Motor Racing: Stupid errors must stop, says Grosjean

PARIS: French Formula One driver Romain Grosjean said on Tuesday he would repay the Lotus team's faith in him by cutting out the reckless mistakes that cast a shadow over a largely successful season for him in 2012.

Lotus, who finished an impressive fourth in the constructors championship as the duo of former world champion Kimi Raikkonen racked up some impressive performances, signed up the 26-year-old Swiss born driver for the 2013 campaign on Monday.

However, as Grosjean revealed he had had some sleepless nights after the curtain came down on the season in Brazil last month and talks went on over his future to the extent he feared that the race had been his last in Formula One.

"There were some tough moments, some sleepless nights," said Grosjean, who made his Formula One debut in 2009 when he raced seven times for Renault before a three year hiatus prior to driving for Lotus last term.

"I had a lot of discussions with the team's owners, which were constructive and allowed us to make progress. Today I am happy to have their confidence, to be able to carry on with them, and I am really going to try and create something special."

Grosjean, who recorded three podium finishes last season to finish a respectable eighth in the championship with 96 points, accepted, though, that he had to erase the wild charges he made from the grid and which earned him not only a suspension but also angered several of his rivals.

The most notable and perhaps costly one was at the beginning of the Belgian Grand Prix which claimed among its victims Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who was to go on and finish second in the world title race, just three points behind Sebastian Vettel.

Grosjean's recklessness in that collision resulted in a one race suspension - however, he was to go on and take Australian Mark Webber out of the Japanese Grand Prix at the start although this time he escaped censure.

"We have been working together since September in order to make progess because I did not want to wait till the end of the season," he said.

"There are lots of things that I am trying to improve on, because I am no longer a rookie, I no longer have the right to make clearly stupid mistakes, which were 100% my fault.

"I want to be more consistent, while remaining as quick as before."

Grosjean, who was unable to match Raikkonen's Grand Prix victory in Abu Dhabi, said that his ambitions matched those of Lotus.

"My ability to drive fast weighed in my favour for being retained, the talks as well, and the fact that we (he and Lotus) both are hungry to be world champions together.

"If we sort out some concerns, we will succeed."

Grosjean, though, was delighted that being re-signed by Lotus he could put off to another time his other favoured ambition which is to open a restaurant.

"I do not know whether I would have, if I had been let go, thrown myself immediately into opening a restaurant," he said.

"I had already looked elsewhere, in order to continue what I do best, to drive a car, but the idea is still in my head."

- AFP/fa

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Shoot and share videos with YouTube Capture for iOS

Google just made it easier to capture and upload videos to YouTube from your iPhone or iPod Touch. Its new YouTube Capture app lets you share a video with as little as two taps (including the tap to launch the app). Here's how it works.

When you first launch the app, it'll ask you to sign into your Google account. You can skip this step and sign into your account later, and instead swipe through a brief, four-slide tutorial.

After the tutorial, you'll be taken to the capture screen, which, when held in landscape mode, features two buttons on the left and three on the right. The buttons on the left turn on the flash and switch between the rear- and front-facing cameras. The buttons on the right let you access the videos on your Camera Roll, start recording, and open settings.

In settings, you can sign into the three sharing options -- Google+, Facebook, and Twitter -- and you can adjust two recording settings. "Landscape lock" disables the record button when your phone is in portrait mode, reminding you rotate into landscape mode. "Rotate to begin recording" is the other setting; with it enabled, you'll start recording as soon as you rotate your phone into landscape mode when the app is open. Lastly, you can choose from two quality settings for your uploads: 480p or 720p.

When you tap or rotate to start recording, the record button turns into a timer, conveniently displaying a running time of your recording. Tap the timer to stop a recording, and you'll be taken to the upload screen. Here, you can add title and location information, set privacy and sharing options, and use four editing tools. Or you can simply tap the blue Share button to upload the video as is.

The four editing tools feature two buttons to add color correction and stabilize a potentially shaky video. The third tool gives you a slider to trim the starting and ending points of your video, while the fourth lets you choose from among 21 YouTube soundtracks. Choose a soundtrack such as Electronic, Pop, or Wedding, and you can then adjust its volume via a slider. If you turn the slider all the way to the right, the soundtrack will replace the audio in your recording.

