Te'o Tells Couric He Briefly Lied About Girlfriend













Manti Te'o briefly lied to the media and the public after discovering his online girlfriend did not exist and was a part of an elaborate hoax, he admitted in an exclusive interview with ABC News' Katie Couric.


The star Notre Dame linebacker, who has been hounded by the reporters since the story broke Jan. 16, told Couric in a taped interview Tuesday that he was not lying up until December. Te'o said he was duped into believing his online girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, died of cancer.


"You stuck to the script. And you knew that something was amiss, Manti," Couric said.


Te'o found out that Kekua was a hoax on Dec. 6, but on Dec. 8 he again publicly mentioned his girlfriend. The remark came as Te'o was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, the award for the best college football player in the country. Te'o was eventually a runner-up for the trophy.


"Katie, put yourself in my situation. I, my whole world told me that she died on Sept. 12. Everybody knew that. This girl, who I committed myself to, died on Sept. 12," Te'o said.


"Now I get a phone call on Dec. 6, saying that she's alive and then I'm going be put on national TV two days later. And to ask me about the same question. You know, what would you do?" Te'o said.










Man Allegedly Behind the Manti Te?o Dead Girlfriend Hoax Watch Video







See more exclusive previews tonight on "World News With Diane Sawyer" and "Nightline." Watch Katie Couric's interview with Manti Te'o and his parents Thursday. Check your local listings or click here for online station finder.


Te'o, 21, was joined by his parents, Brian and Ottilia, in the interview.


"Now many people writing about this are calling your son a liar. They are saying he manipulated the truth, really for personal gain," Couric said to Te'o's father.


"People can speculate about what they think he is. I've known him 21 years of his life. And he's not a liar. He's a kid," Brian Te'o said with tears in his eyes.


Click here for a who's who in the Manti Te'o case.


Diane O'Meara told NBC's "Today" show Tuesday that she was used as the "face" of the Twitter account of Manti Te'o's online girlfriend without her knowledge or consent.


O'Meara said that Ronaiah Tuiasosopo used pictures of her without her knowledge in creating Kekua.


"I've never met Manti Te'o in my entire life. I've never spoke with him. I've never exchanged words with him," O'Meara said Tuesday.


The 23-year-old marketing executive went to high school in California with Tuiasosopo, but she says they're not close. Tuiasosopo called to apologize the day Deadspin.com broke the hoax story, she said.


Timeline of Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax story


In an interview with ESPN last week, Te'o said he had received a Twitter message from Tuiasosopo apologizing for the hoax.


The Hawaiian also spoke to Tuiasosopo on the phone the day the Deadspin report came out, according to ESPN.com. He found out that "two guys and a girl are responsible for the whole thing," he said.


But he did not know the identities of the other individuals involved, other than the man he says was Tuiasosopo.


Tuiasosopo, a 22-year-old resident of California, has not admitted involvement publicly. Tuiasosopo graduated from Paraclete High School in Lancaster, Calif., in 2007 and has posted dozens of videos online signing Christian songs.





Read More..

Threatwatch: The greatest risks to world stability






















Threatwatch is your early warning system for global dangers, from nuclear peril to deadly viral outbreaks. Debora MacKenzie highlights the threats to civilisation – and suggests solutions






















This week, some 3000 people, including the world's top corporate and political movers and shakers, are gathering in the Swiss ski resort of Davos for the 43rd annual World Economic Forum (WEF). They will be told that of all the threats the world faces, the most likely one to hit us is the growing income gap between the poor majority and the rich few – namely, themselves.












They will also hear that we need to address this and other deeply interconnected risks such as financial collapse, greenhouse gases, food and water shortages, bigger and ageing populations, spiking food and oil prices and extreme weather. Welcome to the world's most glittering exercise in global threatwatching.












Although Davos will host nearly 50 heads of government, most delegates are corporate bosses, paying upwards – some well upwards – of $20,000 a head to be there. Participants admit that they don't shell out to "improve the state of the world", the WEF's official aim. Davos is an unrivalled chance to network, do business – and party. Rock star Bono, a regular, dubbed it "fat cats in the snow".











