British retailers start online sales early

British retailers have brought forward their Christmas clearance sales online in the hope that shoppers will log on to buy bargains and offset lackluster spending in stores.
Marks & Spencer launched its sale online at midday on Monday, it said on its website, while department store John Lewis said it would cut online prices when its stores close at 1700 GMT. Debenhams has already started its online sale.
Retailers in recent years have started sales online on Christmas Day, ahead of the clearances in stores from Boxing Day, but are increasingly launching their online offers before Christmas after delivery deadlines for the day have passed.
Hard-pressed shoppers have been leaving it later to buy presents in the hope that retailers would slash prices, the British Retail Consortium said.
It was forecasting that 5 billion pounds ($8.1 billion) would be spent in the shops on Saturday and Sunday combined, the last weekend before Christmas.
Richard Dodd, the BRC's head of Media and Campaigns, said weekend trading had met expectations.
"Christmas, ultimately once all the final sums are done, will turn out to be acceptable but not exceptional," he said.
He said the sector expected a modest increase in cash spending against a year go, but not necessarily any significant increase in real terms once inflation was stripped out.
Many British families' budgets are stretched, according to a survey from Markit that showed the biggest deterioration in household finances for seven months.
Analyst Howard Archer at IHS Global Insight said the weakening in household finances could not come at a worse time for retailers, and it highlighted why many people appeared to have been careful in their Christmas shopping this year.
"The suspicion has to be that consumers will be especially keen to take advantage of genuine major bargains in the sales to acquire items that they cannot otherwise afford or are reluctant to make at the moment," he said.
"However, we suspect that people will likely to be more careful in buying - or reluctant to buy - items that they don't really want or need in the sales."

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China may require real name registration for internet access

China may require internet users to register with their real names when signing up to network providers, state media said on Tuesday, extending a policy already in force with microblogs in a bid to curb what officials call rumors and vulgarity.
A law being discussed this week would mean people would have to present their government-issued identity cards when signing contracts for fixed line and mobile internet access, state-run newspapers said.
"The law should escort the development of the internet to protect people's interest," Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily said in a front page commentary, echoing similar calls carried in state media over the past week.
"Only that way can our internet be healthier, more cultured and safer."
Many users say the restrictions are clearly aimed at further muzzling the often scathing, raucous - and perhaps most significantly, anonymous - online chatter in a country where the Internet offers a rare opportunity for open debate.
It could also prevent people from exposing corruption online if they fear retribution from officials, said some users.
It was unclear how the rules would be different from existing regulations as state media has provided only vague details and in practice customers have long had to present identity papers when signing contracts with internet providers.
Earlier this year, the government began forcing users of Sina Corp's wildly successful Weibo microblogging platform to register their real names.
The government says such a system is needed to prevent people making malicious and anonymous accusations online and that many other countries already have such rules.
"It would also be the biggest step backwards since 1989," wrote one indignant Weibo user, in apparent reference to the 1989 pro-democracy protests bloodily suppressed by the army.
Chinese internet users have long had to cope with extensive censorship, especially over politically sensitive topics like human rights, and popular foreign sites Facebook, Twitter and Google-owned YouTube are blocked.
Despite periodic calls for political reform, the ruling Communist Party has shown no sign of loosening its grip on power and brooks no dissent to its authority.

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Tajikistan blocks scores of websites as election looms

 Tajikistan blocked access to more than 100 websites on Tuesday, in what a government source said was a dress rehearsal for a crackdown on online dissent before next year's election when President Imomali Rakhmon will again run for office.
Rakhmon, a 60-year-old former head of a Soviet cotton farm, has ruled the impoverished Central Asian nation of 7.5 million for 20 years. He has overseen constitutional amendments that allow him to seek a new seven-year term in November 2013.
The Internet remains the main platform where Tajiks can air grievances and criticize government policies at a time when the circulation of local newspapers is tiny and television is tightly controlled by the state.
Tajikistan's state communications service blocked 131 local and foreign Internet sites "for technical and maintenance works".
"Most probably, these works will be over in a week," Tatyana Kholmurodova, deputy head of the service, told Reuters. She declined to give the reason for the work, which cover even some sites with servers located abroad.
The blocked resources included Russia's popular social networking sites www.my.mail.ru and VKontakte (www.vk.com), as well as Tajik news site TJKnews.com and several local blogs.
"The government has ordered the communications service to test their ability to block dozens of sites at once, should such a need arise," a senior government official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
"It is all about November 2013," he said, in a clear reference to the presidential election.
Other blocked websites included a Ukrainian soccer site, a Tajik rap music site, several local video-sharing sites and a pornography site.
VOLATILE NATION
Predominantly Muslim Tajikistan, which lies on a major transit route for Afghan drugs to Europe and Russia, remains volatile after a 1992-97 civil war in which Rakhmon's Moscow-backed secular government clashed with Islamist guerrillas.
Rakhmon justifies his authoritarian methods by saying he wants to oppose radical Islam. But some of his critics argue repression and poverty push many young Tajiks to embrace it.
Tighter Internet controls echo measures taken by other former Soviet republics of Central Asia, where authoritarian rulers are wary of the role social media played in revolutions in the Arab world and mass protests in Russia.
The government this year set up a volunteer-run body to monitor Internet use and reprimand those who openly criticize Rakhmon and other officials.
In November, Tajikistan blocked access to Facebook, saying it was spreading "mud and slander" about its veteran leader.
The authorities unblocked Facebook after concern was expressed by the United States and European Union, the main providers of humanitarian aid for Tajikistan, where almost a half of the population lives in abject poverty.
Asomiddin Asoyev, head of Tajikistan's association of Internet providers, said authorities were trying to create an illusion that there were no problems in Tajik society by silencing online criticism.
"This is self-deception," he told Reuters. "The best way of resolving a problem is its open discussion with civil society."
Moscow-based Central Asia expert Arkady Dubnov told Reuters that Rakhmon's authoritarian measures could lead to a backlash against the president in the election. "Trying to position itself as the main guarantor of stability through repression against Islamist activists, the Dushanbe government is actually achieving the reverse - people's trust in it is falling," he said.

