Recorded sex comments cost Calif. lawmaker his job

Mike Duvall's second term as a member of the California Assembly was progressing pretty much like his first — in relative obscurity, with few notable legislative accomplishments.

The Orange County Republican is now a YouTube hit after KCAL-TV aired his racy comments about sexual conquests that were caught by an open microphone in a Capitol hearing room. Several media outlets said the comments referred to Duvall's affairs with a female lobbyist and another woman. He resigned Wednesday.

California's legislative leaders have been trying to focus on a number high-profile issues — from water policy to prisons to renewable energy — during the waning days of their legislative session. On Wednesday, they instead found themselves answering questions about a lawmaker who bragged about a spanking fetish, the type of underwear worn by a mistress and his apparent ability to carry on two extramarital affairs at once.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, called it "a very sad day."

"We have such big issues before the Legislature and to have this become a distraction, he felt his responsibility was to step aside," she said.

Duvall, 54, lives in Yorba Linda with his wife when he is not in Sacramento, and has two adult children.

He made the comments about the affairs to Assemblyman Jeff Miller during a break in a committee meeting inside the Capitol on July 8, apparently unaware that the microphone at the desk was on.

"I'm getting into spanking her," Duvall is heard saying on the videotape, which was made as a matter of routine by a legislative office.

Miller asks if she likes it too. Duvall responds: "She goes, 'I know you like spanking me.' I said, 'Yeah, that's 'cause you're such a bad girl.'"

Duvall also describes the woman's "eye-patch underwear" and the age difference between himself and his mistress, identified in some media reports as a lobbyist for an energy company. He tells Miller, a fellow Republican from Corona, that the woman's birthday was two days earlier.

Duvall said he joked with the woman that she was getting old after turning 36 and told her, "I am going to have to trade you in."

The lawmaker then brags about an affair he is having with another woman.

"Oh, she is hot! I talked to her yesterday. She goes, 'So are we finished?' I go, 'No, we're not finished.' I go, 'You know about the other one, but she doesn't know about you!'" Duvall can be heard saying in an apparent reference to his affair with the lobbyist.

The unseemly remarks also raise questions about the relationship between lawmakers and lobbyists. The Assembly Ethics Committee is investigating Duvall's comments, in part to determine whether the affair might have influenced his votes.

He was vice chairman of the Assembly Utilities Committee.

Several media outlets reported the woman Duvall refers to in his comments works as a lobbyist for Sempra Energy, a San Diego-based energy services company that operates San Diego Gas&Electric Co. and Southern California Gas Co. Sempra issued an e-mail statement saying it was investigating the claims.

"The employee has denied the speculative media reports. Our investigation will be conducted to ensure not only that our policies on employee conduct are strictly adhered to, but also that our employee is treated fairly," the company said.

Duvall was elected in 2006 to represent an Orange County district that includes Fullerton, Anaheim, Placentia, Orange, Brea and Yorba Linda. Before that, he served six years on the Yorba Linda City Council. He also owns an insurance agency.

In stepping down, Duvall said it would not be fair to his family, constituents or friends to remain in office.

"I am deeply saddened that my inappropriate comments have become a major distraction for my colleagues in the Assembly, who are working hard on the very serious problems facing our state," he said. "Therefore, I have decided to resign my office, effective immediately, so that the Assembly can get back to work."

The lawmaker had received a 100 percent rating from Capitol Resource Institute, a conservative advocacy group, for his votes on legislation considered pro-family during the 2007-08 legislative session.

Taiwan court sentences ex-president to life for graft

A Taiwan court Friday sentenced scandal-tainted ex-president Chen Shui-bian to life for corruption, in a widely watched case dubbed by local media Taiwan's trial of the century.

Chen was also fined 200 million Taiwan dollars ($6.09 million) and stripped of his civil rights for life, Judge Tsai Shou-hsin ruled.

Chen, 58, who was president from 2000 to 2008, has been held at the Taipei Detention Centre since December on charges of corruption.

