US photographer Christopher Michel, who took these pictures before the crash happened, was in another balloon when he "heard an explosion and saw smoke"
Two Britons are among the 19 tourists reportedly killed in a hot air balloon crash near the Egyptian city of Luxor, according to travel group Thomas Cook.
Two other British people are thought to have been hurt in the accident, which also killed French, Hong Kong and Japanese nationals.
The balloon was at 1,000 ft (300m) when it caught fire and plunged onto fields west of Luxor, officials said.
Thomas Cook said the accident had been a "terrible tragedy".
Henry Payne Detroit News editorial cartoonist, columnist
Henry Payne is a columnist, editorial writer, and award-winning editorial cartoonist for The Detroit News. A twenty-five year newspaper veteran, the Pulitzer Prize-nominated satirist produces 12 cartoons a week for The News and United Feature Syndicate. Payne is also a contributor to National Review, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, and other national publications. His News column appears every Tuesday online.
Tens of thousands of believers gathered for Pope Benedict XVI’s final general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday.
ROME — In the waning hours of his troubled papacy, Pope Benedict XVI prepared on Wednesday to hold his final general audience as tens of thousands of believers gathered in St. Peter’s Square a day before his resignation takes formal effect.
Vatican officials said around 50,000 tickets had been requested for the occasion, which is likely to draw many more pilgrims into the broad boulevard leading toward the Vatican from the River Tiber.
The pope sent shock waves around the Roman Catholic world on Feb. 11 when he announced he would resign on Thursday — the first pope to have done so voluntarily in six centuries.
The announcement left officials scrambling to deal with the protocols of his departure as he ceases to be the leader of the world’s 1.1 billion Roman Catholics. Only on Tuesday did the Vatican announce that he will keep the name Benedict XVI and will be known as the Roman pontiff emeritus or pope emeritus.
He will dress in a simple white cassock, forgoing the mozzetta, the elbow-length cape worn by some Catholic clergymen, the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, told reporters at a news briefing on Tuesday.
And he will no longer wear the red shoes typically worn by popes, symbolizing the blood of the martyrs, Father Lombardi said, opting instead for a more quotidian brown.
Benedict’s looming departure has also triggered a surge of maneuvering among the 117 cardinals who will elect his successor in a conclave starting next month, reviving concerns about the clerical abuse scandals that dogged Benedict’s time at the Vatican.
Indeed, the abrupt resignation of the most senior Roman Catholic cardinal in Britain on Monday — after accusations that he made unwanted sexual advances toward priests years ago — showed that the taint of scandal could force a cardinal from participating in the selection of a new pope.
His exit came as at least a dozen other cardinals tarnished with accusations that they had failed to remove priests accused of sexually abusing minors were among those gathering in Rome to prepare for the conclave.
But there was no indication that the church’s promise to confront the sexual abuse scandal had led to direct pressure on those cardinals to exempt themselves from the conclave.
Rachel Donadio reported from Rome, and Alan Cowell from Paris.
WASHINGTON -- The billions in defense budget cuts set to begin Friday will have a swift and severe impact on military readiness, and Congress needs to take fast action to stop them, members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday in an eleventh-hour bid to keep the reductions from going into effect.
Testifying before the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, the five uniformed leaders of the military branches described how national security would be put at risk if they are forced to make deep decreases in spending for personnel, training and equipment modernization programs.
Their appearance marked the fourth time in the last three weeks that top Pentagon leaders have testified before a congressional oversight committee about how the country's fiscal outlook affects the armed forces. Their warnings of a looming readiness crisis haven't changed, but the pending deadline has made them more urgent.
"If we do not have the resources to train and equip the force, our young men and women will pay the price, potentially with their lives," said Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff.
Despite the dire predictions, many of the cuts to hit the Defense Department and other federal agencies would come in later years and could be partially offset by cuts in programs that are wasteful or behind schedule. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., criticized Defense Department officials earlier this month for "adding drama" to the budget debate by publicly highlighting the cuts to the readiness accounts. Hunter, a former Marine who served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, is a member of the House Armed Services Committee.
The automatic cuts, known as a sequester, are scheduled to begin Friday and are the result of Congress' failure to trim the deficit by $1.2 trillion over a decade. The Pentagon faces a $46-billion budget reduction through the end of September, and additional cuts would come in future years, as long as the sequester remains in effect. The military also has to absorb a $487-billion reduction in defense spending over the next 10 years mandated by the Budget Control Act passed in 2011.
The military's fiscal challenges are further complicated by the lack of a budget for the current fiscal year, according to defense officials. Congress hasn't approved one. Instead, lawmakers have been passing bills called continuing resolutions, which keep spending levels at last year's rates. That means the Pentagon is operating on less money than planned, compounding the financial problem facing the armed forces.
The main problem with the sequester is not the size of the cuts to the defense budget, but rather the across-the-board way they are administered, according to Todd Harrison of the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington.
The military has very little flexibility under the law to make smart spending reductions, he said. "High-priority, successful programs must be cut by the same percentage as wasteful, redundant and low-priority programs," Harrison said.
Yet even with the sequester, the Pentagon will still maintain an annual budget, adjusted for inflation, of more than $500 billion a year for the rest of the decade. That's a modest reduction when compared with the previous drawdowns in defense spending that came after the wars in Korea and Vietnam and the Cold War, Harrison said.
