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Consumer Electronics and Casual Apparel Are Top Ticket Items on Black Friday       

Black Friday and the following Saturday showed consumer electronics and casual apparel, particularly shoes, continue to be popular items for gifts this holiday season, according to Shox Legend Trainerinformation from NearbyNow, Inc., regarding shopping trends in over 500 cities across the US. Retailers and specialty stores like EB Games, Ritz Camera, Gamestop, The Finish Line, The Walking Company, and American Eagle Outfitters led the pack in product requests over a two-day period beginning on Black Friday.

NearbyNow is currently monitoring what items are in the highest demand across hundreds of cities in the US, based on the use of its popular local shopping service where consumers can search for items at stores near them and put them on hold for pick up. The Wii Fit? Bundle, and all Wii? Accessories, including the Wii Super Smash Brothers Bundle, are all in very high demand. These items Shox VCcontinue to be particularly popular in the Midwest and Northwest while the Southwest favors Killzone for PlayStation 2 and Nike's Shox running shoes for both men and women.

UGG? Australia Women's Classic Short Suede Boots Shoes are in high demand throughout the East coast, and in American Eagle Outfitter's Eagle Heritage Hoodies and Nike's Air Jordan Retro 1 Mid Basketball Shoe for men top the most requested items in the Southeast. Across the country, the top most requested items this weekend include:

--  Wii? Accessory Bundle, Wii Fit? Starter Bundle, Wii Super Smash

    Bros. Bundle, and Wii? Ultimate Bundle

--  Pyrex? 18-Piece Round Nike Shox ExplodineBowl Storage Set

--  Wii Fit? with Balance Board for Nintendo Wii?

--  The Sharper Image? 4GB MP3 Player

--  American Eagle Outfitter's Eagle Heritage Hoodie

--  Sonicare Essence Electric Toothbrush

--  PacSun Venice Skinny Gray Destroyed Jeans

--  Aeolus Microfiber Down-Alternative Comforter

--  Converse Men's All Star Hi Leather Sneakers

--  The Sharper Image? 10x25 Binocular Camera

--  Killzone for Shox BasketballPlayStation 2

--  The Sharper Image? Wireless Indoor/Outdoor Speaker

--  Relativity Women's "Cozy" Brown Boot

--  Nintendo DS System - Gamestop

--  Acer Aspire AS4315-2004 14.1" Laptop

--  Nextar? M3-03 Portable Navigation System w/$20 Mail-In Rebate

--  Nike Big Kids Air Force 1 Low Sneaker

--  Pacific Sunwear's Venice Skinny Light Blue Destroyed Jeans

--  Sorrento 16 Piece Super Set Bedding

--  Nike Toddlers Impax Tomahawk Running Shoe

--  UGG? Australia's Mayfaire boot

--  Banana Republic's 'Adrienne' color-block flat

--  The Reebok Youth New Jersey Nets Richard Shox 2:40Jefferson Swingman Jersey

--  American Eagle Outfitters Buffalo Check Zip Hoodie

--  UGG? Australia Kids' "Payton" Boots

Holiday shoppers can get these popular items by going to www.nearbynow.com, searching and once found, clicking "is it in stock?" to put the item on hold. The NearbyNow Concierge Service will call the store to verify the item is still available, and put it on hold -- or if not in stock, they will keep checking back until it's in. Users will get an email and/or text message back confirming the product has been reserved and the name of a contact at the store.

About NearbyNow, Inc.

NearbyNow, Inc. provides a unique online service that allows consumers to search all products, brands, and sales currently available in local shopping areas near them using the Internet or mobile phones. Shoppers can even put items on hold to pick up with a single click, ensuring that items will be available in the needed size and color. The company also creates an efficient marketing tool for retailers to target nearby consumers, helping increase sales by turning online shoppers into in-store buyers. NearbyNow is headquartered in Mountain View, CA. Additional information can be obtained by phone at (650) 967-0940 or via the Web at www.nearbynow.com.