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Netflix suffers Christmas Eve outage, points to Amazon

An outage at one of Amazon's web service centers hit users of Netflix Inc.'s streaming video service on Christmas Eve and was not fully resolved until Christmas day, a spokesman for the movie rental company said on Tuesday.
The outage impacted Netflix subscribers across Canada, Latin America and the United States, and affected various devices that enable users to stream movies and television shows from home, Netflix spokesman Joris Evers said. Such devices range from gaming consoles such as Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 to Blu-ray players.
Evers said that the issue was the result of an outage at an Amazon Web Services' cloud computing center in Virginia, and started at about 12:30 p.m. PST (2030 GMT) on Monday and was fully restored Tuesday morning, although streaming was available for most users late on Monday.
"We are investigating exactly what happened and how it could have been prevented," Evers said.
"We are happy that people opening gifts of Netflix or Netflix capable devices can watch TV shows and movies and apologize for any inconvenience caused last night," he added.
An outage at Amazon Web Services, or AWS, knocked out such sites as Reddit and Foursquare in April of last year.
Amazon Web Services was not immediately available for comment. Evers, the Netflix spokesman, declined to comment on the company's contracts with Amazon.

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Japan's policy veteran Motegi likely to serve as trade minister: media

 Incoming Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is likely to pick policy veteran Toshimitsu Motegi as trade minister, who will also take charge of energy and other key economic policies, media reported on Tuesday.
Motegi, 57, a former policy affairs chief for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), will tackle energy problems after last year's Fukushima nuclear crisis, as well as issues such as the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade pact, public broadcaster NHK said.
Motegi was a leading member of the LDP's panel tasked with drafting an economic revival plan aimed at tackling the strong yen, deflation and preventing Japanese firms from shifting overseas.
The LDP returned to power in the December 16 election for the lower house, calling for radical monetary easing and big spending on public works.
First elected to parliament in 1993 as a member of a small opposition party, Motegi joined the LDP shortly thereafter and has served posts including parliamentary vice-minister for the trade ministry and senior vice-minister for foreign affairs.
Motegi's formal appointment is likely to be made on December 26, when Abe is expected to be elected as prime minister in parliament and form a new cabinet.

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Japan new PM Abe wants to correct strong yen trend

 Japan's incoming Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated on Tuesday a pledge to revive the economy by correcting the recent trend towards a stronger yen.
Abe is set to be selected as prime minister by lawmakers on Wednesday after leading his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to a landslide victory in a lower house election earlier this month.
Abe, who spoke after naming a new leadership team for the LDP, said he wanted to show voters who still doubt the party that the LDP has changed.
The LDP is returning to government after three years in the opposition.

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Japan's incoming PM keeps up pressure on BOJ to attack deflation

- Incoming Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe kept up his calls on Tuesday for the Bank of Japan to drastically ease monetary policy by setting an inflation target of 2 percent, and repeated that he wants to tame the strong yen to help revive the economy.
Abe, a security hardliner who will be sworn in as premier on Wednesday, when he is also expected to appoint his cabinet, is prescribing a mix of aggressive monetary policy easing and big fiscal spending to beat deflation and rein in the strong yen.
"The economy, diplomacy, education and rebuilding in the northeast (hit by the 2011 tsunami, quake and nuclear disaster) are in a critical situation. I want to create a cabinet which can overcome this crisis," Abe told a news conference.
"We have advocated beating deflation, correcting the strong yen and achieving economic growth during the election, so we must restore a strong economy," he said, adding that the stagnant economy was also undermining Japan's diplomatic clout.
Abe - who quit abruptly as prime minister in 2007 after a troubled year in office - repeated that his new government hopes to sign an accord with the BOJ to aim for 2 percent inflation, double the central bank's current target.
"Once I become prime minister, I will leave it up to the BOJ to decide on specific measures on monetary policy," Abe told a meeting with officials from major business lobby, Keidanren.
"I hope the BOJ pursues unconventional measures, including bold monetary easing," he added, maintaining pressure on the central bank to expand monetary stimulus more forcefully in order to tackle the deflation that has dogged Japan for more than a decade.
Abe's opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won by a landslide in this month's lower house election just three years after suffering a crushing defeat.
The party has threatened to revise a law guaranteeing the BOJ's independence unless the central bank sets a 2 percent inflation target. The BOJ, which eased monetary policy in December, has promised to debate setting a new price target at its next policy-setting meeting on January 21-22.
A source close to Abe said that revising the BOJ law was unlikely to be necessary since the central bank would probably give in to Abe's pressure to adopt the 2 percent target.
"I don't think it will go so far as revising the BOJ law," the source said. "The BOJ has compromised quite a bit ... and I think it will adopt a 2 percent inflation target. In that case, it will not be necessary to revise the BOJ law."
SPENDING PLANS
Abe and his coalition partner, the head of the small New Komeito party, agreed on Tuesday to set the inflation target and compile a big stimulus budget, New Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi told reporters after the two met.
Abe is expected to draft an extra budget by mid-January with markets looking for 10 trillion yen ($117.93 billion) in new spending, part of which would need to be covered by additional borrowing.
Critics have suggested that the LDP, which ruled Japan almost non-stop for more than 50 years until it suffered a huge election defeat in 2009, was returning to the wasteful spending that characterized much of its past reign.
The source close to Abe said, however, that public works spending in that budget was unlikely to exceed 5 trillion yen.
"The extra budget will be presented to parliament towards the end of January. We cannot find 10 trillion yen worth of public works projects by then," the source told Reuters, adding that the 10 trillion yen total figure was not set in stone.
"The scale will be 10 trillion yen but it will not be limited to public works spending. The most we could manage on public works would be 5 trillion." The remainder could include such steps as tax breaks for purchases of fuel-efficient cars, and government funding for basic pension payouts, he added.
Also on Tuesday, Abe unveiled a new party line-up that includes women in key posts in an effort to show that the long-dominant party was turning over a new leaf.
Seiko Noda, 52, a former consumer affairs minister who went public with her struggle to have a child and gave birth at the age of 50 through artificial insemination, was appointed head of the party's general council. Sanae Takaichi, 51, who served as minister for gender equality in Abe's first 2006-2007 cabinet, was appointed LDP policy chief.
The cabinet looks set to include a heavy dose of Abe's close allies who share his views on the economy and his tough security stance.
As Abe put finishing touches to his cabinet, the defeated Democratic Party of Japan elected former Trade Minister Banri Kaeda as its leader to replace outgoing Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who quit to take responsibility for the election debacle.

