Arafat's grave opened for poison tests

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Forensic experts took samples from Yasser Arafat's buried corpse in the West Bank on Tuesday, trying to determine if he was murdered by Israeli agents using the hard-to-trace radioactive poison, Polonium.


Palestinians witnessed the funeral of their hero and longtime leader eight years ago, but conspiracy theories surrounding his death have never been laid to rest.


Many are convinced their icon was the victim of a cowardly assassination, and may stay convinced whatever the outcome of this autopsy. But some in the city of Ramallah where he lies deplored the exhumation.


"This is wrong. After all this time, today they suddenly want to find out the truth?" said construction worker Ahmad Yousef, 31, who stopped to watch the disinterment, carried out behind a wall of blue plastic near the Palestinian presidency headquarters.


"They should have done it eight years ago," he said.


French magistrates in August opened a murder inquiry into Arafat's death in Paris in 2004 after a Swiss institute said it had discovered high levels of polonium on clothing of his which was supplied by his widow, Suha, for a television documentary.


"Samples will be taken according to a very strict protocol and these samples will be analyzed," said Darcy Christen, spokesman for Lausanne University Hospital in Switzerland that carried out the original tests on Arafat's clothes.


"In order to do these analyses, to check, cross-check and double cross-check, it will take several months and I don't think we'll have anything tangible available before March or April next year," he added.


Arafat was always a freedom fighter to Palestinians but a terrorist to Israelis first, and a partner for peace only later. He led the bid for a Palestinian state through years of war and peacemaking, then died in a French hospital aged 75 after a short, mysterious illness.


No autopsy was carried out at the time, at the request of Suha, and French doctors who treated him said they were unable to determine the cause of death.


But allegations of foul play immediately surfaced, and many Palestinians pointed the finger at Israel, which confined Arafat to his West Bank headquarters in Ramallah for the final two and a half years of his life after a Palestinian uprising erupted.


Israel denies murdering him. Its leader at the time, Ariel Sharon, now lies in a coma from which he is expected never to awake. Israel invited the Palestinian leadership to release all Arafat's medical records, which were never made public following his death and still have not been opened.


FRENCH INVESTIGATORS


Polonium, apparently ingested with food, was found to have caused the death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006. But some experts have questioned whether Arafat could have died in this way, pointing to a brief recovery during his illness that they said was not consistent with radioactive poisoning. They also noted he did not lose all his hair.


Eight years is considered the limit to detect any traces of the fast-decaying polonium and Lausanne hospital questioned in August if it would be worth seeking any samples, if access to Arafat's body was delayed as late as "October or November."


Not all of Arafat's family agreed to the exhumation, and his wife Suha chose not to attend the operation she had prompted.


Working in parallel with the forensic team, French magistrates were in Ramallah this week to ask if members of Arafat's inner circle might be able to shed light on his death.


One source told Reuters the French had a list of 60 questions, and had questioned one man for five hours.


Many Palestinians acknowledge that a Palestinian would almost certainly have had to administer any poison, wittingly or unwittingly.


(Writing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Douglas Hamilton and Tom Pfeiffer)


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HK's securities watchdog urges support for new regulatory framework






HONG KONG : The chief of Hong Kong's securities watchdog has called on regional regulators to fully participate in the global implementation of new financial rules or risk Asia being isolated.

He said a "one-size-fits-all" set of financial regulations imposed by the West could hurt Asian markets.

The financial world is facing regulatory changes in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, with another period of economic fragility on its hands.

And with the US and Europe taking steps to protect their markets, Hong Kong is urging Asian regulators to speak out against having the same set of rules imposed in this part of the world.

Ashley Alder, CEO of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), said: "If Asia does not get properly involved in the global regulatory agenda, we will find that the US and European rules will be extended to us whether we like it or not. The result could be an isolation of Asian markets from international finance."

Speaking at the 3rd Pan-Asian Regulatory Summit, other Asian regulators echoed his warnings against a "one-size-fits all" approach.

Kirk Vannikul, deputy governor of the Bank of Thailand, said: "So what Asia is trying to do is not trying to overturn the system or trying to undermine the reform. What we are asking for is only some greater flexibility so that we can have the framework, so that we can design our own measures to suit our systems."

There are growing concerns within the Asian financial industry that international regulation may result in a clash with characteristics of local markets, and could drain liquidity.