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Holiday Sales in U.S. Fell as Much as 4%, SpendingPulse Says

Dec. 25 (Bloomberg) -- U.S.

retail sales fell as much as 4 percent this holiday season as consumers limited purchases to necessities and cut back on clothing, electronics and jewelry, according to SpendingPulse. Spending figures are the lowest since MasterCard Advisors started tracking data in 2002 to provide the SpendingPulse service, said Michael McNamara, vice president of research and analysis. He estimates sales, excluding autos and gasoline, fell 2 percent to 4 percent from Nov. 1 through yesterday. Consumers facing a recession, tightening credit and the highest unemployment rate in 15 years shortened their gift lists and spent less. Retailers including Macy’s Inc. and AnnTaylor Stores Corp. responded by increasing markdowns, which stand to hurt profit margins in what may be the weakest holiday season in four decades. “Overall this has been one of the most challenging holiday seasons on record,” McNamara said today in an interview. The SpendingPulse figures follow forecasts of falling sales from other industry groups. Sales at stores open at least a year may drop as much as 2 percent in November and December, the International Council of Shopping Centers said on Dec. 23, more than the previously projected 1 percent decline. Apparel, Luxury From Nov. 1 through Dec. 24, women’s clothing sales dropped 23 percent and men’s fell 14 percent, according to SpendingPulse. Combined electronics and appliance sales tumbled 27 percent, with purchases over $1,000 suffering the most, according to SpendingPulse data. Luxury sales, including jewelry, plunged 35 percent, the data showed. Purchases over the Internet fared better, with a 2.3 percent decline. E-commerce may have been helped by inclement weather at the end of the holiday shopping season, McNamara said. Historically Web sales have posted 15 percent to 20 percent year- over-year sales gains. The SpendingPulse data service calculates its sales estimates based on MasterCard Inc. network transactions and adjusts for cash, checks and other payment forms. MasterCard is the world’s second-biggest credit -card company. Deeper Recession The U.S. economy shrank in the third quarter at a 0.5 percent annual pace, the worst since 2001, according to the Commerce Department. Consumer spending fell the most in almost three decades and forecasters project an even deeper slump in the final three months of this year. Jobless claims rose yesterday to a 26-year high. Retail sales declined 5.3 percent Dec. 19 to 21 because of inclement weather and a slowing U.S. economy, Chicago-based research firm ShopperTrak RCT Corp. said yesterday in a statement. “It’s a terribly challenging environment for retailers,” Scott Krugman, a spokesman for the National Retail Federation, a Washington -based trade group, said in a Dec. 24 Bloomberg Television interview. “The week after Christmas is going to be more crucial for retailers than ever. The Friday after Christmas, with the discounts we’re hearing about, is going to be like another Black Friday.” The Standard & Poor’s 500 Retailing Index has shed 34 percent this year, with only two of its 27 companies gaining. The index doesn’t include Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, which rose 15 cents to $55.44 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Wal-Mart shares have gained 17 percent this year. The U.S. stock market was closed today for the Christmas holiday. To contact the reporter on this story: Heather Burke in New York at hburke2@bloomberg.net.

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US May Double Troop Presence in Afghanistan

