an Israeli security source said.

Israeli West Bank raid sparks clashes with Palestinians

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli forces raided the West Bank city of Jenin in search of a suspected Palestinian militant on Thursday, setting off clashes with residents who threw rocks and petrol bombs at them, an Israeli security source said.

It was the second time this week that Israeli forces had entered the Jenin area to detain suspects.

On Tuesday, Israeli soldiers disguised as Palestinians raided the village of Tamoun, arresting a member of the Islamic Jihad group. Several dozen Palestinians were injured in ensuing clashes, medical officials said.

In Thursday's incident, the soldiers clashed with some 500 Palestinians, forcing them out of Jenin, the security source said. An elderly Palestinian woman was slightly injured by a dog used by Israeli forces during the operation.

A military source said a Palestinian was arrested in Thursday's raid - though not the suspect in whose pursuit Israel had launched the operation. The source did not give further details on the detainee.

Jenin is under the control of the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank under interim peace accords with Israel.

Israel has reserved the right to carry out its own operations against militants in the West Bank.

(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Louise Ireland, Jeffrey Heller and Jason Webb)

according to documents filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Subaru recalls vehicles for lighting issue

(Reuters) - Subaru is recalling as many as 634,000 vehicles in the United States for potential lighting problems that could lead to smoke or fire, according to U.S. safety regulators.

The recall by Subaru, owned by Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd, potentially affects some Forester vehicles from model years 2009 through 2012, all Legacy and Outback vehicles from model years 2010 through 2012, and some Tribeca vehicles from model years 2006 through 2012, according to documents filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The 633,842 vehicles potentially affected by the recall may be equipped with accessory puddle lights that when lit brighten the areas under the doors, according to NHTSA documents.

A Subaru spokesman said the recall involves only 53,999 cars equipped with the lights, but the wider number of owners must be alerted because the company does not know which cars have them.

There have been no reports of accidents or injuries related to the issue, but there was one report of smoke, the spokesman said.

A short circuit can develop when the light or connector are exposed to an electrolytic moisture source such as road spray that has road salt in it, the NHTSA said. That can cause heat that could melt the plastic, resulting in smoke or fire.

Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will install an additional harness, the NHTSA said. The recall is expected to begin next month.

(Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

Once in the lab

Science in Ice: Lab Operates Inside a Glacier

Nearly 700 feet (more than 200 meters) under the Svartisen glacier in northern Norway, researchers are huddled together underground. In the world's only lab located inside one of these giant hunks of ice, they are carrying out some of the best experiments on the movement and composition of glaciers ever done.

The lab, operated by the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate, is located above the Arctic Circle. It started out as a tunnel for hydropower, but then researchers persuaded the hydropower company to dig out one small extra tunnel just for them and created a valuable in-site lab.

Normally to get access to the base of a glacier, it is necessary to drill a borehole through the ice. Doing so involves a huge logistics operation and also means that researchers can work only where the surface ice isn't too badly cracked. Using the new lab, researchers can visit exactly the same location at the glacier bed each time — and it's much easier for them to get access to the base.

But the in-site lab comes with its own set of challenges.

Icy challenges

To access the remote workspace, researchers have to fly to a small northern Norwegian town, then drive for hours, take a ferry, walk along a dirt road and up a mountain. From the entrance to the tunnel, it's another mile-plus trek up a set of stairs to the lab. It's a one-hour walkin total when conditions are good, but when there is fresh snow to trudge through on the way to the entrance, the slog can take four to five hours. [See images of the glacier lab .]

To get to different parts of the glacier bed to study how the ice slides over the rock beneath, the researchers melt additional 30- to 40-foot-long (9 to 12 m) tunnels using hot water. "The water is heated up in a large hot-water heater that is in the main tunnel. The hot water is then pumped up the ice tunnel," said Miriam Jackson, a senior research scientist and glaciologist with the directorate. Melting a glacier from the inside out is a slow process — creating one ice tunnel takes around 24 to 48 hours.

