NEWTOWN, Conn. Twenty-six candles — one for each of the victims — flickered on the altar Friday as hundreds of grief-stricken residents gathered for a vigil in memory of the children and staff killed in a shooting rampage at a school in this Connecticut town.
With the church filled to capacity, hundreds spilled outside, holding hands in circles in the cold night air and saying prayers. Others sang "Silent Night" or huddled near the windows of St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic church.
"Many of us today and in the coming days will rely on what we have been taught and what we believe, that there is faith for a reason," Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said at the vigil Mass.
The residents were gathered to mourn those whose lives were lost when a 20-year-old man killed his mother at their home, then descended on Sandy Hook Elementary School, opening fire as youngsters cowered in fear amid the sounds of gunshots and screams. Twenty children were among the 26 dead at the school.
The shooter, Adam Lanza, armed with at least two handguns, committed suicide, authorities said.
Even though there were 26 candles on the altar, Monsignor Robert Weiss said it was important to remember everyone who died, including Lanza and his mother.
"Ours is not to judge or to question," he told reporters after the service. "But we are really holding in our hearts especially the children and the staff of the school."
"These 20 children were just beautiful, beautiful children," Weiss said. "These 20 children lit up this community better than all these Christmas lights we have. ... There are a lot brighter stars up there tonight because of these kids."
Weiss said he spent much of the day trying to console those who had lost a child or other family member, adding that he had no answers for their questions of how something so horrible could happen.
But through their sorrow, some parents found solace in remembering their loved ones, he said. One father whose son was killed recalled how his boy had made his first soccer goal this year.
Some parents said they struggled with mixed emotions after their own children survived the massacre that took so many young lives.
After receiving word of the shooting, Tracy Hoekenga said she was paralyzed with fear for her two boys, fourth-grader C.J. and second-grader Matthew.
"I couldn't breathe. It's indescribable. For a half an hour, 45 minutes, I had no idea if my kids were OK," she said.
Matthew said a teacher ordered him and other students to their cubbies, and a police officer came and told them to line up and close their eyes.
"They said there could be bad stuff. So we closed our eyes and we went out. When we opened our eyes, we saw a lot of broken glass and blood on the ground," he said.
David Connors, whose triplets attend the school, said his children were told to hide in a closet during the lockdown.
"My son said he did hear some gunshots, as many as 10," he said. "The questions are starting to come out: `Are we safe? Is the bad guy gone?"'
At the vigil, Newtown High School freshman Claudia Morris, 14, said students had gathered in the school hallways after the massacre, asking each other, "Are you all right? Are you all right?"
"No one has answers to why this happened," she said. "It just seems so unreal."
Adam Lanza of Newtown, Connecticut was a child of the suburbs and a child of divorce who at age 20 still lived with his mother.
This morning he appears to have started his day by shooting his mother Nancy in the face, and then drove her car to nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School, armed with two handguns and a semi-automatic rifle.
There, before turning his gun on himself, he shot and killed 20 children, who President Obama later described as "beautiful little kids" between five and 10 years of age. Six adults were also killed at the school. Nancy Lanza was found dead in her home.
A relative told ABC News that Adam was "obviously not well."
Family friends in Newtown also described the young man as troubled and described Nancy as rigid. "[Adam] was not connected with the other kids," said Barbara Frey, who also said he was "a little bit different ... Kind of repressed."
State and federal authorities believe his mother may have once worked at the elementary school where Adam went on his deadly rampage, although she was not a teacher, according to relatives, perhaps a volunteer.
Nancy and her husband Peter, Adam's father, divorced in 2009. When they first filed for divorce in 2008, a judge ordered that they participate in a "parenting education program."
Peter Lanza, who drove to northern New Jersey to talk to police and the FBI, is a vice president at GE Capital and had been a partner at global accounting giant Ernst & Young.
Adam's older brother Ryan Lanza, 24, has worked at Ernst & Young for four years, apparently following in his father's footsteps and carving out a solid niche in the tax practice. He too was interviewed by the FBI. Neither he nor his father is under any suspicion.
Newtown, Connecticut Shooting: 27 Killed, Gunman Dead Watch Video
Connecticut Shooting: Teacher Kaitlin Roig Protected Her Students Watch Video
Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting: Speaking to Children About the Tragedy Watch Video
"[Ryan] is a tax guy and he is clean as a whistle," a source familiar with his work said.
Police had initially identified Ryan as the killer. Ryan sent out a series of Facebook posts saying it wasn't him and that he was at work all day. Video records as well as card swipes at Ernst & Young verified his statement that he had been at the office.