By Kent Klein Washington 20 December 2008 The top U.S. military officer says the United States may double the number of troops it has in Afghanistan next year. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, says as many as 30,000 more troops could arrive by mid-2009. Admiral Mullen told reporters in Kabul Jordan 18 the additional troops may reach Afghanistan in spring or summer, to join the 31,000 U.S. troops already there. "Some 20- to 30,000 is the window of overall increase from where we are right now," he said. The commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, has asked for at least four more brigades, or about 20,000 troops. Many of the incoming personnel are being shifted from Iraq. Admiral Mullen says the first of those brigades is expected to arrive in January. "An additional brigade, of the four brigades that are required out there, but an additional brigade that six months ago was not Jordan 17 identified had been re-missioned and will show up in Afghanistan next month," he said. General McKiernan requested the additional troops to fight a rising Taleban insurgency. Admiral Mullen acknowledges that violence in Afghanistan has been increasing, and he says having more U.S. troops there will help reduce the violence, so the Afghan people can work on developing their government and economy. "Clearly the violence level in 2008 was up. The Taleban and extremists are more sophisticated, more effective. They have not won any battles, but they have certainly increased the level of violence. And we are very focused on that, and that is why the additional forces are so important, to be able to provide security for the Afghan people so these other areas can be developed," he said. One reason for optimism, Admiral Mullen says, is the Jordan 16 increasing level of cooperation from the Pakistani army with U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan. He says troops on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border are making progress in slowing the influx of Taleban and other insurgents into Afghanistan. "And it has really disrupted the flow of insurgents across that border. We are not where we need to be. We need to be coordinated and synchronized on both sides of that border - but the Pakistani military has been committed to that, and has done that in recent months, and it has had a positive effect on reducing the insurgents that have crossed that border," he said. Admiral Mullen plans to visit U.S. troops in Afghanistan on Sunday, and visit Afghan government leaders on Monday.

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For years, investors, rivals and regulators all wondered how Bernard L. Madoff worked his magic.
But on Friday, less than 24 hours after this prominent Wall Street figure was arrested on charges connected with what

authorities portrayed as the biggest Ponzi scheme in Bush financial history, hard questions began to be raised about whether Mr.

Madoff acted alone and why his suspected con game was not uncovered sooner.

As investors from Palm Beach to New York to London counted their losses on Friday in what Mr. Madoff himself described as a

$50 billion fraud, federal authorities took control of what remained of his firm and began to pore over its books.

But some investors said they had questioned Mr. Madoff’s supposed investment prowess years ago, pointing to his unnaturally

steady returns, his vague investment strategy and the obscure accounting firm that audited his books.

Despite these and other red flags, hedge fund companies kept promoting Mr. Madoff’s funds to other funds and individuals.

More recently, banks like Nomura, the Japanese firm, began soliciting investors for Mr. Madoff internationally. The

Securities and Exchange Commission, which investigated Mr. Madoff in 1992 but cleared him of wrongdoing, appears to have been

completely surprised by the charges of fraud.

Now thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of investors confront losses that range from serious to devastating. Some families

said on Friday that they believed they had lost all their savings. A charity in Massachusetts said it had lost essentially

its entire endowment and would have to close.

According to an affidavit sworn out by federal agents, Mr. Madoff himself said the fraud had totaled approximately $50

billion, a figure that would dwarf any previous financial fraud.

At first, the figure seemed impossibly large. But as the reports of losses mounted on Friday, the $50 billion figure looked

increasingly plausible. One hedge fund advisory firm alone, Fairfield Greenwich Group, said on Friday that its clients had

invested $7.5 billion with Mr. Madoff.

The collapse of Mr. Madoff’s firm is yet another blow in a devastating year for Wall Street and investors. While Mr. Madoff

’s firm was not a hedge fund, the scope of the fraud is likely to increase pressure on hedge funds to accept greater

regulation and transparency and protect their investors.

On Thursday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and S.E.C. said that Mr. Madoff’s firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment

Securities, ran a giant Ponzi scheme, a type of fraud in which earlier investors are paid off with money raised from later

victims — until no money can be raised and the scheme collapses.

Most Ponzi schemes collapse relatively quickly, but there is fragmentary evidence that Mr. Madoff’s scheme may have lasted

for years or even decades. A Boston whistle-blower has claimed that he tried to alert the S.E.C. to the scheme as early as

1999, and the weekly newspaper Barron’s raised questions about Mr. Madoff’s returns and strategy in 2001, although it did

not accuse him of wrongdoing.

