Hive minds: Honeybee intelligence creates a buzz

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President Tony Tan meets Indonesian counterpart in Jakarta

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SINGAPORE: Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam met his Indonesian counterpart Dr Susulio Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Dr Tan is on a state visit to Indonesia at the invitation of President Yudhoyono, who received the Singapore president at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta with a full ceremonial welcome.

Dr Tan last visited Indonesia on an official visit in 2005, soon after President Yudhoyono took office as Indonesia's first directly elected President.

Dr Tan was then Singapore's deputy prime minister.

Both leaders have known each other since their time as security ministers for their respective countries.

Dr Tan also held talks with Indonesian Vice President Boediono on Wednesday and laid a wreath at the Kalibata National Heroes Cemetery in Jakarta.

President Tan, who is accompanied by several officials, will end his visit in Yogyakarta on Saturday.

- CNA/jc



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Nokia wins key victory in RIM patent dispute

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As if its slumping market share figures aren't enough, Research In Motion has found itself in some legal trouble with Nokia.


A Swedish arbitrator has ruled that RIM is "in breach of contract and is not entitled to manufacture or sell WLAN products without first agreeing royalties with Nokia." If such a royalty agreement is not made, Nokia could have the legal grounds it needs to ban the sale of any BlackBerry devices that violate its patents related to WLAN (wireless local access network) technology.


Reuters was first to report on the news.


The trouble between RIM and Nokia dates all the way back to 2003 when the companies signed a licensing agreement that allowed RIM to use some of Nokia's standard-essential patents, and vice versa. In 2011, RIM sought arbitration on the contract, requesting that Nokia's WLAN patents be included in that deal. The company reasoned that the WLAN intellectual property should be included in any agreement related to standard-essential patents.



During the arbitration process, Nokia argued that RIM's use of WLAN technology in its products violated its patents, and requested that the BlackBerry maker pay it royalties. RIM did not refute that it used WLAN in its products, but reportedly believed that the use was covered under the initial contract.


According to Reuters, the arbitrator decided against RIM earlier this month, paving the way for Nokia to recently file lawsuits in the U.S., Canada, and U.K. to enforce that ruling.


For RIM, the stakes are high. If the courts uphold the arbitrator's decision and enforce it, RIM could see its products banned from sale until the company signs a licensing deal with Nokia. There's also a chance, however, that this dispute could get dragged out in courts for awhile, and thus, maintain status quo.


CNET has contacted both RIM and Nokia for comment on the arbitrator's decision. We will update this story when we have more information.


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Pictures: Falcon Massacre Uncovered in India

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Photograph courtesy Conservation India

A young boy can sell bundles of fresh Amur falcons (pictured) for less than five dollars. Still, when multiplied by the thousands of falcons hunters can catch in a day, the practice can be a considerable financial boon to these groups.

Since discovering the extent of Amur hunting in Nagaland this fall, Conservation India has taken the issue to the local Indian authorities.

"They have taken it very well. They've not been defensive," Sreenivasan said.

"You're not dealing with national property, you're dealing with international property, which helped us put pressure on [them]." (Related: "Asia's Wildlife Trade.")

According to Conservation India, the same day the group filed their report with the government, a fresh order banning Amur hunting was issued. Local officials also began meeting with village leaders, seizing traps and confiscating birds. The national government has also requested an end to the hunting.

Much remains to be done, but because the hunt is so regional, Sreenivasan hopes it can eventually be contained and stamped out. Authorities there, he said, are planning a more thorough investigation next year, with officials observing, patrolling, and enforcing the law.

"This is part of India where there is some amount of acceptance on traditional bush hunting," he added. "But at some point, you draw the line."

(Related: "Bush-Meat Ban Would Devastate Africa's Animals, Poor?")

Published November 27, 2012

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Powerball Fever Sweeps the Nation, Fuels Jackpot

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The allure of the record $500 million Powerball jackpot has led to long lines across the nation at local mini-marts and gas stations, with Americans hoping their champagne and caviar dreams become a reality when the numbers are drawn tonight.