He and his wife were charged in December with embezzling $2.97 million in state funds, accepting $14 million in bribes, as well as money laundering, influence peddling, extortion and document forgery during his stint as president.

New Zealand opt to bat against India

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori won the toss and opted to bat against India in the second One-day international of the Compaq Cup tri-series at the Premedasa Stadium here Friday.

Teams:

India: Sachin Tendulkar, Dinesh Karthik, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain/wicketkeeper), Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Rudra Pratap Singh, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma.

New Zealand: Jesse Ryder, Brendan McCullum (wicketkeeper), Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliot, Jacob Oram, Neil Broom, Daniel Vettori (captain), Kyle Mills, Ian Butler, Shane Bond.

Umpires: Kumara Dharmasena (Sri Lanka) and Billy Doctrove (West Indies)

TV umpire: Gamini Silva (Sri Lanka)

Match referee: Chris Broad (England)

India, Nepal air pact to open up sky

Air connectivity between India and Nepal is poised for a tremendous leap with the two neighbours inking an air pact that boosts weekly flight seats five-fold and opens 10 new destinations.

India and Nepal have revised their Air Services Agreement (ASA) after 12 years to keep pace with the rapid developments in the aviation industry since then, consenting to allow each other to operate 30,000 seats every week instead of the previous 6,000 seats.

In addition, Nepal can now fly to 21 destinations in India. While flights had been approved to New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Bangalore and Varanasi earlier, now other Indian cities like Goa, Amritsar, Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi can also be accessed.

The new destinations include three Indian towns with sizeable Nepali and Nepali-origin populations: Bagdogra, Dehradun and Gorakhpur.

Nepal has reciprocated by opening seven new towns to India: Pokhara, Lumbini, Biratnagar, Nepalgunj, Janakpur, Dhangadhi and Bhairahawa.

However, though the agreement comes into effect immediately, the new destinations would not be viable for some time since those in Nepal don't have international airports. Nepal's sole international airport is in the capital city Kathmandu.

But the government has announced it would build an international airport in Lumbini and a regional one at Pokhara keeping in mind its plan to draw one million visitors in 2011.

The revised ASA was signed in New Delhi Thursday after a two-day meeting Sep 8-9.

The Indian delegation was led by M.M. Madhavan Nambiar, secretary at the ministry of aviation, while the Nepali side was headed by his counterpart Nagendra Prasad Ghimire.

However, the revised air pact, while boosting trade and tourism, has not fully satisfied India on the security front.

India is yet to get Nepal to agree on the deployment of sky marshals on flights operated by designated airlines.

The request was made after the hijack of an Indian Airlines aircraft heading towards New Delhi from Kathmandu in December 1999, an incident that even now continues to haunt India's Bharatiya Janata Party that led the federal government at that time.

However, Nepal has been sitting on the proposal following adverse reaction from some of the political parties.

The Nepali delegation said it had taken note of the request, which was already before the appropriate government authority.

Sri Lankan court frees Tiger officials on bail

A Sri Lankan court on Friday released on bail two members of the Tamil Tiger rebel group who gave themselves up a month before the military leadership of their movement was wiped out, officials said.

Court officials said former Tiger spokesman Velayudam Dayanidi, better known as Daya Master, and a top Tiger translator V.K. Pancheratnam were released on cash bail of 22,000 dollars each.

"The chief magistrate Nishantha Hapuarachchi asked them to report to the police every month and their passports were also impounded," the official said.

The two men surrendered to security forces in April as the Tigers faced their final battles before their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and other top members were killed in mid-May.

They have not been formally charged, but were being held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. The court official said police did not object to the two men being released on bail.

Sri Lanka claimed victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May, but some 300,000 civilians who fled the war zone are still being held in state-run camps.

The military says it wants more time to weed out any rebels who could still be mingling with the civilians in the refugee camps which the government describes as welfare villages.

Brit office workers to be allowed 10-minute 'Facebook break'!

