Omar apprehends further Kashmiri alienation

SRINAGAR: Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday warned that the execution of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru would lead to the further alienation of Kashmiris from the Indian mainstream — especially when the killers of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and Punjab chief minister Beant Singh were still alive.

Omar said he had told various UPA leaders in the past that hanging Afzal would lead to a strong backlash from the state's people.

Unhappy at the manner in which the UPA government went about the execution, the head of the Congress-National Conference coalition government hinted that New Delhi carried out the death penalty with an eye on future elections.

The chief minister, who spoke to various national news channels, said not informing Afzal's family about his hanging showed that even basic humanitarian norms were not observed in his case. He asked the Centre to hand over Afzal's body to his family for the last rites.

Omar even questioned the Supreme Court verdict against the convict. "Afzal was awarded death sentence on [the basis of] circumstantial evidence rather than facts ... provided before the court," he said. He said the Centre should have provided a lawyer to Afzal. "If it was not possible for them to provide the lawyer in Delhi, a lawyer should have gone from here to plead for Guru," he said.

The CM criticized the home ministry's statement that Afzal's family was informed through Speed Post about the rejection of his clemency petition by the president. "Do you expect such kind of communication to be sent through Speed Post in the internet age?" he said.

Meanwhile, the Kashmir valley was by and large peaceful on Sunday, though there were reports of some incidents of violence in Sopore and Baramulla in north Kashmir. But internet services and local cable networks continued to remain suspended.

No local or national newspaper was available in the Valley on Sunday. While national newspapers could not reach the stands due to continued curfew, local newspapers could not be published due to police instructions. The newspaper owners accused the authorities of denying them permission to publish on Saturday evening.

"A police team arrived at the printing press and asked the management late in the night at 12 o'clock not to publish the newspaper for Sunday," read a post of Greater Kashmir, the largest circulated daily in J&K. "Though no written orders were issued to the media groups.... ." Journalists working with Greater Kashmir said they had completed the edition and left home on Saturday night, but found on Sunday morning that the authorities had imposed a ban on the publication of newspapers in the state.

Apparently, newspaper managements were verbally told not to publish. Official, however, expressed ignorance over any such police action.

Scattered protests, one dies in Ganderbal

A youth, Tariq Ahmad Bhat, died in Ganderbal district when people protesting the hanging of Afzal Guru clashed with security forces on Sunday. According to a senior police officer, Bhat drowned after the security forces gave chase to a violent group of youngsters near the Sumbal area in Ganderbal district.

Major towns in the Valley remained under curfew for a second day. Still, mobs of hundreds of youths hurled stones on security forces in Bandipora, Sopore and Baramulla in north Kashmir. By and large, the police said, the situation remained normal. There were isolated incidents of stone-pelting at different places, a police spokesman said. Four police personnel were injured, one of them seriously.

According to reports, youths threw stones at over a dozen places in the evening soon after the authorities removed the security deployment from areas such as Rawalpora, Raj Bagh and Barazulla in Srinagar.

Both factions of the Hurriyat have called for a three-day general strike across the Valley to protest Afzal's hanging.

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Year of the Snake: The Serpent Behind the Horoscope

On February 10, people all around the world will ring in the Lunar New Year with paper lanterns and firecrackers. At the heart of it all sits the snake, a slithery reptile feared for its sharp fangs and revered for its undeniable charm. (Watch videos of some of the world's deadliest snakes.)

Those born in the Year of the Snake are said to be intelligent and quick thinking, but they can also be dishonest and prone to show off. Though based on Chinese astrology, some of these traits are similar to characteristics of the actual serpent.

Snakes are known to be great at outsmarting their predators and prey. Their colorful, patterned skin makes them some of the best tricksters in the animal kingdom. And despite a bad rap as frightening creatures, snakes never fail to fascinate scientists, explorers, and zoo-goers. (See pictures of snakes.)

With more than 3,400 recognized species, snakes exhibit incredible diversity in everything from behavior and habitats to skin colors and patterns.

"As a vertebrate lacking in limbs, all snakes look largely like other snakes, yet they succeed in tremendous diversity in multiple directions," said Andrew Campbell, herpetology collections manager at the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute.