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Egypt says stability key to fixing economy: PM

 Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil said on Tuesday that political stability was crucial to luring back foreign investors and tourists to help plug a yawning budget deficit and heal the country's ailing economy.
In a statement hours before the expected announcement of the result of a divisive constitutional referendum, Kandil said President Mohamed Mursi's government was committed to taking steps to improve economic growth.
"The prime minister stressed the importance of political stability and security in the coming period, so that foreign investors could return to the Egyptian market, as well as tourism inflows that help support foreign currency reserves and plug the budget deficit," Kandil said in a statement.
"The main goals that the government is working towards now is plugging the budget deficit, and working on increasing growth to boost employment rates, curb inflation, and increase the competitiveness of Egyptian exports," the statement said.
Egypt's budget deficit surged to 11 percent of gross domestic product in the financial year that ended in June 2012 and is forecast to exceed 10 percent this year, adding to a public debt burden of 70 percent of national output that is already very high for a developing economy.
The country has been gripped by political rivalries and sometimes deadly protests over the vote on a new constitution that Mursi's Islamist backers say is crucial to democratic transition, but which opponents say has failed to guarantee personal freedoms and the rights of women and minorities.
Standard and Poor's cut the government's credit rating on Monday and officials confirmed on Tuesday that travelers had been banned from carrying more than $10,000 in foreign currency cash in or out of the country amid worries over pressure on the pound and a rush by Egyptians to withdraw savings from banks.
Kandil said that despite political tensions, the pound had not moved more than 1 percent against the dollar in the past two weeks. Figures show that the central bank has spent more than half its foreign exchange reserves since 2011 in defending the currency, which is pegged to the dollar.
"The fluctuations in the exchange rate remain at normal levels given the political conditions and turmoil the country is experiencing and its negative repercussions on the economic situation," Kandil said.

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Egyptians fret over economy after rancorous vote on constitutiontougher fight in the parliamentary election.

Egyptians fret over economy after rancorous vote on constitutionEgypt prepared to announce on Tuesday the result of a vote on a new constitution that Islamist President Mohamed Mursi hails as a step toward stability in a country beset by political and economic crisis. But critics say that by ramming through the basic law, Mursi has angered his liberal, leftist and Christian opponents, and may have squandered any chance of building a broad consensus on tax rises needed to rein in a crushing budget deficit. Unofficial tallies from Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood showed the charter was approved by a 64 percent majority. The electoral commission will announce the official result at 1700 GMT, with the final numbers widely expected to confirm earlier estimates. Mursi believes the constitution will end a protracted period of turmoil that has haunted the most populous Arab nation since the fall of military-backed strongman Hosni Mubarak in 2011. But ordinary people and some commentators worry that Mursi's approach in pushing through the contentious text will only galvanise his rivals to capitalise on any public backlash against austerity rather than help sell reforms to the nation. Hossam El-Din Ali, a 35-year-old newspaper vendor in central Cairo, said he agreed the new constitution would help bring some political stability but like many others he feared the possible austerity measures lying ahead. "People don't want higher prices. People are upset about this," he said. "There is recession, things are not moving. But I am wishing for the best, God willing." If the "yes" vote is confirmed, a parliamentary election will follow in about two months, setting the stage for Islamists to renew their struggle with more liberal-minded opponents. On the political front, tensions remain high. The opposition says the constitution, crafted mostly by Mursi's Islamist allies, fails to guarantee personal freedoms and the rights of women and minorities. The government denies this. ECONOMIC WORRIES Once a darling of emerging market investors, Egypt's economy has taken a hammering since Mubarak's fall. The budget deficit surged to a crippling 11 percent of gross domestic product in the financial year that ended in June 2012 and is forecast to exceed 10 percent this year. In a further worrying sign, Egypt has made it illegal for travellers to carry more than $10,000 in cash in or out of the country amid growing fears the government may not be able to get its fragile finances under control. Reflecting investor concerns, Standard and Poor's cut Egypt's long-term credit rating this week and said another cut was possible if political turbulence worsened. Adding fuel to people's worries, the central bank also said it was taking steps to safeguard bank deposits, in a statement which emerged after some Egyptians said they had taken out cash out of concern their accounts would be frozen by authorities. Without broad support, Mursi will find it hard to implement reforms needed to secure a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund. Shortly before the referendum, Mursi enraged many by introducing hikes on the sales tax on goods and services that ranged from alcoholic beverages, cigarettes and mobile phone calls to automobile licences and quarrying permits. In an embarrassing policy U-turn, he withdrew them within hours under criticism from his opponents and the media. Facing public anger, the Muslim Brotherhood's party, which propelled Mursi to office in an election earlier this year, may now also face a tougher fight in the parliamentary election.

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Colts recovering coach returns to team facility

 Chuck Pagano was back at work Monday morning.
Three months after taking an indefinite leave to battle leukemia, the Colts' coach was scheduled to meet with players, coaches and reporters as he retook the reins from interim coach Bruce Arians.
When Pagano arrived at the team headquarters, he drove past an inflatable Colts player to the side of the driveway with a simple message across the chest "Welcome Back Chuck." The sign usually reads "Beat," plus whichever team the Colts play next.
Indianapolis (10-5) has been waiting months for this day, and last week Arians called Pagano's impending return the best Christmas gift the team could get.
Pagano began the first of three rounds of chemotherapy Sept. 26, after the team completed its final practice during a bye week.
When the Colts returned to their practice facility Oct. 1, they were told Pagano had cancer and was taking an indefinite leave.
Arians, a prostate cancer survivor, immediately established the goal: Play long enough so Pagano could return to the sideline this season.
If all goes well at practice this week, Pagano will likely be on the sideline calling the shots Sunday against AFC South champion Houston in the regular-season finale. It would be the first time Pagano has been making game-day decisions since Jacksonville scored a last-minute touchdown on an 80-yard TD pass in Week 3, handing Indy it's only home loss this season.
Under Arians, the Colts did better than anyone expected.
When players arrived at training camp in August, they handed out T-shirts that showed where the so-called experts figured they would finish this season: The NFL's worst team again.
But with Sunday's 20-13 victory at Kansas City, Indy clinched its first playoff spot of the post-Peyton Manning era and Arians tied the league record for most wins after a midseason coaching change (nine). Indy is the fourth team in league history to win two or fewer games one season and 10 or more the next and became the second team in league history to lose 14 or more games one season and win 10 or more the next — joining the 2008 Miami Dolphins.
Pagano was never far from the Colts' thoughts while he was out.
He was in contact with players and coaches primarily through phone calls and text messages, watched tapes of practices and games on his computer, attended three home games and sometimes showed up at the team complex. He occasionally gave pregame or postgame speeches throughout his recovery.
On Nov. 5, Pagano's oncologist, Dr. Larry Cripe, said the illness was in complete remission, though Pagano still had to complete two more rounds of chemotherapy. The last round ended the first week of December. Last Thursday, Cripe said he gave Pagano medical clearance to return to the team. Cripe said he was putting no restrictions on what Pagano could do, only that he advised Pagano, as he does with other patients, to scale things back if necessary.