Gen. James Amos, the Marine Corps commandant, told the defense subcommittee that America's allies and enemies are watching to determine whether the country remains able to meet its commitments overseas. "Sequestration viewed solely as a budget issue would be a grave mistake," he said.
WASHINGTON – The Senate on Wednesday easily and, for the most part, affably confirmed President Obama’s pick for Treasury secretary, Jacob J. Lew, just one day after the president’s nominee for defense secretary narrowly survived a highly politicized confirmation vote.
Little of the acrimony that held up the nomination of Chuck Hagel, the former Nebraska senator who began his first day as defense secretary on Wednesday, was present in the debate over Mr. Lew.
The final vote was 71 to 26, with 20 Republicans joining the Democratic majority in support of the nomination.
Mr. Obama expressed gratitude for the decision to confirm his former chief of staff and top budget adviser.
“Jack was by my side as we confronted our nation’s toughest challenges,” the president said in a statement. “His reputation as a master of fiscal issues who can work with leaders on both sides of the aisle has already helped him succeed in some of the toughest jobs in Washington.”
The vote meant that for the moment at least, the Senate returned to its traditional role of affording the president deference in selecting his cabinet. Historically, the Treasury secretary position has been an easy one for presidents to fill, with nominees typically receiving unanimous support from the Senate.
Mr. Obama’s previous Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, was a notable exception. After disclosures that Mr. Geithner was delinquent in paying some taxes, many Republicans objected. He was confirmed by a 60-to-34 vote.
Some Republicans who voted for Mr. Lew spoke of the need to give the president flexibility to name his own cabinet even if they ultimately disagreed with a nominee’s politics.
“My vote in favor of Mr. Lew comes with no small amount of reservation, and I don’t fault any of my colleagues for choosing to vote against him,” said Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, the senior Republican on the Finance Committee. “I hope he and the president take note that I am bending over backwards to display deference.”
Though Mr. Hagel’s nomination was stymied as he faced criticism over past statements on Israel and Iran and stumbled over questions in his confirmation hearing, Mr. Lew faced few objections. Other than questions that arose from an unusual $685,000 severance payment he received after he left New York University for a job at Citigroup, the confirmation process was relatively smooth.
One particularly vocal objection on Wednesday came from one of the Senate’s most liberal members, Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont.
“We need a secretary of the Treasury who does not come from Wall Street but is prepared to stand up to the enormous power of Wall Street,” Mr. Sanders said from the Senate floor. “Do I believe that Jack Lew is that person? No, I do not.”
Still, even though the Senate approved Mr. Lew, he received far fewer votes than other Treasury secretary nominees. With the exception of Mr. Geithner, Senate records show that the last nominee to receive fewer than 92 “yes” votes was George P. Schultz, Richard Nixon’s pick in 1972.
Mr. Obama faces another possible battle over a high-level nominee in the coming days as the Senate is set to start considering John Brennan, the White House’s choice as director of central intelligence.
The Pope will hold a final general audience in front of thousands of pilgrims in St Peter's Square on Wednesday, the eve of his resignation.
Papal audiences are normally held inside a Vatican hall in the winter.
But such is the level of interest that the event is being held outdoors and 50,000 tickets have been requested. But as many as 200,000 people may attend.
After Benedict XVI steps down on Thursday, he will become known as "pope emeritus".
There has been no papal resignation since Pope Gregory XII abdicated in 1415 and the surprise announcement of Benedict's abdication has required the rules of electing a successor to be changed to allow the next pope to be chosen before Holy Week, which leads up to Easter.
On Wednesday, the Pope, 85, will be making one of his last public appearances - using his trademark white "popemobile" to greet pilgrims in St Peter's Square.
Organisers say there will be no traditional kissing of the pontiff's hand because of the sheer size of the expected crowd.
"He doesn't want to favour one or the other of the pilgrims," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told the AFP news agency.
The BBC's Alan Johnston in Rome says that on Thursday the Pope will travel by helicopter to his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, about 15 miles (24km) south-east of Rome. He will cease to be Pope at 20:00 local time.
Distinctive white cassock
On Tuesday, it emerged that Benedict would be known as "pope emeritus" and would retain the honorific "His Holiness" after his abdication.
Wednesday's audience will receive saturation media coverage
He will also continue to be known by his papal title of Benedict XVI, rather than reverting to Joseph Ratzinger.
He will wear his distinctive white cassock without any cape or trimmings.
He will surrender his gold ring of office, known as the fisherman's ring, and his personal seal will be destroyed in the same way as when a pope dies.
Benedict will also give up wearing his specially-made red leather loafers, instead wearing brown shoes hand-made for him by a craftsman during a brief visit to Mexico last year, the Vatican said.
Thursday 1000 to 1115 GMT: Cardinals gather in the Vatican to bid farewell to Pope Benedict
About 1515 GMT: Benedict is driven to a helipad within the Vatican
About 1600 GMT: Papal helicopter flies to Castel Gandolfo near Rome
About 1700 GMT: Pope appears at a window overlooking the public square in Castel Gandolfo to bless a crowd
About 1900 GMT: Benedict ceases to be pope; Swiss guards at the entrance to Castel Gandolfo leave their posts
The title "emeritus" is used when a person of status, such as a professor or bishop, hands over their position so their former rank can be retained in their title.