To usher in the Year of the Snake, Campbell and herpetologist Dennis Ferraro at University of Nebraska-Lincoln weigh in on some of the snake's qualities that the Chinese zodiac predicts people born this year will have.

Horoscope: Snakes have an innately elegant personality but can also be ostentatious at times.

In Nature: Snakes come in all different colors, patterns, and textures, making them some of nature's most visually stunning creatures.

According to Campbell, the utility of their coloring falls into two main categories: to use as camouflage and to warn predators to stay away.

Among the most beautiful are the emerald tree boa (Corallus caninus)—whose vibrant green body is decorated with white stripes resembling lightning bolts—and the Brazilian rainbow boa (Epicrates cenchria), characterized by its iridescent skin and the large black rings down its back.

For some snakes, the diversity in color occurs within the same species, which is why Ferraro tells his student not to identify snakes by colors. For example, the polymorphic bush viper (Atheris squamigera), many of which are green, also come in shades of yellow, orange, red, and blue, as captured in photographer Guido Mocafico's "Serpent Still Life" photo series.

Horoscope: The snake is known to be the master seducer of the Chinese zodiac.

In Nature: Female garter snakes (Thamnophis) have all the luck with the gentlemen.

When a female garter snake is ready to mate, she announces it by producing chemicals called pheromones. Males, upon encountering the scent, immediately come crawling out and gather around the female in a large, wriggling "mating ball."

The competition intensifies when a male passing by the ball tries to fool the others by producing a scent that mimics that of the female, said Ferraro.

As soon as his rivals are led off in the wrong direction, the trickster slides right in. In areas with smaller populations of garter snakes, each ball consists of about 12 males and one female.

But in places like Manitoba, Canada, where garter snakes travel to certain areas to mate after coming out of hibernation, a mating ball can have thousands of males and only a hundred females.

Horoscope: Though snakes don't often tell lies, they will use deception when they feel it's necessary and they think they can get away with it.

In Nature: When it comes to using trickery to catch dinner, or to hide from predators, snakes are no amateurs.

Their sneaky techniques range from tricking fish to swim right into their mouths, to playing dead when threatened, to using their wormlike tails to lure in prey.

The most cunning of them all is the two-headed snake. To protect against a sneak attack from behind, the two-headed snake's tail looks just like its head. While the business end looks for food, the snake coils up its body and rests its tail on top to look like it is on guard.

The tail can even mimic the behavior of a retreating snake to trick predators into thinking they're going face-to-face with their opponent.

Horoscope: When snakes get down to work, they are organized and highly efficient, and they work quickly and quietly.

In Nature: While snakes are often perceived as lazy, Campbell said people are mistaken. "What we perceive as shy, lazy, or inactive is really efficiency," he said.

"On average, they are bigger than other lizards and can build a lot of body mass. They do that by being efficient in feeding and traveling." In other words, snakes don't move very much because they don't have to.

When it comes to food, snakes catch prey that are significantly larger than them so they can eat less frequently. This reduces the time they spend hunting and thus makes them less vulnerable to falling victim to a predator themselves.

For Campbell, the most impressive hunter is the eastern diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus Adamanteus), which is able to hunt and kill its prey very quickly using venom, so it doesn't have to travel far. "Because they don't have to do that, they can become relatively large and heavy, being able to build up body mass and not having to spend that energy hunting."

Horoscope: Snakes are charming, with excellent communication skills.

In Nturea: For snakes, their visual and auditory senses don't mean much when it comes to communicating with each other.

Instead, they use their sense of smell and the chemicals produced by their musk glands. Unlike mammals, a snake picks up scent through the forks of its tongue.

When the snake retracts its tongue, it inserts the forks into grooves in an olfactory organ located at the roof of its mouth. Depending on which fork picks up a stronger scent, the snake knows in which direction to go when looking for prey or a mate.

It's when snakes are threatened that they use sight and sound, said Ferraro. Rattlesnakes, for example, shake their tails, making a loud rattling noise to ward off predators.