Ranks of experts












Yet the packed schedule of daytime discussions features top names from science, including Daniel Kahneman, Tim Hunt and Eric Kandel, and technology, including Tim Berners-Lee. And as a basis for discussion, everyone gets a detailed assessment of the problems facing the globalised world. In this year's Global Risk Report, "over 1000 experts from industry, government, academia and civil society" rank 50 risks according to how likely they are to strike in the next 10 years, and their potential impact.












Many risks highlighted this year are familiar to New Scientist readers: bacteria resistant to antibiotics, economic and environmental stress, cybersecurity, weapons proliferation, failure to adapt to climate change.












When the experts pooled their views, the growing global wealth gap won "most likely", followed by rising greenhouse gases and ageing populations. Systemic financial failure won "greatest impact", followed by food shortage and weapons of mass destruction. Water shortages and government budget imbalances made the top five in both categories.













The team of risk experts also plans that by next summer, they will have worked out each country's "resilience", or adaptability, to combined threats. A preliminary effort in the current report finds that rich countries, perhaps unsurprisingly, are more resilient than poor ones.











Snapshot of risk













This is not a scientific attempt to quantify risks, but a snapshot of what people think the risks are, says Axel Lehmann, chief risk officer for the Zurich Insurance Group, one organiser of the study. "It isn't a forecast," he says, "more a platform for discussion" among groups who rarely discuss risk with each other. Airing such issues at Davos can lead to action; in 2002, it helped globalise the battle against disease.











But the report may be giving too much weight to opinion surveys, especially as the fragility of modern, rich societies is not widely appreciated. "Perceptions really don't get you that far in understanding 'real' risks," says Victor Galaz of the Stockholm Resilience Centre. "Really big shocks tend to be surprises." Meanwhile, it is hard to come by data that can accurately quantify resilience.












Problem of perception













On the other hand, he says, the WEF report should raise awareness of interconnected risks. Lehmann agrees. Perceptions are what people act on, he says – and these perceived risks are from a peer group business leaders might trust. Yet perceptions might derive more from headlines than reality: the Arab Spring may have boosted concern about the destabilising potential of wealth disparities.












Moreover, there is a deep contradiction between interconnected risks and the whole idea of Davos. Traditionally, companies and governments are hierarchical. In such systems, leaders can get their heads around individual problems and address them.












Once things get too complex and interconnected, says Yaneer Bar-Yam, head of the New England Complex Systems Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a boss cannot do that, and hierarchies don't work. They must give way to decentralised networks of control.











Creators of woe













So if the interconnected, globalised world is too complex to be managed hierarchically, the global bosses gathered in Davos to consider all these risks may be unable to do much about them. That's despite the fact that many of the gathered glitterati helped create the wealth disparities, greenhouse gases, unstable financial networks and other bugbears they are being warned about.












Even if a network is what is needed to control things, Davos's pre-eminence in networking isn't necessarily enough. The question, notes Bar-Yam, is whether the Davos elite constitute the network the world's problems need.












But if nothing else, so many wealthy people should have an obvious solution to inequality: giving their own money away. Yet that, warns Lehmann, does not work as well as investing in technologies that enable the poor to prosper.












Still, the fat cats of Davos control many purse strings. If the Global Risk Report serves as a reminder that loosening them to mitigate global risks might constitute enlightened self-interest, it can hardly hurt.


















































If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.




































All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.


If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.








Read More..

SGX's Q2 net profit rises 17% to S$76m






SINGAPORE : Rising interest in derivatives trading helped lift earnings for the Singapore Exchange (SGX) last quarter.

Asia's second-largest bourse operator reported a 17 per cent on-year rise in second-quarter net profit to S$76 million.

It also attracted a large number of new bond listings in the same quarter.

Derivatives trading has been the star performer in SGX.