Two federal sources told ABC News that identification belonging to Ryan Lanza was found at the scene of the mass shooting. They say that identification may have led to the confusion by authorities during the first hours after the shooting. Neither Adam nor Ryan has any known criminal history.
A Sig Sauer handgun and a Glock handgun were used in the slaying and .223 shell casings – a round used in a semi-automatic military-style rifle -- were also found at the scene. Nancy Lanza had numerous weapons registered to her, including a Glock and a Sig Sauer. She also owned a Bushmaster rifle -- a semi-automatic carbine chambered for a .223 caliber round. However, federal authorities cannot confirm that the handguns or the rifle were the weapons recovered at the school.
Numerous relatives of the Lanzas in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, as well as multiple friends, are being interviewed by the FBI in an effort to put together a better picture of the gunman and any explanation for today's tragedy.
"I think the most important thing to point out with this kind of individual is that he did not snap this morning and decide to act out violently," said former FBI profiler Mary Ellen O'Toole. "These acts involve planning and thoughtfulness and strategizing in order to put the plan together so what may appear to be snap behavior is not that at all."
With reporting by Pierre Thomas, Jim Avila, Santina Leuci, Aaron Katersky, Matthew Mosk, Jason Ryan and Jay Shaylor
MORE: 27 Dead, Mostly Children, at Connecticut Elementary School Shooting
BEIRUT (Reuters) - NATO accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces of firing Scud missiles that landed near to the Turkish border, in explaining why it was sending anti-missile batteries and troops to the bloc's frontier.
The Syrian government, which finds itself under attack from rebels in the capital Damascus and by a diplomatic alliance of Arab and Western powers, denies firing such long-range, Soviet-built rockets and had no immediate comment on the latest charge.
Admiral James Stavridis, the American who is NATO's military commander, wrote in a blog on Friday: "Over the past few days, a handful of Scud missiles were launched inside Syria, directed by the regime against opposition targets. Several landed fairly close to the Turkish border, which is very worrisome."
It was not clear how close they came. NATO member Turkey, once friendly toward Assad but now among the main allies of the rebels, has complained of occasional bullets and artillery fire, some of which has been fatal, for many months. It sought the installation of missile defenses on its border some weeks ago.
"Syria is clearly a chaotic and dangerous situation; but we have an absolute obligation to defend the borders of the alliance from any threat emanating from that troubled state," Stavridis wrote.
Batteries of U.S.-made Patriot missiles, designed to shoot down the likes of the Scuds popularly associated with Iraq's wars under Saddam Hussein in the 1990s, are about to be deployed by the U.S., German and Dutch armies, each of which is sending up to 400 troops to operate and protect the rocket systems.
The Syrian government has accused Western powers of backing what it portrays as a Sunni Islamist "terrorist" attack on it and says Washington and Europe have publicly voiced concerns of late that Assad's forces might resort to chemical weapons solely as a pretext for preparing a possible military intervention.
In contrast to NATO's air campaign in support of Libya's successful revolt last year against Muammar Gaddafi, Western powers have fought shy of intervention in Syria. They have cited the greater size and ethnic and religious complexity of a major Arab state at the heart of the Middle East - but have also lacked U.N. approval due to Russia's support for Assad.
Moscow reacted angrily on Friday to the way U.S. officials seized on comments by a top Kremlin envoy for the Middle East as evidence that Russia was giving up on Assad. Comments by Mikhail Bogdanov on Thursday in which he conceded Assad might be ousted did not reflect a change in policy, the Foreign Ministry said.
Assad's diplomatic isolation remains acute, however, as Arab and Western powers this week recognized a new, united coalition of opposition groups as Syria's legitimate leadership. Large parts of the country are no longer under the government's control and fighting has been raging around Damascus itself.
European Union leaders who met in Brussels on Friday said all options were on the table to support the Syrian opposition, raising the possibility that non-lethal military equipment or even arms could eventually be supplied.
In their strongest statement of support for the Syrian opposition since the uprising began 20 months ago, EU leaders instructed their foreign ministers to assess all possibilities to increase the pressure on Assad.
With rebels edging into the capital, a senior NATO official said that Assad is likely to fall and the Western military alliance should make plans to protect against the threat of his chemical arsenal falling into the wrong hands.
HUNGER SPREADS
Desperation for food is growing in parts of Syria and residents of the northern city of Aleppo say fist fights and dashes across the civil war front lines have become part of the daily struggle to secure a loaf of bread.