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$1M Reward for Capture of Fugitive Ex-Cop Dorner

A $1 million reward was offered today for information leading to the arrest of Christopher Dorner, as authorities in Big Bear, Calif., scaled back their search for the disgruntled ex-cop, who is suspected in three revenge killings.

"This is the largest local reward ever offered, to our knowledge," Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said at a news conference today. "This is an act of domestic terrorism. This is a man who has targeted those that we entrust to protect the public. His actions cannot go unanswered."

The money for the reward was pooled by businesses, government, local law enforcement leaders and individual donors, Beck said.

PHOTOS: Former LAPD Officer Suspected in Shootings

The reward comes on the fourth day of a manhunt for Dorner, who has left Southern California on edge after he allegedly went on a killing spree last week to avenge his firing from the police force. Dorner outlined his grievances in a 6,000 word so-called "manifesto" and said he will keep killing until the truth is known about his case.

Dorner's threats have prompted the LAPD to provide more than 50 law enforcement families with security and surveillance detail, Beck said.

Authorities are chasing leads, however they declined to say where in order to not impede the investigation.

Dorner's burned-out truck was found Thursday near Big Bear Lake, a popular skiing destination located 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

Irvine Police Department/AP Photo

Manhunt for Alleged Cop Killer Heads to California Mountains Watch Video

Christopher Dorner Search: Officials Search for Ex-officer in the Mountains Watch Video

Investigators found two AR-15 assault rifles in the burned-out truck Dorner abandoned, sources told ABC News.

The truck had a broken axle, which may be the reason he decided to set fire to it, the police sources said.

Full Coverage: Christopher Jordan Dorner

Officers have spent the past couple of days going door-to-door and searching vacant cabins. The manhunt was scaled back to 25 officers and one helicopter in the resort town today, according to the San Bernadino Sheriff's Office.

On Saturday, Beck announced he would reopen the investigation into Dorner's firing but said the decision was not made to "appease" the fugitive ex-cop.

"I feel we need to also publicly address Dorner's allegations regarding his termination of employment, and to do so I have directed our Professionals Standards Bureau and my Special Assistant for Constitutional Policing to completely review the Dorner complaint of 2007; To include a re-examination of all evidence and a re-interview of witnesses," Beck said. "We will also investigate any allegations made in his manifesto which were not included in his original complaint."

Dorner is suspected of killing Monica Quan and her fiancé Keith Lawrence last Sunday in their car in the parking lot of their Irvine, Calif., condominium complex. Both were struck with multiple gunshot wounds.

Quan's father, Randall Quan, was a retired captain with the LAPD and attorney who represented Dorner before a police review board that led to Dorner's dismissal from the force in 2008.

On Wednesday, after Dorner was identified as a suspect in the double murder, police believe he ambushed two Riverside police officers, killing one and wounding the other.

The next day, Randall Quan reported he received a taunting call from a man claiming to be Dorner who told him that he "should have done a better job of protecting his daughter," according to court documents documents.

Anyone with information leading to the arrest of Christopher Dorner is asked to call the LAPD task force at 213-486-6860.

ABC News' Dean Schabner, Jack Date, Pierre Thomas, Jason Ryan and Clayton Sandell contributed to this report.

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Many 2011 federal budget cuts had little real-world effect

Late on the night of April 8, 2011, Washington’s leaders announced they’d just done something extraordinary. They had agreed to cut the federal budget — and cut it big.

“The largest annual spending cut in our history,” President Obama called it in a televised speech. To prevent a government shutdown, the parties had agreed to slash $37.8 billion: more than the budgets of the Labor and Commerce departments, combined.

At the Capitol, Republicans savored a win for austerity. There would be “deep, but responsible, reductions in virtually all areas of government,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers (R-Ky.)
promised a few days later, before the deal passed.

Nearly two years later, however, these landmark budget cuts have fallen far short of their promises.

In some areas, they did bring significant cutbacks in federal spending. Grants for clean water dried up. Cities got less money for affordable housing.

But the bill also turned out to be an epic kind of Washington illusion. It was stuffed with gimmicks that made the cuts seem far bigger — and the politicians far bolder — than they actually were.