Over the October to December quarter, derivatives daily average volume on SGX hit a record of 358,532 contracts, up 30 per cent on-year.

This was supported by rising trading interests in China A50 futures and Japan Nikkei 225 options.

Not to be undone, the securities market performed well too.

Its daily average volume rose 8 per cent for the quarter to hit a trading value of S$1.2 billion.

This translates to a revenue of S$58 million for the securities business segment.

SGX said the better performance was due to improvements in investor sentiment following stability over the Europe debt situation and improved US economy.

Magnus Bocker, chief executive officer of Singapore Exchange, said: "We should remember the enormous amount of liquidity in the market. Not so much in the equity market, but actually more in the fixed income and currency markets, and with chasing yields and lot of very successful and growing companies, I think we can all expect this sentiment to continue. I think we can expect more flows into securities."

Some analysts are bullish on SGX's prospects going forward.

The said the improved investment climate globally may benefit the exchange operator.

Ken Ang, investment analyst at Phillip Securities Research, said: "SGX is very well placed to benefit from this increasing attractiveness of the equity market and therefore resulting in increase in trading value."

SGX attracted eight new listings in its second quarter - raising S$798.9 million.

While the number seems small, it came amid declines in the global initial public offering (IPO) market.

In 2012, global IPO volumes fell 27 per cent, with the lowest level of funds raised since 2009.

Kenneth Ng, head of Singapore research at CIMB Research, said: "I think while that (derivative) is great and that diversified the revenue of SGX, SGX still has a rather pertinent problem of trying to increase the security turnover velocity and value by retail initiatives, attracting listings and so forth."

Apart from seeking more IPOs, SGX also attracted some 90 new bond listings, raising S$39.7 billion for the quarter.

- CNA/ms



Read More..

iPhone to shed market share this quarter, says analyst



Apple's iPhone 5.

Apple's iPhone 5



(Credit:
CNET)


The iPhone may be in store for a tough quarter, according to one analyst.


Apple will give up some of its smartphone market share this quarter, "raising concern about the on-going dominance of the iPhone," Citi analyst Glen Yeung said in an investors note out today. He cited strong demand for Samsung devices as the reason.


Recent reports say that Apple slashed iPhone 5 component orders for the current quarter, triggering concerns that demand for the flagship phone has diminished. Several analysts believe such concerns are overblown, instead attributing the cuts to improved manufacturing yields for the latest iPhone.


But Yeung thinks the cuts may be due to rougher competition.


"Our checks mid-December revealed initial signs of order cuts from Apple, now evident across a larger array of suppliers," the analyst said. "We acknowledge the true nature of these cuts is as yet inconclusive, but we suspect they reflect growing demand for competitive offerings (e.g. Samsung), particularly outside the U.S."


Assuming the cuts signal the likely number of shipments, Yeung sees iPhone units sales of 35 million this quarter. That's below Wall Street's consensus of around 42 million.


Will Apple bounce back in the June quarter if it releases an iPhone 5S? Yeung doesn't see that in his crystal ball.


"Based on our understanding of the iPhone5S (same form factor), we do not view the forthcoming launch (scheduled for C2Q13) as a catalyst for market share regain," the analyst said.


Regardless, Apple's December quarter should prove fruitful. Tomorrow, the company will reveal results for the final quarter of 2012. Yeung thinks iPhone sales could reach or even beat Wall Street's forecast of 45 million to 50 million, thanks largely to manufacturing improvements from October to December.



Meanwhile, the
iPad is a mixed bag, according to the analyst.


iPad Mini sales have been strong. Though limited by supply, manufacturing builds of the small
tablet are expected to rise between 20 percent and 40 percent in the next quarter.


However, demand for the Mini's larger cousin has weakened. Sales of the 9.7-inch tablet are forecast at 13 million for the current quarter. But Yeung's supply chain checks say production will drop by 30 percent to 40 percent next quarter.


Looking at the year ahead, Citi expects Apple to unveil the iPhone 5S in June, followed by a Retina Display
iPad Mini, an iPad 5, and a low-end iPhone in September.