"I went out yesterday and could not get any bread. If only the problem was just lack of food - there is also a huge shortage of fuel, which the bakeries need to run," said Ahmed, a resident of the battle-scarred Salaheddine district.
He said people get into fist fights over flour and rebels regularly have to break up fights by firing into the air.
The World Food Programme (WFP) says as many as a million people may go hungry this winter, as worsening security conditions make it harder to reach conflict zones.
Forty thousand people have now been killed in the most enduring and destructive of the Arab revolts. The government severely limits press and humanitarian access to the country.
U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said on Friday the United Nations is committed to maintaining aid operations in Syria.
"NOTHING OFF THE TABLE"
At the EU summit, Britain's David Cameron pushed for an early review of the arms embargo against Syria to possibly open the way to supply equipment to rebels in the coming months. Germany and others were more reluctant and blocked any quick move. But there was widespread agreement that whatever action can be taken under current legislation should be pursued, and the arms embargo would still be reviewed at a later stage.
"I want a very clear message to go to President Assad that nothing is off the table," Cameron told reporters at the end of a two-day summit. "I want us to work with the opposition ... so that we can see the speediest possible transition in Syria.
"There is no single simple answer, but inaction and indifference are not options."
Among factors holding Western powers back from arming the rebels is the presence in their ranks of anti-Western Islamist radicals. Following a U.S. decision this week to blacklist one such group, Jabhat al-Nusra, a "terrorist" group, thousands of Syrians demonstrated on Friday against ostracizing the movement.
The latest, weekly Friday protests in rebel-held areas were held under the slogan: "The only terrorism in Syria is Assad's".
Inspired by Arab uprisings across the region, Syrian protesters were met with gunfire by Assad's security forces in March 2011. Armed revolt overtook the movement, which has become increasingly sectarian - waged by majority Sunni Muslims against forces loyal to Assad, who is from the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of the Shi'ite Islam practiced in Assad's ally Iran.
A video posted on the Internet showed dozens of Sunni rebels dressed in camouflage gear congratulating and kissing each other outside a burning Shi'ite shrine.
A fighter holding a rifle said the group was destroying the "dens of the Shi'ites". Reuters could not independently verify the video, which was posted on YouTube on Wednesday and purports to be filmed in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughur.
(Writing by Oliver Holmes and Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Michael Roddy)
SINGAPORE: The 'Our Singapore Conversation' initiative has reached out to nearly 10,000 Singaporeans so far.
Speaking to the media, Chairman of the 'Our Singapore Conversation' and Education Minister Heng Swee Keat said this is quite a significant number over a three-month period and this has been done through multiple platforms.
These include face-to-face interactions, online media and also with Singaporeans in the US, Britain and China.
The New Year will see the launch of the Conversation's next phase of engagement of the citizenry.
Mr Heng said the team plans to act on some of the ideas that have already emerged especially which can be done immediately. One example is the discussion on extending MediShield coverage to include congenital and neonatal conditions.
Mr Heng said this topic has been raised in the 'Our Singapore Conversation' sessions, which he said he strongly supports including them in the MediShield coverage.
In the meantime, he said that three broad themes have emerged under the categories of hope, heart and home.
In the area of "hope", there has been interest in ways to keep Singapore vibrant, create opportunities for individuals to fulfil their career aspirations and non-career aspirations.
The second area relates to "heart" where discussions have been focused on how Singaporeans can care for each other and those who are vulnerable, those with special needs and the elderly. There has also been discussions on the need for the right policies and programmes to reach out to this group.
Mr Heng said the third area is the topic of Singapore as "Home" where the need to create the sense of community and bonding and the kampong spirit has been discussed by the participants. There has also been a lot of discussion about the Singapore identity, the values and culture. "There is an interesting theme of Singapore as 'Home' that appeals to us and at the same time maintaining our important social fabric of a multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious society."
For the new year, the 'Our Singapore Conversation' will continue with discussions in the open-ended format in January with a few more sessions.
The team plans to take a break and resume at the end of February to delve into the specific under the broad themes.
"For example in the area of education, we can talk about not just education specifically but how education provides opportunities, how do we provide hope and opportunities and I think to have a rich conversation about that we need to bring in not just parents and students but also members of the public, employers to see how the entire education system can help us create opportunities and hope," he explained.
Mr Heng added that the ideas coming out from 'Our Singapore Conversation' initiative provide inputs for the public service to examine some of the existing policies.
Information from the different sessions are collated and fed back to the different ministries so that they can look at the ideas, concerns and aspirations.
