News from Washington: Shooting in Washington At Washington’s Navy Yard

 Parts of the nation’s capital were put on lockdown in the day after the shooting on the edge of Capitol Hill as the police sought two other armed suspects spotted by video cameras. But by Monday evening, federal authorities said they believed the shooting was the act of a lone gunman.

At Washington’s Navy Yard, the chaos started just after 8 a.m. Civilian employees described a scene of confusion as shots erupted through the hallways of the Naval Sea Systems Command headquarters, on the banks of the Anacostia River a few miles from the White House and about a half-mile from the Capitol.

“I heard three gunshots, pow, pow, pow, straight in a row,” said Patricia Ward, a logistics management specialist from Woodbridge, Va., who was in the cafeteria on the first floor when the shooting started. “About three seconds later, there were four more gunshots, and all of the people in the cafeteria were panicking, trying to figure out which way we were going to run out.”

Police officers who swarmed the military facility exchanged fire with a gunman later identified by the federal authorities as Aaron Alexis, 34, a former naval reservist from Fort Worth, Tex. Police officers shot and killed Mr. Alexis, law enforcement officials said, but not before a dozen people were killed and several others, including a police officer, were injured and taken to local hospitals.

Officials said Mr. Alexis was able to drive onto the base and began firing as he approached Building 197, shooting an officer. Once inside, Mr. Alexis made his way to a floor overlooking an atrium and took aim at the employees eating breakfast below.

“He was shooting down from above the people,” one law enforcement official said. “That is where he does most of his damage.”

A police officer underwent several hours of surgery for gunshot wounds to his legs. A second victim suffered a gunshot wound to her shoulder. A bullet grazed a third victim’s head but did not penetrate her skull, according to doctors at MedStar Washington Hospital Center.

Three weapons were found on Mr. Alexis: an AR-15 assault rifle, a shotgun and a semiautomatic pistol, a senior law enforcement officer said. Officials said they were still searching for a motive as they asked the public for help by posting pictures of Mr. Alexis on the F.B.I. Web site.

Navy officials said late Monday that Mr. Alexis had worked as a contractor in information technology. A spokesman for Hewlett-Packard said Mr. Alexis had been an employee of a company called The Experts, a subcontractor on an HP Enterprise Services contract. Navy officials said Mr. Alexis was discharged in 2011 after exhibiting a “pattern of misbehavior,” which officials declined to detail. Because of the lockdown at the Navy Yard, the officials said they were still unable to search databases to determine his current employment status, or whether he had been fired.

The police in Seattle, where Mr. Alexis once lived, said Monday that they had arrested him in 2004 for shooting the tires of another man’s vehicle in what Mr. Alexis later described to detectives as an anger-fueled “blackout.”

Eleanor Holmes Norton, the Congressional representative for the District of Columbia, called the episode “an attack on our city.”

“It’s an attack on our country,” she added.

Mayor Vincent C. Gray called it a “long, tragic day.” President Obama praised the victims of the shooting as patriots.

The tension in the city was heightened for much of the day as the city’s police said they were still unsure whether Mr. Alexis had acted alone. Officials said surveillance video of people fleeing the scene of the shooting showed two armed men dressed in different military uniforms and wielding guns. For hours, the police said they believed that there might have been three gunmen and that two of them were on the loose in the city.

Officials later cleared one of the two men seen on the surveillance video. They continued to search for a black man about 50 years old who was wearing an olive-colored military-style uniform and was believed to be carrying a “long gun.” 

 The reports of multiple suspects generated confusion across Washington as the authorities offered conflicting messages about any continuing danger. Officials did not move to secure the city, leaving the city’s subway system to operate normally. But out of an “abundance of caution,” Terrance W. Gainer, the Senate sergeant-at-arms, put the Senate complex into lockdown at after 3 p.m. The Senate had recessed in the early afternoon.

Around the same time, the Washington Nationals postponed a game against the division-leading Atlanta Braves, which had been scheduled for 7 p.m. at Nationals Park, next to the Navy Yard. The Nationals’ Web site said “Postponed: Tragedy” and notified fans that the teams would play a doubleheader on Tuesday instead.

A city already on edge was further shaken Monday evening when someone tossed firecrackers over the fence at the White House, causing loud bangs and prompting a swift and aggressive response from Secret Service agents, who tackled a man in white shorts and a T-shirt on Pennsylvania Avenue.Monday morning, the shooting started at 8:20 on a drizzly day at the Navy Yard, which sits at one end of the 11th Street Bridge, a major thoroughfare bringing traffic into the city from Maryland.

