CHICAGO: A mammoth storm threatens to dump mounds of fresh snow, sleet and ice on about 100 million already winter-weary people on Tuesday as it barrels eastward across the United States. High winds and freezing rain threatened to turn roads into deadly ice rinks and knock down trees and power lines and forecasts warned of dangerously cold temperatures. Blizzard, winter storm and freezing rain warnings were issued for more than 25 states, from North Dakota and Colorado down to New Mexico, then up through Texas, Kansas and Missouri to the Great Lakes region and across Pennsylvania to New England. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) urged residents to prepare in earnest for the fury of the storm. "A storm of this size and scope needs to be taken seriously," said FEMA administrator Craig Fugate, who warned that "it's critical that the public does its part to get ready." Fugate urged residents in storm affected regions to "check on your...

Only by regaining its role as a leader in engineering and technology can the UK build exports for growth In his state of the union address, President Obama declared: "In America, innovation doesn't just change our lives. It's how we make a living." This may seem like political rhetoric to some people, but I wish this philosophy was shared by the British government. For me, the UK economy shouldn't be built entirely on the City of London or the next digital fad. We need substance patentable exports. They bring new money into our coffers. And what will generate economic growth is not just talk of spending cuts, but creating the right environment for research and invention. Investing in the new and unproven is a risk; I found that out myself, having launched new technology during one of the worst recessions. Eighteen years on, we're thriving last year we were the second highest filer of patents in the UK after Rolls-Royce. But the problem is that we are strug...

WASHINGTON: The State Department Monday issued an updated warning on the "continuing threat of terrorist actions" for US citizens worldwide, and a second advisory cautioning travel to Britain. "Current information suggests that al-Qaida and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks against US interests in multiple regions, including Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East," said the advisory, which updates the last Worldwide Caution post from August 2010. The State Department warned that militant groups could target areas where US citizens may gather in large numbers, such as sporting events, hotels, or places of worship. Attacks could involve a variety of tactics "including suicide operations, assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings, and bombings," said the statement. In another warning the State Department cautioned US citizens traveling to or living in Britain, due to a "continuing high level of terrorist threat....

Only by regaining its role as a leader in engineering and technology can the UK build exports for growth In his state of the union address, President Obama declared: "In America, innovation doesn't just change our lives. It's how we make a living." This may seem like political rhetoric to some people, but I wish this philosophy was shared by the British government. For me, the UK economy shouldn't be built entirely on the City of London or the next digital fad. We need substance patentable exports. They bring new money into our coffers. And what will generate economic growth is not just talk of spending cuts, but creating the right environment for research and invention. Investing in the new and unproven is a risk; I found that out myself, having launched new technology during one of the worst recessions. Eighteen years on, we're thriving last year we were the second highest filer of patents in the UK after Rolls-Royce. But the problem is that we are strug...

Legislators in Arizona are pursuing a white supremacist campaign to erase Mexican American presence from teaching The onslaught in Arizona of reactionary and immoral racially-based laws has managed to attract worldwide attention. The brown peoples of this state are being relentlessly persecuted by a majority population that wants to forcefully remove us and suppress our rights and deny our humanity. Here, the state has even gone so far as to, via HB 2281 , to prohibit the teaching of ethnic studies in Arizona schools. Unquestionably, the brown peoples of this state are treated as less than human. Not everyone treats us this way just the majority: mostly conservative Republicans, many of them with a supremacist ideology. Their general attitude is: if you're brown (read Mexican), get the hell out of our God-given country. And for those of you who remain, either assimilate and abide by our [contrived and unconstitutional] laws or face the full wrath of the state. There is embedded ha...

Only by regaining its role as a leader in engineering and technology can the UK build exports for growth In his state of the union address, President Obama declared: "In America, innovation doesn't just change our lives. It's how we make a living." This may seem like political rhetoric to some people, but I wish this philosophy was shared by the British government. For me, the UK economy shouldn't be built entirely on the City of London or the next digital fad. We need substance patentable exports. They bring new money into our coffers. And what will generate economic growth is not just talk of spending cuts, but creating the right environment for research and invention. Investing in the new and unproven is a risk; I found that out myself, having launched new technology during one of the worst recessions. Eighteen years on, we're thriving last year we were the second highest filer of patents in the UK after Rolls-Royce. But the problem is that we are strug...

US commentators say Obama is caught between the need for reform and security imperatives, and advice has been pouring in It's too early to say that Barack Obama has mishandled the Egypt crisis. But so far at least, his administration has not covered itself in glory. In under a week, secretary of state Hillary Clinton went from describing Hosni Mubarak's regime as "stable" to demanding an "orderly transition" to democracy. The truth, as many American commentators tell it, is that Obama is stuck in an "impossible hole", caught between the need for reform and security imperatives. Sensing his hesitation, gratuitous and contradictory advice has been pouring in from all sides. But on one point mostly all agree: Hosni Mubarak is finished. Foreign policy veteran Leslie Gelb urged Obama to take a "realist" approach. "Let's stop prancing about and proclaiming our devotion to peace, 'universal rights', and people power," he w...