He is confident that if the 'Our Singapore Conversation' initiative is done well, the result would be better policies and programmes for Singapore. Mr Heng however added that it was not possible for every idea to be implemented.
Sadly, Android's original Car Home app is incompatible with most modern versions of the OS.
(Credit: Google)
My first Android phone, the original Motorola Droid, was one of the first phones to debut Google Maps Navigation. Now, Google knew that this feature would get drivers interested in using their Android phones in the car and that the tiny virtual buttons and shortcuts that worked well when the device was handheld wouldn't cut it behind the wheel. So, when users popped their Droids into their car docks, they were presented with a simplified interface with large shortcut buttons to car-centric apps, designed for safer use while driving.
Smartphones have come a long way since I retired my Droid, but--with the exception of a few devices with customized OSes--the Car Home feature has largely disappeared from newer Android phones. In a time where drivers are more concerned than ever about distraction behind the wheel, this is a shame.
Here's where the third-party steps in to help. We've rounded up a collection of our favorite dashboard apps that closely replicate (and in many cases, exceed) the functionally of that old Car Home app for both Android. We've also included a number of apps for iOS devices, which have never boasted such a car-specific feature.
Vlingo Virtual Assistant Android, price: Free
Vlingo Virtual Assistant is one of my favorite apps for in-car use. When placed in its Vlingo InCar mode, the app listens for an activation phrase and responds to your voice commands without your ever having to actually touch your phone. Simply say, "Hey Vlingo, navigate home." or "Hey Vlingo, text Wayne, 'I'm going to be a bit late.'" to interact with your phone in the safest way possible. You can even ask Vlingo trivia like, "What's the capitol of California?" or "How tall is the Empire State Building?"
CarHome Ultra Android, price: $3.99 after 30 day free trial
CarHome Ultra hearkens back to the original Car Home mode that debuted as part of Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Firing up this app presents the user with large, easy to see and tap shortcuts for functions commonly used while driving, such as Maps, Navigation, or Voice Search. Any of these buttons can be customized, so can add shortcuts to Pandora or MOG, for example, if you're a heavy Internet radio listener. CarHome Ultra also features a Night Mode to reduce glare and can automatically disable your Wi-Fi and enable your Bluetooth when activated.
Car Widget Android, price: $0.99 after 10-use free trial
CarWidget is a bit like a simpler, cheaper version of CarHome Ultra. This widget lives on your Android phone's home screen and presents six customizable shortcuts to car-centric apps such as Navigation, Phone, or your favorite music or podcast player. CarWidget can be set to automatically adjust your phone's settings when certain conditions are met--such as pairing with your car's Bluetooth system--to automatically disable Wi-Fi, disable the screen timeout, or adjust the volume levels for calls and media. This 4x4 widget takes up an entire homescreen, which could be problematic for some users.
Awesome HUD Apple iOS, price: Free
Awesome HUD transforms your iPhone in a customizable GPS speedometer that also offers easily touchable shortcuts for control of your iPod music app. Put the Awesome HUD app into its HUD mode and place your phone screen up on the dashboard to see a head-up display reflected onto your car's windshield. This way, you can monitor your speed, direction, and drive time without taking your eyes off of the road. The HUD is really only visible at night and, unfortunately, Awesome HUD isn't compatible with the iPhone 5, but it's not bad for a free app.
Drive Apple iOS, price: $1.99
Drive is probably one of the better car-specific dashboard apps for the Apple iPhone and is definitely worth its $1.99 price tag. Fire up the app and you'll be greeted with four large shortcuts for four functions. Music gives quick gesture-based control of the iPod app; Map brings up, well, a Map and enables users to track their trip; quick text fires off predefined text messages to predefined contacts, such as "I'm stuck in traffic and will be late."; and quick call puts your favorite contacts at your fingertips for quick hands-free calling.
iCarMode Apple iOS, price: $1.99
iCarMode is another great dashboard app for the iPhone--possibly better even than the aforementioned Drive--that presents a number of large, easy-to-tap shortcuts to music controls, contacts, audio controls, and your favorite GPS navigation and audio streaming apps. Users can also search for destinations from the iCarMode interface and quickly locate their car thanks to the app's ability to save the location of a parked car when exiting the vehicle and be reminded when it's time to feed the meter with the parking meter timer.