Within minutes of the first reports of shots, hundreds of police officers and naval officers surrounded the Naval Sea Systems Command headquarters, where about 3,000 service members, civilians and contractors work on the Navy’s fleet. Military helicopters circled the facility as police vehicles and other emergency vehicles rushed to the Navy Yard. A helicopter lowered a basket to the roof of one of the buildings and appeared to be taking away victims.

One victim, described as a man in his 60s, was shot in the left temple and was pronounced dead within a minute of arriving at George Washington University Hospital. “This injury was not survivable by any stretch,” a hospital official told reporters. “The patient was dead on the way to the hospital.”

Investigators were still trying to determine how Mr. Alexis gained access to the Navy Yard. The site is protected by a high wall, with entry through checkpoints that require official identification. However, under the “force protection status” that was believed to have been in effect early Monday, someone with official access to the site could have driven a car into the parking lot without having the trunk inspected, or could have entered on foot without having a bag searched.

Employees evacuated from the building described a chaotic situation as an individual armed with a rifle roamed the hallways shooting at people.

Cmdr. Tim Jirus said he was on the fourth floor when he heard gunshots and saw people start running through the office. The commander said he was at the back of the building working to get people out when a man came out of a maintenance building and approached him, asking about the shooting. Moments later, the man, a civilian, was shot in the head, he said.

“We had a conversation for about a minute,” Commander Jirus said. “I heard two gunshots, and he went down, and then I ran back here.”

Holding a radio as he waited outside the Navy Yard Metro station, Commander Jirus said he had heard that another man in his office, also a civilian, had been shot and evacuated to a hospital.

Asked how he escaped when the man next to him was shot, he said: “Luck. Grace of God. Whatever you want to call it.”

 Sources and edited, Reporting was contributed by Abby Goodnough, Emmarie Huetteman and Thom Shanker from Washington, and William K. Rashbaum from New York.        

         

Obama told his war-weary country that America needs to use limited military force

Inaction is not an option for the United States in Syria after a horrendous chemical attack, President Barack Obama has said as he urged holdout legislators to back a military strike.

"We are the United States of America. We cannot turn a blind eye to images like the ones we've seen out of Syria," Obama said in his weekly address on Saturday.

"That's why I call on members of Congress, from both parties, to come together and stand up for the kind of world we want to live in; the kind of world we want to leave our children and future generations."

Obama told his war-weary country that America needs to use limited military force in Syria to deter future chemical weapons attacks, but said he did not want to enter into another costly and protracted war.

"This would not be another Iraq or Afghanistan," Obama said in his weekly radio and internet address, previewing arguments he will make in a nationally televised address on Tuesday.

"Any action we take would be limited, both in time and scope - designed to deter the Syrian government from gassing its own people again and degrade its ability to do so," he said.

A week ago, Obama said he felt limited strikes in Syria were needed, but added he wanted to ask Congress to authorise the use of military force.

Neither Democratic nor Republican lawmakers have been enthused about the prospect, partly because Americans strongly oppose getting involved in another Middle Eastern conflict.

Americans 'war-weary'
A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Tuesday suggested 56 percent of Americans believed the United States should not intervene, while only 19 percent supported action.

"I know that the American people are weary after a decade of war, even as the war in Iraq has ended, and the war in Afghanistan is winding down. That's why we're not putting our troops in the middle of somebody else's war," Obama said in his recorded address.

Obama and his top officials plan an intensive lobbying effort on Capitol Hill next week, scheduling meetings with undecided lawmakers.

Obama said failing to respond to the August 21 attack, which Washington blames on President Bashar al-Assad's government and that killed hundreds of children and more than 1,400 people in total, would threaten US national security by increasing the chance of future chemical attacks from the Syrian government, terrorist groups, or other nations.

Congress reconvenes on Monday and Obama addresses the nation on Tuesday. But he acknowledged that convincing Congress to back military action against the Syrian regime would be a "heavy lift".

"I understand the scepticism," the US president said.

Source from al jazeera

White House Says, ‘Little Doubt’ of Chemical Attack by Syria

Moving a step closer to possible American military action in Syria, a senior Obama administration official said on Sunday that there was “very little doubt” that President Bashar al-Assad’s military forces had used chemical weapons against civilians last week and that a Syrian promise to allow United Nations inspectors access to the site was “too late to be credible.”

The official, in a carefully worded written statement, said that “based on the reported number of victims, reported symptoms of those who were killed or injured, witness accounts and other facts gathered by open sources, the U.S. intelligence community, and international partners, there is very little doubt at this point that a chemical weapon was used by the Syrian regime against civilians in this incident.”