The Pope is to spend his final hours at his Vatican residence saying farewell to the cardinals who have been his closest aides during his eight-year pontificate, says the BBC's David Willey at the Vatican.
His personal archive of documents will be packed up and, at 20:00 (19:00 GMT) on Thursday, the Swiss Guard on duty at his Castel Gandolfo residence will be dismissed, to be replaced by Vatican police.
This will mark the formal end of his papacy and the beginning of the period of transition to his successor, due to be chosen next month.
From 4 March, the College of Cardinals will meet in general congregations to discuss the problems facing the Church and set a date for the start of the secret election, or conclave, to elect Pope Benedict's successor.
That successor will be chosen by 115 cardinal-electors (those younger than 80 years old) through ballots held in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel.
A two-thirds-plus-one vote majority is required. Sixty-seven of the electors were appointed by Benedict XVI, and the remainder by his predecessor John Paul II.
About half the cardinal-electors (60) are European - 21 of them Italian - and many have worked for the administrative body of the Church, the Curia, in Rome.
Ad hoc drinking may mean we do not actually know how much we are consuming
The amount of alcohol consumed in England could be much higher than previously thought, a study suggests.
University College London researchers compared alcohol sales figures with surveys of what people said they drank.
They found there was a significant shortfall with almost half of the alcohol sold unaccounted for in the consumption figures given by drinkers.
This suggests as many as three-quarters of people may be drinking above the recommended daily alcohol limit.
The researchers reached their estimates by factoring in the "missing" alcohol - and found excess drinking was far more than suggested by official figures, they told European Journal of Public Health.
Experts said much alcohol use went unreported, partly because drinkers did not admit or keep track of how much they consumed.
'Health implications'
The study found that 19% more men than previously thought were regularly exceeding their recommend daily limit - and 26% more women.
Total consumption across the week was also higher than officially thought - with 15% more men, and 11% more women drinking above the weekly guidelines.
The current recommendation set by the UK Chief Medical Officers is not to regularly exceed four units per day for men and three units a day for women; the Royal College of Physicians recommends weekly alcohol limits of 21 units for men and 14 units for women - although these are currently under review.
A unit of alcohol is roughly equivalent to half a pint of ordinary strength beer, or nearly one small glass of wine.
Sadie Boniface, lead author of the study at University College, said: "Currently we don't know who consumes almost half of all alcohol in England. This study was conducted to show what alcohol consumption would look like when all of what is sold is accounted for, if everyone under-reported equally.
"The results are putative, but they show that this gap between what is seen in the surveys and sales potentially has enormous implications for public health in England."
The team used alcohol sales data from Revenue and Customs and compared it with two self-reporting alcohol consumption surveys conducted in 2008 - the General Lifestyle Survey (GLF) which analysed average weekly alcohol consumption in 12,490 adults, and the Health Survey for England (HSE) which looked at consumption on the heaviest drinking day in the previous week among 9,608 adults.
Counting units
The researchers say they will now look at the characteristics of those that are under-reporting the number of drinks they have had, and why.
They suggest it may be down to drinking patterns and habits - those that are mixing drinks, and drinking at different venues, may be more likely to under-report.
The charity Alcohol Concern suggests irregular and chaotic drinking behaviour may play a part: "When we're totting up our drinks total we don't always count some occasions as proper drinking.
"We may underestimate drink sizes and their alcoholic content, and not count holidays and special occasions like weddings, birthdays and Christmas when we often drink a great deal more than usual."
The researchers suggest that government drinking guidelines need to reflect actual consumption instead of reported drinking - especially when ascertaining what levels are associated with harm.
The Department of Health says this will be taken into consideration in their alcohol consumption review.
It said: "We already know people underestimate what they drink and many drink too much. That's why we work to help people make healthier decisions, including the recent Change For Life campaign to help them track consumption and understand the impact on their health.
"We're also tackling excessive drinking through our proposed minimum unit price at 45p per unit, tougher licensing laws, more GP risk assessments, better access to specialist nurses and more specialised treatment."
Diane Abbott MP, Labour's shadow public health minister, said: "This has got to be a wake-up call for the government and the country, because after more than two years of bitter internal rows, the government has got cold feet about its only proposed alcohol harm policy.
"More needs to be done to tackle problem drinking, which costs the country £21bn."
This might be because you typed the web address incorrectly. Please check the address and spelling ensuring that it does not contain capital letters or spaces.
It is possible that the page you were looking for may have been moved, updated or deleted.
Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013 By Connor Radnovich Cronkite News
WASHINGTON – Arizona Republicans blasted a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement decision to release hundreds of illegal immigrants in anticipation of March 1 budget cuts, with one calling it “pure political posturing.”
“I’m appalled to learn the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has begun to release hundreds of illegal aliens from custody,” Gov. Jan Brewer said in a statement Tuesday.
“This is pure political posturing and the height of absurdity given that the releases are being granted before the federal sequestration cuts have even gone into effect,” she said.
The immigration agency announced this week that “in order to make the best use of our limited detention resources in the current fiscal climate … ICE has directed field offices to review the detained population to ensure it is in line with available funding.”
ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen said in a prepared statement Tuesday that “over the last week, ICE has reviewed several hundred cases and placed these individuals on methods of supervision less costly than detention.”
Published reports said that released individuals may be put on parole or home detention.
Christensen’s statement said all those released were still in removal proceedings and the priority for detention remains on serious criminal offenders and those who pose a risk to public safety.
The releases come as the Obama administration is warning of the impact of automatic federal budget cuts set to take effect Friday under the “sequester,” unless Congress and the White House can work out a long-term budget deal.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was at the White House Monday saying her department “would not be able to maintain the 34,000 detention beds as required by Congress” if the cuts are allowed to take effect.
“All I can say is, look, we’re doing our very best to minimize the impacts of sequester. But there’s only so much I can do,” she said according to a transcript of the briefing. “I’m supposed to have 34,000 detention beds for immigration. How do I pay for those?”
Members of Arizona’s House delegation could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening. But both of the state’s senators were unhappy with the department’s release of illegal immigrants.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., tweeted at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, “Was this really the only way to save money?” with a link to a news story on the release.
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., released a statement Tuesday evening, deploring the decision by the Department of Homeland Security.
“With more than $1 trillion in budget deficits, there are many opportunities to rein in federal spending,” Flake’s statement said. “Releasing hundreds of detainees who have violated the law is most certainly not one of them.
“This was a deeply misguided move by DHS,” he said.
WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Tuesday to break a filibuster against the nomination of Chuck Hagel as defense secretary, clearing the way for his confirmation despite Republican complaints about his readiness for the job.
More than a dozen Republicans joined Senate Democrats on the 71-to-27 vote to cut off the debate. Republicans who opposed Mr. Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska, had insisted that they needed more time to examine his record.
The Senate scheduled a vote on the nomination for Tuesday afternoon. Mr. Hagel requires a simple majority of 51 to be confirmed.
Democrats said that Mr. Hagel was a strong pick for the job, considering his background in public office and as a soldier in the Vietnam War. They said that the Senate needed to clear Mr. Hagel’s nomination so he could get to work at the Pentagon, given national security issues around the world and pending budget cuts at home.
Republicans said they believed that a shaky performance by Mr. Hagel at his confirmation hearing and his past statements on Israel and a variety of other issues had disqualified him.
John Cornyn, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said Mr. Hagel’s worldview was “dangerously misguided,” and he warned that the nominee was ill prepared to handle such a major post. “I don’t think we want a secretary of defense that has to learn on the job,” he added.
But Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, accused Republicans of stalling the nomination earlier this month for political gain.
“What has their filibuster gained? Twelve days later, nothing has changed,” he said. “Senate Republicans have delayed for the better part of two weeks for one reason and one reason only: partisanship.”
The action in the Senate on Tuesday will help bring to a close one of the most unusually contentious cabinet-level nomination fights in years, a clash that surprised many in Washington for how personal and bitter it became considering that Mr. Hagel, a Republican senator for two terms, worked alongside many of his antagonists until just four years ago.
But even before Mr. Hagel takes office, questions are growing about whether the fight will wound his ability to lead the Pentagon at a time of upheaval both at home and overseas. With a series of huge budget cuts known as the sequester set to go into effect at the end of the week — cuts that will fall hard on the Defense Department if Congress cannot negotiate a compromise — Mr. Hagel will inherit myriad challenges.
Further, the tension between the White House and Republicans on Capitol Hill will not end with Mr. Hagel’s confirmation. Republicans have already trained their sights on the next nominee they see as vulnerable: John O. Brennan, who is President Obama’s pick to become director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Senator John McCain of Arizona and Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have threatened to hold up Mr. Brennan’s nomination over questions about the attack last year on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. Both men made similar demands of Mr. Hagel, who, unlike Mr. Brennan, has had no role in formulating the Obama administration’s defense and national security policies.
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has asked Mr. Brennan to answer questions about a topic that has been thrust to the forefront of the debate over national security: the government’s use of drones.
But even if a handful of vocal Republicans succeed in temporarily blocking Mr. Brennan, they face the reality that they are unlikely to be able to hold up his nomination indefinitely.
The Hagel vote came as the Finance Committee agreed by a margin of 19 to 5 that the Senate should confirm Mr. Obama’s nominee for Treasury secretary, Jack Lew, suggesting that the president’s cabinet picks were moving ahead.
The Pope will hold a final general audience in front of thousands of pilgrims in St Peter's Square on Wednesday, the eve of his resignation.
Papal audiences are normally held inside a Vatican hall in the winter.
But such is the level of interest that the event is being held outdoors and 50,000 tickets have been requested. But as many as 200,000 people may attend.
After Benedict XVI steps down on Thursday, he will become known as "pope emeritus".
There has been no papal resignation since Pope Gregory XII abdicated in 1415 and the surprise announcement of Benedict's abdication has required the rules of electing a successor to be changed to allow the next pope to be chosen before Holy Week, which leads up to Easter.
On Wednesday, the Pope, 85, will be making one of his last public appearances - using his trademark white "popemobile" to greet pilgrims in St Peter's Square.
Organisers say there will be no traditional kissing of the pontiff's hand because of the sheer size of the expected crowd.