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NFL-Playoff puzzle nearly complete with one week to go

With one week remaining in the regular season, the National Football League's playoff picture has come into sharper focus with only a few more pieces of the post-season puzzle to be put into place.
Much of the remaining drama is focused on the NFC East, where the Washington Redskins, Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants will stage a battle royale for the division crown with a ticket to the post-season going to the survivor.
The Redskins (9-6), riding a six-game winning streak and with rookie sensation quarterback Robert Griffin III healthy and calling plays, host the Cowboys (8-7) in the Sunday evening prime time finale to the NFL regular season that will see the winner claim the division.
While the Cowboys' (8-7) only path to the post-season requires a victory, the Redskins could still scrape into the playoffs with a loss if the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings also lose their finales.
The situation is much more dire for the slumping Giants (8-7), who will need plenty of help to advance.
The defending Super Bowl champions have lost five of their last seven and must defeat the Philadelphia Eagles at home on Sunday and hope Dallas, Chicago and Minnesota all lose.
TRIP TO MOTOR CITY
The Seattle Seahawks (10-5) and San Francisco 49ers (10-4-1) enter the final weekend having clinched playoff berths but with the NFC West title still up for grabs along with a possible first round bye.
San Francisco can take top spot in the West with a win at home over the Arizona Cardinals (5-10) while the surging Seahawks, who have outscored opponents 150-30 in their last three contests, must close out the regular season with a fifth straight victory when they visit the St. Louis Rams (7-7-1) and have the 49ers lose.
With the 49ers or Seahawks guaranteed playoff spots the other NFC wildcard will go to either the Bears (9-6) or Vikings (9-6).
The Vikings, who have staged a late season charge behind the running of Adrian Peterson, can lock up a playoff spot with visit to Lambeau Field and a win over NFC North rivals the Green Bay Packers (11-4).
The Bears close out the campaign with a trip to the Motor City where they must combine victory over the Lions (4-11), losers of seven straight with a Vikings loss to move on.
The Atlanta Falcons (13-2) clinched a first round bye and home field advantage throughout the playoffs with a 31-18 win over the Detroit Lions on Saturday and the Packers can also grab a first round bye with a win over Minnesota or a San Francisco loss combined with a Seattle loss or tie.
The post-season picture is much clearer in the AFC with the four division winners, New England Patriots (East), Baltimore Ravens (North), Houston Texans (South), Denver Broncos (West) and wildcards Cincinnati Bengals and Indianapolis Colts already decided.
The Broncos (12-3), Texans (12-3) and Patriots (11-4), however, will all have something to play for on the final Sunday with two first round byes and home field advantage throughout the playoffs on offer.
Denver, who will host the Kansas City Chiefs (2-13) and Houston, who visit the Colts can get the first weekend off with wins while the Patriots must beat the Miami Dolphins (7-8) and have either the Broncos or Texans lose.

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Playoff puzzle nearly complete with one week to go

 With one week remaining in the regular season, the National Football League's playoff picture has come into sharper focus with only a few more pieces of the post-season puzzle to be put into place.
Much of the remaining drama is focused on the NFC East, where the Washington Redskins, Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants will stage a battle royale for the division crown with a ticket to the post-season going to the survivor.
The Redskins (9-6), riding a six-game winning streak and with rookie sensation quarterback Robert Griffin III healthy and calling plays, host the Cowboys (8-7) in the Sunday evening prime time finale to the NFL regular season that will see the winner claim the division.
While the Cowboys' (8-7) only path to the post-season requires a victory, the Redskins could still scrape into the playoffs with a loss if the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings also lose their finales.
The situation is much more dire for the slumping Giants (8-7), who will need plenty of help to advance.
The defending Super Bowl champions have lost five of their last seven and must defeat the Philadelphia Eagles at home on Sunday and hope Dallas, Chicago and Minnesota all lose.
TRIP TO MOTOR CITY
The Seattle Seahawks (10-5) and San Francisco 49ers (10-4-1) enter the final weekend having clinched playoff berths but with the NFC West title still up for grabs along with a possible first round bye.
San Francisco can take top spot in the West with a win at home over the Arizona Cardinals (5-10) while the surging Seahawks, who have outscored opponents 150-30 in their last three contests, must close out the regular season with a fifth straight victory when they visit the St. Louis Rams (7-7-1) and have the 49ers lose.
With the 49ers or Seahawks guaranteed playoff spots the other NFC wildcard will go to either the Bears (9-6) or Vikings (9-6).
The Vikings, who have staged a late season charge behind the running of Adrian Peterson, can lock up a playoff spot with visit to Lambeau Field and a win over NFC North rivals the Green Bay Packers (11-4).
The Bears close out the campaign with a trip to the Motor City where they must combine victory over the Lions (4-11), losers of seven straight with a Vikings loss to move on.
The Atlanta Falcons (13-2) clinched a first round bye and home field advantage throughout the playoffs with a 31-18 win over the Detroit Lions on Saturday and the Packers can also grab a first round bye with a win over Minnesota or a San Francisco loss combined with a Seattle loss or tie.
The post-season picture is much clearer in the AFC with the four division winners, New England Patriots (East), Baltimore Ravens (North), Houston Texans (South), Denver Broncos (West) and wildcards Cincinnati Bengals and Indianapolis Colts already decided.
The Broncos (12-3), Texans (12-3) and Patriots (11-4), however, will all have something to play for on the final Sunday with two first round byes and home field advantage throughout the playoffs on offer.
Denver, who will host the Kansas City Chiefs (2-13) and Houston, who visit the Colts can get the first weekend off with wins while the Patriots must beat the Miami Dolphins (7-8) and have either the Broncos or Texans lose.
A number of combinations of wins and losses could give the Texans, Broncos or Patriots home field advantage for the playoff run.

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AP source: Dolphins' Smith has knee bruise

A person familiar with the diagnosis says Miami Dolphins cornerback Sean Smith escaped serious injury when he hurt his left knee in the team's victory over Buffalo.
An MRI test Monday determined the injury was only a bruise, the person told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the Dolphins are not releasing details about the injury.
Smith, a fourth-year pro and Miami's best cornerback, can become a free agent this offseason. The Dolphins, who are out of the playoff race, conclude the season Sunday at New England.