In the real world, in fact, many of their “cuts” cut nothing at all. The Transportation Department got credit for “cutting” a $280 million tunnel that had already been canceled six months earlier. It also “cut” a $375,000 road project that had been created by a legislative typo, on a road that did not exist.

At the Census Bureau, officials also got credit for a whopping $6 billion cut, simply for obeying the calendar. They promised not to hold the expensive 2010 census again in 2011.

Today, an examination of 12 of the largest cuts shows that, thanks in part to these gimmicks, federal agencies absorbed $23 billion in reductions without losing a single employee.

“Many of the cuts we put in were smoke and mirrors,” said Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), a hard-line conservative now in his second term. “That’s the lesson from April 2011: that when Washington says it cuts spending, it doesn’t mean the same thing that normal people mean.”

Now the failures of that 2011 bill have come back to haunt the leaders who crafted it. Disillusionment with that bill has persuaded many conservatives to reject a line-by-line, program-by-program approach to cutting the budget.

Instead, many have embraced the sequester, a looming $85 billion across-the-board cut set to take effect March 1. Obama and GOP leaders have said they don’t like the idea: the sequester is a “dumb cut,” in Washington parlance, which would cut the government’s best ideas along with its worst without regard to merit.

But at least, conservatives say, you can trust that this one is for real.

“There has been a shift in resolve. They have been burned in these fictional cuts. And so the sequester is like real cuts,” said Chris Chocola, a former congressman who now heads the Club for Growth, a conservative advocacy group. “So I think that there is a willingness to say, ‘We’ve really got to cut stuff, and [the cuts] have got to be real.”

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Golf: Snedeker, Hahn share lead at Pebble Beach

PEBBLE BEACH, California: Brandt Snedeker, runner-up to Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in the past two weeks, fired a four-under par 68 Saturday to share the lead after 54 holes at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Snedeker, a 32-year-old American who won last year's PGA playoff crown, stood alongside Korean-American PGA rookie James Hahn on 12-under 202 through three rounds in quest of a $1.15 million top prize at the $6.5 million event.

"It was a fun day. I played great start to finish," Snedeker said. "I had a couple hiccups in there but overall I played well. I've putted well the past two days. Left me a little bit today, but hopefully it will be back tomorrow."

Pros played alongside amateurs, many of them celebrities in entertainment and sports, over three courses during the first three rounds before the cut ahead of Sunday's finish at Pebble Beach.

Snedeker, playing at Pebble Beach, birdied the par-5 second and answered a bogey at the par-3 fifth by finishing the front nine with four birdies in a row.

"I hit my irons really close on the front," Snedeker said. "I had 6- to 8-footers for birdies on the front. On the back, I had birdie chances but couldn't convert them."

After a bogey at 10 and birdie at 11, Snedeker parred his way to the clubhouse.

"Only giving away one bogey coming in out here was a help," Snedeker said.

Hahn fired a bogey-free 66, six-under par, at Spyglass Hill to match Snedeker at the top.

Starting on the back nine, Hahn birdied the par-5 11th and 14th holes, added another at the par-4 17th and then closed the round with three birdies in a row to grab a share of the lead.

"My attitude (was great)," Hahn said. "I started off well, told myself I was going to give myself a lot of looks, 10 to 15 feet, and you have to make those putts."

Hahn, who played college golf at the nearby University of California, said that Sunday's round, the most important of his career to date, will be "just another day in the office for me. I'm just going to go out and have fun."

Hahn admitted he will feel the nerves, even with his brother serving as his caddie.

"Nervous means I care a lot," Hahn said. "I'm more excited than anything."

The 31-year-old, who was born in Seoul, did a "Gangnam-style" celebration dance last week after making a 20-foot, final-round birdie at Phoenix's rowdy 16th hole, adopting the moves that made Korean performer Psy a YouTube smash.

Hahn was saying he had pushed the bar high for a repeat dance show at Pebble Beach but said, "Maybe a winning putt on 18 might do a little something."

Hahn might have the chance to make one in the final group with Snedeker, who leads the US PGA Tour in scoring average and birdies but hopes not to settle for another second-best showing.

