Institute's model of interdisciplinary work has led to impressive productivity in intellectual property creation, numerous corporate collaborations, multiple licensing agreements, and technology translation at an accelerated pace, with two potential products currently entering human clinical trials a cancer vaccine and a vibrating shoe insole that promises to restore balance in the elderly. At the same time, the Institute's faculty members have an unparalleled publication record, with an average of one breakthrough publication in Science or Nature every month since its founding 52 months ago.
"Four years ago, we were tasked with developing an entirely new model for innovation, collaboration, and technology translation that more effectively bridges academia and industry, and that is precisely what we did," said Wyss Founding Director Don Ingber, M.D., Ph.D.
Part of what makes the Institute so effective, Ingber said, is its ability to harness expertise of members from its nine partner institutions, and to leverage the intellectual and commercial power of the Greater Boston region and beyond. Other members of the Institute consortium include Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston University, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts University Medical Center, Spaulding Rehabilitation Center, and Tufts University.
"The Wyss Institute has rapidly established itself as a hub for the new field of biologically inspired engineering," said Alan M. Garber, M.D., Ph.D., provost of Harvard University. "Thanks to Mr. Wyss's critical support, the Institute has developed novel insights into living organisms with remarkable speed and productivity and it has applied those insights to create an array of bioinspired devices and materials that promise to advance medicine and many other fields."
The Wyss Institute organizes its research priorities around six synergistic technology platforms including: Bioinspired Robotics, Programmable Nanomaterials, Biomimetic Microsystems, Adaptive Material Technologies, Anticipatory Medical and Cellular Devices, and Synthetic Biology. Examples of projects under way include:
The RoboBee - a tiny robot inspired by the biology of a fly that may be used in search and rescue missions or to carry out pollination and replace dying bee populations (Related video: https://vimeo.com/65313515)
Human Organs-on-Chips - microchips lined by human cells that are poised to revolutionize drug development and environmental testing by replacing animal studies (Related video: https://vimeo.com/22999280)
SLIPS - a novel surface coating that repels just about everything from oil and water to blood which is being applied to increase energy efficiency of refrigeration systems, prevent fouling of water and waste treatment plants, and to prevent blood coagulation in dialysis devices and tubing (https://vimeo.com/44345824)
An Anticipatory Medical Device a vibrating mattress that senses when an infant is about to stop breathing and then transmits signals that prevent apnea (https://vimeo.com/43054680)
MAGE - a genome reengineering instrument that fast-forwards the evolutionary process to produce more efficient and cost-effective microbial manufacturing plants for the chemical, pharmaceutical, and agricultural industries
A Biospleen for sepsis therapy - a dialysis-like therapeutic device that cleanses blood of a diverse array of pathogens and toxins by mimicking the body's innate immune system
The continued support will ensure that the Institute maintains its fast pace, Ingber said. "Mr. Wyss's additional gift for which we are beyond grateful ensures that our adventure in high-risk research and technology translation will continue," he said.
###
IMAGES and additional VIDEO/B-roll AVAILABLE.
For more information about Mr. Wyss, visit http://www.wyssfoundation.org.
For an overview of the Wyss Institute: https://vimeo.com/59545745.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
All we women who are not interested in IPL have tough time during the IPL season. I don?t know why film producers believe that no one will come to watch their movies. Usually my daily outing plan starts with a nice lunch outside followed by some shopping and then a nice movie to end the day but thanks to IPL and Delhi heat I didn?t feel like going anywhere.
I was not a kind of person who can be stopped shopping because of heat but I think my two year stay in the pleasant weather of Hyderabad spoiled me .
Coming to Bourjois Sweet Kiss Lipstick Rose Delicat which was a one swatch buy .All you makeupholics must be understanding the term.You just swatch once and you ended up buying the product even if you had no original intention of buying it.
About Bourjois Sweet Kiss Lipstick 08 Rose Delicat:-
100% natural formula
100% radiant shades
All the benefits of?Nature?in one lipstick!
Its formula of 100% natural origin brings radiance and care to lips.
Enriched with magnolia oil and shea butter, its melting formula intensely nourishes lips, leaving them supple and providing them with 8 hours of moisture.
The intense and radiant shades illuminate your lips thanks to the 100% natural pigments selected for their purity and benefits: antioxidant green tea and soothing rose.
8 shades ranging from the most natural to the most sophisticated and from softer to more sensuous hues, for naturally beautiful lips!
Price ?- ?Around 700?
Packaging ? These lipsticks are available in purple cap and I was keen to buy that packaging but sadly it wasn?t available in it. Bottom of the lipstick contains the similar lipstick shade for its easy?identification. Also, it has a button which you press to ?release out the lipstick.