Investors may have been duped because Mr. Madoff sent detailed brokerage statements to investors whose money he managed,

sometimes reporting hundreds of individual stock trades per month. Investors who asked for their money back could have it

returned within days. And while typical Ponzi schemes promise very high returns, Mr. Madoff’s promised returns were

relatively realistic — about 10 percent a year — though they were unrealistically steady.

Mr. Madoff was not running an actual hedge fund, but instead managing accounts for investors inside his own securities firm.

The difference, though seemingly minor, is crucial. Hedge funds typically hold their portfolios at banks and brokerage firms

like JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs. Outside auditors can check with those banks and brokerage firms to make sure the funds

exist.

But because he had his own securities firm, Mr. Madoff kept custody over his clients’ accounts and processed all their stock

trades himself. His only check appears to have been Friehling & Horowitz, a tiny auditing firm based in New City, N.Y.

Wealthy individuals and other money managers entrusted billions of dollars to funds that in turn invested in his firm, based

on his reputation and reported returns.

Victims of the scam included gray-haired grandmothers in Florida, investment companies in London, and charities and

universities across the United States. The Wilpon family, the main owners of the New York Mets, and Yeshiva University both

confirmed that they had invested with Mr. Madoff, and a Jewish charity in Massachusetts said it would lay off its five

employees and close after losing nearly all of its $7 million endowment. Other investors included prominent Jewish families

in New York and Florida.
On Friday afternoon, investors and lawyers for investors with Mr. Madoff packed Judge Louis L. Stanton’s courtroom at

federal court in Manhattan, hoping to question lawyers for Mr. Madoff and the S.E.C. But a deputy for Judge Stanton canceled

the hearing, leaving investors with few answers. Several investors said they were planning to file lawsuits against the firm

in the hope of recovering some money.
Based on the vagueness of the complaints against Mr. Madoff, his confession, as detailed in court filings, seems to have

taken theF.B.I. and S.E.C. by surprise. Investigators have not explained when they believe the fraud began, how much money

was ultimately lost and whether Mr. Madoff lost investors’ money in the markets, spent it, or both. It is not even clear

whether Mr. Madoff actually made any of the trades he reported to investors.

The F.B.I. and S.E.C. have also not said whether they believe Mr. Madoff acted alone. According to the authorities, Mr.

Madoff told F.B.I. agents that the scheme was his alone. He worked closely with his brother, sons and other family members,

many of whom have retained lawyers.

Also likely to face very difficult questions are the hedge funds, investment advisers and banks that raised money for Mr.

Madoff. At least some big investment advisers steered clients away from putting money with Mr. Madoff, believing the returns

could not be real.

Robert Rosenkranz, principal of Acorn Partners, which helps wealthy clients choose money managers, said the steadiness of the

returns that Mr. Madoff reported did not make sense, and the size of his auditor raised further concerns.

“Our due diligence, which got into both account statements of his customers, and the audited statements of Madoff

Securities, which he filed with the S.E.C., made it seem highly likely that the account statements themselves were just

pieces of paper that were generated in connection with some sort of fraudulent activity,” Mr. Rosenkranz said.

Simon Fludgate, head of operational due diligence for Aksia, another advisory firm that told clients not to invest with Mr.

Madoff, said the secrecy of his strategy also raised red flags. And Mr. Madoff’s stock holdings, which he disclosed each

quarter with the Securities and Exchange Commission, appeared to be too small to support the size of the fund he claimed. Mr.

Madoff’s promoters sometimes tried to explain the discrepancy by explaining that he sold all his shares at the end of each

quarter and put his holdings in cash.

“There were no smoking guns, but too many things that didn’t add up,” Mr. Fludgate said.

However, the S.E.C. had already investigated Mr. Madoff and two accountants who raised money for him in 1992, believing they

might have found a Ponzi scheme. “We went into this thing just thinking it might be a huge catastrophe,” an S.E.C. official

told The Wall Street Journal in December 1992.