"I've got to take advantage of the opportunities I didn't today," Snedeker said. "In my view I saved them all up for tomorrow. You have to make those chances if you are going to win."

American Chris Kirk, whose lone PGA title came at the 2011 Viking Classic, fired a six-under 64 at the Monterey Peninsula Shore course to stand third, one stroke off the pace at 203.

Kirk, who began his third round on the back nine, birdied the par-5 12th to start a run of four birdies in five holes. He had back-to-back birdies at the second and third then answered a bogey at the par-3 seventh with a birdie at the par-3 ninth.

Defending champion Phil Mickelson slipped on wet rocks and fell on his rear at the 18th hole at Pebble Beach on his way to a triple-bogey 8 that dropped him out of contention.

"I got lucky, I didn't get hurt," Mickelson said. "To finish with a triple, it didn't feel great. It was a fun day to play golf. I just wish I could have played better. That triple really just took me out of it."

Leading scores after the third round of the US PGA Tour's $6.5 million Pebble Beach National Pro-Am:

202 - Brandt Snedeker 66-68-68, James Hahn 71-65-66

203 - Chris Kirk 71-68-64

204 - Patrick Reed 68-69-67

205 - Richard Lee 68-71-66

206 - Retief Goosen (RSA) 71-68-67, Robert Garrigus 71-69-66, Jason Day (AUS) 68-68-70, James Driscoll 72-67-67, Jimmy Walker 68-71-67

207 - Sean O'Hair 70-67-70, Luke Guthrie 68-70-69, Kevin Stadler 69-69-69, Webb Simpson 71-71-65, Ted Potter 67-67-73, Fredrik Jacobson (SWE) 71-66-70

208 - Charlie Wi (KOR) 70-70-68, Hunter Mahan 66-69-73, Alistair Presnell (AUS) 68-72-68, William McGirt 72-69-67, Matt Every 67-70-71, Kevin Na 68-72-68, Russell Knox (SCO) 64-73-71, Billy Horschel 70-71-67, Jordan Spieth
70-70-68, Patrick Cantlay 66-70-72

209 - Bill Lunde 71-70-68, Aaron Baddeley (AUS) 69-71-69, Scott Brown 72-68-69, John Merrick 68-67-74, Justin Hicks 71-68-70

- AFP/al

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Conspiracy theory: Was due process flouted to deny Afzal Guru a bid to escape hangman?

NEW DELHI: Although both have been executed in a hush-hush manner citing security reasons, the dilution of due process was greater in Mohammad Afzal Guru's hanging than in Ajmal Kasab's.

The denial of an opportunity to challenge the President's decision on the mercy petition was more likely to have affected Guru's fate for, unlike Kasab, he was not present at the crime scene when Parliament was attacked and he did not himself kill anybody.

In fact, after Kehar Singh's execution in the Indira Gandhi case, Guru was the only conspirator to have ever been hanged in connection with any high-profile crime. The three conspirators in the Rajiv Gandhi case, although awarded death penalty earlier than Guru, have so far been spared the noose because of a stay from the Madras high court on their execution. The stay came in 2011 on their plea that the death penalty be commuted to life sentence as the President had rejected their mercy petitions after an "inordinate and unexplained" delay.

Had he and his counsel been similarly given an advance notice of the rejection of his mercy petition, Guru too could have exercised his right to challenge the President's decision on the ground of delay, as he had filed his plea more than seven years ago.

Besides, Guru was better placed than Kasab to seek clemency on procedural and substantive grounds. Thanks to his oft-quoted grievance that he did not get a counsel of his choice during the trial, there has been much debate in legal and human rights circles on whether Guru had been given a fair trial.

Another controversial aspect of Guru's conviction is that successive courts had allegedly glossed over his claim that, as a surrendered militant, he had provided logistical support for the attack on Parliament on the instructions of security agencies in Kashmir.

The dilution of due process was also evident from the government's failure to comply with the stipulation of the jail manual to inform Guru's family about the date of the execution. The compromise is more evident in Guru's case because, unlike Kasab, his family members are Indians, who live in Kashmir. The rationale behind this stipulation is to provide the convict a chance to meet his family members for the last time.