Texture & Pigmentation- Although price of the lipstick is little on the higher side, when compared with other high end ?lipstick brands?I don?t find the ?texture awesomely great. It has this waxy feeling in fact it has bit of waxy fragrance as well. What impressed me is ?that?in spite?of having texture when I glide it 2-3 times on my pigmented lips it is still light weight. With fantastic pigmentation one can use it sheer or build up the pigmentation.
Staying Power ? Although I expected it to stay for long but it has an average staying power of 4-5 hours.With this shade I wasn?t left with any tint behind.
Matte so drying ? ? Nopes, Not at all.It will keep your lips hydrated and won?t accentuate fine lines.
Bourjois Sweet Kiss Lipstick 08 Rose Delicat Swatches:-
It?s a pigmented peachy rose shade with red undertones. Reminds me of MAC ?Off shoot lipstick?but I don?t know how good a dupe it will turn out so I will just check on that and let you know.
It?s such an apt lipstick for everyday wear .Something which can be your HG for workplace. Let me just show you how lipstick can transform a look.I just opened my bun and wiped off the wing of my eyeliner and wore this lipstick.Quite a girl next door look ..Isn;?t?
And with a winged eyeliner and a darker colour lipstick(MAC Mineralize lipstick Lush Life) ?it just turned the look into a night look.If you notice I am wearing the same blush and the base is same too .Also with this there is a bummer.I forgot to wear mascara
Summing it up
What I like about?Bourjois Sweet Kiss Lipstick 08 Rose Delicat:-
A beautiful non drying matte lipstick shade
Can be a nice every day nude of many
High coverage which conceals lip pigmentation.
Light weight
What ?I do not like about Bourjois Sweet Kiss Lipstick 08 Rose Delicat:-
It?s on the expensive side
Some might find the fragrance little annoying albeit I was pretty comfortable with it.
Very dry lips might need a lip balm underneath.
Will I recommend it to others ? Definitely! Have pigmented lips and looking for a ?medium to high coverage every day work shade then check this out
Wise She Rating ? 3.5/5
Pigmentation ? 5/5
Texture- 3.5/5
Availability ? 4/5
Staying Power- 3.5/5
Have you tried Bourjois Sweet Kiss Lipstick 08 Rose Delicat?
Dagestan bombs kill four, two dead in shootout near Moscow
MAKHACHKALA, Russia (Reuters) - Two car bombs killed at least four people and wounded dozens of others on Monday in one of the bloodiest attacks this year in Dagestan, a turbulent province in Russia's North Caucasus region where armed groups are waging an Islamist insurgency. Car bombs, suicide bombings and firefights are common in Dagestan, at the center of an insurgency rooted in two post-Soviet wars against separatist rebels in neighboring Chechnya.
Hezbollah suffers big losses in Syria battle: activists
AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - About 30 Lebanese Hezbollah fighters and 20 Syrian soldiers and militiamen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have been killed in the fiercest fighting this year in the rebel stronghold of Qusair, Syrian activists said on Monday. Sunday's reported death toll was the highest for Hezbollah in a single day's conflict in Syria, highlighting the increasing intervention by the guerrilla group originally set up by Iran in the 1980s to fight Israeli occupation troops in south Lebanon.
Nigeria says has Islamists on defensive
MAIDUGURI (Reuters) - Nigeria claimed an early success for its military offensive against Islamist insurgents in the northeast on Monday, saying the militants' activities had been stifled by nearly a week of attacks on their bases. Military officers in the combat zone, deep in a semi-desert frontier region, said operations continued and that troops faced considerable opposition from well-armed Boko Haram fighters.
Mexican opposition dispute goes public, threatening reforms
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Divisions within Mexico's main conservative opposition party have erupted into a bitter public dispute that threatens to undermine the reform agenda of President Enrique Pena Nieto. Short of a majority in Congress, Pena Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) is likely to need support from the conservative National Action Party, or PAN, to see through plans to overhaul state oil giant Pemex and broaden the tax base.
Council of Europe tells Putin of concern over Russian NGO law
SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - The head of the Council of Europe told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday he was concerned a law requiring non-governmental organizations which received funding from abroad to register as foreign agents could have a "chilling effect". Prosecutors have conducted a wave of inspections at the offices of all kinds of NGOs in Russia this year citing the law which critics say is part of a campaign to smother dissent against Putin during his third term as president.