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NFL-Pagano joins playoff bound Colts after battle with cancer

The Indianapolis Colts and their fans got an early Christmas gift when head coach Chuck Pagano returned to work on Monday, three months after being forced to the sidelines to battle cancer.
Diagnosed with leukemia in late September, Pagano spent the last three months undergoing treatment, including chemotherapy, while his inspired team led by rookie quarterback Andrew Luck battled on the field earning an unlikely playoff spot.
"Circumstances don't make you, they reveal you," an emotional Pagano told reporters after reporting for work at the teams Indianapolis training facility. "The way I look at it is, my job has just begun.
"Besides my job here...my job now is to give back everything I can possibly give back to everyone out there who's fighting some type of illness, some type of disease, some type of cancer."
The Colts, who tied for the NFL's worst record last season at 2-14, improved to 10-5 with their win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday clinching an AFC wild card.
After three games into a rebuilding season, the Colts learned Pagano would take indefinite leave to fight his cancer and was replaced by assistant coach and offensive coordinator Bruce Arians.
The goal of the Colts became to keep playing until Pagano could return to work.
Indianapolis went 9-3 under Arians, who will hand over the head coaching job back to Pagano for the regular season finale this Sunday against the Houston Texans.

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Explainer: Naming of Parts for an Instrument of Civilian Slaughter

The PTAB 2.5M anti-armor bomblet has a cylindrical body with a dome-shaped ballistic cap at its front and it terminates in a four-fin tail unit that is structured in a drum configuration. In its Aug. 2, 2012 online posting, Jane's Air-Launched Weapons noted that the tail unit comes in both short and long versions. The entire bomblet measures 0.87 meters in length, has a body diameter of 60 millimeters and weighs 2.5 kilograms. Just behind the nose is a shaped charge weighing 660 grams and consisting of a RDX/TNT mixture, which is detonated by an ADTS-583 impact fuze. Thirty or more bomblets, or sub-munitions, fit into the RBK-250-275 cluster bombs and the RBK 500 can carry 75. The PTAB 2.5M is able to penetrate up to 120 millimeters of armor. The Soviets originally designed the PTAB 2.5M to be dropped on lines of Allied tanks steadily advancing toward the Iron Curtain countries. On Dec 12, while many were fretting or making jokes about the Mayan Apocalypse, Syrian military aircraft released RBK 250s on the civilian population of Marea, near Aleppo. For a few civilians from Marea, the world did end.

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Former President George H.W. Bush remains hospitalized

Former President George H.W. Bush, who has been hospitalized for a month undergoing treatment for bronchitis, may not be released from a Houston hospital in time to celebrate Christmas at home as doctors had hoped. Bush, 88, remained in stable condition and doctors were optimistic he would make a full recovery, George Kovacik, a spokesman at Methodist Hospital, said in an emailed statement on Sunday. But doctors were being "extra cautious" with his care and no discharge date had been set, the statement said. Earlier this month, Kovacik said doctors expected Bush would be able to spend Christmas at home with his family. "His doctors feel he should build up his energy before going home," the statement said. Bush, the 41st president and a Republican, took office in 1989 and served one term in the White House. The father of former President George W. Bush, he also is a former congressman, U.N. ambassador, CIA director and vice president for two terms under Ronald Reagan.

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Few tests done at toxic sites after superstorm

For more than a month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said that the recent superstorm didn't cause significant problems at any of the 247 Superfund toxic waste sites it's monitoring in New York and New Jersey. But in many cases, no actual tests of soil or water are being conducted, just visual inspections. The EPA conducted a handful of tests right after the storm, but couldn't provide details or locations of any recent testing when asked last week. New Jersey officials point out that federally designated Superfund sites are EPA's responsibility. The 1980 Superfund law gave EPA the power to order cleanups of abandoned, spilled and illegally dumped hazardous wastes that threaten human health or the environment. The sites can involve long-term or short-term cleanups. Jeff Tittel, executive director of the Sierra Club in New Jersey, says officials haven't done enough to ensure there is no contamination from Superfund sites. He's worried toxins could leach into groundwater and the ocean. "It's really serious and I think the EPA and the state of New Jersey have not done due diligence to make sure these sites have not created problems," Tittel said. The EPA said last month that none of the Superfund sites it monitors in New York or New Jersey sustained significant damage, but that it has done follow-up sampling at the Gowanus Canal site in Brooklyn, the Newtown Creek site on the border of Queens and Brooklyn, and the Raritan Bay Slag site, all of which flooded during the storm. But last week, EPA spokeswoman Stacy Kika didn't respond to questions about whether any soil or water tests have been done at the other 243 Superfund sites. The agency hasn't said exactly how many of the sites flooded. "Currently, we do not believe that any sites were impacted in ways that would pose a threat to nearby communities," EPA said in a statement. Politicians have been asking similar questions, too. On Nov. 29, U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., wrote to the EPA to ask for "an additional assessment" of Sandy's impact on Superfund sites in the state. Elevated levels of lead, antimony, arsenic and copper have been found at the Raritan Bay Slag site, a Superfund site since 2009. Blast furnaces dumped lead at the site in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and lead slag was also used there to construct a seawall and jetty. The EPA found lead levels as high as 142,000 parts per million were found at Raritan Bay in 2007. Natural soil levels for lead range from 50 to 400 parts per million. The EPA took four samples from the site after Superstorm Sandy: two from a fenced-off beach area and two from a nearby public playground. One of the beach samples tested above the recreational limit for lead. In early November, the EPA said it was taking additional samples "to get a more detailed picture of how the material might have shifted" and will "take appropriate steps to prevent public exposure" at the site, according to a bulletin posted on its website. But six weeks later, the agency couldn't provide more details of what has been found. The Newtown Creek site, with pesticides, metals, PCBs and volatile organic compounds, and the Gowanus Canal site, heavily contaminated with PCBs, heavy metals, volatile organics and coal tar wastes, were added to the Superfund list in 2010. Some say the lead at the Raritan Bay site can disperse easily. Gabriel Fillippeli, director of the Center for Urban Health at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, said lead tends to stay in the soil once it is deposited but can be moved around by stormwaters or winds. Arsenic, which has been found in the surface water at the site, can leach into the water table, Fillippeli said. "My concern is twofold. One is, a storm like that surely moved some of that material physically to other places, I would think," Fillippeli said. "If they don't cap that or seal it or clean it up, arsenic will continue to make its way slowly into groundwater and lead will be distributed around the neighborhood." The lack of testing has left some residents with lingering worries. The Raritan Bay Slag site sits on the beach overlooking a placid harbor with a view of Staten Island. On a recent foggy morning, workers were hauling out debris, and some nearby residents wondered whether the superstorm increased or spread the amount of pollution at the site. "I think it brought a lot of crud in from what's out there," said Elise Pelletier, whose small bungalow sits on a hill overlooking the Raritan Bay Slag site. "You don't know what came in from the water." Her street did not flood because it is up high, but she worries about a park below where people go fishing and walk their dogs. She would like to see more testing done. Thomas Burke, an associate dean at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, says both federal and state officials generally have a good handle on the major Superfund sites, which often use caps and walls to contain pollution. "They are designed to hold up," Burke said of such structures, but added that "you always have to be concerned that an unusual event can spread things around in the environment." Burke noted that the storm brought in a "tremendous amount" of water, raising the possibility that groundwater plumes could have changed. "There really have to be evaluations" of communities near the Superfund sites, he said. "It's important to take a look." Officials in both New York and New Jersey note they've also been monitoring less toxic sites known as brownfields and haven't found major problems. The New York DEC said in a statement that brownfields in that state "were not significantly impacted" and that they don't plan further tests for storm impacts. Larry Ragonese, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, said the agency has done visual inspections of major brownfield sites and also alerted towns and cities to be on the lookout for problems. Ragonese said they just aren't getting calls voicing such concerns. Back at the Raritan Bay slag site, some residents want more information. And they want the toxic soil, which has sat here for years, out. Pat Churchill, who was walking her dog in the park along the water, said she's still worried. "There are unanswered questions. You can't tell me this is all contained. It has to move around," Churchill said.