In Kasab's case, the government claimed to have sent a communication to Pakistan to inform his family before his hanging. Despite the government's claim to have done the same in Guru's case, his family was in fact delivered with a fait accomppli.

This is the third mercy petition to have been rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee. Saibanna's case highlighted the deviation made in the cases of Kasab and Guru. For, the rejection of Saibanna's plea was made public, giving him scope to challenge it as also to meet his relatives.

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Mars Rover Curiosity Completes First Full Drill

For the first time in history, humans have drilled a hole into rock on Mars and are collecting the powdered results for analysis, NASA announced Saturday.

After weeks of intensive planning, the Mars rover Curiosity undertook its first full drill on Friday, with NASA receiving images on Saturday showing that the procedure was a success.

Curiosity drilled a hole that is a modest 2.5 inches (6.35 centimeters) deep and .6 inches (1.52 centimeters) wide but that holds the promise of potentially great discoveries. (Watch video of the Mars rover Curiosity.)

"The most advanced planetary robot ever designed now is a fully operating analytical laboratory on Mars," John Grunsfeld, NASA associate administrator for the agency's Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement on Saturday.

"This is the biggest milestone accomplishment for the Curiosity team since the sky-crane landing last August."

Read: Asteroid to Make Closest Flyby in History

The site of the much-anticipated penetration is a flat section of Mars rock that shows signs of having been underwater in its past.

Called Yellowknife Bay, it's the kind of environment where organic materials—the building block of life—might have been deposited and preserved long ago, at a time when Mars was far wetter and warmer than it is today.

The contents of the drilling are now being transferred into the rover's internal collection system, where the samples will be sieved down to size and scoured to minimize the presence of contamination from Earth. (Watch video of Curiosity's "Seven Minutes of Terror.")

Then the sample will be distributed to the two instruments most capable of determining what the rocks contain.

The first is the Sample Analysis on Mars (SAM), which has two ovens that can heat the powdered rock to almost 2000°F (1093°C) and release the rock's elements and compounds in a gaseous form.

The gases will then be analyzed by instruments that can identify precisely what they are, and when they might have been deposited. Scientists are looking for carbon-based organics believed to be essential for any potentially past life on Mars.

Powder will also go to the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument for a related analysis that looks especially at the presence of minerals—especially those that can only be formed in the presence of water.

Louise Jandura, chief engineer for Curiosity's sample system at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said that designing and testing a drill that can grab hold of Martian rock and commence first a percussive shallow drilling and then dig a deeper hole was difficult.

The drill, which is at the end of a 7-foot arm, is capable of about 100 discrete maneuvers.

"To get to the point of making this hole in a rock on Mars, we made eight drills and bored more than 1,200 holes in 20 types of rock on Earth," Jandura said in a statement.

Results from the SAM and CheMin analyses are not expected for several days to weeks.

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After Blizzard, Northeast Begins to Dig Out

The Northeast began the arduous process of cleaning up after a fierce storm swept through the region leaving behind up to three feet of snow in some areas.

By early this morning, 650,000 homes and businesses were without power and at least five deaths were being blamed on the storm: three in Canada, one in New York and one in Connecticut, The Associated Press reported.

The storm dumped snow from New Jersey to Maine, affecting more than 25 million people, with more than two feet falling in areas of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. The Postal Service closed post offices and suspended mail delivery today in New England.

As the storm waned, officials in the hardest hit areas cautioned residents to remain indoors and off the roads to ease the clean-up.

Massachusetts was hard hit by the storm, with more than two feet of snow in Boston and even more in coastal areas. State police and national guard troops helped rescue more than 50 stranded motorists and even helped deliver a baby girl, according to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.

Patrick enacted the first statewide driving ban since the 1978 blizzard, which left 27 inches of snow and killed dozens. The ban was to be lifted at 4 p.m. today, the governor said.

However, Patrick cautioned residents to act with extreme caution even after the ban is over.

"Stay inside and be patient," Patrick said.

In Massachusetts a boy reportedly died of carbon monoxide poisoning as he helped his father shovel snow on Saturday, according to ABCNews.com affiliate WCVB-TV in Boston.