Bomb attacks kill more than 70 Shi'ites across Iraq
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - More than 70 people were killed in a series of car bombings and suicide attacks targeting Shi'ite Muslims across Iraq on Monday, police and medics said, extending the worst sectarian violence since U.S. troops withdrew in December 2011. The attacks increased the number killed in sectarian clashes in the past week to more than 200. Tensions between Shi'ites, who now lead Iraq, and minority Sunni Muslims have reached a point where some fear a return to all-out civil conflict.
Gay marriage law strains UK Cameron's leadership, government
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron's flagship gay marriage policy is set to deepen a rift in his own party on Monday with many of his own lawmakers preparing to defy him in a sign of growing strains on his leadership and his coalition government. Up to half of Cameron's 303 lawmakers in the lower house of parliament are expected to back an amendment that the government says would sabotage its efforts to legalize gay marriage.
Qatar: Arab Spring makes Israeli-Palestinian peace more pressing
DOHA (Reuters) - Qatar's emir, who has thrown his state's riches behind Arab uprisings, said on Monday that the emergence of 'people power' had put Arabs in direct confrontation with Israel and made a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict more pressing. "We heard in the past that reform (in the Arab world) must wait until a peaceful settlement with Israel is achieved, but everybody should realize that such belief is now unfounded after the Arab Spring revolts," Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani told a conference in the Qatari capital.
China offers India a 'handshake across the Himalayas'
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India and China will study new ways to ease tensions on their ill-defined border after an army standoff in the Himalayas, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Monday on his first official foreign trip. The number two in the Chinese leadership offered New Delhi a "handshake across the Himalayas" and said the world's most populous nations could become a new engine for the global economy if they could avoid friction on the militarized border.
Britain denies bail to radical cleric who faces deportation
LONDON (Reuters) - Radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada could be deported to Jordan to face trial on terrorism charges within weeks, a British court heard on Monday, and it ruled he should remain in jail in the meantime to prevent him from absconding. Abu Qatada's deportation to Jordan, which the British government has been trying to achieve for eight years, is expected to take place within weeks when Jordan ratifies a new treaty with Britain, according to evidence shown to the court.
>>>we want to turn to the
severe weather
very likely across the nation's midsection. roughly 35 million people potentially at risk. the
weather channel
's mike bettis is chasing the storms today. he was on hand saturday when a big twister touched down in
kansas
. he's there live with more. mike, good morning.
>> reporter: lester
, good morning to you. it was quite a scene that unfolded yesterday here in
tornado alley
, as a barrage of twisters touched down. we happened to be chasing yesterday afternoon with the
weather channel
's tornado expert dr.
greg forbes
, and trust me when i tell you our view was up close and in person.
>>oh, it's right over us, but we can still see, it's in contact with the ground farther off to the northeast.
>>this is a one of a kind view. absolutely amazing. we're probably about, i'd say, half a mile or less from it. very close to you. the top of the storm --
>>wow.
>>-- very close to --
>>look right up there --
>>oh, yeah, the top -- the top of the tornado is less than a half mile -- from us. it's almost right overhead.
>> reporter: oh, it was an amazing view. believe it or not, as that tornado dissipated, we literally turned around, and less than 300 yards from us, another tornado racing across the wheat field in
kansas
. that one did very little damage, as most of the tornados did yesterday. three in all, from the same individual supercell thunderstorm. we can report that they did knock down
power lines
, did damage one home, have to report that the okay pant occupants made it out okay. an amazing view in
kansas
. the tornado threat ramp the up again today, and today could be one of the most violent tornado days we've had all day long in the u.s., and major
metropolitan areas
could be impacted.
lester
, we know from the
twin cities
, minneapolis, minnesota, all the way down to dallas, texas, we need to be on alert. of course, we'll be on top of it for you throughout the afternoon.
lester
, back to you.
>>incredible mans you shared with us, mike. i know you guys know what you're doing, but i'm compelled to say be careful out there, all right?
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The night of smoke, chaos, gunfire and grenades that killed four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, is well-documented. Eight months later, it is the decisions made back in Washington that remain murky and in perpetual dispute.
Why were a diplomatic outpost and the visiting U.S. ambassador left so poorly protected? Should the Pentagon have rushed jets or special forces to the rescue when the assault began? Did President Barack Obama's administration obscure the true nature of the terrorist attack to help him get re-elected?
Congressional Republicans are poking for evidence of incompetence and cover-up in the ashes of the Sept. 11 anniversary attack. Obama dismisses their probes as a politically driven "sideshow."
The release this past week of 100 pages of government emails and notes is the latest fodder, as numerous Benghazi investigations continue.
A look at the issue:
___
WHY NOW?
Republicans and Democrats began condemning each other's response to Benghazi within hours of the first shots fired. The issue has flared and dimmed ever since, revived by new testimony, reports or documents like the newly released emails.