The statement, released on Sunday morning on the condition that the official not be named, reflected a marked shift in tone after President Obama’s meeting at the White House on Saturday with his national security team, during which advisers discussed options for military action.

The president, who warned a year ago that the use of chemical weapons by Syrian government forces would be a “red line,” has faced criticism from Congressional Republicans and others for failing to respond more forcefully to evidence of earlier, smaller-scale chemical attacks. Mr. Obama, who inherited two costly wars — in Iraq and Afghanistan — has been extremely reluctant to commit American military forces, even in the form of missile strikes, to another tangled conflict in the Middle East.

But on Sunday, the White House seemed to take a harder line, dismissing the Syrian promise of possible access by United Nations inspectors. That raised at least the possibility that a strike on Syrian targets would come soon, perhaps using cruise missiles fired from ships off shore.

Early Sunday, the White House said Syrian officials had refused to let the inspectors see the site of the attack. But Syrian television subsequently reported that there was an agreement to allow access beginning on Monday. The administration official who released the statement said the offer, even if sincere, might be meaningless because of the time that had already passed since the attack.

“The evidence available has been significantly corrupted as a result of the regime’s persistent shelling and other intentional actions over the last five days,” the official said.

The official, however, did not suggest that Mr. Obama had decided to take action. “We are continuing to assess the facts so the president can make an informed decision about how to respond to this indiscriminate use of chemical weapons,” the official said.

But by labeling as “indiscriminate” the attack on Wednesday in a Damascus suburb, which reportedly killed hundreds of civilians, the official suggested that the United States viewed the latest assault as different from the smaller suspected chemical attacks that had not provoked American military action.

The Syrian government has denied using chemical weapons, and on Saturday it said its soldiers had found chemical supplies in areas seized from rebel forces. Russia, an ally of the Syrian government, accused the rebels of using the weapons, but few analysts believe they have the supplies or ability to do so.

In response to Washington’s comments, Moscow cautioned against a rush to judgment. A spokesman for the foreign ministry, Aleksandr K. Lukashevich, said that those who advocated an armed response to any chemical weapons attack — without citing the United States or other countries — were prejudging the results of the United Nations inspections.

“In these conditions, we again resolutely call on all those who are trying to impose the results of the U.N. investigations and who say that armed actions against Syria is possible to show common sense and avoid tragic mistakes,” Mr. Lukashevich said in a statement released on Sunday evening on the ministry’s Web site. 

Syria warned that any American military action would “create a ball of fire that will inflame the Middle East,” according to The Associated Press. And Iranian state news media quoted the Tehran government as saying that any intervention by Washington would have severe consequences.  

Israel sharpened its message on Sunday, suggesting that the use of such weapons in the region should not go without a response.

“This situation must not be allowed to continue,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, referring to the Syrian civilians “who were so brutally attacked by weapons of mass destruction.”

“The most dangerous regimes in the world must not be allowed to possess the most dangerous weapons in the world,” he said.

Some Israelis have argued that international intervention in Syria would distract the world from the crucial effort to prevent a nuclear Iran. But there is a growing sense among Israelis that Syria is now a test of how the world might respond to Iran as it approaches the capability of making a nuclear weapon.

“Assad’s regime has become a full Iranian client, and Syria has become Iran’s testing ground,” Mr. Netanyahu added. “Now the whole world is watching. Iran is watching, and it wants to see what would be the reaction on the use of chemical weapons.”

In Washington, several lawmakers said on Sunday that they now expected limited military action to punish Syria or deter chemical attacks.

But lawmakers who appeared on Sunday talks show said it would be reckless to insert ground troops into a war in a region already in turmoil, and there was a general call for any action to be taken under the broadest possible international auspices.

“I hope the president, as soon as we get back to Washington, will ask for authorization from Congress to do something in a very surgical and proportional way,” Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on “Fox News Sunday.”

But Representative Eliot Engel of New York, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the situation might be too urgent to wait for Congress, which does not return from its summer recess until Sept. 9. Mr. Engel suggested that there were many options for air attacks launched from outside Syrian airspace.

Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island and a member of the Armed Services Committee, said any military option should be carefully circumscribed. “We can’t let ourselves get into a situation where this becomes a springboard for general military operations in Syria to try to change the dynamic” of the hostilities there, Mr. Reed said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “This has to be an international operation. It can’t be a unilateral American approach.”

On Saturday, Doctors Without Borders, an international aid group, said that on the morning of the reported attack, medical centers it supported near the site received about 3,600 patients showing symptoms consistent with exposure to toxic nerve agents.