New rules such as those under the Dodd-Frank Act have sparked controversy, as US regulators want the rules to apply to cross-border trades.

Mr Alder said if Asian firms do not cooperate, "international firms will find it difficult to operate here and could withdraw from some activities, seriously harming liquidity in our markets. It could be a case of my way or the highway."

The head of the SFC said cross-border rules should be internationally agreed upon. He dismissed concerns about regulatory arbitrage, saying Asia does not intend to have laxer rules than the West.

- CNA/ms



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FDI in retail: We have the numbers in Parliament, says PM after meeting


NEW DELHI: The government on Tuesday said that the UPA was ready to discuss along with a vote the issue of FDI in multi-brand retail under any rule in Parliament.

"We are not concerned about a vote," parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath said. "It is for the Lok Sabha Speaker to decide under which rule a discussion on FDI should be held," Kamal Nath added.

Kamal Nath was speaking to reporters after a meeting of UPA's coordination committee.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also asserted that UPA has the numbers.

"Yes, we are confident of numbers," the Prime Minister told reporters after an hour-long meeting leaders of UPA which presented a united picture.

He was commenting on stalemate in Parliament over FDI issue leading to adjournment of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for the fourth day in a row since the Winter Session began on November 22.

"The UPA is fully united on any decision of the Speaker and the Government...all constituents are firmly behind the Government," Kamal Nath said after the meeting.

Referring to yesterday's all-party meeting, he said, "Larger number were in favour of discussion to be decided by the Speaker." Nath said this was discussed today and he will meet the Speaker to convey the sense of yesterday's meeting.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, who is also Leader of the Lok Sabha, said, "By Monday, everything would be decided and everything would be settled."

UPA met a day after the all-party meeting convened by the government to break the logjam. UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, defence minister A K Antony, RLD's Ajit Singh, DMK's T R Baalu, NCP's Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and finance minister P Chidambaram were among those present.

The Government got a big relief as the DMK, which was so far ambivalent on the issue of voting on FDI, said it would stand by it with "bitterness" to keep communal forces away and not let the government fall.

"When this discussion comes in the Parliament, though there may be thousands of differences (between the UPA and the DMK on the issue), thinking about the unfavourable incidents that may emerge if this government falls at the Centre, it has been decided to support the UPA with bitterness", DMK chief M Karunanidhi said.

Congress is the largest party in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) with 206 MPs. The DMK has 18 MPs.

(With inputs from PTI, IANS)

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Bounce houses a party hit but kids' injuries soar

CHICAGO (AP) — They may be a big hit at kids' birthday parties, but inflatable bounce houses can be dangerous, with the number of injuries soaring in recent years, a nationwide study found.

Kids often crowd into bounce houses, and jumping up and down can send other children flying into the air, too.

The numbers suggest 30 U.S. children a day are treated in emergency rooms for broken bones, sprains, cuts and concussions from bounce house accidents. Most involve children falling inside or out of the inflated playthings, and many children get hurt when they collide with other bouncing kids.

The number of children aged 17 and younger who got emergency-room treatment for bounce house injuries has climbed along with the popularity of bounce houses — from fewer than 1,000 in 1995 to nearly 11,000 in 2010. That's a 15-fold increase, and a doubling just since 2008.

"I was surprised by the number, especially by the rapid increase in the number of injuries," said lead author Dr. Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

Amusement parks and fairs have bounce houses, and the playthings can also be rented or purchased for home use.

Smith and colleagues analyzed national surveillance data on ER treatment for nonfatal injuries linked with bounce houses, maintained by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Their study was published online Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

Only about 3 percent of children were hospitalized, mostly for broken bones.

More than one-third of the injuries were in children aged 5 and younger. The safety commission recommends against letting children younger than 6 use full-size trampolines, and Smith said barring kids that young from even smaller, home-use bounce houses would make sense.

"There is no evidence that the size or location of an inflatable bouncer affects the injury risk," he said.

Other recommendations, often listed in manufacturers' instruction pamphlets, include not overloading bounce houses with too many kids and not allowing young children to bounce with much older, heavier kids or adults, said Laura Woodburn, a spokeswoman for the National Association of Amusement Ride Safety Officials.