Bosses in Britian have decided to impose a new rule in the workplace which will allow employees a 'Facebook break' of 10 minutes a day.

The decision has been taken after a research suggested that Britain's economy is suffering thanks to workers surfing social networking sites, reports The Telegraph.iles Ridgeway, a leading consultant at Employment Law Advisory Services (ELAS) says Facebook is a "curse."

"They feel some staff are failing to do the job they're paid for because they're spending too much time on such websites," he said.

"Some have said it appears to be a habit similar to smokers needing their fix of nicotine," he added.

According to Ridgeway, social networking sites are not a part of workers "legal entitlement".

"In days past, staff would have gathered around the office tea trolley for a quick chat. Now, they can talk to friends on the other side of the globe from their desks," he said.

"But to remain able to do so means committing to doing the job they're employed for. If they don't and bosses take exception to what they believe to be an abuse, they could find themselves out of work and companies would be well within their rights to take such action," he added. (ANI)

CPI-backed body re-launches anti-Posco agitation

Paradip: The CPI-backed Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) on Thursday re-launched its agitation against the 12 mtpa steel plant proposed to be set up by South Korean steel major near here with support from various anti-displacement bodies.

"We re-launched the agitation against the proposed Posco project after release of our president Abhaya Sahu from jail", said PPSS secretary and Dhinkia gram panchayat sarpanch Sisir Mohapatra.

Sahu, who spent 10 months in jail on charge of being arrested on several cases relating to anti-Posco agitation, came in a procession to the proposed plant site area for the first time after his release from the jail last month.

Besides Sahu, CPI MP from Jagatsinghpur Bibhu Prasad Tarai, party's MLA Adikanda Sethi, CPI state general secretary Dibakar Nayak and anti-displacement leader B D Sharma attended a public meeting at Balitutha, the entry point to the proposed plant site area.

"I will oppose the Posco project till my last breath", Sahu told the gathering while CPI leaders announced their full support to the anti-project agitation. The meeting held amidst tight security ended peacefully even as project supporters and opponents had an altercation last night.

The agitated project supporters on Thursday night disconnected Gobindpur-Nuagaon road before Sahu's meeting.

Karnataka swine flu toll rises to 53

Bangalore: With six new swine flu deaths being reported in Karnataka, the death toll due to the H1N1 virus in the state reached 53, a health official said here on Friday.

While four deaths were reported from Bangalore, the other two were registered in Davangere and Bijapur. However, the report confirming that all six tested positive for the virus was received only on Sep 10, a health official said.

Out of the four deaths in Bangalore, two were reported from Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD).

Confirming the two deaths at RGICD, Shashidhar Buggi, the director of the institute said: 'A 20-year-old pregnant woman succumbed to swine flu as she had arrived at a very critical stage. The woman was 36 weeks into pregnancy and was to deliver shortly.'

'Another 40-year-old woman also succumbed at RGICD,' Buggi added. The other two death reports in Bangalore were that of a 13-year-old boy who died at a private hospital on Sep 8 and a 59-year-old man admitted on Sep 3, who died two days later.

The rest of the two death cases in the state include a 53-year-old man who died on Saturday at a private hospital in Bijapur and an 11-month-old infant boy who died Tuesday at a private hospital in Davangere.

The Global Hygiene Council organised a conference on the H1N1 flu on Thursday. The conference focused on hygienic measures which can be adopted by people to avoid getting infected by the flu.

'Simple measures like washing hands and maintaining personal hygiene can help fight the flu,' said Narendra Saini, an official of the Council.

Meanwhile 32 fresh cases tested positive for the H1N1 virus, out of which 25 were reported in Bangalore, 3 in Bijapur, one each in Bidar, Davangere, Bellary and Mysore. Till date 686 people have tested positive for the flu in the state.

Stop work on memorial sites in Lucknow: Apex court tells Uttar Pradesh

The Supreme Court Friday asked the Uttar Pradesh government to 'forthwith stop' all sorts of activities including construction, maintenance and repair work at various memorial sites in Lucknow.