Read More..

Group Finds More Fake Ingredients in Popular Foods













It's what we expect as shoppers—what's in the food will be displayed on the label.


But a new scientific examination by the non-profit food fraud detectives the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), discovered rising numbers of fake ingredients in products from olive oil to spices to fruit juice.


"Food products are not always what they purport to be," Markus Lipp, senior director for Food Standards for the independent lab in Maryland, told ABC News.


In a new database to be released Wednesday, and obtained exclusively by ABC News today, USP warns consumers, the FDA and manufacturers that the amount of food fraud they found is up by 60 percent this year.


USP, a scientific nonprofit that according to their website "sets standards for the identity, strength, quality, and purity of medicines, food ingredients, and dietary supplements manufactured, distributed and consumed worldwide" first released the Food Fraud Database in April 2012.


The organization examined more than 1,300 published studies and media reports from 1980-2010. The update to the database includes nearly 800 new records, nearly all published in 2011 and 2012.


Among the most popular targets for unscrupulous food suppliers? Pomegranate juice, which is often diluted with grape or pear juice.


"Pomegranate juice is a high-value ingredient and a high-priced ingredient, and adulteration appears to be widespread," Lipp said. "It can be adulterated with other food juices…additional sugar, or just water and sugar."








Woman's Legs and Fingers Amputated After Dog Bite Watch Video









Hope Grows for Girl With Rare Rapid-Aging Disease Progeria Watch Video







Lipp added that there have also been reports of completely "synthetic pomegranate juice" that didn't contain any traces of the real juice.


USP tells ABC News that liquids and ground foods in general are the easiest to tamper with:

  • Olive oil: often diluted with cheaper oils

  • Lemon juice: cheapened with water and sugar

  • Tea: diluted with fillers like lawn grass or fern leaves

  • Spices: like paprika or saffron adulterated with dangerous food colorings that mimic the colors


Milk, honey, coffee and syrup are also listed by the USP as being highly adulterated products.


Also high on the list: seafood. The number one fake being escolar, an oily fish that can cause stomach problems, being mislabeled as white tuna or albacore, frequently found on sushi menus.


National Consumers League did its own testing on lemon juice just this past year and found four different products labeled 100 percent lemon juice were far from pure.


"One had 10 percent lemon juice, it said it had 100 percent, another had 15 percent lemon juice, another...had 25 percent, and the last one had 35 percent lemon juice," Sally Greenberg, Executive Director for the National Consumers League said. "And they were all labeled 100 percent lemon juice."


Greenberg explains there are indications to help consumers pick the faux from the food.


"In a bottle of olive oil if there's a dark bottle, does it have the date that it was harvested?" she said. While other products, such as honey or lemon juice, are more difficult to discern, if the price is "too good to be true" it probably is.


"$5.50, that's pretty cheap for extra virgin olive oil," Greenberg said. "And something that should raise some eyebrows for consumers."


Many of the products USP found to be adulterated are those that would be more expensive or research intensive in its production.
"Pomegranate juice is expensive because there is little juice in a pomegranate," Lipp said.






Read More..

Turn up the bass to scare birds away from planes









































PLANES and birds aren't good at sharing air space - bird strikes worldwide cause over a billion dollars in damage every year, and put passengers and crew at risk. To scare avians away, a new device will fire low-frequency sound waves at flocks as they near busy flight paths.












Noise makers are often used to scare birds away from airports or contaminated waterways. But loud sounds also annoy any humans within earshot.












Now a system developed by Technology International, based in Laplace, Louisiana, aims to deter birds using infrasound, below the range of human hearing.












The trial version of the Avian Infrasound Non-lethal Denial System has a passive infrasound detector that listens for an approaching flock, and activates a series of rotary subwoofers that generate high-intensity, but low-frequency sound. It worked well in tests.












Thunderstorms also emit lots of infrasound, which may be why birds are naturally averse to it, says Abdo Husseiny, the firm's CEO.