Republican lawmakers say they won't stop until they get their questions answered.
Democrats accuse the GOP of flogging the issue for partisan gain.
The focus on Benghazi and other controversies makes it harder for Obama to press his second-term agenda. Emphasizing the State Department's failings during her tenure could be especially damaging to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the early favorite among Democrats who might seek the presidency in 2016.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a possible Republican presidential candidate, already is arguing that the attack "precludes Hillary Clinton from ever holding office."
The controversy also helps Republicans raise money and fire up their conservative base heading into next year's congressional elections.
___
SEPT. 11, 2012
The night of the attack, as described by the State Department's review board and other accounts:
Seven Americans are at State's temporary residential compound in Benghazi that night: U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, visiting from the embassy in Tripoli; computer specialist Sean Smith and five diplomatic security officers. They are a minority among U.S. personnel in Benghazi; most work for the CIA, which operates a secret "annex" about a mile away.
Egyptian demonstrators had scaled the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo hours earlier to protest an American amateur filmmaker's video mocking the Prophet Muhammad. But there were no demonstrations that day in Benghazi. The attack begins suddenly around 9:40 p.m. - gunfire, explosions, sounds of chanting and then dozens of armed men swarming through the compound's main entrance. Libyans hired to guard the compound flee.
A security officer hustles Stevens and Smith into a fortified "safe room." It fills with blinding smoke when the attackers set the building on fire with diesel fuel, and the two men become separated from the security officer.
A CIA team from the annex arrives about 25 minutes into the attack and helps search for the two diplomats inside the smoke-filled room, while gunfire continues outside. Only Smith's body is found. Eventually the U.S. personnel escape in armored vehicles, plowing through gunfire and grenade blasts to the CIA annex across town. Rocket-propelled grenades and mortar fire target the annex intermittently for an hour after midnight.
A team of six security officials summoned from Tripoli arrives around 5 a.m. Soon after, another assault on the annex begins. A mortar blast kills CIA security contractors Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty. About an hour later, a Libyan military unit arrives to help evacuate the U.S. personnel.
After the Americans fled the diplomatic compound, Benghazi civilians found Ambassador Stevens in the wreckage and drove him to a hospital, but he couldn't be saved. Like Smith, he died of smoke inhalation.
Stevens is the first U.S. ambassador killed by militants since 1979.
___
POLITICAL FROM THE FIRST
The calamity in Benghazi was the kind of autumn surprise that can rock a presidential race.
The night of Sept. 11, before word of Stevens' death was out, Republican nominee Mitt Romney issued a hurried statement about violence in Egypt and Libya, criticizing the State Department as too sympathetic to Muslim protesters. Critics, even some in his own party, faulted Romney for politicizing a crisis before the facts were in.
A month later in a combative presidential debate, Romney took another tack. He jumped on Obama for being too slow to acknowledge that terrorism was committed on his watch.
"It took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror," Romney insisted.
"Get the transcript," Obama snapped back, referring to his remarks the day after the assault.
In that Rose Garden appearance and similar words the next day, Obama had said that "acts of terror" would not shake U.S. resolve. He also condemned the violent protests that were sweeping through Muslim nations, sparked by anger over the Muhammad video.
In interviews over the next two weeks, Obama blamed the attack on extremists but steered clear of using any form of the word "terror." Other administration officials did the same and continued to conflate the Benghazi attack with the protests elsewhere.
Finally, at a Sept. 20 news briefing, White House spokesman Jay Carney said it was "self-evident that what happened in Benghazi was a terrorist attack."
___
THE TALKING POINTS
The question of the moment: Were the "talking points" drawn up within days of the attack deliberately misleading?
The document, outlining the government's public message, was sent to members of Congress and to Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who made the round of Sunday morning talk shows five days after the attack.
Republicans accuse Rice of deceiving the American people. They say that, working from the talking points, she passed off an attack by heavily armed terrorists possibly linked to al-Qaida as something less damaging to Obama's terror-fighting credentials.
Rice described the attack as a "horrific incident where some mob was hijacked, ultimately, by a handful of extremists."
The White House says Rice reflected the best information available while facts were still being gathered. Republican critics say the administration should have known by then that there was no mob of protesters and the attack was a premeditated act of terrorism.
Two months after her TV interviews, the controversy ended Rice's chance of following Clinton as secretary of state.
___
STILL TALKING
Those talking points from September are in the news now because of new revelations about how they were crafted.
Republicans demanded to see emails exchanged by administration officials who revised and edited the talking points. On Wednesday, the White House publicly released 100 pages of emails and notes, saying congressional Republicans had misrepresented what they say.