The study didn't include deaths, but some accidents are fatal. Separate data from the product safety commission show four bounce house deaths from 2003 to 2007, all involving children striking their heads on a hard surface.

Several nonfatal accidents occurred last year when bounce houses collapsed or were lifted by high winds.

A group that issues voluntary industry standards says bounce houses should be supervised by trained operators and recommends that bouncers be prohibited from doing flips and purposefully colliding with others, the study authors noted.

Bounce house injuries are similar to those linked with trampolines, and the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended against using trampolines at home. Policymakers should consider whether bounce houses warrant similar precautions, the authors said.

___

Online:

Pediatrics: http://www.pediatrics.org

Trade group: http://www.naarso.com

___

AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner

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Violating Norquist's No-Tax Pledge Could Hurt GOP















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."






Peter Foley/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, speaks during an interview in New York, U.S., March 12, 2012.






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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Egypt's Mursi to meet judges over power grab

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi meets senior judges on Monday to try to ease a crisis over his seizure of new powers which has set off violent protests reminiscent of the revolution last year that brought his Islamist movement to power.


The protesters, some camped in Cairo's Tahrir Square, have said only retracting his decree will satisfy them, a sign of the deep rift between Islamists and their opponents that is destabilizing Egypt two years after Hosni Mubarak was ousted.


"There is no use amending the decree," said Tarek Ahmed, 26, a protester who stayed the night in Tahrir, where tents covered the central traffic circle. "It must be scrapped."


One person has been killed and more than 500 have been injured in clashes between police and protesters since Mursi issued the decree on Thursday shielding his decisions from judicial review. The stock market is down more than 7 percent.


His political opponents have accused him of behaving like a new dictator and the West has voiced its concern, worried by more turbulence in a country that has a peace treaty with Israel and lies at the heart of the Arab Spring.


Mursi's office said he would meet Egypt's highest judicial authority, the Supreme Judicial Council, on Monday, and the council hinted at compromise.


Mursi's decree should apply only to "sovereign matters", it said, suggesting it did not reject the declaration outright, and called on judges and prosecutors, some of whom began a strike on Sunday, to return to work.


The protesters are worried that Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood aims to dominate the post-Mubarak era after winning the first democratic parliamentary and presidential elections this year.


Banners in Tahrir called for dissolving the assembly drawing up a constitution, an Islamist-dominated body Mursi made immune from legal challenge. Many liberals and others have walked out of the assembly saying their voices were not being heard.


CRITICAL TIME


Only once a constitution is written can a new parliamentary election be held. Until then, legislative and executive power remains in Mursi's hands, and Thursday's decree puts his decisions above judicial oversight.


One Muslim Brotherhood member was killed and 60 people were hurt on Sunday in an attack on the main office of the Brotherhood in the Egyptian Nile Delta town of Damanhour, the website of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party said.


The party's offices have also been attacked in other cities.


One politician said the scale of the crisis could push opponents towards a deal to avoid a further escalation. Mursi's opponents have called for a big demonstration on Tuesday.


"I am very cautiously optimistic because the consequences are quite serious, the most serious they have been since the revolution," said Mona Makram Ebeid, former member of parliament and prominent figure in Egyptian politics.


"This is the most critical and most dramatic moment since the revolution," she said. "He has succeeded in uniting the opposition camp who for the time being seem to be unison.


Mursi's office repeated assurances that the steps would be temporary, and said he wanted dialogue with political groups to find "common ground" over what should go into the constitution.


But talks have been rejected by members of a National Salvation Front, a new opposition coalition that brings together liberal, leftist and other politicians and parties, who until Mursi's decree had been a fractious bunch struggling to unite.


"There is no room for dialogue when a dictator imposes the most oppressive, abhorrent measures and then says 'let us split the difference'," prominent opposition leader and Mohamed ElBaradei said on Saturday. He has said he expected to act as the Front's coordinator.


The military has stayed out of the crisis after leading Egypt through a messy 16-month transition to a presidential election in June. Analysts say Mursi neutralized the army when he sacked top generals in August, appointing a new generation who now owe their advancement to the Islamist president.


Though the military still wields influence through business interests and a security role, it is out of frontline politics.


ECONOMIC ROT


Images of protesters clashing with police and tear gas wafting through Tahrir Square have been unsettling reminder of the uprising that toppled Mubarak in February 2011 and violence that flared under army rule, scaring investors and tourists.