Videos captured with the app are saved to your Camera Roll. When viewing your videos using the app, swiping on a video brings forth a Hide Video button, which removes the video from the app but not from your Camera Roll. Tapping on a video thumbnail from this list plays it, while tapping on the area to the right of the thumbnail takes you to the app's upload screen where you can tweak its settings and appearance before uploading it. Videos already uploaded to YouTube on this list display their title on a white background (as opposed to "Upload to YouTube" on a gray background); for these videos, you can tap a thumbnail to play a video or tap its title to the right of the thumbnail to tweak its settings or delete it from YouTube. Settings for an uploaded video let you e-mail or copy the link for the video, adjust the privacy settings, add tags, and choose a category and license (standard or creative commons). At the bottom of this screen is a large red button to delete the video from YouTube.

Mileage may vary, but I should close by stating that my phone experienced a rather severe hit to its battery life when uploading a handful of short videos.

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Cops: 2 inmates escape from Ill. federal prison

CHICAGO, IL - DECEMBER 18: Crime scene tape surrounds the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center in the Loop after two convicted bank robbers escaped on December 18, 2012. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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Scott Olson

(AP) CHICAGO - Authorities say two men being held on bank robbery charges have escaped from a downtown Chicago federal prison.

PICTURES: Inmates escape Chicago prison

Chicago Police Sgt. Michael Lazarro says their disappearance was discovered at about 8:45 Tuesday morning, a little less than four hours after they were last checked.

Lazarro says they used rope or bed sheets to climb from the building.

He says one was spotted downtown and the other was seen elsewhere. The FBI says in a release they were both seen in Tinley Park, a southwestern Chicago suburb.

Lazarro says the two were wearing orange jump suits when they escaped but that they may now be wearing white t-shirts, gray sweat pants and white gym shoes.

One of the escapees had been convicted and the other had recently pleaded guilty.

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Threat Closes Newtown Elementary School

Local officials closed a Newtown, Conn., elementary school following a threat on what would have been the first day of classes since a shooting rampage at nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Classes at Head O'Meadow Elementary School were scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. ET, but as parents and students arrived at the school they encountered police who turned them away.

Principal Barbara Gasparine sent an email to parents telling them that school would be closed rather than locked down due to the threats, the nature of which was not specified.

CLICK HERE FOR A TRIBUTE TO THE SHOOTING VICTIMS

"As was predicted by the police that there would be some threats, the police were prepared and have us in lockdown, which is our normal procedure. Due to the situation, students will not come to school today. Please make arrangements to keep them home," Gasparine wrote parents in an email obtained by ABC News.

Newtown police would not specify the type of threat, calling the school closure a "precautionary measure" in the wake of last week's shooting that left 20 children and six adults of Sandy Hook dead.

Reporters at the school to cover the arrival of Newtown students on the first day since the massacre were pushed back by police a quarter of mile away from the school.

Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting: Victims Laid to Rest Watch Video

Gun Control Debate Resurfaces After Sandy Hook Shooting Watch Video

Sandy Hook Shooting: What Was Wrong with Adam Lanza? Watch Video

Sandy Hook Elementary and Head O'Meadow are 4.5 miles away from each other, and in the same district.

Sandy Hook is classified an active crime scene and will remain closed "indefinitely," according to authorities.

Officials are moving furniture and supplies from Sandy Hook classrooms to a former middle school in nearby Monroe, Conn. A start date for those students has yet to be determined.

Teachers photographed their classrooms at Sandy Hook and are recreating them -- down to the crayons left on students desks -- at the new site in Monroe, in an attempt to make incoming students feel as comfortable as possible.

New security systems are being installed at Chalk Hill school, and Newtown councilman Steve Vavrek said when the schools opens it will be "the safest school in America."

It was a somber day for many parents who sent their students back to school. Green and white ribbons adorned the grilles of Newtown school buses this morning.

There was a heavy police presence atthe schools-- 15 police departments had been called in to help with security and there were several units at each school, an officer said.