Husseiny adds that the system could be used to keep pigeons away from public squares, or divert flocks away from wind turbines. He says that the equipment should be commercially available within two years.




















































If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.









































































All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.


If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.








Read More..

No more measures for Greece if reforms carried out: Lagarde






ATHENS: No additional measures would be necessary for Greece if it carries out the reforms under its bailout programme, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said in an interview with the Sunday edition of Kathimerini.

"But if the structural reforms are not carried out... then more cuts would be necessary," the head of the International Monetary Fund told the Greek newspaper.

Entering a sixth year straight of recession, the heavily indebted country is relying on EU-IMF bailout packages.

It also received a private-sector debt cut early last year. Since 2010, the EU and IMF have committed 240 billion euros ($320 billion) in rescue loans to Greece, while last week the IMF unblocked a frozen tranche of 3.2 billion euros from its pending aid package.

"Greece holds its future in its own hands... It is up to the country itself to succeed in its programme," Lagarde said.

The IMF chief said she had a very good working relationship with both the Greek prime minister and finance minister.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and I "have a very good and honest relationship," she said, adding that the premier has even "surprised" her with his stance following his election.

Lagarde also said she believed the co-existence of three different parties in Greece's coalition government is beneficial.

"Regarding the implementation of the programme and the responsibilities towards the people, a wide coalition is much more important than a tight majority," she said.

Conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's coalition government has lost 16 deputies since coming to power in June, as a result of opposition to continued austerity.

It now counts a majority of 163 seats out of an overall 300.

On Friday, the IMF's mission chief for Greece Poul Thomsen said the country will still need additional help from its European partners next year.

- AFP/fa



Read More..

WikiLeaks says Aaron Swartz may have been a 'source'


WikiLeaks said late yesterday that recently deceased Internet activist Aaron Swartz assisted the organization, was in contact with Julian Assange, and may have been one of the organization's sources.


Reached in Iceland on Saturday evening, California time, WikiLeaks representative Kristinn Hrafnsson confirmed to CNET that the tweets were authentic but declined to elaborate.


In the tweets, the organization said it was revealing the information "due to the investigation into the Secret Service involvement" with Swartz.


Here are screenshots of the tweets:






The phrasing of the last tweet ("strong reasons to believe, but cannot prove") may be related to the precautions WikiLeaks says it takes to ensure its sources' anonymity. WikiLeaks' policy says:



...we operate a number of servers across multiple international jurisdictions and we we do not keep logs. Hence these logs can not be seized. Anonymization occurs early in the WikiLeaks network, long before information passes to our web servers. Without specialized global internet traffic analysis, multiple parts of our organisation must conspire with each other to strip submitters of their anonymity.


The Secret Service has a legal mandate to investigate computer crime, a task it shares with the FBI and other federal agencies, which the agency describes including "unauthorized access to protected computers" -- which Swartz is alleged to have been guilty of. It also investigates forgery, identity fraud, visa fraud, money laundering, food stamp fraud, wire fraud, and a host of other federal offenses.



It would not be unusual, in other words, for the Secret Service to be involved in a criminal probe of Swartz's alleged bulk downloading from the JSTOR database. Some other examples: The Secret Service, which is now part of the Department of Homeland Security, has investigated an artist who installed photo-taking software in Apple stores, a credit card theft ring, spyware installed on college campuses, and a possible theft of GOP candidate Mitt Romney's income tax returns.


The ambiguous WikiLeaks tweets have prompted speculation about what the group was trying to suggest. The Verge's Tim Carmody wrote that "the aim of these tweets could be to imply that the US Attorney's Office and Secret Service targeted Swartz in order to get at WikiLeaks, and that Swartz died still defending his contacts' anonymity. Taking that implied claim at face value would be irresponsible without more evidence." And blog emptywheel wrote that if true, the tweets "strongly indicate" that "the US government used the grand jury investigation into Aaron's JSTOR downloads as a premise to investigate WikiLeaks."