For residents along the coast, the waning snowfall didn't mean the end of the storm. Storm surges along the Massachusetts coastline forced some residents out of their homes Saturday morning.

"We've got 20-foot waves crashing and flooding some homes," Bob Connors on Plum Island told WCVB. "We have power and heat and all that. We just have a very angry ocean. In my 33 years, I've never seen the seas this high."

Darren McCollester/Getty Images

Blizzard Shuts Down Parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts Watch Video

Blizzard 2013: Power Outages for Hundreds of Thousands of People Watch Video

Blizzard 2013: Northeast Transportation Network Shut Down Watch Video

FULL COVERAGE: Blizzard of 2013

In Connecticut, Gov. Dannel Malloy declared a state of emergency and closed all roads in the state. The state police responded to more than 1,600 calls over the last 24 hours and the governor called up an additional 270 National Guard members.

"If you're not an emergency personnel that's required to be somewhere, stay home," Malloy said.

Overnight, snow fell at a rate of up to five to six inches per hour in parts of Connecticut. In Milford, more than 38 inches of snow had fallen by this morning.

In Fairfield, Conn. firefighters and police officers on the day shift were unable to make it to work, so the overnight shift remained on duty.

PHOTOS: Blizzard Hits Northeast

The wind and snow started affecting the region during the Friday night commute.

In Cumberland, Maine, the conditions led to a 19-car pile-up and in New York, hundreds of commuters were stranded on the snowy Long Island Expressway. Police and firefighters were still working to free motorists early this morning.

"The biggest problem that we're having is that people are not staying on the main portion or the middle section of the roadway and veering to the shoulders, which are not plowed," said Lt. Daniel Meyer from the Suffolk County Police Highway Patrol.

In New York, authorities are digging out hundreds of cars that got stuck overnight on the Long Island Expressway.

Bob Griffith of Syosset, N.Y., said he tried leave early to escape the storm, but instead ended up stuck in the snow by the side of the road.

"I tried to play it smart in that I started early in the day, when it was raining," said Griffith. "But the weather beat us to the punch."

Suffolk County Executive Steven Bellone said the snow had wreaked havoc on the roadways.

"I saw state plows stuck on the side of the road. I've never seen anything like this before," Bellone said.

However, some New York residents, who survived the wrath of Hurricane Sandy, were rattled by having to face another large and potentially dangerous storm system with hurricane force winds and flooding.

"How many storms of the century can you have in six months?" said Larry Racioppo, a resident of the hard hit Rockaway neighborhood in Queens, New York.

READ: Weather NYC: Blizzard Threatens Rockaways, Ravaged by Sandy

Snowfall Totals

In New York, a little more than 11 inches fell in the city.

By this morning, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said nearly all of the primary roads had been plowed and the department of sanitation anticipated that all roads would be plowed by the end of the day.

"It looks like we dodged a bullet, but keep in mind winter is not over," said Bloomberg.

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Obama to propose 1 percent pay raise for federal workers

President Obama will propose a pay raise for federal civilian employees that is less than private-sector wage growth yet more than that favored by many House Republicans, who want to extend an employee pay freeze.

Obama will propose a 1 percent pay increase in the administration’s fiscal 2014 budget plan, which is expected in mid-March.

At the same time, the House plans to vote soon on legislation that would extend the current freeze on basic pay rates through the end of the 2013 calendar year. The freeze was originally set for two years and had been scheduled to end in December but was extended until a temporary budget measure expires next month.

In April, federal employees will receive a 0.5 percent raise for the remainder of 2013, unless blocked by congressional action.

A 1 percent increase is less than the 1.8 percent raise that would kick in for 2014 under a law that requires a pay increase be pegged to wage growth in the private sector. Last year, wages in the private sector grew 1.8 percent.

The Pentagon’s announcement this week of its intent to seek a 1 percent raise for the military in 2014 effectively set a cap for a 2014 civilian raise. In no recent year has the civilian raise exceeded the increase for military personnel.

For a number of years, civilian raises were set at the amount decided for military personnel under what was called “pay parity.” But that practice broke down in recent years, as military personnel have continued to receive raises while federal civilian salary rates have been frozen.