At Hawley Elementary, families walked their children to school. One tearful mother told ABC that the time is right to go back to school for her fourth grader. Another father told us that this is "a day of great sadness" but that "it will be good to get back into a routine." He addressed concerns of a premature return, saying that "There's no rulebook for this...is there ever a right day?"

At Newtown Middle School, lines of parents waited to drop off their kids. One teacher hugged a student as he exited the car. Children in school buses waved at reporters as they drove by.

And at Reed Intermediate, a memorial has been set up in the center island. Encircling the flag pole are three wreaths, bouquets of flowers, a host of green and white balloons, and what appears to be notes.

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Egypt opposition protests against constitution

CAIRO (Reuters) - Opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi staged protests in Cairo on Tuesday against an Islamist-backed draft constitution that has divided Egypt but looks set to be approved in the second half of a referendum this weekend.

Several hundred protesters outside the presidential palace chanted "Revolution, revolution, for the sake of the constitution" and called on Mursi to "Leave, leave, you coward!". While the protest was noisy, numbers were down on previous demonstrations.

Mursi obtained a 57 percent "yes" vote for the constitution in the first part of the referendum last weekend, state media said, less than he had hoped for.

The opposition, which says the law is too Islamist, will be encouraged by the result but is unlikely to win the second part this Saturday, which is to be held in districts seen as even more sympathetic towards Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood.

The National Salvation Front opposition coalition said there were widespread voting violations last Saturday and called for protests to "bring down the invalid draft constitution".

The Ministry of Justice said it was appointing judges to investigate complaints of voting irregularities.

Opposition marchers converged on Tahrir Square, cradle of the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak almost two years ago, and Mursi's presidential palace, still ringed with tanks after earlier protests.

A protester at the presidential palace, Mohamed Adel, 30, said: "I have been camping here for weeks and will continue to do so until the constitution that divided the nation, and for which people died, gets scrapped."

The build up to the first day of voting saw clashes between supporters and opponents of Mursi in which eight people died. Recent demonstrations in Cairo have been more peaceful, although rival factions clashed on Friday in Alexandria, Egypt's second biggest city.

RESIGNATION

Egypt's public prosecutor resigned under pressure from his opponents in the judiciary, dealing a blow to Mursi and drawing an angry response from his supporters in the Muslim Brotherhood.

In a statement on its Facebook page, the Islamist group that propelled Mursi to power in an election in June, said the enforced departure of public prosecutor Talaat Ibrahim was a "crime" and authorities should not accept the resignation.

Further signs of opposition to Mursi emerged when a judges' club urged its members not to supervise Saturday's vote. But the call is not binding and balloting is expected to go ahead.

If the constitution is passed, national elections can take place early next year, something many hope will help end the turmoil that has gripped Egypt since the fall of Mubarak.

The closeness of the first referendum vote and low turnout give Mursi scant comfort as he seeks to assemble support for difficult economic reforms.

"This percentage ... will strengthen the hand of the National Salvation Front and the leaders of this Front have declared they are going to continue this fight to discredit the constitution," said Mustapha Kamal Al-Sayyid, a professor of political science at Cairo University.

Mursi is likely to become more unpopular with the introduction of planned austerity measures, Sayyid told Reuters.

To tackle the budget deficit, the government needs to raise taxes and cut fuel subsidies. Uncertainty surrounding economic reform plans has already forced the postponement of a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund. The Egyptian pound has fallen to eight-year lows against the dollar.

Mursi and his backers say the constitution is needed to move Egypt's democratic transition forward. Opponents say the document is too Islamist and ignores the rights of women and of minorities, including Christians who make up 10 percent of the population.

Demonstrations erupted when Mursi awarded himself extra powers on November 22 and then fast-tracked the constitution through an assembly dominated by his Islamist allies and boycotted by many liberals.

The referendum has had to be held over two days because many of the judges needed to oversee polling staged a boycott in protest. In order to pass, the constitution must be approved by more than 50 percent of those voting.

(Additional reporting by Tamim Elyan and Edmund Blair; Writing by Giles Elgood; Editing by Alison Williams)

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Football: Anxious Mustafic keeping his fingers crossed

SINGAPORE: Fahrudin Mustafic will have a date with the doctor on Tuesday to see if he is ready to claim his place in the Lions' starting 11 against Thailand on Wednesday.