Of those, 355 died, the group said.

The statement was the first issued by an international organization working in Syria about Wednesday’s attack. Anti-government activists have said that hundreds of people were killed when government forces pelted the area with rockets spewing poisoned gas.

Doctors Without Borders said it could not confirm what substances caused the symptoms it reported on Saturday or who was responsible for the attack, but its report appeared to lend credibility to other accounts by witnesses and to the opposition’s estimates of the number of dead.

The aid group said the symptoms were reported by three medical facilities it supported in the area of the reported attack. The group’s statement said that during three hours on Wednesday morning, the clinics received patients who had symptoms indicating exposure to a chemical nerve agent, including breathing problems, dilated pupils, convulsions, foaming at the mouth and blurred vision. Many of the medics in the centers also experienced some symptoms, said Stephen Cornish, one of the group’s executive directors. One of the medics died.

“When you put these elements together,” Mr. Cornish said, “what it suggests to us is a neurotoxic agent.”

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday that it had confirmed the deaths of 322 people in the attack, including 54 children, 82 women, 16 people who could not be identified and dozens of rebel fighters. The group, based in Britain, said its activists had visited the area, spoken to residents and collected medical reports and videos indicating that most of the people dead were killed by exposure to toxic gas.

Pentagon officials said Saturday that Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, would leave for Jordan this weekend to attend a long-scheduled meeting of regional military chiefs at which the situation in Syria was certain to be discussed. Pentagon officials also said that the Navy had increased its presence in the eastern Mediterranean Sea to four destroyers, each carrying long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles similar to those launched in past American attacks on Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.

The Navy historically has deployed two destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean, but it had added one more over recent months. The Navy’s commander in the region added a fourth, at least temporarily, by delaying a scheduled return to port for one warship and accelerating the arrival of its replacement. 

 Scott Shane reported from Washington and Ben Hubbard from Beirut, Lebanon. Reporting was contributed by Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem, Steven Lee Myers from Moscow, and Michael R. Gordon, Brian Knowlton and Thom Shanker from Washington. 

edited by niema.

Obama Seeks to Shame Colleges Into Easing Costs

BUFFALO — President Obama deplored the rising costs of college on Thursday as he tried to shame universities into holding down prices. He held out the prospect of more federal student aid if they did.

Speaking at the University at Buffalo, where tuition and fees now total about $8,000 per year for New York residents, Mr. Obama said the middle class and those struggling to rise out of persistent financial troubles were being unfairly priced out of American higher education.

“Colleges are not going to just be able to keep on increasing tuition year after year and passing it on to students,” Mr. Obama told an enthusiastic audience of about 7,200 students and others in the university’s auditorium. “We can’t price the middle class and everybody working to get into the middle class out of college.”

The president, who was on the first day of a two-day bus trip across New York and Pennsylvania, said rising prices at colleges were partly driven by the distribution of $150 billion in federal assistance to students. He said colleges that allowed tuition to soar should be penalized by getting less federal aid for their students, while colleges that held down costs should get more of the money.

He announced plans to create a federal rating system that would allow parents and students to easily compare colleges. And he said he would urge Congress to pass legislation to link the student aid to the rating system.

“It is time to stop subsidizing schools that are not producing good results,” Mr. Obama said to a roar of applause.

The president offered his college affordability proposals as part of a campaign to highlight efforts that his administration says will help the middle class.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Arne Duncan, the education secretary, said the president’s plan aimed to change incentives for colleges that were not doing enough to keep down costs. “We want to see good actors be rewarded,” Mr. Duncan said. “We want to see them get more resources. And when we’re not seeing that kind of commitment, we want to challenge that status quo.”

Higher education experts generally agreed that the plan was important, but a number found the ratings worrisome. “It depends on having complete and accurate data, and there are some areas where the Department of Education does have good data, but others where it does not,” said Molly Corbett Broad, the president of the American Council on Education, the largest higher education trade organization.

For example, she said, the department’s statistics on graduation rates include only students who start and finish at the same institution. And, she said, it is unclear what leads students and families to the college choices they make.

“I’m all for analytics and analysis, but we just don’t know what information, and how much, helps students and families make good college decisions,” she said. “It’s very difficult to write an algorithm for how these decisions are made.”

Mr. Obama’s plan is certain to anger some college officials, who argue that their costs are affected by state funding decisions, the rising cost of health care and other factors outside their control. Mr. Duncan said the administration planned to move slowly as it created the ratings system, in part to listen to the concerns of university administrators.