"He doesn't want to favour one or the other of the pilgrims," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told the AFP news agency.
The BBC's Alan Johnston in Rome says that on Thursday the Pope will travel by helicopter to his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, about 15 miles (24km) south-east of Rome. He will cease to be Pope at 20:00 local time.
Distinctive white cassock
On Tuesday, it emerged that Benedict would be known as "pope emeritus" and would retain the honorific "His Holiness" after his abdication.
Wednesday's audience will receive saturation media coverage
He will also continue to be known by his papal title of Benedict XVI, rather than reverting to Joseph Ratzinger.
He will wear his distinctive white cassock without any cape or trimmings.
He will surrender his gold ring of office, known as the fisherman's ring, and his personal seal will be destroyed in the same way as when a pope dies.
Benedict will also give up wearing his specially-made red leather loafers, instead wearing brown shoes hand-made for him by a craftsman during a brief visit to Mexico last year, the Vatican said.
Thursday 1000 to 1115 GMT: Cardinals gather in the Vatican to bid farewell to Pope Benedict
About 1515 GMT: Benedict is driven to a helipad within the Vatican
About 1600 GMT: Papal helicopter flies to Castel Gandolfo near Rome
About 1700 GMT: Pope appears at a window overlooking the public square in Castel Gandolfo to bless a crowd
About 1900 GMT: Benedict ceases to be pope; Swiss guards at the entrance to Castel Gandolfo leave their posts
The title "emeritus" is used when a person of status, such as a professor or bishop, hands over their position so their former rank can be retained in their title.
The Pope is to spend his final hours at his Vatican residence saying farewell to the cardinals who have been his closest aides during his eight-year pontificate, says the BBC's David Willey at the Vatican.
His personal archive of documents will be packed up and, at 20:00 (19:00 GMT) on Thursday, the Swiss Guard on duty at his Castel Gandolfo residence will be dismissed, to be replaced by Vatican police.
This will mark the formal end of his papacy and the beginning of the period of transition to his successor, due to be chosen next month.
From 4 March, the College of Cardinals will meet in general congregations to discuss the problems facing the Church and set a date for the start of the secret election, or conclave, to elect Pope Benedict's successor.
That successor will be chosen by 115 cardinal-electors (those younger than 80 years old) through ballots held in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel.
A two-thirds-plus-one vote majority is required. Sixty-seven of the electors were appointed by Benedict XVI, and the remainder by his predecessor John Paul II.
About half the cardinal-electors (60) are European - 21 of them Italian - and many have worked for the administrative body of the Church, the Curia, in Rome.
26 February 2013Last updated at20:12 ETBy Sean CoughlanBBC News education correspondent
Sir Michael Wilshaw wants a more professional approach to school governing bodies
Ofsted's chief inspector is set to attack school governors in England who are "ill-informed" and "not able to make good decisions".
Sir Michael Wilshaw is to launch an online at-a-glance report card for each school, which he wants governors to use to hold head teachers to account.
The Ofsted chief also says he wants some governors to be paid and to provide more professional leadership.
But the National Governors' Association says it opposes paying governors.
"Governors can do a professional businesslike job without being paid," said Emma Knights, the association's chief executive.
And she said that most of the information in the new online reports - called the "School Data Dashboard" - was already available, and that "most governing bodies will be using more detailed data".
'Data dashboard'
In a speech on Wednesday, Sir Michael will say weaknesses in leadership, including governing bodies, were a common problem among the 6,000 schools rated less than good.
He will liken the worst governors to jurors who are incapable of understanding their responsibilities in a court case.
The Ofsted chief is set to launch the School Data Dashboard to provide information for an estimated 300,000 school governors.
This data, also available to the public, will provide key information about the performance of every state primary and secondary school.
Sir Michael says this will make sure that governors understand their schools' strengths and weaknesses.
"But for those that don't, there are now no excuses. Inspectors will be very critical of governing bodies who, despite the dashboard, still don't know their school well enough," Sir Michael is expected to say in a speech in London.
He will praise the best governors for focusing on the "big issues", such as "the quality of teaching, the progress and achievement of their pupils, and the culture which supports this".
But he will condemn weak governing bodies for paying too much attention to "marginal" concerns.
"Too much time spent looking at the quality of school lunches and not enough on maths and English," Sir Michael will say.
"In the worst cases, governors can be rather like the jury that was dismissed from a high-profile trial last week: ill-informed and not able to make good decisions."
Financial incentives
A large majority of school governors are unpaid volunteers from the local community.
But Sir Michael will repeat his calls for some governors to be paid.
An Ofsted spokeswoman said that offering incentives might attract talented governors to very challenging schools.
This could be "more than just expenses", she said.
But Ms Knights said that volunteering was an important part of the ethos of parents and the community supporting local schools.
There are already provisions for paying governors in certain circumstances, such as where temporary governing bodies are installed to turn around a failing school.
Ms Knights argues that in most cases there is no evidence that schools would be improved by paying governors.
Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, cautioned against the over-simplified use of school performance data.
"All data, especially 'simple' statistics, comes with a health warning. It should encourage people to ask more questions, not to draw premature conclusions," said Mr Lightman.
1 of 5. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe participates in a media conference at a Washington hotel, February 22, 2013.