Instead, Mr. Madoff turned out to have delivered the returns that the investment advisers had promised their clients. It is

not clear whether the results of the 1992 inquiry discouraged the S.E.C. from examining Mr. Madoff again, even when new red

flags surfaced. Lawyers at the S.E.C. did not return calls.

Meanwhile, Fairfield Greenwich Group, whose clients have $7.5 billion invested with the Madoff firm, said it was “shocked

and appalled by this news.”

“We had no indication that we and many other firms and private investors were the victims of such a highly sophisticated,

massive fraudulent scheme.”

At the court hearing, an individual investor, who declined to give his name to avoid embarrassment, expressed a similar

sentiment.

“Nobody knows where their money is and whether it is protected,” the investor said.

“The returns were just amazing and we trusted this guy for decades — if you wanted to take money out, you always got your

check in a few days. That’s why we were all so stunned.”

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WASHINGTON — The House passed a $15 billion auto bailout bill Wednesday, but a key supporter saw trouble ahead in the Senate. "I don't think the votes are there," said Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, a backer of the measure. Earlier in the day, several GOP criticsAir Jordan 18 lambasted the bill as not going far enough in requiring changes, even though the White House supports it. "This is only delaying their funeral," Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said of the carmakers. The bill passed the House by a vote of 237-170. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said the Senate would debate the legislation through the weekend if necessary. FORD CEO INTERVIEW: Being smaller makes sense now, Mulally says INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC: A state-by-state look at auto industry jobs JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Readers say 'no' to auto bailout President-elect Barack Obama backs emergency bridge loans for Detroit's automakers in exchange for a restructuring of their businesses. So does President Bush, who sent Vice President Cheney and White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten to lobby Senate Republicans at their weekly lunch. Afterward, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., Air Jordan 13 told reporters, "They probably left with less support" than they came in with. "There's less than a handful of votes in there." The bill would create a government "car czar" named by Bush to oversee assistance for American automakers. That official would have the power to force the companies into bankruptcy in spring if they don't make the necessary deals with labor unions, creditors and others to become viable. The bill would limit executive pay, ban so-called golden parachute severance packages for departing executives and force the automakers Air Jordan 14 to sell their corporate jets. It would give General Motors (GM) and Chrysler up to $15 billion in loans. It sets terms for Ford Motor (F), which has said it will not take a loan but will ask for a $9 billion credit line. "It's a bill that will provide bridge financing to one of two possibilities," Joel Kaplan, Bush's deputy chief of staff, told reporters Wednesday. "Fundamental restructuring or bankruptcy." House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said that while "there is a great deal of reluctance" to bail out automakers, letting them fail would be catastrophic for the economy. "Without this bridge, we're going to fall into Air Jordan 15 the greatest calamity since the Great Depression," Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., said on the House floor. Meanwhile, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., finance committee chair, objected to a provision designed to help transit agencies. He said in a statement that the provision, involving certain leases, "really just helps the banks that entered into these sham transactions in their attempts to avoid taxes." Republicans were preparing a strong fight against the aid plan in the Senate, not only taking on the Democrats but standing in open revolt against theirAir Jordan 16 party's lame-duck president on the measure. The Republicans want to force the companies into bankruptcy or mandate hefty concessions from autoworkers and creditors as a condition of any federal aid. They also oppose an environmental mandate that House Democrats insisted on including in the measure. The measure faces a difficult road in the Senate, where it needs 60 votes to advance. . Even among Senate Democrats, the level of support was still uncertain. In the House, 20 Democrats joined 150 Republicans in voting "no," while 32 Republicans sided with 205 Democrats to back the bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it represented "tough love" for U.S. auto companies, and "giving a chance — this one more chance — to this great industry." The White House, struggling to sell the package to congressional Republicans, said earlier that a carmaker bankruptcy could be fatal to the autoAir Jordan 17 industry and have a devastating impact on workers, families and the economy. "We believe the legislation developed in recent days is an effective and responsible approach to deal with troubled automakers and ensure the necessary restructuring occurs," said Dana Perino, the White House press secretary.