The plan requires approval by Congress, and reaction on Thursday tended to fall along party lines. Representative John Kline, Republican of Minnesota and the chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said in a statement that he was skeptical of Mr. Obama’s proposed rating system.

“I remain concerned that imposing an arbitrary college ranking system could curtail the very innovation we hope to encourage — and even lead to federal price controls,” Mr. Kline said. “As always, the devil is in the details.” 

Michael D. Shear reported from Buffalo, and Tamar Lewin from New York.

edited and publish by niema.

Sikap AS terhadap Madrasah

Amerika Serikat menempatkan sebuah madrasah di Pakistan sebagai organisasi teroris karena dianggap mendukung Lashka-i-Toiba, Al-Qaida, dan Taliban.

Madrasah Jamia Taleem-Ul-Quran-Wal-Hadith yang juga dijkenal sebagai Madrasah Ganj di kota Pesawar meruopakan sekolah pertama yang masuk dalam daftar organsasi teroris.

Departemen Keuangan Amerika Serikat dalam pernyataannya menyebutkan madrasah tersebut melatih, merekrut, dan mendanai kelompok militan.

Pimpinan madrasah, Syekh Aminullah, sejak tahun 2009 sudah masuk dalam daftar teroris karena mendukung Al-Qaida dan Taliban.

Ditambahkan bahwa para siswa di madrasah dilatih untuk membuat bom dan juga menjadi pembom bunuh diri.

"Kami akan terus berkerja sama dengan mitra kami di seluruh dunia untuk melucuti jaringan teroris, khususnya yang berupaya menyembunyikan kegiatan jahat di balik organisasi kemasyarakatan seperti madrasah," jelas David Cohen dari bagian terorisme dan intelijen keuangan Depkeu AS.

Dengan demikian maka semua aset yang dimiliki madrasah yang berada dalam wilayah hukum Amerika Serikat akan dibekukan dan rakyat AS dilarang berhubungan dengan mereka.

Tak ada dampak praktis

Namun salah seorang pengelola sekolah membantah keras tuduhan yang diajukan pemerintah Washington.

"Lembaga kami semata-mata sebuah sekolah agama dan tidak berkaitan dengan organisasi apa pun atau terlibat dalam bentuk yang melanggar hukum atau mempromosikan ekstremisme," kata Alam Sher kepada kantor berita AP.

Sher -yang ikut mendirikan madrasah sekitar 25 tahun lalu- mengatakan Syekh Aminullah menjadi guru sampai meninggalkan madrasah sekitar sembilan bulan lalu.

Pihak sekolah tidak mengetahui keberadaannya saat ini.

Secara praktis keputusan AS tidak akan membawa dampak karena madrasah tidak mendapat bantuan dana dari luar negeri.

Sekolah agama ini mengandalkan sumbangan masyarakat dan dari pabrik sabun milik Sher.

Sikap AS terhadap Konflik Suriah dan Krisis Mesir

 Konflik di Suriah dan krisis politik di Mesir adalah dua krisis luar negeri yang mendapat perhatian khusus Amerika Serikat. Setelah perhatian Amerika belakangan banyak ditujukan kepada kemelut di Mesir, media kembali menyoroti konflik Suriah setelah oposisi menuding, pemerintahan Bashar al Assad kembali menggunakan senjata kimia. Konflik Suriah dan krisis Mesir dikhawatirkan bisa semakin mengguncang stabilitas kawasan di saat Amerika mulai menggulirkan kembali proses perdamaian Palestina dan Israel. 

selengkapnya bisa di lihat lewat link di bawah ini

 http://www.voaindonesia.com/media/video/1734463.html

oleh Nova Poerwadi dan tim VOA dari Washington, D.C..

Penutuuran Bayu (WNI) Mengenai Malam Mencekam Penangkapan Tersangka Bom Boston

Seorang Warga Negara Indonesia (WNI), Bayu Kusuma, yang tengah menempuh pendidikan di Boston turut merasakan malam mencekam penangkapan tersangka bom Boston. Bayu menuturkan bagaimana penduduk di Ibu Kota Massachusetts itu dilarang keluar dari tempat tinggalnya.

Bayu adalah pelajar di Hult International Business School, Cambridge Boston. Dia tinggal di daerah Brighton, sekitar 4 Km dari wilayah penangkapan tersangka bom Boston.

Bayu bahkan beberapa kali berbelanja di 7 Eleven yang dirampok oleh Tsarnaev bersaudara. Dia merasakan langsung bagaimana suasana tegang saat polisi memburu Tsarnaev bersaudara.