Credit: Reuters/Jason Reed
By Paul Eckert and Kiyoshi Takenaka
WASHINGTON | Fri Feb 22, 2013 7:17pm EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Americans on Friday "I am back and so is Japan" and vowed to get the world's third biggest economy growing again and to do more to bolster security and the rule of law in an Asia roiled by territorial disputes.
Abe had firm words for China in a policy speech to a top Washington think-tank, but also tempered his remarks by saying he had no desire to escalate a row over islets in the East China Sea that Tokyo controls and Beijing claims.
"No nation should make any miscalculation about firmness of our resolve. No one should ever doubt the robustness of the Japan-U.S. alliance," he told the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"At the same time, I have absolutely no intention to climb up the escalation ladder," Abe said in a speech in English.
After meeting U.S. President Barack Obama on his first trip to Washington since taking office in December in a rare comeback to Japan's top job, he said he told Obama that Tokyo would handle the islands issue "in a calm manner."
"We will continue to do so and we have always done so," he said through a translator, while sitting next to Obama in the White House Oval Office.
Tension surged in 2012, raising fears of an unintended military incident near the islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. Washington says the islets fall under a U.S.-Japan security pact, but it is eager to avoid a clash in the region.
Abe said he and Obama "agreed that we have to work together to maintain the freedom of the seas and also that we would have to create a region which is governed based not on force but based on an international law."
Abe, whose troubled first term ended after just one year when he abruptly quit in 2007, has vowed to revive Japan's economy with a mix of hyper-easy monetary policy, big spending, and structural reform. The hawkish leader is also boosting Japan's defense spending for the first time in 11 years.
"Japan is not, and will never be, a tier-two country," Abe said in his speech. "So today ... I make a pledge. I will bring back a strong Japan, strong enough to do even more good for the betterment of the world."
'ABENOMICS' TO BOOST TRADE
The Japanese leader stressed that his "Abenomics" recipe would be good for the United States, China and other trading partners.
"Soon, Japan will export more, but it will import more as well," Abe said in the speech. "The U.S. will be the first to benefit, followed by China, India, Indonesia and so on."
The United States and Japan agreed language during Abe's visit that could set the stage for Tokyo to join negotiations soon on a U.S.-led regional free trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
In a carefully worded statement following the meeting between Obama and Abe, the two countries reaffirmed that "all goods would be subject to negotiations if Japan joins the talks with the United States and 10 other countries.
At the same time, the statement envisions a possible outcome where the United States could maintain tariffs on Japanese automobiles and Japan could still protect its rice sector.
"Recognizing that both countries have bilateral trade sensitivities, such as certain agricultural products for Japan and certain manufactured products for the United States, the two governments confirm that, as the final outcome will be determined during the negotiations, it is not required to make a prior commitment to unilaterally eliminate all tariffs upon joining the TPP negotiations," the statement said.
Abe repeated that Japan would not provide any aid for North Korea unless it abandoned its nuclear and missile programs and released Japanese citizens abducted decades ago to help train spies.
Pyongyang admitted in 2002 that its agents had kidnapped 13 Japanese in the 1970s and 1980s. Five have been sent home, but Japan wants better information about eight who Pyongyang says are dead and others Tokyo believes were also kidnapped.
Abe also said he hoped to have a meeting with new Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who takes over as president next month, and would dispatch Finance Minister Taro Aso to attend the inauguration of incoming South Korean President Park Geun-hye next week.
(Additional reporting by Jeff Mason and Doug Palmer; Editing by David Brunnstrom and Paul Simao)
Mr Castro has made infrequent public appearances since he handed over power to his brother
Cuba's former leader Fidel Castro has made a rare public appearance, joining his brother, President Raul Castro, at the opening session of the National Assembly in Havana.
It was only his second visit to the assembly since he fell ill in 2006 and handed power to his brother.
The assembly is expected to name Raul Castro for another five-year term as president and to elect a new speaker.
President Castro has said top officials should only serve two terms at most.
Correspondents say the younger politicians named to top posts in this assembly may one day run Cuba once the Castro brothers have gone.
Frail
The arrival at the assembly chambers of Fidel and Raul Castro was warmly greeted by more than 600 deputies gathered there.
It is not known whether this time Fidel, who is 86, will take to the podium.
He was seen in public earlier this month voting for the National Assembly. Correspondents say he appeared frail and stooped.
Mr Castro has given up all his official positions, except his spot as deputy.
During his last appearance at the National Assembly, in 2010, Fidel Castro warned that a confrontation between the United States and Iran could lead to a nuclear confrontation.
The assembly is expected to elect Raul Castro, who is 81, for another term of office.
He took over provisionally in 2006 when Fidel fell ill.
But this would only be his second full term after formally assuming the presidency in 2008.
Raul Castro has said in the past that top public officials, including the president, should not remain in office for more than two terms.
The assembly will also choose a new president of the assembly, following Ricardo Alarcon's retirement after 20 years. He says he will be campaigning for the release of five Cuban agents sentenced to prison in the US for spying.
Hollywood is gearing up for what is likely to be one of the most unpredictable Academy Awards for years.
No film is likely to sweep the board, but the best picture prize is expected to go to hostage drama Argo.
That has overtaken historical epic Lincoln in the predictions, although Daniel Day-Lewis, who plays Abraham Lincoln, is favourite for best actor.