Working under the glacier instead of the cold surface protects the researchers from some challenges, but it's still a tough environment.

"Some people find the stress of being in the tunnel system a challenge, and although this is unusual, tempers can occasionally fray, especially for groups that have limited experience of glaciological fieldwork," Jackson said.

Seismic signals and sliding

Once in the lab, the scientists continue their work in trying to get a read on how glaciers move and how they drain throughout the year, as well as how glaciers impact sea level rise by contributing melt water to the oceans. The laboratory is also being used to test and develop theories about the seismic signals — similar to those measured from earthquakes — that moving glaciers send.

"We can put the seismic instruments in the tunnel system, they are a lot nearer to the base of the ice, whereas normally scientists must put the instruments on the surface, even when they are studying what is happening at the base," Jackson told OurAmazingPlanet.

The team only does research in the wintertime to avoid meltwater, and the research area has room for up to six people sharing four bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom and a shower in addition to three laboratories, a walk-in freezer, a workshop and a water heater. Most of the time there are only three to four people in the labfor a period of six to seven days between November and April.

Recent experiments measured the resistance to sliding at the base of the glacier and found that most of the resistance is due to the friction between the debris-rich ice and the bedrock — a finding that was a surprise. Previously researchers thought that ice flow past particular obstacles in the bedrock provided most of the resistance to friction of the glacier.

The ice tunnel labs provide the researchers with more than just a research site, though.

"One of the most surprising things is the beauty," Jackson said. "Each time we melt out an ice tunnel it is equally entrancing."

Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter @OAPlanet. We're also on Facebook and Google+.

Tracking a Retreating Glacier Ice World: Gallery of Awe-Inspiring Glaciers The Power of Ice: Glacier Erosion Copyright 2013 OurAmazingPlanet, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Average tax increase

How tax increases will affect households

The tax package passed by Congress will prevent one set of tax increases from hitting the vast majority of Americans, but it won't stop them all. A temporary Social Security payroll tax reduction is expiring, hitting nearly every wage earner, and income taxes on the wealthy are going up too.

How the tax increases will affect households at different income levels:

___

Annual income: $20,000 to $30,000

Average tax increase: $297

___

Annual income: $30,000 to $40,000

Average tax increase: $445

___

Annual income: $40,000 to $50,000

Average tax increase: $579

___

Annual income: $50,000 to $75,000

Average tax increase: $822

___

Annual income: $75,000 to $100,000

Average tax increase: $1,206

___

Annual income: $100,000 to $200,000

Average tax increase: $1,784

___

Annual income: $200,000 to $500,000

Average tax increase: $2,711

___

Annual income: $500,000 to $1 million

Average tax increase: $14,812

___

Annual income: More than $1 million

Average tax increase: $170,341

___

Source: Tax Policy Center

"Oil companies keep saying they can conquer the Arctic

Storm impedes salvage of grounded drilling ship
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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — High seas and strong winds prevented crews from boarding an oil drilling ship to check for any damage after the large vessel went aground off an uninhabited island in the Gulf of Alaska.

A Coast Guard plane and a helicopter flew over the Kulluk on Tuesday, but severe weather didn't permit putting marine experts on board the drilling rig, which had grounded on a sand and gravel beach in stormy seas.

Federal on-scene response coordinator Capt. Paul Mehler said the Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig is carrying about 143,000 gallons of diesel and about 12,000 gallons of lube oil and hydraulic fluid, and appeared stable.

"There is no sign of a release of any product," Mehler said during a news conference.

A team of company, Coast Guard and local officials said they were mobilizing spill response equipment and preparing a plan in the event of a spill in the Partition Cove and Ocean Bay areas of the island. The area is home to at least two endangered species, as well as harbor seals, salmon, and sea lions.

The storm eased Tuesday, with gusts up to 35 mph and waves up to 30 feet high, and similar conditions were expected Wednesday. Officials were hoping to get marine experts onboard to take photos and videos, and then come up with a more complete salvage plan once weather permits.