Most of the email back-and-forth is between the State Department and the CIA, the entities whose facilities were attacked in Benghazi. White House and FBI officials were also in the discussions.
From the first draft, the CIA described the attack in Benghazi as a spontaneous outgrowth of the movie protests that began in Egypt - which indicates that was the theory in Washington then. However, the No. 2 diplomatic official in Libya at the time says he knew immediately it wasn't true and was demoted after he questioned the version of events Rice recited on TV.
One edit especially has been criticized as political: Victoria Nuland, then State's spokeswoman, sought removal of a reference to a CIA warning about the potential for anti-American demonstrations in Cairo and jihadists trying to break into that embassy. Nuland wrote that "could be abused" by lawmakers to criticize her department for failing to take heed.
Also deleted were references to the CIA's past warnings about dangerous extremists linked to al-Qaida in Benghazi.
After many deletions, the meat of the talking points read: "The currently available information suggests that the demonstrations in Benghazi were spontaneously inspired by the protests at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and evolved into a direct assault against the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi and subsequently its annex. There are indications that extremists participated in the violent demonstrations."
___
UNPROTECTED
The month after Obama was re-elected, an independent review board issued its harsh verdict.
Senior officials in Washington had failed to protect the Benghazi mission, even after diplomats in Libya asked for more security, said the panel appointed by the State Department.
Since the overthrow of dictator Moammar Gadhafi, eastern Libya has been plagued by violence and awash with heavily armed militias. The U.S. compound as well as British diplomats and the Red Cross had been targeted by explosives in smaller attacks several times over the spring and summer.
The danger was obvious.
And yet security was "inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place," the Accountability Review Board concluded.
Four State Department officials were reassigned or resigned as a result.
"We clearly fell down on the job with regard to Benghazi," Deputy Secretary of State William Burns told lawmakers.
Republicans put the focus on Clinton's responsibility. In combative congressional hearings in January, the outgoing secretary of state said the cables from Benghazi seeking help never reached her.
"I did not see these requests. They did not come to me," she said. "I did not approve them. I did not deny them."
Obama called the poor security "a huge problem" and said changes would be made to protect risky posts.
Democrats tried to shift some blame to congressional Republicans, complaining that they cut $300 million from the Obama administration's budget request of $2.6 billion for diplomatic and embassy security in 2012.
___
WHERE WAS THE CAVALRY?
Could the military have done more to help on Sept. 11? A former top diplomat thinks so.
Gregory Hicks, who was Stevens' No. 2 and monitoring the crisis from Tripoli that night, suggests that sending fighter jets or even a cargo plane overhead might have scared off the insurgents with a show of force. That might have saved the lives of the two CIA contractors by preventing the final assault on the CIA annex, which came about eight hours after the first attack on the diplomatic mission, Hicks told a House committee.
Hicks also said four members of a special forces team in Tripoli wanted to fly on a Libyan plane to Benghazi but were told to stand down. Pentagon officials said the evacuation was already beginning by then and those forces would have arrived too late.
Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate there wasn't enough information about what was happening on the ground to send in aircraft. For example, for several hours officials didn't know what had happened to the ambassador.
Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta made the same point. "You can't just willy-nilly send F-16s there and blow the hell out of a place without knowing what's taking place," Panetta told senators.
State's review board concluded the military did what it could. An unarmed Predator drone flew over the diplomatic post beginning shortly after 11 p.m. to gather information. Two military personnel were with the team from Tripoli that arrived at the CIA annex in the morning. A C-17 from Germany carried the evacuated Americans out of Tripoli. Special operations forces and other personnel who were deployed from Europe and the United States in response to the crisis didn't reach Libya in time to help.
"The interagency response was timely and appropriate," according to the review board, "but there simply was not enough time given the speed of the attacks for armed U.S. military assets to have made a difference."
___
WHAT'S NEXT
The FBI is still investigating who carried out the attack, and Attorney General Eric Holder says there has been "very, very substantial progress."
Republicans on five House committees are pursuing inquiries. Many GOP lawmakers are pushing House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to appoint a special select committee to investigate.
The leaders of the review board, veteran diplomat Thomas Pickering and former Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen, have offered to testify publicly about their findings and to answer critics who say the probe was incomplete. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight committee, has issued a subpoena to compel Pickering to testify in closed session first.
And congressional Republicans say they will keep pressing for more documents, such as details of military orders during the attack.
___
Associated Press writer Donna Cassata contributed to this report.
___
Follow Connie Cass on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ConnieCass
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Public release date: 21-May-2013
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