Les Miserables star Anne Hathaway is tipped for supporting actress, but the other acting categories are more open.
All five nominees for best supporting actor have won Oscars before.
Ben Affleck's Argo has gained momentum in recent weeks in the race to win best picture
This year, it is thought to be a three-horse race between Robert De Niro for Silver Linings Playbook, Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln and Christoph Waltz fro Django Unchained.
Jones, who plays radical Republican Thaddeus Stevens, picked up the Screen Actors Guild prize for supporting actor, a possible indicator to Oscars success.
But Waltz won at the Golden Globes, and 10 out of the last 12 Globe winners in this category have gone on to win the equivalent Oscar, according to Oscar predictions website Gold Derby.
Waltz won best supporting actor in 2010 for another Quentin Tarantino film, Inglorious Basterds - and some voters may feel it is too soon to honour him again.
Instead, the Academy may feel it is time to reward Robert De Niro again, 21 years after he was last nominated, for Cape Fear, and 32 years since he last won, for Raging Bull. If he triumphs, it will be his third Oscar win.
Alan Arkin (Argo) and The Master's Philip Seymour Hoffman are the other contenders on the supporting actor list.
The red carpet has been prepared outside the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood
Best actress is another unpredictable contest. Emmanuelle Riva, the leading lady in Michael Haneke's old age drama Amour, could become the oldest actress to win an Oscar. The ceremony falls on her 86th birthday.
She is challenging Silver Linings Playbook star Jennifer Lawrence, who is thought to be the front-runner for that statuette.
Another rival, Quvenzhane Wallis, could potentially be the youngest ever winner at the age of nine for her role in Beasts of the Southern Wild, although she is seen as an outsider.
Celebrity stand-ins took part in rehearsals on the red carpet outside the Dolby Theatre
They are up against Jessica Chastain, who appears as a CIA agent on the trail of Osama bin Laden in Zero Dark Thirty, and Naomi Watts, for her raw performance in tsunami movie The Impossible.
Day-Lewis is thought to be the biggest dead cert to be called to the podium at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre.
His turn as the 19th Century US president is universally expected to put him in the Oscar history books by making him the first person to win best actor three times.
His first win came in 1990 for My Left Foot, followed by a victory for There Will Be Blood in 2008.
Lincoln had also been a hot ticket for best picture before Christmas, but Argo, which tells the story of how the CIA and Hollywood helped rescue US hostages in Iran in 1980, has gained momentum in recent weeks.
The fact it focuses on real-life Hollywood producers saving the day probably has not done it any harm, and it has cleaned up at most major awards ceremonies so far, including the Baftas, Golden Globes, Producers Guild Awards and Directors Guild Awards.
But Argo director Ben Affleck was a surprise omission from the Academy Awards' best director shortlist.
That category is another close race, with Lincoln's Steven Spielberg in a duel with Ang Lee for Life Of Pi.
There are outside chances for David O Russell for Silver Lining Playbook, Michael Haneke for Amour and Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild.
It has not been the best year for UK hopefuls, with only two Brits flying the flag in the four acting categories - Anglo-Irish actor Day Lewis and British-Australian actress Naomi Watts.
Adele's Skyfall could win best original song and Brits are well represented in the best animated feature category with Paranorman, The Pirates! Band of Misfits and Tim Burton's Frankenweenie, which was made in the UK.
Searching for Sugarman was produced by Man on a Wire's Simon Chinn, while the UK could perform well in many technical categories - hopes are high for Jacqueline Durran for best costume (Anna Karenina).
It could be 11th time lucky for Skyfall cinematographer Roger Deakins - but after missing out so many times, he will probably not be holding his breath.
The US government is expected to join a lawsuit against Lance Armstrong after talks with his lawyers broke down.
The suit argues Armstrong defrauded the American public by insisting he was not using drugs while riding for the publicly funded US Postal Service team.
"Kenny Clutch" may have rapped about the gangster life, but Ken Cherry didn't live it, his friends and family said.
"Right now my heart is breaking," Pat Sims, aunt of Cherry, who rapped under the name Kenny Clutch, told the Oakland Tribune. "This has really been a tragedy. Kenny was just a delightful kid."
Cherry, 27, was an aspiring rapper from Oakland who lived in Las Vegas, according to his Facebook. He was killed early Thursday when bullets fired from a black Range Rover peppered his Maserati, authorities said.
"I can tell you this ... the world has lost a good man," Sims said. "I'm not saying he didn't have his faults, but he was very kind, especially to older people. Whatever happened in Vegas, I don't know about, but he was a very kind soul."
His attorney, Vicki Greco, told the newspaper Cherry "was into gangsta rap, but that's not who he was."
"In my interaction with him, I can tell you that by the way he looked and what he put out there on his videos, he fit a certain stereotype," Greco said. "But I also can tell you that away from that, he was anything but that kind of stereotype. He was honest. He was loyal. He was very dependable. Sometimes, he'd drop by my office just to say hello. He was a nice, nice kid."
Authorities said Cherry and the Range Rover had left the Aria resort hotel and were heading north on Las Vegas Boulevard at 4:20 a.m., a time when the casino marquees shine bright but the gambling thoroughfare is largely empty. At Harmon Avenue, occupants of the Range Rover opened fire on Cherry's Maserati, police said.