The goal was to get salvagers aboard the Kulluk and the ship refloated, Mehler said.

Mehler said a team of about 500 people was working on a plan, "with many more coming."

A Shell official said the drilling rig was built with a double-sided hull of reinforced steel that is 3 inches thick. It recently had undergone $292 million in improvements before being put into service for a short time this summer in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska's north coast.

It was being towed to Seattle for maintenance last week when it separated from a towing vessel south of Kodiak Island. Repeated attempts to maintain towing lines were unsuccessful as a severe storm passed through the area. By Monday night, tow boats guided the rig to a place where it would cause the least environmental damage and cut it loose. It grounded off the southeast side of uninhabited Sitkalidak Island, which is near the larger Kodiak Island in the gulf.

U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, expressed his concerns in a statement Tuesday.

"Oil companies keep saying they can conquer the Arctic, but the Arctic keeps disagreeing with the oil companies," Markey said. "Drilling expansion could prove disastrous for this sensitive environment."

Sean Churchfield, operations manager for Shell Alaska, said once the situation is under control, an investigation will be conducted into the cause. He did not know whether the findings would be made public.

The Coast Guard said it would be investigating and would make its findings public.

___

Associated Press staff writers Dan Joling in Anchorage and Donna Blankinship in Seattle contributed to this story.

who has been a vocal critic of medical device companies

Doctor urges limited use of Boston Scientific's new device

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Boston Scientific Corp's new leadless implantable heart defibrillator, hailed by some as a breakthrough, should be used on a limited basis until more data are collected, a prominent cardiologist wrote in an editorial of a top medical journal.

Leads, or wires that carry electrical pulses from the defibrillator - which is implanted in the chest - to the heart have always been the weak link in these systems, used to treat irregular heart beats. All of the device makers have had problems at one time or another with leads.

Boston Scientific bought the leadless technology, known as a subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or S-ICD, when it acquired Cameron Health last year. The Cameron device was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the fourth quarter.

"The S-ICD has not yet been shown to be safe and effective in a diverse patient population," Robert Hauser wrote in the January issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Hauser, of the Minneapolis Heart Institute, who has been a vocal critic of medical device companies, also noted that the leadless ICD has not even been shown to be as good as the traditional ICDs that use leads.

He said the technology is a promising one that could fill important gaps, especially by bringing it to countries where facilities to implant traditional devices is not available, but more data are needed first.

"Unless critical questions with regard to safety and efficacy in primary and secondary prevention are addressed, the S-ICD should be confined to certain subgroups," he said.

Dr. Ken Stein, Boston Scientific's Chief Medical Officer for Cardiac Rhythm Management, said there was more in Hauser's editorial that he agreed with than disagreed with.

"But it was approved by the FDA as being safe and effective," he noted in a telephone interview. "It's an alternative for physicians to consider. We agree there are absolutely some patient populations that shouldn't get it," he said.

For example, patients who have a slow heartbeat or uncoordinated pumping function should not get it because the S-ICD cannot pace a slow heart beat or resynchronize contractions of the heart's ventricles. On the other hand, the S-ICD may be a better choice for patients who are at risk for sepsis, a severe blood infection.

"For some patient populations, this is the best option," Stein said. "Somewhere in that middle ground is where the line should be drawn."

Stein said the company is currently running clinical trials and registers that will render more data, some of which will be presented in the spring at the Heart Rhythm Society meeting.

Wells Fargo analyst Larry Biegelsen called the S-ICD technology "transformational" but said this first generation device is likely to be a niche product.

"We estimate the eligible S-ICD opportunity is currently about 14 percent of the total worldwide ICD market, but estimate penetration will be low due to limitations of the first generation device," he wrote in a research note.

Biegelsen estimated worldwide sales of the S-ICD device to be $46 million in 2013. Boston Scientific had sales of $5.4 billion in the first nine months of 2012.

(Reporting By Debra Sherman; Editing by Bernard Orr and Nick Zieminski)

Biden and McConnell may have saved the day with their long working relationship.