"Kota di-lockdown dari Jumat (19/4) dini hari. Tidak boleh keluar building dan mengunci pintu jendela. Kami khawatir karena persediaan makanan tidak banyak," kata Bayu saat berbincang dengan detikcom melalui direct message twitter, Sabtu (20/4/2013) malam WIB.

Namun begitu kabar Tsarnaev bersaudara telah berhasil dibekuk polisi, ratusan warga Boston keluar dari tempat tinggalnya. Mereka merayakan penangkapan tersangka yang telah meneror kota itu dengan bom 'panci'.

"Banyak yang foto-foto dengan polisi," tutur Bayu.

Bayu menuturkan, setelah kedua tersangka dilumpuhkan, Gubernur Boston Deval Pattrick melonggarkan aturan dengan membolehkan warga keluar rumah. Namun dia tak serta merta mencabut larangan kendaraan umum masuk kota Boston.

"Sore sekitar jam 18.00 (waktu Boston), Governor Patrick melonggarkan aturan. Orang boleh keluar rumah, tapi transport publik masih tutup semua, kecuali taxi," papar Bayu.

"Mereka juga menyatakan bahwa tidak ada tersangka lain, sehingga masyarakat sudah aman. Langsung pada keluar rumah, merayakan dan berfoto-foto dengan polisi," imbuhnya.

Bayu mengatakan kini situasi di Boston sudah normal. Aktivitas masyarakat berangsur kembali berjalan seperti sebelum teror bom yang menewaskan tiga orang itu terjadi.

Surve Pengguna smartphone terbanyak bag 1

Smartphone sekarang sudah menjadi barang yang harus di pegang dan di bawa setiap orang, sekalipun dalam waktu tidur pun smartphone mendampingi sang pemilik.

Ponsel cerdas alias smartphone kian mendapat tempat di masyarakat. Fitur yang canggih dan harga yang kian terjangkau membuat smartphone semakin laris.

Diperkirakan, 80% umat manusia saat ini sudah memiliki ponsel. Dan dari 5 miliar ponsel yang ada di dunia, 1,08 miliar di antaranya adalah smartphone.

Smartphone sendiri kurang lebih diartikan sebagai perangkat ponsel yang punya sistem operasi, didukung aplikasi dan punya kemampuan canggih layaknya komputer. Seperti Windows Phone, iOS, BlackBerry dan tentu saja Android.

Lantas, negara manakah yang paling kecanduan dengan smartphone? Berikut daftarnya: 

1. Jepang

- Pengguna smartphone: 66% dari total pengguna ponsel
- Total pengguna smartphone: 78 juta

Jepang adalah negara yang dikenal dengan industri teknologi tingginya. Begitu banyak perusahaan teknologi besar yang berkembang di Negara Sakura ini.

Tidak heran jika sebagian besar warganya sudah menggunakan smartphone. Banyak yang menggunakan produk buatan lokal.

Produsen lokal seperti Sharp atau Sony memang lumayan berjaya di negaranya sendiri. Namun vendor mancanegara seperti Samsung atau Apple pun lumayan diminati pasar setempat. 

2. Korea Selatan

- Pengguna smartphone: 59% dari total pengguna ponsel
- Total pengguna smartphone: 32 juta

Penduduk Korea Selatan memang memang dikenal melek teknologi. Tak heran jika penetrasi smartphone di Negeri Ginseng ini sangat tinggi.

Terlebih lagi, lumayan banyak produsen teknologi besar yang bermarkas di Korea Selatan. Sebut saja LG, Pantech atau Samsung yang dikenal sebagai produsen ponsel terbesar sejagat.

Korsel juga punya koneksi internet sangat cepat. Dan sering dinobatkan sebagai negara dengan akses internet paling ngebut di dunia.

3. Amerika Serikat

- Pengguna smartphone: 48% dari total pengguna ponsel
- Total pengguna smartphone: 172 juta

Pasar smartphone di Amerika Serikat sering disebut sebagai yang terbesar di dunia. Tak heran, produsen ponsel besar biasanya menempatkan negeri Paman Sam ini sebagai pasar terpenting.

BlackBerry pun baru-baru ini meluncurkan handset terbaru Z10 di New York. Demikian juga Samsung yang memperkenalkan Galaxy S4 pertama kali di kota Big Apple itu.

Saat ini, Android adalah OS terpopuler di AS. Diikuti iOS dari Apple yang menjadi sistem operasi di iPhone.