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Fear, finger-pointing mount over "fiscal cliff"

Some lawmakers voiced concern on Sunday that the country would go over "the fiscal cliff" in nine days, triggering harsh spending cuts and tax hikes, and some Republicans charged that was President Barack Obama's goal. "It's the first time that I feel it's more likely that we will go over the cliff than not," Senator Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, said on CNN's "State of the Union." "If we allow that to happen it will be the most colossal consequential act of congressional irresponsibility in a long time, maybe ever in American history." "It looks like to me that obviously this is going to drag on into next year, which is going to hurt our economy," Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said on CBS "Capitol Gains." The Democratic president and Republican House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, the two key negotiators, are not talking and are out of town for the Christmas holidays. Congress is in recess, and will have only a few days next week to act before January 1. On the Sunday TV talk shows, no one signaled a change of position that could form the basis for a short-term fix, despite a suggestion from Obama on Friday that he would favor one. The focus was shifting instead to the days following January 1 when the lowered tax rates dating back to President George W. Bush's administration will have expired, presenting Congress with a redefined and more welcome task that involves only cutting taxes, not raising them. "I believe we are," going over the cliff, Republican Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming said on Fox News Sunday. "I think the president is eager to go over the cliff for political purposes. I think he sees a political victory at the bottom of the cliff." Some Republicans have said Obama would welcome the fiscal cliff's tax increases and defense cuts, as well as the chance to blame Republicans for rejecting deal. Obama has rejected that assertion. Democrats have charged that Boehner has his own self-interested reasons for avoiding a deal before January 3, when the House elected on November 6, is sworn in and casts votes for a new speaker. Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that Boehner has been reluctant to reach across the political aisle for fear it could cost him the speakership when he runs for re-election. "I know he's worried," said Schumer. Boehner, who so far has no serious challenger for the job of speaker, has said that he has no such concerns. Such finger pointing has been under way since Congress returned after the election, but it has gained intensity in the past few days, with the heightened prospect of plunging off the cliff. Congress started the clock ticking in August of 2011 on the cliff. The threat of about $600 billion of spending cuts and tax increases was intended to shock the Democratic-led White House and Senate and the Republican-led House into bridging their many differences to approve a plan to bring tax relief to most Americans and curb runaway federal spending. Economists say the harsh tax increases and budget cuts from the fiscal cliff could thrust the world's largest economy back into a recession, unless Congress acts quickly to ease the economic blow. MARKETS COULD TUMBLE The most immediate impact could come in financial markets, which have been relatively calm in recent weeks as Republicans and Democrats bickered, but could tumble without prospects for a deal. Markets will be open for a half-day on Christmas Eve, when Congress will not be in session, and will be closed on Tuesday for Christmas. Wall Street will resume regular stock trading on Wednesday, but volume is expected to be light throughout the week with scores of market participants away on a holiday break. If Congress fails to reach any agreement, income tax rates will go up on just about everyone on January 1. Unemployment benefits, which Democrats had hoped to extend as part of a deal, will expire for many as well. In the first week of January, Congress could scramble and get a quick deal on taxes and the $109 billion in automatic spending cuts for 2013 that most lawmakers want to avoid. Once tax rates go up on January 1, it could be easier to keep those higher rates on wealthier taxpayers while reducing them for middle- and lower-income taxpayers. Lawmakers would not have to cast votes to raise taxes. Some lawmakers expressed guarded hope that a short-term deal on deficit reduction could be reached in the next week or so, with a longer, more permanent deal hammered out next year. But a short-term deal would need bipartisan support, as Obama has said he would veto a bill that does not raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans. Democratic Senator Kent Conrad, chairman of the Budget Committee, said Obama and Boehner are not that far apart and that both sides should keep pushing for a long-term big deal. "I would hope we would have one last attempt here to do what everyone knows needs to be done, which is the larger plan that really does stabilize the debt and get us moving in the right direction," Conrad of North Dakota told Fox News Sunday. But most Republicans are now looking past January 1 to what they consider their next best chance of leveraging Obama for more cuts in the Federal budget - a fight over the debt ceiling expected in late January or early February. At that time, the administration will need Congress' authorization to raise the limit on the amount of money the government can borrow. "That's where the real chance for change occurs, at the debt-ceiling debate," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said on "Meet the Press.