The jackpot was boosted Tuesday from $425 million to the now historic $500 million sum, which is expected to get sweeter as millions of Americans rush to the store for their last chance to purchase a ticket and become a multi-millionaire overnight.


Powerball officials tell ABC News they expect to sell more than 105,000 tickets every minute before the drawing. When the dust settles, more than 189 million tickets would have been sold for the half a billion-dollar jackpot. That's more than double the number sold for Saturday's $325 jackpot that nobody won.


ABC News was allowed access to the Powerball studios in Tallahassee, Fla., where the 11 p.m. ET drawing will take place. The closely guarded machines and balls are locked in a vault before the numbers are drawn and only a select few are allowed inside the room during the actual broadcast.


Anyone who enters or leaves the vault is documented and workers who handle the lottery balls wear gloves, worried that human touch might change what numbers are randomly drawn.


Cameras are located in every nook and cranny of the Powerball studio, spying on workers as they ready the machines for the big moment. Lottery officials in several states will be watching those feeds in real time to monitor the proceedings.


Not everyone has Powerball fever in the country as tickets for tonight's jackpot are not offered in eight states. But that has not stopped many Californians and Nevadans who have flocked to Arizona to get in on the action.








Lotto Fever: Going After $500M Powerball Jackpot Watch Video











Powerball Drawing No Winner; Jackpot Grows to $425 Million Watch Video





"I'd say the line has to be like three, three and a half hours," one person told ABC News while waiting online to purchase tickets Tuesday.


Still, the long lines have not deterred those who hope to dramatically change their lifestyle and make their wildest dreams become a reality.


"I'm going to the Bahamas and enjoying myself on an island," said one Powerball hopeful.


Chuck Strutt, executive director of the Des Moines, Iowa-based Multi-State Lottery Association, said the chance of getting a winner tonight is approaching 60 percent.


"We call it the redneck retirement fund cause sooner or later, somebody is going to," said one man.


There has been no Powerball winner since Oct. 6 – that's 16 consecutive drawings without a winner. It's the second-highest jackpot in US lottery history, behind only the $656 million Mega Millions prize in March.


Powerball tickets doubled in price in January to $2, and while the number of tickets sold initially dropped, sales revenue has increased by about 35 percent over 2011, according to the Associated Press.


Lottery officials put the odds of winning Wednesday's Powerball pot at one in 175 million. With so many people plaything this time around, some are worried it may hurt their odds.


"Your odds of being a winner are still the same. With so many people playing, it does mean are more likely to split the jackpot if you want," said Scott Norris, math professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.


Everyone who lines up with cash in their hand and dreams in their head seems to have a strategy in picking the winning combination of numbers. Or, do you simply let the computer pick for you?


"It doesn't matter. Your odds of winning are actually the same no matter who picks it," said Norris.
Norris says the only real advantage that can help someone is buying more tickets.


"Your odds increase directly proportional to the number of tickets you buy. So if you buy 100, your odds are 1 in 7 million, but still astronomically small," he said.


With odds so small in a game where just about anyone who plays is a loser, there is some hope for those living in Illinois and New Jersey. Both states have sold three winning tickets for jackpots worth at least $300 million.


A single winner choosing the lump sum cash option would take home more than $327 million before taxes.


ABC News' Steve Osunsami and Ryan Owens contributed to this report.



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North Korea: What a terrible state to get into

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Japanese firm develops health monitor for dogs

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TOKYO: Worried the family dog is too chubby?

Japanese information technology giant Fujitsu says it may have the solution with a new health management service that lets owners keep a close eye on their pet's exercise regimen through a pedometer attached to its collar.

The "Wandant" counts how many steps the pooch took during its latest outing, with the data then available online for pet owners' perusal, Fujitsu says.

"Wan" is Japanese for "woof", while "dant" comes from the word "pendant".

The device also measures the dog's temperature, while owners can use an online diary to track how much their dog is eating, its weight and "stool conditions".

"The data are presented graphically on a custom website that makes trends in the dog's activities easy to understand at a glance," according to the firm.