Car Dock Mode Apple iOS, price: Free with $2.99 in-app premium feature unlock
Car Dock Mode is more of an honorable mention than a bona fide player in this space. It's designed to work with the Dension Car Dock for iPhone, but doesn't require the hardware to be installed on your iPhone. The free app presents large shortcuts to your contacts for hands-free calling, iPod music library playback, and maps. An in-app purchase unlocks the app's premium features, enabling Web Radio streaming of thousands of Internet radio stations, a GPS car finder function, and the ability to customize and re-color the app. iCarMode and Drive are much better apps, but if you're looking for a free alternative, Car Dock Mode will make do.
iOnRoad Augmented Driving Pro Android, Apple iOS, price: $4.99
Odds are that you won't be using your phone's camera while you drive, so put it to work enhancing the safety of your car with the iOnRoad Augmented Driving app. This app watches the road ahead of your car for obstructions and other cars. When it detects that you're approaching an obstruction too quickly and there's potential for an collision, it sounds an alarm and flashes the screen. The app can even run in the background, if you want to also use your phone to navigate.
U.N. ambassador Susan Rice on Thursday officially withdrew her name from consideration to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, citing in a letter to President Obama the "lengthy, disruptive and costly" nominating process she was sure to face if tapped for the job -- a disruption she argued the nation "cannot afford."
Play Video
Analysis: Why did Rice withdraw?
Rice, who was considered a top contender for the position, has been recently embroiled in ongoing controversy surrounding her account of the September 11 Libya attacks, which she discussed in a series of talk show appearances on September 16. In her letter to the president today, Rice said she was "saddened" that the position had become so politicized, but argued Congress has more important battles to fight.
"I am highly honored to be considered by you for appointment as Secretary of State. I'm fully confident that I could serve our country ably and effectively in that role," she wrote. "However, if nominated, I am now convinced that the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly - to you and to our most pressing national and international priorities. That trade-off is simply not worth it to our country. It is far more important that we devote precious legislative hours and energy to enacting your core goals, including comprehensive immigration reform, balanced deficit reduction, job creation, and maintaining a robust national defense and effective U.S. global leadership. Therefore, I respectfully request that you no longer consider my candidacy at this time."
In a statement, President Obama acknowledged that he had "accepted" Rice's decision to remove her name from consideration, and expressed "every confidence" in her ability to "serve our country now and in the years to come."
On Thursday evening, Rice tweeted: "Those of you who know me know that I'm a fighter, but not at the cost of what's right for our country. I don't do this work for me. I do it because I believe in President Obama's approach to the world, and I want to get things done. To all my followers: I appreciate you. We've still got a lot of work to do for the American people and the world. #Letsgo."
But the president, who fiercely defended Rice against the recent criticism, expressed deep regret over the attacks, which he called "unfair and misleading."
"Her decision demonstrates the strength of her character, and an admirable commitment to rise above the politics of the moment to put our national interests first," Mr. Obama said in the statement. "The American people can be proud to have a public servant of her caliber and character representing our country."
Diplomats at the U.N. were shocked at the withdrawal announcement, particularly because she appeared to be assured of the president's support, reports CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk. Even her adversaries among the diplomatic corps at the U.N. had expressed their respect for her advocacy of U.S. interests.
Nevertheless, Rice had begun to express doubts about her nomination, as recently as this week at a holiday celebration in her apartment in New York, which select members of the diplomatic and press corps attended, saying the attacks had reached a fevered pitch, Falk reports.
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Rice: Libya attacks spontaneous
On September 16, five days after the attacks in Benghazi that caused the death U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, Rice appeared on a handful of Sunday morning political talk shows to discuss the incident. Rice's comments on those shows were guided by CIA talking points that, according to a U.S. intelligence official, "were written, upon request, so members of Congress and senior officials could say something preliminary and unclassified about the attacks," and reflected the possibility that the attacks were a result of spontaneous protests spurred by an anti-Muslim video.
As details trickled out contradicting that possibility, Republicans pounced on the discrepancies between Rice's comments and others, and the ambassador ultimately clarified that there had been "no protest or demonstration in Benghazi" and that "the intelligence assessment [had] evolved" since her Sept. 16 comments.
A spokesperson for the Director of National Intelligence told CBS News that "the intelligence community assessed from the very beginning that what happened in Benghazi was a terrorist attack," and that Rice would have been privy to that characterization -- which was shared at a classified level -- since she's a member of the president's cabinet. But CBS also learned that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) cut specific references to "al Qaeda" and "terrorism" from the unclassified talking points given to Ambassador Susan Rice ahead of her television appearances.
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Susan Rice fails to satisfy GOP senators' questions
A handful of Republican lawmakers -- chiefly Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H. -- seized on the controversy, targeting Rice's credibility as a potential secretary of state in a series of recent press conferences and threatening to block her nomination. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, also questioned Rice's leadership, and offered up Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., as her preferable candidate for the job.