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The Most Popular Scientific American Stories of 2012

The top 10 most popular stories published in 2012: 1. Men and Women Can't Be "Just Friends" 2. The World’s Last Worm: A Dreaded Disease Nears Eradication 3. NASA Crushes 2012 Mayan Apocalypse Claims 4. How Hollywood Is Encouraging Online Piracy 5. Scientists Discover Children’s Cells Livingin Mothers’ Brains 6. Psychiatry's "Bible" Gets an Overhaul 7. “Once in a Civilization” Comet to Zip Past Earth Next Year 8. The Power of Introverts: A Manifesto for Quiet Brilliance 9. Obama and Romney Tackle 14 Top Science Questions 10. North Carolina Considers Making Sea Level Rise Illegal Honorable mentions: old stories that surfaced with a vengeance this year. Why Do Cats Purr? April 3, 2006 Why does lactic acid buildup in muscles? And why does I tcause soreness? January 23, 2006 How Long Can a Person Survive without Food? November 8, 2004 Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news.

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"Bennifer" buried as Ben Affleck's star soars

It has taken 10 years of hard work and indie movies, but Ben Affleck finally has moved past his "Bennifer" nightmare. Affleck, 40, once a tabloid staple who risked becoming a laughingstock during his romance with Jennifer Lopez and their movie flop "Gigli," is back on top in Hollywood, winning accolades for his work both in front of and behind the camera. Fifteen years after Affleck shared an Oscar with Matt Damon for their first screenplay, "Good Will Hunting," buzz is building over a likely second Academy Award nomination next month. It would be Affleck's first since 1997. "Finally, people now are ready to go, 'Wow! He's at the very top of the food chain,'" Damon told Reuters. Affleck's latest film "Argo," a part-thriller, part-comedic tale of the real-life rescue of six American diplomats from Iran in 1980, this week picked up five Golden Globe nominations and a nod from the Screen Actors Guild for its top prize of best ensemble cast. The film, which Affleck directed, produced and stars in, has also delighted critics and brought in some $160 million at the worldwide box office. In "Argo," Affleck's clean-cut looks are hidden under a long, shaggy 1970s hair cut and beard as he plays CIA officer Tony Mendez, who devised a fake film project to spirit six hostages out of Tehran after the Islamic revolution. The kudos Affleck is now receiving follows the embarrassing headlines he attracted over his 2002-2004 romance with Lopez. "It was tough to watch him get kicked in the teeth for all those years because the perception of him was so not who he actually was," Damon said. "It was upsetting for a lot of his friends because he's the smartest, funnest, nicest, kindest, incredibly talented guy. ... So that was tough. Now I'm just thrilled. ... He deserves everything that he's going to get," he added. With a huge, pink diamond engagement ring for Lopez and gossip about matching Rolls Royces, the pair dubbed "Bennifer" starred in the 2003 comedy romance "Gigli," which earned multiple Razzie awards for the worst comedy of the year. SELLING MAGAZINES NOT MOVIES Damon, by contrast, was seeing his career surge with "The Bourne Identity," "Syriana" and "The Departed." But he recalls Affleck's pain. "He said (to me), 'I am in the absolute worst place you can be. I sell magazines, not movie tickets.' I remember our agent called up the editor of Us Weekly, begging her not to put him on the cover any more. Please stop. Just stop," Damon said. About a year after splitting with Lopez, Affleck married actress Jennifer Garner, had the first of three children with her, and started writing and directing small but admired movies like "Gone Baby Gone" in 2007 and 2010's gritty crime film "The Town." Last month, Affleck was named Entertainment Weekly's entertainer of the year, largely on the back of "Argo." The actor-turned-director said that managing the various tones of the film was his hardest challenge. "I had to synthesize comedic elements and the political stuff and this true-life drama thriller story. ... It was scary and it was daunting," Affleck told Reuters, saying he powered through by "overworking it by a multiple of ten." A trip to the Oscars ceremony in February is now considered a shoo-in by awards pundits, but Affleck is not convinced that success is sweeter the second time around. "It's harder. On the one hand, coming from obscurity, you have a neutral starting place. Because of the tabloid press and over exposure, I was starting from a deficit," he said. "It can be very unpleasant to be in the midst of a lot of ugliness. But I just put my head down and decided ... I was going to work as hard as I could, and I never let the possibility enter my mind that I might fail - at least consciously. Subconsciously, I knew I could fail and I was really scared, so it made me work harder.

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Norman Woodland, co-inventor of bar code, dies at 91

Norman Woodland, co-inventor of the bar code, the inventory tracking tool that transformed global commerce in the 1970s and saved shoppers countless hours on the supermarket checkout line, has died, his daughter said. Woodland, 91, died Saturday from complications related to Alzheimer's disease in Edgewater, New Jersey, said Susan Woodland of New York. Today, five billion products a day are scanned optically using the bar code, or Universal Product Code, or UPC, according to GS1 US, the American arm of the global UPC standards body. The handheld laser scanner inventories consumer products, speeds passengers through airline gates, tracks mail, encodes medical patient information, and is in near universal use across transportation, industrial and shipping industries worldwide. Susan Woodland said her father and co-inventor Bernard "Bob" Silver were graduate students at an engineering school in Philadelphia when they devised the idea of the bar code. Silver overheard a supermarket executive asking the dean of the school - now Drexel University - to assign engineering students the task of creating an efficient way to inventory products at the checkout counter. "My dad really liked to think about interesting problems," Susan Woodland said. Woodland devised a code based on Morse code - a series of dots and dashes - that he had learned as a Boy Scout, she said. The pair applied for the world's first bar code patent in 1949. Woodland joined International Business Machines Corp in 1951, and in 1952 he and Silver received the patent. But it would be more than two decades before laser technology would advance to the point where it could be applied to the bar code, IBM said in a statement. Silver died in 1963, according to the National Inventors Hall of Fame, which inducted the two men in 2011. "In some ways it was a disappointment to my dad that it took so long for the technology to catch up," Susan Woodland said. The first bar code scan took place on June 26, 1974, in Troy, Ohio, when a cashier scanned a 10-pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum for shopper Clyde Dawson, according to IBM. Cost: 67 cents. A revolutionary technology was born. The late 1970s were heady times for Woodland, known to friends as 'Joe.' "My dad was a really sweet, friendly guy and he just got the biggest thrill about having invented the bar code," Susan Woodland said. "He loved talking to the checkers at the supermarket, seeing what they thought about the bar code scanner, what were the problems with it and what they'd like to see changed," she said, laughing. "They always got such a kick out of him." Susan Woodland said her father was enthusiastic about perfecting the technology he had invented. "He was involved in with the whole design of the station - from how the person stood and how high the laser stood to how to protect peoples' eyes from the lasers," she said. "He was totally a perfectionist." Woodland also served as an historian on the Manhattan Project, the U.S. effort to build the first atomic bomb. But his bar code invention was closest to his heart, Susan Woodland said. Woodland is survived by his wife, Jacqueline Woodland of New Jersey, daughters Susan Woodland and Betsy Karpenkopf, brother David Woodland and granddaughter Ella Karpenkopf, 16.