Pemerintah Amerika Serikat menolak petisi pembangunan Death Star

Lebih dari 34.000 orang mengisi petisi Death Star di situs internet Gedung Putih.

Pemerintah Amerika Serikat menolak petisi pembangunan Death Star, pesawat luar angkasa fiksi yang dilengkapi dengan laser seperti dalam film-film Star Wars.

Gedung Putih mengeluarkan pernyataan resmi setelah petisi pembangunan Death Star diikuti oleh 34.435 orang.

Berdasarkan ketentuan di situs Gedung Putih, pemerintah harus memberikan tanggapan apabila satu petisi didukung minimal 25.000 orang.

Dalam petisi, mereka menyerukan kepada pemerintah untuk membangun Death Star mulai tahun 2016.

"Pemerintah memahami keinginan Anda untuk membuka lapangan kerja dan membangun pertahanan nasional yang kokoh, tetapi Death Star tidak dipertimbangkan," kata seorang pejabat anggaran Gedung Putih Paul Shawcross.

Menurutnya, pembangunan Death Star akan menelan biaya sekitar US$850 quadrillion, terlalu tinggi pada saat pemerintah berusaha mengurangi defisit anggaran.

Selain itu pemerintah juga tidak mempunyai kebijakan untuk membinasakan planet.

"Pemerintah tidak mendukung peledakan planet-planet," tulis Shawcross menanggapi petisi yang diikuti oleh warga dari berbagai negara bagian AS.

Shawcross menambahkan Amerika Serikat sudah terlibat dalam berbagai proyek luar angkasa, termasuk Stasiun Luar Angkasa Internasional.

Gugatan diajukan sejumlah perusahaan pembuat film porno AS

Perusahaan pembuat film porno Amerika Serikat (AS) mengajukan gugatan terhadap pemerintah distrik Los Angeles. Gugatan ini terkait peraturan yang mengharuskan bintang film porno memakai kondom saat shooting.

Gugatan diajukan oleh sejumlah perusahaan pembuat film porno terkenal, seperti Vivid Entertainment, Calfa Productions, beserta 2 orang bintang film porno setempat, yakni Kayden Kross dan Logan Pierce. Gugatan diajukan langsung ke pengadilan federal AS.

Para pembuat film porno ini menilai, peraturan yang diterapkan pemerintah Los Angeles mulai November 2012 lalu itu, bertentangan dengan konstitusi AS. Para penggugat mengklaim industri film porno telah memiliki peraturan tersendiri untuk melindungi para aktor dan aktrisnya dari HIV AIDS dan penyakit seksual lainnya. Selain itu, mereka juga menyebut peraturan yang dsiebut Measure B ini melanggar Amandemen Pertama tentang kebebasan berekspresi.

"Pencabutan aturan ini merupakan hal yang paling saya inginkan," ujar pendiri Vivid Entertainment yang bermarkas di LA, Steven Hirsch, seperti dilansir AFP, Sabtu (12/1/2013).

"Saya meyakini, sistem pemeriksaan yang diterapkan industri ini saat ini bisa berjalan baik," imbuhnya.

Hirsch mengklaim, sejak tahun 2004 pihaknya telah merekam lebih dari 300 ribu film porno tanpa adanya insiden penularan virus HIV/AIDS oleh para aktornya. Menurutnya, aturan yang diterapkan pemerintah LA ini akan tumpang tindih dengan ketentuan yang telah dilakukan pelaku industri ini sejak lama.

"Measure B memiliki konsekuensi buruk yang luas, yang dapat merusak upaya yang selama ini dilakukan pelaku industri ini dalam menjaga kesehatan para aktor dan aktris kami," jelas Hirsch.

Jika aturan ini tetap diberlakukan, Hircsh khawatir para pembuat film akan 'hijrah' secara paksa ke luar negeri yang jelas-jelas tanpa perlindungan yang layak.

Selama ini, industri film porno di AS berpusat di Los Angeles, California, atau tepatnya di kawasan San Fernando Valley. Industri ini berkembang cukup pesat. Bahkan, LA Inc yang berwenang mengeluarkan izin syuting film di wilayah LA, menyatakan sekitar 5 persen dari total 45.500 izin yang dikeluarkan per hari, ternyata untuk pembuatan film porno.

Dalam voting yang digelar November 2012 lalu, otoritas LA pun menyepakati bahwa aturan penggunaan kondom ini harus diberlakukan. Dengan adanya aturan ini, setiap produser harus mendapat izin dari pemerintah setempat jika ingin melakukan shooting di wilayah LA. Biaya yang didapat dari permohonan izin tersebut kemudian akan digunakan Departemen Kesehatan Publik LA untuk mendanai inspeksi di lokasi-lokasi shooting guna memastikan apakah para aktor mematuhi ketentuan yang berlaku, yakni memakai kondom saat shooting. Mereka yang melanggar akan dihukum denda atau bahkan dijerat pidana.