IN THINKING about the appropriate American response to the crisis in Egypt, there's at least one respect in which it's important to think about how we responded to the failed Green Revolution in Iran. During the Iranian protests, the United States quite appropriately refrained from calling for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to step down as president, or from openly backing the protestors and their leaders. That was because nothing the United States government could do stood any chance of aiding the protestors or materially affecting the outcome. The only effect a clear American stance in support of the protestors might have had would have been to give credence to Iranian right-wing allegations that the protestors were in league with America, or that the fall of the government would aid Iran's national enemies. Barack Obama's careful diplomatic line, calling for an end to violence and for tolerance of free expression, was the only responsible approach. In Egypt, that dimension of t...

The artist Norman Rockwell gave pre-war Americans what they wanted: cheerful escapism. But times have changed There are two things you notice about the array of Saturday Evening Post front covers by Norman Rockwell laid out in south London's Dulwich Picture Gallery. One is that Rockwell was a wonderfully skilled artist not at all devalued by having to churn away to magazine deadlines. The other thing is that, 323 times over, he was so damned cheerful. If there's a war, then "Willie Gillis" aka Robert Buck became a mythically quizzical hero, clutching food parcels, snoozing on leave or sending the same picture of himself to irate pretty girls. If there's a crucial election Dewey versus Truman, say then Ma and Pa argue histrionically while a baby and a dog get on with life as usual. If it's Christmas after the Wall Street crash, then a plump, Pickwickian stagecoach driver is thinking of roast goose and a "merrie" time. This is a confected world of...

RON PAUL, the libertarian Republican representative from Texas, has said that he might run for the Senate in 2012 : Im just waiting and seeing what comes about, who files and what they do, said Paul, R-Lake Jackson, a 75-year-old obstetrician who has run for president twice and made a Senate bid in 1984. At Texas Monthly Paul Burka, surveying the likely Republican field, reckons that if Paul pere runs he will be " very difficult to defeat ". I agree that Dr Paul would be a serious contender; as I said earlier , I don't think there is an obvious choice among the current prospects. The lieutenant-governor, David Dewhurst, is the most obvious heavyweight. He's held that office for nearly ten years, and it's arguably the most powerful in the state, depending on your conception of political power. But he hasn't run a campaign with a high national profile, as the 2012 Texas Senate is likely to be. Dr Paul is one of those legislators whose long tenure in his distri...

From revolutionary France and America to modern north Africa, this is a concept that can topple governments The day after popular pressure forced Tunisia's autocratic president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali from power on 14 January, Egypt's government declared that it "respects the will of the Tunisian people". So did the governments of Yemen and Iran, and so did the Arab League. Jordan's government followed suit the next day. In his state of the union address on 25 January, Obama also celebrated Tunisia as a place "where the will of the people proved more powerful than the writ of a dictator", before reminding the world that "the United States of America supports the democratic aspirations of all people". Routine reference to "the will of the people" has long been one of the most formulaic turns of phrase in the modern political lexicon. The actual mobilisation of such a will, however, is less easily dismissed. Ongoing protests in Egypt ...

BOSTON: An American woman, who called herself 'Jihad Jane' and is accused of conspiring to provide support to terrorists for staging terror attacks in South Asia and Europe, is expected to reverse last year's not-guilty plea in a Philadelphia court on February 1. Colleen LaRose, 47, had pleaded not guilty in March 2010 to charges including conspiracy to kill in foreign country. She was allegedly part of a plot to murder Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, whose portrait of prophet Mohammed had angered many. According to a court document, LaRose is set to plead guilty at a "change-of-plea" hearing.

The artist Norman Rockwell gave pre-war Americans what they wanted: cheerful escapism. But times have changed There are two things you notice about the array of Saturday Evening Post front covers by Norman Rockwell laid out in south London's Dulwich Picture Gallery. One is that Rockwell was a wonderfully skilled artist not at all devalued by having to churn away to magazine deadlines. The other thing is that, 323 times over, he was so damned cheerful. If there's a war, then "Willie Gillis" aka Robert Buck became a mythically quizzical hero, clutching food parcels, snoozing on leave or sending the same picture of himself to irate pretty girls. If there's a crucial election Dewey versus Truman, say then Ma and Pa argue histrionically while a baby and a dog get on with life as usual. If it's Christmas after the Wall Street crash, then a plump, Pickwickian stagecoach driver is thinking of roast goose and a "merrie" time. This is a confected world of...

US admiration for its soldiers may be deep and widespread, but interest in what they are doing isshallow and fleeting Most of the stories told about Benjamin Moore, 23, at his funeral started in a bar and ended in a laugh. Invited to testify about his life from the pews, friend, relative, colleague and neighbour alike described a boisterous, gregarious, energetic young man they'd known in the small New Jersey town of Bordentown since he was born. "I'll love him 'til I go," his granny said. "If I could go today and bring him back, I would." Grown men choked on their memories, under the gaze of swollen, reddened eyes, as they remembered a "snot-nosed kid" and a fidget who'd become a volunteer firefighter before enlisting in the military. Shortly before Benjamin left for Afghanistan, he sent a message to his cousin that began: "I'm about to go into another country where they hate me for everything I stand for." Now he was back i...