Following Rice's announcement on Thursday, Graham released a statement saying he "respected" her decision, and that "President Obama has many talented people to choose from to serve as our next Secretary of State." He said he remained "determined" to find out "what happened - before, during, and after the attack" in Libya.
A brief statement from McCain spokesperson Brian Rogers reflected a similar sentiment: "Senator McCain thanks Ambassador Rice for her service to the country and wishes her well. He will continue to seek all the facts surrounding the attack on our consulate in Benghazi that killed four brave Americans," he said.
"Face the Nation" anchor Bob Schieffer reports key Senate Republicans quietly passed the word to Vice President Biden last week that it was going to be all but impossible for her to be confirmed.
Biden was told there was virtually no support for Rice among Republicans and that some Democrats were also beginning to question whether she was the best choice.
Additionally, Schieffer reports Rice seemed to be wavering recently about whether she really wanted the job.
"I have two children," she told Schieffer. "I would want to talk to them. It would be a family decision."
With regard to the scrutiny of her financial investments, Payton Knopf, Deputy Spokesperson of the U.S. Mission to the U.N. told CBS News, "Ambassador Rice has complied with annual financial disclosure and applicable ethics requirements related to her service in the U.S. government and is committed to continuing to meet these obligations."
Rice's withdrawal will make it easier for Secretary of State Clinton, who is due to testify about the Benghazi episode next week on Capitol Hill, but Senator Graham said Rice's withdrawal is not the end of the controversy. Graham told me tonight the administration "is still inexplicably stonewalling and we still want answers."
All of the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare," doesn't go into effect until 2014, but states are required to set up their own health care exchanges or leave it to the federal government to step in by next year. The deadline for the governors' decisions is Friday.
The health insurance exchanges are one of the key stipulations of the new health care law. They will offer consumers an Internet-based marketplace for purchasing private health insurance plans.
But the president's signature health care plan has become so fraught with politics that whether governors agreed to set up the exchanges has fallen mostly along party lines.
Such partisanship is largely symbolic because if a state opts not to set up the exchange, the Department of Health and Human Services will do it for them as part of the federal program. That would not likely be well-received by Republican governors, either, but the law forces each state's chief executive to make a decision one way or the other.
Here's what it looks like in all 50 states and the District of Columbia:
20 states that have opted out -- N.J., S.C., La., Wis., Ohio, Maine, Ala., Alaska, Ariz., Ga., Pa., Kan., Neb., N.H., N.D., Okla., S.D., Tenn., Texas and Wyo.
Charles Dharapak/AP Photo
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Washington, D.C., Gridlocked as Fiscal Cliff Approaches Watch Video
Several Republican governors have said they will not set up the exchanges, including Chris Christie (N.J.), Nikki Haley (S.C.), Bobby Jindal (La.), Scott Walker (Wis.), John Kasich (Ohio), Paul LePage (Maine), Robert Bentley (Ala.), Sean Parnell (Ark.), Jan Brewer (Ariz.), Nathan Deal (Ga.), Tom Corbett (Pa.), Sam Brownback (Kan.), Dave Heineman (Neb.), John Lynch (N.H.), Jack Dalrymple (N.D.), Mary Fallin (Okla.), Dennis Daugaard (S.D.), Bill Haslam (Tenn.), Rick Perry (Texas), and Matt Mead (Wyo.).
3 States Out, but a Little More Complicated -- Mont., Ind. and Mo.
The Montana outgoing and incoming governors are both Democrats, but the Republican state legislature rejected the Democratic state auditor's request to start setting up a state exchange. So a federal exchange will be set up in Montana as well.
The Indiana outgoing and incoming governors are both Republicans and outgoing Gov. Mitch Daniels deferred the decision to governor-elect and U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, who said his preference is not to set up a state health care exchange, paving the way for the feds to come in too.
In Missouri, Gov. Jay Nixon is a Democrat, but Prop E passed on Nov. 6, which barred his administration from creating a state-based exchange without a public vote or the approval of the state legislature. After the election, he sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services saying he would be unable to set up a state-based exchange, meaning the federal government would have to set up its own.
1 State Waiting for the White House -- Utah
Utah already has a state exchange set up, a Web-based tool where small-business employees can shop and compare health insurance with contributions from their employee. In a letter Republican Gov. Gary Herbert sent to the White House Tuesday, he asked for its exchange, called Avenue H, to be approved as a state-based exchange under the Affordable Care Act as long as state officials can open it to individuals and larger businesses.