Egypt had hoped to stop the economic rot by signing an initial deal last week for a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund. As well as tumbling share prices, yields at a Sunday treasury bill auction rose, putting even more pressure on the government that faces crushing budget deficit.


"We are back to square one, politically, socially," said Mohamed Radwan of Pharos Securities, an Egyptian brokerage firm.


Mursi's decree marks an effort to consolidate his influence after he sidelined Mubarak-era generals in August and reflects suspicions of a judiciary little reformed since Mubarak's time.


Issued just a day after Mursi received glowing tributes from Washington for his work brokering a deal to end eight days of violence between Israel and Hamas, the decree drew warnings from the West to uphold democracy. Washington has leverage because of billions of dollars it sends in annual military aid.


Mursi's administration has defended his decree as an effort to speed up reforms and complete a democratic transformation. Leftists, liberals, socialists and others say it has exposed his autocratic impulses of a man once jailed by Mubarak.


It protects the assembly writing the constitution from dissolution before completing its work, and it now has a deadline of February. The constitutional court, which has declared the Islamist-dominated lower house of parliament void, was expected to rule on the validity of the assembly on December 2.


Many of Mursi's political opponents share the view that Egypt's judiciary needs reform, though they disagree with his methods. Mursi's new powers allowed him to sack the prosecutor general who took his job during the Mubarak era and is unpopular among reformists of all stripes.


(Additional reporting by Tom Perry, Patrick Werr and Marwa Awad in Cairo; editing by Philippa Fletcher)


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Amazon announces investment in France, sees 2,500 jobs






PARIS: The US Internet giant Amazon said on Monday that it would open a fourth despatch centre in France with the likely creation of 2,500 jobs, as it negotiates a tax dispute with the French government.

The facility would improve the handling of orders from customers in northern France but also in Europe and the world, Amazon said.

The company, which began life early in the Internet boom by selling books online but now offers a wide range of goods, already has three distribution hubs in France.

The fourth should open in the second half of next year the company said, in a job-creation investment contrasting with widespread gloom over job losses in France.

The new centre will be sited at Lauwin-Planque in the north of the country. Amazon opened its first French distribution centre in 2007.

Each of the three existing centres employs up to 1,400 people, the company said.

Amazon said that the new unit would be developed up to 2015 when the target was for it to employ up to 2,500 people.

The French newspaper Le Figaro had got wind of the investment last week and reported that a problem with the French tax authorities which were claiming $252 million (194 million euros) in back tax was unlikely to derail the investment.

The new centre is to be developed and managed by property agents Goodman.

- AFP/lp



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UPA running away from vote on FDI in Parliament: Badal

AMRITSAR: Congress led UPA government was running away from vote in Parliament on the crucial issue of 'Foreign Direct Investment' in Retail sector as it was fearing threat that even its allies would not support the government , said Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal while talking to media persons here on Monday.

He said that NDA as well as all opposition parities had been demanding a vote under section 184 on the issue impacting the economy but Center government wanted to rush through this procedure. He said that Shiromani Akali Dal as well as NDA was of firm view that on the issue of FDI in Retail all stake holders including retailers, farmers, all political parties, traders should have been taken into loop but the Center government wanted to impose this decision like a dictator.

He said that NDA would not allow UPA-II to fiddle with the economy of the country. He said that Shiromani Akali Dal had supported FDI in wholesale as it felt that it would be beneficial to the retailers, farmers and traders removing the middlemen from the cycle but in the case of FDI in retail there was a question mark on the life and death of crores of retailers dependent on their neighborhood shops.

Badal junior said that he had already ordered review of security of all protectees after the incident of shoot out in New Delhi farm house. He said that the concerned committee would soon meet and would re-tune the security according to the threat perception of each protectee.

He also added that the security cover would not be allowed to use it as ornamental showoff. While denying the reports of shortage of coal Badal said that Powercom was reviewing the situation on day to day basis and he had already requested the Railway Minister to allocate more wagons for bringing coal from Jharkhand and Chattisgarh.

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AP PHOTOS: Simple surgery heals blind Indonesians

PADANG SIDEMPUAN, Indonesia (AP) — They came from the remotest parts of Indonesia, taking crowded overnight ferries and riding for hours in cars or buses — all in the hope that a simple, and free, surgical procedure would restore their eyesight.