WASHINGTON: Hundreds of Indian students who have gotten scammed by a dodgy California-based university had it coming. Tri-Valley University (TVU) had a reputation as a "Diploma Mill" that offered a spurious route to employment and immigration in the US. Inquiring students and professionals knew about it, discussed it in immigration forums, and warned others about it. But eager beavers looking for a short cut to emigrating to the US through a questionable academic route ignored the red flags. After US authorities busted the scam, an estimated 1500 students, some of them gullible victims, some of them scheming immigrant hopefuls, face financial loss, loss of credits, loss of time, loss of face, and in some cases, even face deportation. Here's how the scam unfolded: India, from among all countries, has been sending the maximum number of students to US colleges over the past decade some 10,000 to 15,000 each year. Most aspiring students try and get into the top 50 school...

Before a prison facility at Bagram can be handed over to Afghan authorities, civil rights must be suspended. O the irony As the UK coalition government considers how to replace control orders with other restrictions on freedom imposed without trial, they would do well to witness the consequences of the brave new world that Britain and America have created in the wake of 9/11. The UK's coalition is a partner in another coalition, in Afghanistan, where the US looks to hand over responsibility for the prisoners in Parwan prison to the Karzai government. Here, they have come face-to-face with an intractable problem: they are holding 1,400 prisoners without trial. Every week, the number grows; it is predicted to rise to 3,200. Some have been there for many years. Dare we allow them to face Afghan justice? According to the US, few if any of these prisoners would be convicted at a fair trial. They have been detained as a result of intelligence tips and hearsay is not admissible in court...

The Obama administration has sent out carefully moderated messages in favour of political reform in Egypt. Would you like to see more forthright US support for the anti-Mubarak protesters?

Attempts to reconcile policy contradictions have prevented the EU from mounting an alternative foreign policy to that of the US Many have questioned why the European Union failed to provide an independent view to that of the United States on Middle East policy during the last decade. It is not a simple question to answer. Partly, the EU failed to assert its voice because, at the beginning of the decade, it was scrambling to contain the impact of inflating US hubris, fuelled by the defeat of Saddam Hussein. Partly, it was also a simple reflection of most European politicians' dependency on Washington. But the release of the Palestine Papers provides another answer. They show how Tony Blair in particular had so undercut the political space that there was effectively no room for it. In a secret policy switch in 2003, he tied the UK and EU security policy into a major American counter-insurgency (Coin) "surge" in Palestine. It was an initiative that would bear a heavy polit...

WASHINGTON: Scientists have developed a new mobile technology which they claim is set to improve calls during disasters by allowing the transmission of signals without nearby cellphone towers. An international team, led by Flinders University, has created the software which can run on 'off-the-shelf ' mobile phones and allow them to relay calls for one phone to another without the presence of mobile phone towers in the vicinity before ultimately re-connecting with an operating mobile telephone tower. "Our technology allows the signal from the working towers to be relayed into areas lacking signal, allowing calls in and out of affected areas . What is amazing is that we have programmed fairly ordinary mobile telephones to perform this function, without using any specialised hardware," Dr Paul Gardner-Stephen , who led the team, said. He added, "My team and I are excited about the potential of our technology to help when a crisis strikes. From the outset of...

Remember Obama ran as an Iraq war opponent? As president, he has ruinously escalated foreign military commitments "So tonight, I am proposing that starting this year, we freeze annual domestic spending for the next five years." Thus spoke President Barack Obama in his state of the union speech on Tuesday. "Domestic" spending means non-war and non-military spending. Over half of our public spending in the United States goes to wars and the military. Even the president's own deficit commission recommended cutting $100bn from military spending. Why leave it out of the freeze? This may be why: "And we've sent a message ... to all parts of the globe: we will not relent, we will not waver, and we will defeat you." That's going to be expensive, and President Obama promised lower taxes on corporations in the same speech. He's already signed off on tax cuts for billionaires, even while promising for the second year in a row to oppose them. Spending ...

The president's state of the union address ducked it, but US business needs a new solution and Republicans don't have it 1. In his widely-heralded State of the Union speech this week, President Obama stayed away from hot-button issues like immigration. And that's a shame, because nearly all studies show that immigration is a boon to the US economy . In fact, solving the current immigration crisis, some experts believe, could accelerate the nation's recovery, stimulating production and spurring job growth over the long haul . But, of course, that's not how rightwing Republicans see it. They insist that immigration and immigrants are a "threat" to native-born workers , who, they insist, would gladly fill the 7m jobs currently held by illegal immigrants if only we drove them all out, and tightened border and workplace enforcement to keep more from coming. Superficially, there might seem to be some truth in the conservative case. Since the onset of the rece...