Norm Thurston, the state's health reform implementation coordinator, says authorities there "haven't received an official response" from the White House, but "we anticipate getting one soon."
There are some sticking points that don't comply with the exchanges envisioned by the Affordable Care Act and Utah would like to keep it that way.
SEOUL (Reuters) - When North Korea's Kim Jong-un commemorates a year of his rule next week, he will be able to declare he has fulfilled the country's long-held dream of becoming a "space power".
Sharing the limelight with the 29-year old will be three civilians who have grown stronger in the past year and have helped Kim exert control over the country's powerful military, which may be an advantage in edging the country closer to an attempt to reopen dialogue with the United States.
Wednesday's successful rocket launch, in which North Korea put a satellite in space for the first time, may have helped cement the position of Kim's uncle Jang Song-thaek and Choe Ryong-hae, the military's top political strategist, as well as Ju Kyu-chang, the 84-year-old head of the country's missile and nuclear program.
"The rocket launch is a boost politically to the standing of Jang Song-thaek and Choe Ryong-hae, who have been around Kim Jong-un," said Baek Seung-joo of the Korea Institute of Defense Analyses, a government-affiliated think tank in South Korea.
While Washington has condemned the rocket launch and called for tougher sanctions on North Korea it was, as recently as February, willing to offer food aid to Pyongyang. At that time it was just over a year since the North shelled a South Korean island, killing civilians, and sank a South Korean warship.
The rise of Jang and Chae especially, once ridiculed as "fake" military men by army veterans, together with the country's aging chief missile bureaucrat, could also mean the renegade state will try its hand at using what is now stronger leverage in negotiations to extract aid and concessions.
Jang is the brother-in-law of Kim Jong-il and was the chief promoter of his son Kim Jong-un when the elder Kim died on December 17 last year. Jang has further increased his prominence in recent weeks with high-level public appearances, at times in unprecedented proximity to the leader of a country where appearance and formality are rigidly controlled.
Jang accompanied Kim to the rocket command centre to watch the successful launch on Wednesday, the North's state news agency KCNA said.
He is officially a vice chairman of the ruling National Defence Commission and an army general in name only, but is widely believed to be the North's second-in-command in reality.
Jang is considered a pragmatist who is willing to engage both allies and enemies abroad, but also one who understands the challenge of cementing the position of the young and relatively untested grandson of the state's founder.
Baek noted that comments by the North's Foreign Ministry, customarily the channel used by the leadership to wage war of words with the United States, had been tempered recently, indicating Pyongyang may seek a way back into negotiations.
"The North may start to send active indications to the United States and China that it is willing to talk, even to go back to the six-party talks, and to say that its pledge for a missile test moratorium still stands," Baek said.
The six-party talks are aimed at halting North Korea's nuclear program and involve the North, the United States, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea. They have been held since 2003 but have stalled since 2008.
CIVILIANS IN MILITARY GARB
Choe is another Workers' Party faithful now donning army uniform. He is head of the General Political Department of the North's 1.2-million strong Army, and is seen as the other major beneficiary of this week's rocket launch.
Jang and Choe are anomalies in a country that claims its roots in the armed struggle against Japan, in that they have not risen through the army's ranks but have received military titles that are said to be a source of ridicule among their opponents.
"Choe and Jang will benefit from the launch because they are the ones who will have undermined the military's influence and strengthened the party's status," said Moon Hong-sik of South Korea's Institute for National Security Strategy, a government-linked thinktank.
The surprise success of Wednesday's launch after a failure in April will be credited to Jang and Choe while Kim will boost his credibility as a leader who gets the job done, said Suh Choo-suk, who was chief national security advisor to former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun.
"I think Kim Jong-un's overall control is already solid. His control will be even stronger through the rocket launch."
The technical aspects of the North's longstanding missile program and possibly its nuclear project are led by a quiet and elderly engineer Ju Kyu-chang, another civilian in army garb.
Ju has been around since the North first tested its long-range missile technology in the summer of 1998 and is still believed to be in charge of the day-to-day running of the project to develop missiles and possibly nuclear weapons.
Recognition appears to have come relatively late in life for the silver haired technocrat Ju, who is believed to have trained as a metal alloy specialist, as he started to appear in public with the country's top leader only when he turned 70.
Officially, Ju is the head of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea's oddly named Machine-Building Industry Department. He was also named to the National Defence Commission, the country's top military body, after the North's 2009 long-range missile test.
Ju is among the North's most heavily sanctioned individuals, personally named in several government blacklists.
"His rise coincided with the escalation of pace in the North's missile and nuclear programs," said an expert with a South Korean state-run think tank who did not want to be named.