Until WikiLeaks elaborates on what it intended to say by highlighting the Secret Service's involvement, and provides supporting evidence, it will be difficult to draw any conclusions.


After confirming the authenticity of the tweets, WikiLeaks representative Hrafnsson asked that we contact him later with any further questions. We'll do that and let you know what we find out.


It seems the only thing that's now certain is that criticisms of, and speculation about, the government's handling of the Swartz-Jstor case isn't likely to die down overnight.


CNET's Declan McCullagh contributed to this report.


Read More..

Attack at Algeria Gas Plant Heralds New Risks for Energy Development



The siege by Islamic militants at a remote Sahara desert natural gas plant in Algeria this week signaled heightened dangers in the region for international oil companies, at a time when they have been expanding operations in Africa as one of the world's last energy frontiers. (See related story: "Pictures: Four New Offshore Drilling Frontiers.")


As BP, Norway's Statoil, Italy's Eni, and other companies evacuated personnel from Algeria, it was not immediately clear how widely the peril would spread in the wake of the hostage-taking at the sprawling In Amenas gas complex near the Libyan border.



A map of disputed islands in the East and South China Seas.

Map by National Geographic



Algeria, the fourth-largest crude oil producer on the continent and a major exporter of natural gas and refined fuels, may not have been viewed as the most hospitable climate for foreign energy companies, but that was due to unfavorable financial terms, bureaucracy, and corruption. The energy facilities themselves appeared to be safe, with multiple layers of security provided both by the companies and by government forces, several experts said. (See related photos: "Oil States: Are They Stable? Why It Matters.")


"It is particularly striking not only because it hasn't happened before, but because it happened in Algeria, one of the stronger states in the region," says Hanan Amin-Salem, a senior manager at the industry consulting firm PFC Energy, who specializes in country risk. She noted that in the long civil war that gripped the country throughout the 1990s, there had never been an attack on Algeria's energy complex. But now, hazard has spread from weak surrounding states, as the assault on In Amenas was carried out in an apparent retaliation for a move by French forces against the Islamists who had taken over Timbuktu and other towns in neighboring Mali. (See related story: "Timbuktu Falls.")


"What you're really seeing is an intensification of the fundamental problem of weak states, and empowerment of heavily armed groups that are really well motivated and want to pursue a set of aims," said Amin-Salem. In PFC Energy's view, she says, risk has increased in Mauritania, Chad, and Niger—indeed, throughout Sahel, the belt that bisects North Africa, separating the Sahara in the north from the tropical forests further south.


On Thursday, the London-based corporate consulting firm Exclusive Analysis, which was recently acquired by the global consultancy IHS, sent an alert to clients warning that oil and gas facilities near the Libyan and Mauritanian borders and in Mauritania's Hodh Ech Chargui province were at "high risk" of attack by jihadis.


"A Hot Place to Drill"


The attack at In Amenas comes at a time of unprecedented growth for the oil industry in Africa. (See related gallery: "Pictures: The Year's Most Overlooked Energy Stories.") Forecasters expect that oil output throughout Africa will double by 2025, says Amy Myers Jaffe, executive director of the energy and sustainability program at the University of California, Davis, who has counted 20 rounds of bidding for new exploration at sites in Africa's six largest oil-producing states.


Oil and natural gas are a large part of the Algerian economy, accounting for 60 percent of government budget revenues, more than a third of GDP and more than 97 percent of its export earnings. But the nation's resources are seen as largely undeveloped, and Algeria has tried to attract new investment. Over the past year, the government has sought to reform the law to boost foreign companies' interests in their investments, although those efforts have foundered.


Technology has been one of the factors driving the opening up of Africa to deeper energy exploration. Offshore and deepwater drilling success in the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil led to prospecting now under way offshore in Ghana, Mozambique, and elsewhere. (See related story: "New Oil—And a Huge Challenge—for Ghana.") Jaffe says the Houston-based company Anadarko Petroleum has sought to transfer its success in "subsalt seismic" exploration technology, surveying reserves hidden beneath the hard salt layer at the bottom of the sea, to the equally challenging seismic exploration beneath the sands of the Sahara in Algeria, where it now has three oil and gas operations.