Labor leaders learned late Friday about the raise in a conference call with the Office of Management and Budget. The presidents of the two largest federal unions said they are not happy with the small proposed increase.

J. David Cox Sr., president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said inflation has “gone up a lot more than that. . . . We’re not going to be able to recruit the best and the brightest.”

Colleen M. Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said, “Already, federal employees have contributed more than any other group to address our fiscal deficit and economic circumstances — $103 billion over 10 years from the pay freeze and from higher pension contributions from new federal hires. If followed, the formula under federal law would have provided a higher raise. By lowering the amount they are actually due, federal employees will contribute another $18 billion to budget savings, according to the Office of Management and Budget.”

The National Federation of Federal Employees’ president, William R. Dougan, was more positive.

“This adjustment, in addition to the proposed 2013 adjustment, would be a critical lifeline for federal employees across the nation who are struggling in this economy just like everyone else,” he said. “Now it is up to Congress to support this year’s federal pay increase and deliver our dedicated federal employees the adjustment they have earned.”

Legislation sponsored by Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) would extend the freeze through 2013. When he introduced his bill last month, he said that “we simply cannot afford” the 0.5 percent hike. “This bill rescinds the president’s action and makes clear that the federal workforce — including Cabinet secretaries, members of Congress and other salaried employees — will not receive an across-the-board pay increase this year.”

But another Republican, Rep. Frank Wolf (Va.), disagreed. In a letter sent Friday to his Republican colleagues, Wolf urged a “no” vote on the bill.

“

“Everyone knows they are an easy target,” Wolf wrote of federal workers. “But we are kidding ourselves if we think we can balance the budget on the backs of federal employees. It’s a drop in the bucket towards deficit reduction and a hollow gesture absent meaningful mandatory spending reforms. Worse, this is just busywork as our economy faces the sequestration meat ax.”

Eric Yoder contributed to this report.

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Venezuela devalues currency 32% against US dollar

CARACAS: Venezuela said Friday it is devaluing its currency by 32 per cent against the dollar on the orders of cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez, in part to trim a bloated budget deficit.

The bolivar will go from 4.3 to 6.3 to the dollar at the official exchange rate. The move was announced at a press conference by Planning and Finance Minister Jorge Giordani. He said it will take effect on Wednesday.

The goal is to "minimize expenditure and maximize results." One effect of a devaluation is to make a country's exports cheaper and thus more enticing to buyers.

But another effect is to cut the deficit, which in Venezuela last year was estimated to be nearly 10 per cent of GDP.

The economy grew 5.5 per cent last year and inflation was 20 per cent. That was down seven points from the previous year and hit the government target, but was still the highest official inflation rate in Latin America.

Venezuela is South America's largest oil exporter and has the world's largest proven reserves. Its oil transactions are dollar-denominated, so the bolivar-value of those sales will now be higher, boosting state revenues on paper.

The change had been widely expected by analysts and business leaders since last year. This is Venezuela's fifth currency devaluation in a decade.

But a side effect of the new one will be higher inflation, economists warned.

Giordani said the government would honour dollar purchase requests made before January 15 requests at the old exchange rate.

Chavez is convalescing in Cuba, where he underwent a fourth round of cancer surgery on December 11.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro, who visited Chavez this week, said at the same press conference Friday that Chavez is concerned about the Venezuelan economy and called for a "major effort" to maintain its pace of growth.

Chavez established currency controls in 2003 and the government sets the rate to curb capital flight.

But the existence of a strong black market for the dollar shows the continuing desire for hard currency.

Economist Jesus Casique warned the devaluation would have a major inflationary side effect and the government should not see it as the main tool for trimming the deficit.

Rather, it should take other steps such as clearing away red tape that makes it hard for business to obtain dollars and encouraging Venezuelan non-oil exports.

"The measure should come hand in hand with others," Casique said.

Out on the street, there was little enthusiasm for the devaluation.

"This is bad news," said businessman Jorge Martinez, walking past the Venezuelan central bank with his wife. "We have been number-crunching because in a month we are going to travel to Spain, and now we do not have enough money."

- AFP/xq

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