A bench of Justice B.N. Agrawal and Justice Aftab Alam asked the state government to vacate all the memorial sites by 7 p.m. Friday and clear all the construction materials and workers.

The bench passed this stern order while also issuing contempt to court notice to the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary seeking his explanation as to why the government continued construction activities at various memorial sites.

The state government had given assurance to the court two days back that no construction activities would be carried out. But news reports said that the activities were on at various memorial sites in Lucknow.

Sunken ship could threaten Olive Ridleys in Orissa

The mass breeding of rare Olive Ridley turtles is likely to be hit due to the sinking of a cargo ship, carrying iron ore fines and oil, in the Bay of Bengal off the Orissa coast two days ago, a marine expert warned Friday.

The Mongolian vessel capsized in the harbour area of Paradip port, some 100 km from here, carrying about 25,000 tonnes of iron ore fines and 900 tonnes of oil.

The site where the ship has gone down is very close to the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary, one of the few remaining nesting sites for Olive Ridley turtles in the world. The turtles come to the site every year around this month for breeding.

Port authorities say they have deployed officials and taken all steps to prevent any spillage from the ship, but Biswajit Mohanty, coordinator of Operation Kachhapa, a turtle conservation group, said he sees a threat to the turtles.

The ship contains iron ore fines which can be washed away by sea currents. If the iron ore fines settle on the floor of the sea, benthic fauna - tiny creatures found on and within the seabed - can be wiped out inside the sanctuary, Mohanty said.

'That could lead to a food crisis for turtles. The authorities must step in and recover the oil completely before it spills off into the surrounding environment,' Mohanty told IANS.

Senior port officials said they have already apprised the ship owner about the possible danger.

'Certainly it will affect marine life if the oil spills. We are keeping a close watch and taking steps to prevent pollution,' the port's deputy chairman Biplav Kumar said, adding no spillage had been reported from the ship so far.

The Olive Ridley turtle, which can grow up to 75 cm in length, is found in tropical regions of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In India, they are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act.

Orissa is home to more than 50 percent of the world's turtle population. Besides Gahirmatha in Kendrapada district, the other mass nesting sites are the Devi river mouth in Puri district and the Rusikulya river mouth Ganjam district.

The turtles start arriving in the coastal water from end of September onward and return in the month of May after mass nesting.

Helipads at police stations for anti-Maoist operations

The Jharkhand government will undertake a pilot project to construct helipads at police stations in two districts worst affected by the Maoist violence, an official spokesperson said Friday.

'Under the project, helipads will be constructed at police stations in Palamau and Chatra districts. These will be used for anti-Maoist operations,' S.N. Pradhan, Jharkhand police spokesperson, told IANS.

A senior police official, involved in anti-Maoist operations, said: 'In Palamau and Chatra districts, it is difficult to move in deep jungle areas as the Maoist rebels have planted landmines. The geographical terrain of both the districts favour the rebels. The construction of helipads will help in the movement of security forces.'

According to sources, Jharkhand government could plan such helipads in other districts also.

Maoist guerrillas are active in 18 of the state's 24 districts. Nearly 1,550 people have been killed in Maoist-related violence in the past eight years

Rahul concludes TN visit

Coimbatore: AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Thursday left for New Delhi by a special aircraft after a three day visit to Tamil Nadu, in a bid to strengthen the base of the party the state.

Gandhi began his tour from Nagercoil on September eight with a meeting of youth Congress workers and covered Thanjavur, Chennai, Krishnagiri, Salem and Coimbatore.

Besides addressing a public meeting in the city on Thursday, Rahul addressed youths and youth Congress workers at a private college and also young entrepreneurs and industrialists on the premises of a Research Organisation, where presspersons were denied entry.

Later, he visited the government hospital, where the body of former party MP, Kandasamy, was kept, after he collapsed near the stage, some two hours before the arrival of Gandhi.