The 31-year-old midfielder - who has been one of Singapore's star performers in this edition of the biennial regional tournament - has not been in full training since picking up a groin injury in the second leg of the semi-final against the Philippines last week. Instead, he has been receiving treatment at the Singapore Sports Council.

But his situation has been improving.

He emerged unscathed from a short sprints test conducted by the team physiotherapist on Monday morning.

He was later allowed to join the team in their training session at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

"But it was just running and passing. No shooting and no one was allowed to tackle me, just for my protection," he said.

Mustafic will go for an ultrasound scan on his right thigh to see if the muscle there has healed completely. Only then will he be given the green light to play.

"My mind is on the match. Who would want to miss the final of such an important match? But I have to follow the doctor's advice," said Mustafic who was also in the team that won the 2007 edition of the championship by beating the Thais 3-2 on aggregate.

Mustafic's presence in midfield is vital as Hariss Harun is out of the tournament with a fractured fibula while Shi Jiayi remains unavailable because of urgent family matters in Shanghai.

But Isa Halim, who has taken over the role left vacant by Hariss, has promised to go all out again, just like he did against the Philippines at Jalan Besar last week.

"This is the final and only the best will do for me," said the 27-year-old midfield hardman.

"I am looking forward to playing the Thais and that means I have to be at my best."

- TODAY

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Israeli embassy deletes 'Christmas Thought' Facebook comment

I want to believe that this is the time of year for human harmony.

But who am I to talk? My future wife won't even acknowledge me, believing I am Beelzebub's kin. Servers at fine restaurants won't even refill my water glasses.

Oh, and then there was a Facebook "Christmas thought" from Israel's embassy in Ireland that Jesus would likely be lynched if he was in Bethlehem this year.

As The New York Times describes it, someone at Israel's embassy wrote the following:

A thought for Christmas...If Jesus and mother Mary were alive today, they would, as Jews without security, probably end up being lynched in Bethlehem by hostile Palestinians. Just a thought...Thanks Daniel for sharing

More Technically Incorrect

These heartfelt words were atop a serene picture of Jesus and the Virgin.

You might imagine that some found this a touch provocative. The post was, indeed, removed, as was the apology that followed it, as was the whole Facebook page.

An embassy spokesman told the Times that he didn't know who had posted the thought. However, he added: "People who post on the embassy Facebook page include embassy staff and also people based in Israel itself."

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Ex-babysitter: Lanza's mother warned me about him

HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. A man who says he once babysat for Newtown, Conn., gunman Adam Lanza says he recalls Lanza's mother warning him never to turn his back on the boy - not even to go to the bathroom.

Ryan Kraft now lives in Hermosa Beach, in Southern California.

But, he tells CBS station KCBS in Los Angeles, he was once a student at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and babysat for Lanza when Lanza was about 9 or 10 and Kraft was 14 or 15.

Play Video

Piecing together Adam Lanza

Police say Lanza, 20, went on a rampage in the school Friday, killing 20 six- and seven-year-olds and six adults before taking his own life. Lanza also shot his mother, Nancy Lanza, to death in the nearby home they shared before heading to the school, authorities say.

Kraft tells KCBS when he first heard about the shooting and that Lanza was involved, "I just couldn't think for a little while. I was shaking."

He says he recalls Nancy Lanza cautioning him never to turn his back on Adam -- "to keep an eye on him at all times ... to never turn my back, or even to go to the bathroom or anything like that."

Kraft says he remembers Lanza as quiet, very intelligent and introverted, noting, "Whenever we were doing something, whether it was building Legos, or playing video games, he was really focused on it. It was like he was in his own world."

Kraft is still having trouble believing the kid he babysat could have been involved in such unspeakable horror. "I'm just numb to it, I haven't really processed the fact that this happened right where I used to be, and that, 15 years ago, it could have been me."

36 Photos

Vigils for Conn. school shooting victims

Nancy Lanza, says Kraft, was very involved in her children's lives and loved them very much.

He says that, rather than feeling helpless, he decided to start a fundraiser to help the children of Newton, especially the ones who will be dealing with post traumatic stress disorder.