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Barack Obama chose a general sacked by the Bush administration for doubting its Iraq war strategy for his cabinet yesterday to appeal to leftwing supporters. Obama, in announcing the selection of Eric Shinseki, as veterans' affairs secretary, made it clear that he saw the choice as vindication of a general whose advice - had it beencheap runescape gold heeded - could have reduced the toll of the Iraq war. Shinseki, who was army chief of staff only to be disregarded and later vilified by Pentagon chief at the time, Donald Rumsfeld, and the deputy defence secretary, PaulAir Jordan 18 Wolfowitz, for telling Congress in February 2003 that keeping order in Iraq after the invasion would need several hundred thousand troops. "No one will ever doubt that this former army chief of staff has the courage to stand up for our troops and our veterans," Obama told a press conference in Chicago announcing the appointment yesterday. The choice of Shinseki could go some way in warhammer itemssatisfying opponents of the Iraq war disappointed at the appointment of Hillary Clinton, who voted for the invasion, as secretary of state, and the decision to keep on George Bush's Pentagon chief, Robert Gates. It was announced on a day when Obama offered his bleakest assessment to date of the economic crisis. "The economy is going to get worse before it gets better," he told NBC television. He announced the biggest public works expenditure in half a century in his weekly radio on video address on Saturday, saying there would be projects to improve roads and bridges, make public schools more energy efficient, and computerise medical records. He said he was focused on projects that wouldAir Jordan 13 create the most jobs in short order, saying the economy was like a critically ill patient who needed a blood transfusion for survival. Shinseki, 66, is a decorated combat veteran warhammer cd keyand lost most of his right foot in Vietnam. He is the highest ranking general of Asian-American descent, and his cabinet announcement appeared timed yesterday to coincide with the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbour. The general earned the wrath of Rumsfeld when he told Congress that it might take several hundred thousand US troops to control Iraq after the invasion. The deputy defence secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, said Shinseki's assessment was "wildly off the mark". Both men boycotted Shinseki's retirement ceremony. George Bush acknowledged Shinseki was correct Air Jordan 14 when he ordered the surge into Iraq in 2007. His appointment was seen yesterday as further vindication. "It was wrong for the Bush Administration to mistreat him the way it did," Carl Levin, the chairman of the armed services committee told Fox television. He said the choice of Shinseki was a signal that Obama would tolerate dissenting views. Richard Shelby, a Republican Senator for Alabama, also praised the choice. It could also shore up morale among veterans. Air Jordan 15 The Bush Administration has been accused of underestimating the numbers of wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