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Actor Depardieu hits back at French PM over tax exile

Actor Gerard Depardieu, accused by French government leaders of trying to dodge taxes by buying a house over the border in Belgium, retorted that he was leaving because "success" was now being punished in his homeland. A popular and colourful figure in France, the 63-year-old Depardieu is the latest wealthy Frenchman to seek shelter outside his native country after tax increases by Socialist President Francois Hollande. Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault described Depardieu's behavior as "pathetic" and unpatriotic at a time when the French are being asked to pay higher taxes to reduce a bloated national debt. "Pathetic, you said pathetic? How pathetic is that?" Depardieu said in a letter distributed to the media. "I am leaving because you believe that success, creation, talent, anything different must be sanctioned," he said. An angry member of parliament has proposed that France adopt a U.S.-inspired law that would force Depardieu or anyone trying to escape full tax dues to forego their nationality. The "Cyrano de Bergerac" star recently bought a house in Nechin, a Belgian village a short walk from the border with France, where 27 percent of residents are French nationals, and put up his sumptuous Parisian home up for sale. Depardieu, who has also inquired about procedures for acquiring Belgian residency, said he was handing in his passport and social security card. Culture Minister Aurelie Filippetti said she was outraged by Depardieu's letter, adding that he had for years been supported financially by public money for the film industry. "When we abandon the ship and desert in the middle of an economic war, you don't then come back and give morality lessons," she told BFM-TV. "One can only regret that Gerard Depardieu doesn't make a comeback in silent movies." He said he had paid 145 million euros ($190.08 million) in taxes since beginning work as a printer at the age of 14. "People more illustrious than me have gone into (tax) exile. Of all those that have left none have been insulted as I have." The actor's move comes three months after Bernard Arnault, chief executive of luxury giant LVMH and France's richest man, caused an uproar by seeking to establish residency in Belgium - a move he said was not for tax reasons. Belgian residents do not pay wealth tax, which in France is now levied on those with assets over 1.3 million euros ($1.7 million). Nor do they pay capital gains tax on share sales. "We no longer have the same homeland," Depardieu said. "I sadly no longer have a reason to stay here. I'll continue to love the French and this public that I have shared so much emotion with." Hollande is pressing ahead too with plans to impose a 75-percent supertax on income over 1 million euros. "Who are you to judge me, I ask you Mr. Ayrault, prime minister of Mr. Hollande? Despite my excesses, my appetite and my love of life, I remain a free man.

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Pop star Kelly Clarkson announces engagement

Kelly Clarkson, who became the first contestant to win "American Idol" a decade ago and went on to several chart-topping successes, has gotten engaged to her boyfriend, the singer said in a Twitter message on Saturday. Clarkson, 30, previously revealed she had been dating talent manager Brandon Blackstock since early this year. Blackstock is the stepson of country singer Reba McEntire. "I'M ENGAGED!" Clarkson said on Twitter. "I wanted y'all to know!! Happiest night of my life last night!" She then followed that by posting a link to a photo of her canary yellow diamond engagement ring on a website. She wrote that her boyfriend helped design it and that she "can't wait to make Brandon's ring." Clarkson's album "Stronger" hit No. 2 last year on the Billboard 200 sales chart, and she in previous years topped pop charts with her songs "My Life Would Suck Without You" and "A Moment Like This." The Texas-born singer won the Fox television singing contest "American Idol" in the show's debut year in 2002, and has had more success than many of the show's stars from following years. Clarkson has burnished an image as an artist willing to speak her mind, even confessing to feelings of loneliness. Last month, in an appearance on the "Ellen DeGeneres Show," Clarkson said she had been dating Blackstock since earlier this year and was thankful to have him. "I am not alone for the first time for Thanksgiving and Christmas and I'm very happy," she said on the show. In the same November appearance, Clarkson said she expected to get engaged to Blackstock. "We will totally, probably elope," she told DeGeneres.

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Gabby Douglas, Adele among brightest young stars -Forbes magazine

Fashion designer Carly Cushnie, actress Kate McKinnon and videogame creator Kim Swift may not be household names yet, but they are destined to do great things and will be tomorrow's young stars, Forbes magazine said on Monday. Along with Olympic Gold medalist gymnast Gabby Douglas, rapper Wiz Khalifa and researcher Josh Sommer, they have been chosen by the magazine for its "30 Under 30" list of top achievers under 30 years old in their fields. They are considered the top 30 achievers in 15 categories ranging from education, energy, music, science and healthcare to sports, technology games and apps and marketing. "This is a celebration of youthful ambition and success. These are really amazing people and they are doing amazing things. It makes you very hopeful about the world," Michael Noer, the executive editor of Forbes, said in an interview. Many on the list, including singers Bruno Mars and Justin Bieber, as well as actresses Ashley and May Kate Olsen and fashion designer Alexander Wang, the newly appointed creative director at the French fashion house Balenciaga, are already well known. Some are returnees to the list that was launched last year - like British singer and new mother Adele, the 24-year-old multiple Grammy Award winner, and American entrepreneur Kevin Systrom. Noer said there has been a 60 percent turnover since 2011, so there are plenty of new faces on the list drawn up by Forbes staff and industry experts. "I think there are a lot of interesting names on the list," he said. In energy, it is 28-year-old Leslie Dewan, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate and co-founder and chief science officer of Transatomic Power. "They are developing a new type of nuclear reactor that uses nuclear waste," said Noer. In music, Pittsburgh-bred Khalifa, 25, topped the list. Swift, the 29-year-old creative director at Airtight Games, was noted for creating hit videogame Portal. "Kate McKinnon, the actress from 'Saturday Night Live' who just joined in April is our Hollywood selection. She is being hailed as the next Tina Fey," Noer said. Sommer, the executive director of the Chordoma Foundation which raises funds for research into chordoma, a rare, slow-growing bone cancer most commonly found in the spine, is another young achiever, according to Forbes. Sommer created the foundation with his mother after being diagnosed with the disease while a student at Duke University in North Carolina. "He was diagnosed with a rare type of bone cancer, dropped out of school to find a cure and he has made some progress," said Noer. The full list will be published in the January 21 issue of Forbes and can also be found at www.forbes.com/under 30 .

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