Kraft, who moved to California after college, also wants the money to go to helping families pay funeral expenses and to help establish a scholarship fund for survivors.

Kraft's fundraising page took in more than $53,000 in one day.

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Two Adult Shooting Survivors Will Be Key Witnesses

Two adult survivors who were shot and injured in the Newtown, Conn., school massacre will be integral parts of the investigation into the deadly rampage, police said today.

"Investigators will, in fact, speak with them when it's medically appropriate and they will shed a great deal of light on the facts and circumstances of this tragic investigation," Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance said at a news conference today.

Both survivors are women and are now home from the hospital after being shot, police said. Authorities had previously mentioned one adult survivor. The women have not been identified and police did not give details on their injuries.

READ MORE: School nurse hid from gunman.

Both adults, Vance said, were wounded in the "lower extremities," but did not indicate where in the building they were when they were injured.

Moving trucks were seen outside Sandy Hook Elementary School this morning, as school officials prepare to move furniture and supplies to a vacant school in neighboring Monroe.

Sandy Hook itself will remain a secure crime scene "indefinitely," said Vance.

CLICK HERE for complete coverage of the tragedy at Sandy Hook.

Police say Adam Lanza, 20, forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday, spraying bullets on students and faculty. Lanza killed 20 children and six adults before turning the gun on himself.

Lanza also killed his mother Nancy Lanza at the home they shared before going to school.

"There are many, many witnesses that need to be interviewed," Vance said. "We will not stop until we have interviewed every last one of them."

Calls for Gun Control Surge Following Newtown Shootings Watch Video

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Newtown School Shooting: Talking to Kids About Tragedy Watch Video

Vance said the investigation could take weeks or months to complete. "It's not something done in 60 minutes like you see on T.V."

Some of the other key witnesses will be children who survived the shooting spree by playing dead, hiding in closets and bathrooms and being rescued by dedicated teachers.

"Any interviews with any children will be done with professionals...as appropriate," Vance said. "We'll handle that extremely delicately when the time arises."

CLICK HERE for a tribute to the shooting victims.

The first funerals for victims of the shooting are today, beginning with 6-year-olds Noah Pozner and Jack Pinto.

Officials said today that the Sandy Hook Elementary School, where the shooting took place, will be closed "indefinitely."

Both the school and the home where shootings took place are being held by police as crime scenes and Vance predicted authorities would spend "months" investigating the elementary school.

All Newtown schools are closed today to give residents more time to cope. Every school except for Sandy Hook is expected to re-open Tuesday.

The town of Monroe has offered to open to Sandy Hook students the Chalk Hill School, a former middle school that currently houses the town's EMS and recreational departments.

Officials in Monroe, less than 10 miles from Newtown, say the building could be ready for students by the end of the week, but have not yet set a date to resume classes.

Nearly 100 volunteers are working to ensure the building complies with fire and security regulations and are working to retorfit the school with bathroom facilities for young children.

"We're working to make the school safe and secure for students," said Monroe Police Department spokesman Lt. Brian H. McCauley.

The neighboring community's school is expected to be ready to accommodate students in the next few days, though an exact schedule has not yet been published.

While the families grieve, federal and state authorities are working around the clock to answer the question on so many minds: "Why?"

ABC News has learned that investigators have seized computers belonging to Adam Lanza from the home he shared with his mother. Three weapons were found at the school scene and a fourth was recovered from Lanza's car. Lanza had hundreds of rounds and used multiple high-capacity magazines when he went on the rampage, according to Connecticut State Police.

Vance said that every single electronic device, weapon and round will be thoroughly examined and investigated as well as every aspect of Lanza's life going "back to the date of birth."

ABC News has learned that both the shooter and his mother spent time at an area gun range; however it was not yet known whether they had shot there.

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Syrian vice president says neither side can win war

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa said that neither the forces of President Bashar al-Assad nor rebels seeking to overthrow him can win the war which is now being fought on the outskirts of Assad's powerbase in Damascus.

Sharaa, a Sunni Muslim in a power structure dominated by Assad's Alawite minority, has rarely been seen since the Syrian revolt erupted in March 2011 and is not part of the president's inner circle directing the fight against Sunni rebels.