"It could very well have been as a reward for his contribution."
(Additional reporting by Narae Kim; Editing by David Chance and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
BANGKOK: A trial against Thai leaders of the 2010 "Red Shirt" protests began on Friday, a day after the nation's former premier was charged over his role in the deadly unrest.
The 24 accused, who include five current lawmakers, could in theory face the death penalty in the case, which was delayed again on Thursday because of the absence of key witnesses.
All but one defendant was present at Bangkok Criminal Court on Friday, according to an AFP reporter at the court.
About 90 people were killed and nearly 1,900 were wounded in a series of street clashes between demonstrators and security forces, which culminated in a bloody military crackdown in May 2010. Two foreign journalists were among those killed.
The Red Shirt leaders, most of whom surrendered to police after the government sent in armoured vehicles and troops firing live rounds, have vowed to prove their innocence.
Key Red Shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan on Thursday told reporters at the court that the group would "fight the case to the end".
"But people of every political group should be granted an amnesty," he said.
Former premier Abhisit Vejjajiva, who was Thai prime minister during the anti-government rallies, and his then-deputy Suthep Thaugsuban were charged with murder on Thursday over the death of a taxi driver shot by soldiers during the violence.
They are the first officials to face court over the violence in Thailand. The pair have denied the allegation.
The Red Shirts -- mostly supporters of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra -- were demanding immediate elections in their 2010 protest.
They accused Abhisit's government of being undemocratic because it took office in 2008 through a parliamentary vote after a court stripped Thaksin's allies of power.
Polls in 2011 brought Thaksin's Red Shirt-backed Puea Thai party to power with his sister Yingluck as premier, sweeping Abhisit into opposition.
The accused Red Shirt leaders pleaded not guilty in August 2010. Their trial is expected to last months or even years because hearings can only be held when parliament is not in session as sitting lawmakers have immunity.
T-Mobile announced today that it added five new metro areas to its list of U.S. cities served by 4G (HSPA+) on its faster 1900 network, including Chicago, Reno, and three regions in California.
"T-Mobile has now enhanced the network in 23 metro areas, and we have already reached 100 million people with this improved network experience," T-Mobile USA's chief technology officer Neville Ray said in a statement. "These upgrades will now provide voice and data enhancements, improved signal strength and in-building coverage for customers."
One of the devices that the carrier specifically highlighted to get the faster 4G coverage is the unlocked iPhone. According to T-Mobile, customers with iPhones in these cities get a faster and cheaper service than they would on other carriers like AT&T.
"Internal tests of unlocked iPhone 4S devices running over 4G (HSPA+) on our 1900 MHz network recorded on average 70 percent faster download speeds than iPhone 4S devices on AT&T's network," Ray said.
Unlike AT&T, which is an official iPhone carrier, T-Mobile doesn't sell the device just yet. However, rumors floated last week that the carrier is looking to strike a deal with Apple sometime in 2013. Up until now, T-Mobile has encouraged customers to use its service with unlocked iPhones.
T-Mobile does not yet have 4G LTE. Instead, it offers 4G (HSPA+), which it says is fast enough to be called 4G. While the carrier has said it will develop a 4G LTE network, it doesn't plan to start until next year. By comparison, AT&T has roughly 100 4G LTE markets covered, Sprint Nextel is in nearly 50 cities, and Verizon has covered almost 500 U.S. markets.
Here's the list of cities where users can now get on T-Mobile's 4G HSPA+ network:
Chicago, including the surrounding areas of: Aurora, Berwyn, Chicago Heights, Cicero, Des Plaines, Downers Grove, Evanston, Evergreen Park, Naperville, Oak Park, Schaumburg, Wilmette, and Winnetka.
Reno, Nevada
Sacramento, California, including the surrounding areas of: Antelope, Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, Fair Oaks, Folsom, Loomis, North Highlands, Rancho Cordova, Rio Linda, Rocklin, Roseville, Vacaville, and West Sacramento.
Fresno, California
Southern California, including: Alhambra, Anaheim, Claremont, Culver City, El Monte, Encino, Garden Grove, Granada Hills, Inglewood, Irvine, La Crescenta, Laguna Niguel, Monrovia, Monterey Park, Newport Beach, North Hills, North Hollywood, Paramount, Pasadena, Redlands, Reseda, Rosemead, Santa Ana, San Fernando, San Gabriel, Santa Monica, South El Monte, Temple City, Torrance, Upland, Valley Village, Van Nuys, Westminster, and Wilmington.