‘Fiscal cliff’ deal leaves everyone bruised, but some more so than others

The bill to avoid the "fiscal cliff" is finally passed and signed by President Barack Obama, and the culmination of intense negotiations between Republicans and Democrats seems to have left nearly everyone unhappy—or, at most, begrudgingly grateful that some kind of deal was reached.

Unlike elections, the legislative process doesn't always offer a clear winner and loser, and the battle over how to avoid nearly $600 billion in painful spending cuts and tax increases was no exception. But some escaped with fewer cuts and bruises than others. Here are the "winners" and "losers"—terms we use loosely.

'Winners'

President Barack Obama: The president took a beating from his own party two years ago when he cut a deal with Republicans that temporarily extended income tax rates for all income earners set by former President George W. Bush. This time, Obama refused to budge on one of his main campaign promises to increase taxes on wealthy taxpayers. As part of this deal, the income tax rate for individual earners above $400,000 and families earning above $450,000 will increase.

The president, however, failed to hold together a "grand bargain" with Republicans in what could have been a major opportunity to address ballooning entitlement spending and tax reform. But in the grand scheme of things, Democrats seemed to have come out on top.

Former President George W. Bush: The final language of the bill left many of Bush's tax rates in place. The passage suggests that there is bipartisan agreement that income tax rates on the middle-income earners should not increase. Also, taxes on capital gains and dividends will remain at 15 percent for income earners below the $400,000 threshold.

While the bill that Bush championed during his presidency had an expiration date, the tax rates set under the fiscal cliff deal are permanent.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Vice President Joe Biden: While Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid found it difficult to play nice during the negotiations, Biden and McConnell may have saved the day with their long working relationship. (Before joining the Obama administration, Biden served with McConnell in the upper chamber from 1985-2009.) Known as "the McConnell whisperer" because of his ability to work with the minority leader, Biden was able to communicate the president's message in a way Obama could not.

Indeed, it was not until Biden stepped in during the final days of negotiations that it looked as though an agreement would be reached.

Unemployed Americans reliant on federal programs: Federal benefits for Americans who have been without work for more than 26 weeks will be extended for one year, although the provision is not offset by spending decreases elsewhere.

Hollywood: The bill extended a tax break to the film and television entertainment industry for one more year. The tax incentive is meant to encourage production companies to film in the U.S. The provision costs federal coffers $430 million in potential revenue—which is something to remember when you spend $15 on a movie ticket.

'Losers'

House Speaker John Boehner: Although Boehner's efforts helped avoid the potential disaster of going over the fiscal cliff, much was conceded. Obama was able to increase federal spending and raise taxes, outcomes that many Republicans worked tirelessly to avoid. The process showed that Boehner still lacks control over his caucus, which largely rejected his own proposal. This includes his own deputies, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia and House Whip Kevin McCarthy of California, who voted against the final deal that Boehner helped negotiate.

The federal deficit: Compared with what would have happened had the federal government gone completely over the fiscal cliff—including the millions in tax increases and spending cuts that would have reduced the deficit but possibly plunged the nation into another recession—the new deal increases the deficit about $4.6 trillion over 10 years. "Washington missed this magic moment to do something big to reduce the deficit, reform our tax code and fix our entitlement programs," said Campaign to Fix the Debt co-founders Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson in a joint statement.

Grover Norquist: The founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform says the fiscal cliff deal is not a violation of his group's anti-tax pledge. (Almost every Republican member of Congress signed a pledge never to raise tax rates.) But compared with tax rates in 2012, the final deal increases federal revenue by about $600 billion over 10 years and most Americans will receive less take-home pay in the new year.

While Norquist isn't technically calling the vote for the deal a vote for a tax increase, it is the first time since the George H.W. Bush administration that so many Republicans have approved such a broad tax hike.

Workers who will pay more into the payroll tax: The deal does not extend the payroll tax holiday, which means the federal government will take 6.2 percent from paychecks, as opposed to the  4.2 percent rate in 2012.