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By Randall Mikkelsen

WASHINGTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The United States runescape power levelinghas done too little to fight the spread of weapons of mass destruction, U.S. Vice President-elect Joe Biden said on Wednesday, as he got a congressional report warning of their pressing threat. Biden's appearance reflected what was likely to be a continuing interest in weapons issues in the administration of President-elect Barack Obama, an aide said. "We're not doing all we can to prevent the world'swarhammer powerleveling most lethal weapons from winding up in the hands of terrorists," Biden told reporters at Obama's Washington transition headquarters. As he met with members of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, Biden said he looked forward to talking to Obama "about the steps our administration should be taking to make this country more secure." Biden was accompanied by Arizona Gov. JanetAir Jordan 18 Napolitano, Obama's pick to be Secretary of Homeland Security when he takes over as president from George W. Bush on Jan. 20. Biden, a veteran Delaware senator known for congressional connections and foreign policy experience, has kept a low profile as Obama's number two since the Nov. 4 election and given little indication of his potential focus in the job. He did not respond to a reporter who asked whetherrunescape power leveling he had made any decisions about his new role. Biden's spokesman Elizabeth Alexander said weapons of mass destruction issues "have been an area of great concern to the vice president-elect throughout his career and he will continue to be active and involved on them in the administration." WARNING OF ATTACK BY 2013 The report, details of which leaked out before its Air Jordan 13release on Wednesday, was mandated by Congress last year in line with recommendations by an earlier commission on the Sept. 11 attacks by al Qaeda militants in 2001. It warned that "unless the world community acts decisively and with great urgency, it is more likely than not that a weapon of mass destruction will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world by the end of 2013." The attack was more likely to be biological than nuclear, it said. A source involved with the report said the attack could be as small as a single anthrax-tainted letter. The report recommended steps that included tightening supervision of U.S. biological laboratories, strengthening international nuclear nonproliferation agreementsAir Jordan 14 and discouraging financial incentives for civilian nuclear power. It also called for a threat of "direct action" to back up diplomacy aimed at stopping Iran and North Korea from developing a nuclear arsenal. "The report clearly shows that the United States must act urgently, deliberately and in concert with nations across the globe," Napolitano said. "I know that it's the priority of the Obama-Biden administration." But the report drew skepticism from at least one potential member of the Obama administration. "It's time to retire the fear card," said Democrat Jane Harman, head of a Homeland Security subcommittee on intelligence and terrorism risk in the House of Representatives. Harman, seen as a potential pick by Obama for aAir Jordan 15 top intelligence post, said Congress had already taken significant steps. Commission member Henry Sokolski, a former senior Defense Department nonproliferation official, wrote in an "additional views" paper on the commission's website that he feared the report gave too little attention to preventing more countries from acquiring nuclear weapons, which he called the most significant near-term danger. (Editing by John O'Callaghan)

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Israel-India relations / Strong, but low key

By Anshel Pfeffer The visit of Indian Defense Minister Vijay Singh to Israel three weeks ago as head of a high-ranking military delegation passed quietly and was barely mentioned in Jordan 13 the local media. The press releases said the officials discussed security-related purchases, including the sale of three Phalcon aircraft radar systems, manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries, as well as missiles, helicopters, maintenance equipment and unmanned aerial vehicles. In therunescape powerleveling past decade, India has acquired Israeli weapons systems to the tune of $8 million. However, two other issues were also on the table which were no less important: cooperation between Israel and India against Islamic terrorism, and the two countries' concern - along with that of other Western nations - over the expected dissolution of Pakistan, India's historic enemy and the first, and so far only,Islamic nuclear power. "Our security cooperation with the Indians is excellent - there is simply no other way to put it," said a senior Israeli security official this week, who stressed thatwarhammer time cart it is necessary to silence all criticism here against the Indian security forces' response to the terrorwarhammer accounts rampage in Mumbai. Relations between Israel and India tend to grow stronger when tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad rise, or when India experiences a rightward shift in anti-Muslim public opinion or in leadership. The incident that cemented diplomatic relations between the countries was the 1999 war between India and Pakistan over the Kargil area of Kashmir when, Jordan 14according to foreign news reports, then-Defense Ministry director general Amos Yaron arrived in India with an emergency shipment of artillery shells. Diplomatic relations were officially established in 1991 during the long tenure of the Indian National Congress, but when the nationalist BJP party was at the helm, from 1998 to 2004, those ties blossomed. That period also saw the historic visit of then-prime minister Ariel Sharon to India in 2003. The INC is now in power again, and continues to maintain Jordan 15 warm relations with Jerusalem, but prefers to keep details of them discreet, partly because it has Muslim members. Singh's visit, consequently, was decidedly low key. Israel is prepared to do many things to maintain its relations with India. For example, in 2005, when the conversion in India of the Bnei Menashe community (residents of India's northeast, who claim to be descended of the lost Israelite tribe of Menashe) sparked controversy among local religious leaders, the government was urged to stop the conversions abroad, Jordan 13 and instead conducted them in Israel once the new immigrants arrived. The harsh criticism leveled within India at the current government for its handling of the Mumbai attacks bode ill for the INC, which is likely to lose again to the BJP in general elections at the start of 2009. If that happens, relations between Israel and India will likely only grow stronger.

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