Penjelajah Kedai Kopi Starbucks di Seantero New York

Starbucks lokasinya tersebar di mana-mana, termasuk di New York City. Ada ratusan gerai kopi di wilayah ini. John McCourt penasaran, apakah rasa kopi di tiap gerainya sama persis? Iapun bertekad untuk mengunjungi sekaligus mencicip kopi di seluruh gerai Starbucks di New York!

Misi ini berangkat dari pertanyaan John Court: "apakah semua kopi Starbucks dibuat sama?". Dalam blog NYC Starbucks miliknya, John mengaku jika ia adalah pecinta kopi dari gerai ini, bahkan mengaku memiliki adiksi tersendiri akan kopi racikannya.

John baru saja pindah ke Manhattan akhir 2012 lalu, dan menemukan ada banyak Starbucks di wilayah ini. Di Manhattan saja, ada lebih dari 200 lokasi Starbucks. Iapun penasaran akan kualitas dan konsistensi tiap kopi yang disajikan.

Dalam blog NYC Starbucks miliknya, John memberi penilaian dari tiap gerai Starbucks yang dikunjunginya. Nilai terendah diwakili oleh lambang 1 cup, dan yang nilai 5 cup yang berarti sangat enak dan memuaskan.

Salah satunya adalah review mengenai gerai Starbucks di Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard. Dari segi keramahan, John memberi nilai 5 cup alias sempurna. Menurutnya, suasana di gerai ini begitu hangat, namun kekurangannya adalah musik yang diperdengarkan terlalu keras. Kopinya bernilai 4 cup, karena rasanya terlalu kuat. Untuk nilai keseluruhan, John memberikan nilai 3 cup untuk gerai ini.

Norman Schwarzkopf Jenderal Amerika Serikat Meninggal Dunia

Norman Schwarzkopf, jenderal Amerika Serikat yang memimpin Operasi Badai Gurun 1991, yang membebaskan Kuwait dari invasi Irak di bawah pimpinan Saddam Hussein, meninggal dunia pada usia 78 tahun, kata seorang pejabat AS, Kamis (27/12/2012).
Schwarzkopf, seorang pahlawan Amerika yang populer dengan sebutan "Badai Norman," meninggal di Tampa, tempat ia pensiun setelah tugas militer terakhirnya sebagai panglima tertinggi Pusat Komando AS.
Mantan Presiden George HW Bush, yang kini sedang sakit dan dalam perawatan intensif di Texas, adalah orang pertama yang mengeluarkan pernyataan berduka karena kehilangan orang yang dia pilih untuk memimpin perang yang kemudian memantapkan karier keduanya.
"Barbara dan saya berduka atas meninggalnya seorang patriot Amerika sejati dan salah satu pemimpin militer yang besar dari generasinya," kata Bush senior.
"Seorang anggota terkemuka Long Gray Line yang berasal dari West Point, Jenderal Norman Schwarzkopf, bagi saya, melambangkan pengakuan ’tugas, layanan, negara’ yang telah membela kebebasan dan melihat bangsa yang besar ini melalui sebagian besar upaya kami dalam mengatasi krisis internasional," kata Bush.
"Lebih dari itu, dia adalah seorang pria yang baik dan layak, serta seorang teman. Barbara dan saya mengirimkan ucapan belasungkawa kepada istrinya, Brenda, dan keluarganya yang bahagia."
Salah satu kalimat terkenal yang diucapkan Schwarzkopf jelang operasi Badai Gurun adalah saat dia mengulas kemampuan pasukan Irak dan Saddam Hussein. Tampak jelas Schwarzkopf adalah orang yang menghormati orang lain, termasuk musuhnya.

"Saddam Hussein bukan seorang perancang strategi. Dia juga tidak dididik secara militer. Dia bukan seorang ahli taktik. Dia juga bukan seorang jenderal atau seorang prajurit. Tapi lepas dari itu semua, dia (Saddam) adalah pemimpin militer yang andal. Saya ingin Anda tahu itu," katanya kala itu.

Operasi Badai Gurun yang dipimpinnya berhasil membebaskan Kuwait hanya dalam waktu 100 jam. Manuver perang daratnya saat menghadapi pasukan Irak mengundang banyak pujian dari pakar militer di seluruh dunia.