The silver-gray sports car, which was struck several times, sped into the intersection at Flamingo Road, ramming a Yellow Cab, officials said. The taxi exploded, killing the driver and a passenger. Four other vehicles in the intersection were also involved in the crash and explosion, but police offered no details.
Cherry died later at a hospital.
No arrests have been made.
“This is something you never want to go through,” Cherry's father, Kenneth Cherry Sr., told KNTV. “This is the hardest thing in my life right now because you never want your children to leave before you leave.”
South African athlete Oscar Pistorius, who faces murder charges over the fatal shooting of his girlfriend, has been granted bail after a lengthy hearing.
The Paralympic sprinter denies murder, saying he shot Reeva Steenkamp thinking she was an intruder at his home.
The prosecution had argued that bail should be refused because there was a risk Mr Pistorius, 26, would abscond.
Magistrate Desmond Nair said the state had not made a case that he would flee, or that he had a violent character.
WASHINGTON (AP) — About 100 American troops have been deployed to the African nation of Niger, where a U.S. defense official said they would be setting up a drone base for surveillance missions.
President Barack Obama announced the deployment Friday in a letter to Congress, saying that the forces "will provide support for intelligence collection and will also facilitate intelligence sharing with French forces conducting operations in Mali, and with other partners in the region."
French troops have been fighting Islamic militants in Mali, which neighbors Niger. The drone base will allow the U.S. to give France more intelligence on the militants. Over time, it could extend the reach not only of American intelligence-gathering but also U.S. special operations missions to strengthen Niger's own security forces.
The defense official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the project.
The drones at the Niger base will be unarmed and used for surveillance, not airstrikes.
Obama said in his letter to Congress that the U.S. forces has been deployed with the consent of Niger's government. The forces were also deployed with weapons "for their own force protection and security," the president said.
Last month, the U.S. and Niger signed a status-of-forces agreement spelling out legal protections and obligations of American forces that might operate in Niger in the future.
Africa is increasingly a focus of U.S. counterterrorism efforts, even as al-Qaida remains a threat in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere. Last month's terrorist attack on a natural gas complex in Algeria, in which at least 37 hostages and 29 militants were killed, illustrated the threat posed by extremists who have asserted power propelled by long-simmering ethnic tensions in Mali and the revolution in Libya.
A number of al-Qaida-linked Islamic extremist groups operate in Mali and elsewhere in the Sahara, including a group known as al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, which originated in Algeria and is active in northern Mali.
In January, French forces intervened to stop the extremists' move toward Mali's capital, and Washington has grown more involved by providing a variety of military support to French troops.
Thirteen Chadian and 65 Islamist rebel fighters have been killed in fighting in northern Mali, Chad's military says.
It says five of its soldiers were wounded in the clashes in the mountainous Ifoghas region.
France intervened last month to help the Malian army oust Islamist militants who seized the vast northern region of Mali in 2012.
Thousands of soldiers from African countries have also been deployed in Mali since then.
US drones
The latest clashes took place in the Ifoghas massif - a desert mountain region in the Kidal region near the border with Algeria.
The rebels are believed to have sought refuge there after being forced from the main population centres.
Five rebel vehicles were also destroyed during the fierce battle on Friday, the Chadian military said in a statement.
Fighting between Islamist insurgents and Malian troops - backed by French soldiers - also continued in the central city of Gao.
On Thursday, the coalition said it had recaptured the city hall, which had been seized by militants a day earlier.
In a separate development, US military said it had deployed surveillance drones in Niger to gather information on Islamist militants across the border in Mali and share intelligence with French troops.
The US said a 100-strong contingent was operating the drones out of a base in Niger.
France has said it wants to start withdrawing its 4,000 soldiers from its former colony next month - and would like the African-led mission to become a UN peacekeeping operation.
Different versions of the US's most advanced - and expensive - fighter jet are flown by the Navy and the Marine Corps
The US has grounded its entire fleet of 51 F-35 fighter jets after the discovery of a cracked engine blade.
The fault was detected during a routine inspection of an air force version of the jet (F-35A) at Edwards Air Force Base in California, said the Pentagon.
Different versions are flown by the navy and the marine corps. All have been grounded.
The F-35 is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons programme. with a cost of nearly $400bn (£260bn).
The Pentagon said flight operations would remain suspended until the root cause is established.
Friday's order was the second time in two months planes from the F-35 range have been grounded.
The marine corps variant (F-35B), a short take-off and vertical landing variant (SOVL), was grounded for nearly a month after a manufacturing defect caused a fuel line to detach just before a training flight in January.
The air force version takes off from, and lands on, conventional runways while the SOVL version takes off from shorter runways and lands like a helicopter.
The UK is buying the SOVL variant for its future aircraft carriers.
It is replacing the scrapped Harrier jet which had a range of 300 nautical miles, compared with the F-35's 450 nautical miles.
With a top speed of 1,200mph (1,930km/h), the F-35 can fly almost twice as fast as the Harrier, while it also has radar transparency and stealth capabilities - the Harrier had neither.
US photographer Christopher Michel, who took these pictures before the crash happened, was in another balloon when he "heard an explosion and saw smoke"