Many patients were elderly and needed help to reach two hospitals in Sumatra where mass eye camps were held earlier this month by Nepalese surgeon Dr. Sanduk Ruit. During eight days, more than 1,400 cataracts were removed.

The patients camped out, sleeping side-by-side on military cots, eating donated food while fire trucks supplied water for showers and toilets. Many who had given up hope of seeing again left smiling after their bandages were removed.

"I've been blind for three years, and it's really bad," said Arlita Tobing, 65, whose sight was restored after the surgery. "I worked on someone's farm, but I couldn't work anymore."

Indonesia has one of the highest rates of blindness in the world, making it a target country for Ruit who travels throughout the developing world holding free mass eye camps while training doctors to perform the simple, stitch-free procedure he pioneered. He often visits hard-to-reach remote areas where health care is scarce and patients are poor. He believes that by teaching doctors how to perform his method of cataract removal, the rate of blindness can be reduced worldwide.

Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness globally, affecting about 20 million people who mostly live in poor countries, according to the World Health Organization.

"We get only one life, and that life is very short. I am blessed by God to have this opportunity," said Ruit, who runs the Tilganga Eye Center in Katmandu, Nepal. "The most important of that is training, taking the idea to other people."

During the recent camps, Ruit trained six doctors from Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.

Here, in images, are scenes from the mobile eye camps:

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President Obama Prepares for Cabinet Shuffle


Nov 26, 2012 6:45am







ap barack obama hillary clinton ll 120514 wblog President Obama Prepares for Cabinet Shuffle

Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo


As President Obama prepares for his second term, preparations have begun for the traditional shuffling of the Cabinet.


Top priority for the president: filling slots for those top officials heading — if not running — for the door: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner.


To replace Clinton, Democratic insiders suggest that U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Dr. Susan Rice is the frontrunner, with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., also a viable candidate.


Rice has been harshly criticized by Republicans for the erroneous comments she made on Sunday news talk shows after the attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, comments that were based on intelligence reports that falsely blamed the attack on a protest against an anti-Muslim video. When the president, during his recent press conference, offered a vociferous defense of Rice, many of those close to him began to suspect he was tipping his hand as to what he might decide.


To replace Geithner at Treasury, White House chief of staff Jack Lew is thought to have the inside track if he wants it, with other possibilities including Neal Wolin, the current deputy secretary of the Treasury and Lael Brainaed, current under secretary of the Treasury for international affairs.


Other informed sources suggest that there is consideration being given to a business/CEO type such as investor Roger Altman, former Time/Warner chair Richard Parsons, and Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg.


Those are the two most pressing jobs to fill, with Clinton exhausted from a long stretch in government — eight years as first lady, eight as senator, and four as secretary of state — and the president having personally promised Geithner’s wife that he could leave as soon as possible after the election.


Any of the business/CEO types being discussed for treasury secretary could also serve as secretary of commerce, a position that for the Obama administration has proved as troublesome as the role of drummer in Spinal Tap. Jeff Zients, the acting director of the Office of Management & Budget, is said to be under consideration.


It’s too flip to refer to it as a consolation prize, but informed sources say that — with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta also planning on leaving — Kerry could be offered the position secretary of defense if he wants it, though the Massachusetts senator has suggested he only wants State. Another option, Michelle Flournoy, a former under secretary of defense for Policy, would be the first female to serve in that position. There was some discussion of National Security Adviser Tom Donilon moving across the river, but it seems clear, sources say, that he’s staying where he is.


If Lew leaves to take the position at Treasury, some possible replacements for him as chief of staff include deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough or Vice President Biden’s current chief of staff Ron Klain. Tom Nides, deputy secretary of state for management and resources, has also been discussed.


President Obama’s senior adviser David Plouffe has also long discussed leaving the White House. There are many options to fill his shoes, including the elevation of communications director Dan Pfeiffer. Also possible: bringing back former press secretary Robert Gibbs, or former deputy chief of staff/campaign manager Jim Messina. Another option might be to bring in some of the people who were part of the messaging shop in the campaign — David Simus, who served as director of opinion research for the campaign, or Larry Grisolano, who did ads for campaign.


– Jake Tapper



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