But he is the most prominent figure to say in public that Assad will not win. He was speaking to Lebanon's al-Akhbar paper in an interview from Damascus, which is now hemmed in by rebel fighters to the south.

Assad's forces have used jets and artillery to try to dislodge the fighters from around Damascus but the violence has crept into the heart of the capital and activists said rebels overran three army stations in a new offensive in the central province of Hama on Monday.

Sharaa said the situation in Syria, where more than 40,000 people have been killed, was deteriorating and a "historic settlement" was needed to end the conflict, involving regional powers and the U.N. Security Council and the formation of a national unity government "with broad powers".

"With every passing day the political and military solutions are becoming more distant. We should be in a position defending the existence of Syria. We are not in a battle for an individual or a regime," Sharaa was quoted as saying.

"The opposition cannot decisively settle the battle and what the security forces and army units are doing will not achieve a decisive settlement," he told the paper, adding that the insurgents fighting to topple Syria's leadership could plunge it into "anarchy and an unending spiral of violence".

Sources close to the Syrian government say Sharaa had pushed for dialogue with the opposition and objected to the military response to an uprising that began peacefully.

In Damascus, clashes raged between Palestinian factions loyal to and opposed to Assad in the Yarmouk district a day after Syrian fighter jets bombed a mosque there, killing at least 25 people.

Activists said troops and tanks were gathered outside the camp on Monday and hundreds of Palestinians refugees living in Syria flooded into Lebanon.

Syria hosts half a million Palestinian refugees, most living in Yarmouk and descendants of those admitted after the creation of Israel in 1948, and has always cast itself as a champion of the Palestinian struggle, sponsoring several guerrilla factions.

Both Assad's government and the mainly Sunni Muslim Syrian rebels have enlisted and armed divided Palestinian factions as the uprising has developed into a civil war.

In a veiled criticism of the crackdown, Sharaa said there was a difference between the state's duty to provide security to its citizens, and "pursuing a security solution to the crisis".

He said even Assad could not be certain where events in Syria were leading, but that anyone who met him would hear that "this is a long struggle...and he does not hide his desire to settle matters militarily to reach a final solution."

CHANGE INEVITABLE

"We realize today that change is inevitable," Sharaa said, but "none of the peaceful or armed opposition groups with their known foreign links can call themselves the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people".

"Likewise the current leadership...cannot achieve change alone after two years of crisis without new partners who contribute to preserving (Syria's) national fabric, territorial unity and regional sovereignty".

Rebels have now brought the war to the capital, without yet delivering a fatal blow to the government. But nor has Assad found the military muscle to oust his opponents from the city.

In Hama province, rebels and the army clashed in a new campaign launched on Sunday by rebels to block off the country's north, activists said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition-linked violence monitor, said fighting raged through the provincial towns of Karnaz, Kafar Weeta, Halfayeh and Mahardeh.

"There is not fighting in these areas often," said Rami Abdelrahman, head of the Observatory, adding that rebels units from Idlib joined the offensive and three army stations had been destroyed.

He said there were no clashes reported in Hama city, which lies on the main north-south highway connecting the capital with Aleppo, Syria's second city.

Qassem Saadeddine, a member of the newly established rebel military command, told Reuters on Sunday fighters had been ordered to surround and attack army positions across the province. He said forces loyal to Assad had been given 48 hours to surrender or be killed.

"When we liberate the countryside of Hama province ... then we will have the area between Aleppo and Hama liberated and open for us," he said.

In 1982 Hafez al-Assad, father of the current ruler, crushed an uprising in Hama city, killing up to 30,000 civilians.

Qatiba al-Naasan, a rebel from Hama, said the offensive would bring retaliatory air strikes from the government but that the situation is "already getting miserable".

"For sure there will be slaughter - if the army wants to shell us many people will die. There are many populated areas and many refugees have fled here."

"(But) we felt it was always inevitable Hama would be shelled and we at least want to be fighting to liberate it," he said from Hama through Skype.

He said rebels would attack areas of strategic significance but not maintain a presence in other areas to allow civilians a safe place to flee.

(Additional reporting by Oliver Holmes and Erika Solomon in Beirut, Noah Browning and Ali Sawafta in Ramallah, and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

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