"This helps owners get a stronger sense of their dog's health, while enabling communication with the dog."

- AFP/il



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Apple's new iMac to arrive November 30

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The latest version of Apple's
iMac goes on sale November 30.


Apple said this morning that the 21.5-inch iMac will be available at that time through the Apple Online Store, Apple's retail stores and some Apple resellers. The 27-inch iMac, meanwhile, will be available for order through the Apple Online Store and will begin shipping in December.


The 2012 edition of the iMac comes with 8GB of memory, a 1-terabyte hard drive, a quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, Nvidia GeForce graphics processors, and the new Fusion Drive.


The 21.5-inch model starts at $1,299 and the 27-inch model starts at $1,799.


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Space Pictures This Week: Space "Horse," Mars Rover, More

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Violating Norquist's No-Tax Pledge Could Hurt GOP

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The most talked about name in the opening weeks of the fiscal cliff negotiations isn't Barack Obama, House Speaker John Boehner or Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. It's Grover Norquist.


Norquist is not a publicly elected official or even a government appointee. The 56-year-old conservative leader is the founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform and promoter of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge -- better known as the Norquist Pledge.


Americans for Tax Reform opposes tax increases, and the Norquist Pledge calls on members of Congress to do just that. Taken at face value, this pledge poses a big roadblock to any compromise with Democrats in the ongoing fiscal cliff negotiations, even though several prominent Republican leaders have recently signaled an openness to put everything on the table in negotiations, which would seem to violate the pledge.


If the goal at the end of these negotiations is compromise, could there be political risk in Republicans' violating a pledge formulated by a person most Americans have probably never heard of? Actually, yes.


Violating the pledge all but ensures a primary challenge in two years from the Republican right.


"A defection on taxes almost guarantees it -- the End, " said ABC political director Amy Walter.


"It's all about the GOP base," said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. "Most of the Republican House members and a large number of the party's senators are very safe in a general election. No Democrat can beat them. The only place they can lose is in the low-turnout party primary, which is usually dominated by strong conservatives for whom the word 'tax' is almost an obscenity."








Tax Pledge Mutiny as Fiscal Cliff Approaches Watch Video









Political Gamble: Some Republicans Willing to Raise Taxes Watch Video









Sen. Lindsey Graham and Sen. Dick Durbin on 'This Week' Watch Video





It's these voters who make up the GOP base who will likely be the most involved in primary contests -- on the ground, in fundraising and, of course, at the voting booths.


"These activist voters listen to Norquist and his organization, and they have the money to get the message out to voters in TV ads and mailings," Sabato said. "A Republican member tagged with supported tax increases is awarded the political kiss of death."


Two prominent GOP senators up for re-election in deep-red states in 2014 have already expressed a willingness to buck the Norquist Pledge: Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.


"I agree with Grover -- we shouldn't raise rates -- but I think Grover is wrong when it comes to we can't cap deductions and buy down debt," Graham said on ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos."


"I care more about my country than I do about a 20-year-old pledge," Chambliss said in an interview with WMAZ-TV in Macon, Ga. "If we do it his way, then we'll continue in debt, and I just have a disagreement with him about that."


Sabato said that these two candidates couldn't help but be worried about potential backlashes stemming from what they'd said about the no-tax pledge.


"The GOP primary electorate is very conservative in the South, so I would think Saxby Chambliss and Lindsey Graham would have to be somewhat concerned, even though they both start out as clear favorites," Sabato said.


Whether a primary challenger can mount a strong enough campaign to take down these high-ranking senators raises a different question. The success of senior GOP senators such at Orrin Hatch of Utah in fending off intra-party primary challenges likely gives a boost of confidence to Graham and Chambliss, along with others, as they head into the final month of negotiations.


However, the primary losses of longtime incumbent senators such as Bob Bennett of Utah in 2010 and Richard Lugar of Indiana in 2012 will likely stay somewhere in the minds of these Republican incumbents, complicating the negotiations and raising the political stakes both now and further down the road in 2014.



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