Africa also is seen as one of the few remaining oil-rich regions of the world where foreign oil companies can obtain production-sharing agreements with governments, contracts that allow them a share of the revenue from the barrels they produce, instead of more limited service contracts for work performed.


"You now have the technology to tap the resources more effectively, and the fiscal terms are going to be more attractive than elsewhere—you put these things together and it's been a hot place to drill," says Jaffe, who doesn't see the energy industry's interest in Africa waning, despite the increased terrorism risk. "What I think will happen in some of these countries is that the companies are going to reveal new securities systems and procedures they have to keep workers safe," she says. "I don't think they will abandon these countries."


This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.


Read More..

Obama to Be Sworn in for 2nd Term at White House


Jan 20, 2013 8:43am







While an estimated 800,000 people are expected to gather in Washington D.C.  Monday to watch President Obama be sworn in for a second term, his second term officially begins Sunday. He will take his oath of office in a private ceremony. Vice President Joe Biden was sworn in on Sunday morning at the Naval Observatory.


OBAMA SWEARING-IN:


gty john roberts obama jef 120628 wblog Inauguration 2013: President Obama, Vice President Biden Swearing In Ceremonies

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. administers the oath of office a second time to President Barack Obama in the Map Room of the White House on Jan. 21, 2009. (Pete Souz / WH Photo / Getty Images)


–Obama will take the oath of office for a second term in a small ceremony in the Blue Room of the White House at 11:55 am. Chief Justice John Roberts will administer the oath.


–Obama will be sworn in using a Bible today that belonged to First Lady Michelle Obama’s grandmother, LaVaughn Delores Robinson. The Robinson family Bible was a present from the first lady’s father to his mother on Mother’s Day in 1958, six years before Michelle’s birth.


–Due to constitutionally-mandated scheduling, President Obama is set to become the second president in U.S. history to have four swearing-in ceremonies. Today will be his third. Obama was sworn in twice in 2008 out of an abundance of caution after Chief Justice John Roberts flubbed the oath of office.


Here is video of Obama’s first swearing in by Roberts:


And Here is audio of Roberts administering the oath for a second time in 2009:


–Franklin Roosevelt was also sworn-in four times but, unlike Obama, he was elected four times.


–This year will mark the seventh time a president has taken the oath on a Sunday and then again on Monday for ceremonial purposes. Reagan last took the oath on a Sunday in 1985.


PHOTOS: U.S. Presidents Taking the Oath of Office


BIDEN SWEARING-IN:


ap inaugural joe biden jt 130120 wblog Inauguration 2013: President Obama, Vice President Biden Swearing In Ceremonies

Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo


–Vice President Biden was sworn-in at the Vice President’s residence at the Naval Observatory, surrounded by his family and close friends.


–Biden personally selected Associate Justice Sotomayor, who will be the first Hispanic and fourth female judge to administer an oath of office.


–Three women have previously sworn-in presidents and vice presidents: Judge Sarah T. Hughes swore-in President Johnson in 1963; Justice Sandra Day O’Connor swore-in Vice President Dan Quayle in 1989; and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg swore-in Vice President Al Gore in 1997.


–On Sunday and Monday, Vice President Biden will be sworn in using the Biden Family Bible, which is five inches thick, has a Celtic cross on the cover and has been in the Biden family since 1893. He used it every time he was sworn in as a US Senator and when he was sworn in as Vice President in 2009. His son Beau used it when he was sworn in as Delaware’s attorney general.


Tune in to the ABC News.com Live page on Monday morning starting at 9:30 a.m. EST for all-day live streaming video coverage of Inauguration 2013: Barack Obama. Live coverage will also be available on the ABC News iPad App and mobile devices.



SHOWS: This Week World News







Read More..