Cain criticizes Obama on space exploration (AP)

ATLANTA ? Republican Herman Cain criticized President Barack Obama for canceling the space shuttle program ? a decision actually made by President George W. Bush ? as NASA shifts its focus on travel farther from Earth's orbit.

In a speech Saturday to young Republicans, the Georgia business executive was silent about sexual harassment accusations that have jolted his presidential campaign. Four women have accused Cain of sexually harassing them when he led the National Restaurant Association more than a decade ago; two of them filed complaints. Cain has denied wrongdoing.

In his speech, Cain praised President John F. Kennedy as a "great leader" for inspiring a national effort to put a man on the moon, a goal achieved when astronaut Neil Armstong stepped onto the moon's surface in 1969.

"He didn't say, `We might.' He didn't say, `Let's take a poll,'" Cain said. "He said, `We will.' And we did. Only for this president to move us back by canceling a major part of our space program."

Cain also criticized Obama for using Russian technology to ferry astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station.

"I can tell you that as president of the United States, we are not going to bum a ride to outer space with Russia," Cain said to loud applause. "We're going to regain our rightful place in terms of technology, space technology."

Cain was talking about U.S. plans, now that the space shuttle is retired, to use Russian rockets to send astronauts to the International Space Station. In the meantime, NASA is focused on explorations deeper in space.

It was Bush who decided in 2004 to retire the space shuttle program. The Republican president still supported sending astronauts to the moon and Mars.

Obama, once in office, dropped the goal of a moon mission. Instead, NASA has plans to build a giant rocket capable of sending astronauts to an asteroid and eventually Mars. It wants to outsource to private companies the task of ferrying astronauts and cargo to the space station ? a job previously performed by the space shuttle.

Until private companies are ready, NASA will keep buying seats on Russian Soyuz capsules to get astronauts to the space station. The cost per person to fly on a Soyuz is expected to rise from $56 million to $63 million, which is still cheaper than flying on the shuttle.

Cain did not explain how he thinks the United States should explore outer space and did not take questions from reporters afterward.

Cain spoke in advance of a Republican debate Saturday in South Carolina focused on foreign policy.

__

Ray Henry can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/rhenryAP.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111112/ap_on_el_pr/us_cain2012

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Not-so-great expectations for presidents in year 4 (AP)

Washington ? President Barack Obama's "we can't wait" refrain is all about projecting a sense of urgency and bold action heading into his fourth year in office. It turns out other presidents haven't had much luck with that.

The fourth year is often a disappointment, particularly when a president facing re-election is trying to coax action out of a Congress in the hands of the other party. The heady optimism of earlier years gets bogged down in partisan bickering, and big initiatives give way to less ambitious steps.

Bill Clinton, chastened by huge GOP gains in the 1994 congressional elections, ended up tacking to the center in his fourth year, a remarkable transformation captured in his 1996 acknowledgment that "the era of big government is over." Clinton, helped by a solid economy, did enough to get re-elected, but it was a year largely characterized by small-bore initiatives like school uniforms and neighborhood curfews.

George H.W. Bush, frustrated that he couldn't get action out of a Democratic Congress on his economic proposals, opened his fourth year in 1992 with words akin to Obama's:

"My friends: The people cannot wait," he said in his State of the Union address that January. "They need help now."

By that November, voters in a down economy were tired of waiting for help, and gave the president's job to Clinton. Bush's heralded leadership of the Desert Storm coalition that expelled Iraq's invasion forces from Kuwait in 1991 had slipped from people's attention by then.

The second President Bush, in his fourth year, had the benefits of banner economic growth and a Republican-controlled Congress. That allowed him to deliver his fourth tax cut in four years just a month before Election Day 2004.

"The law I sign this morning comes at just the right time for America," Bush said as he signed the bill in the leadoff caucus state of Iowa.

The time was just right for his re-election campaign, too, he might have added.

Bush's larger accomplishments, though, came earlier in his term: education reform, big tax relief packages and managing the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. He took the country into war in Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003.

Each president has faced his own set of challenges and advantages as his first term wound down.

Franklin Roosevelt still had steam in his fourth year, as he continued to advance portions of his New Deal, and voters re-elected him in 1936 by a lopsided margin. Lyndon Johnson, who opted not to seek re-election in 1968, was slowing down but still managed to get through fair housing legislation. Jimmy Carter's fourth year was dominated by the Iranian hostage crisis and continuing inflation, and so voters denied him a fifth. Ronald Reagan had a strong economy working for him in 1984, and was rewarded with a second term.

Overall, the track record of recent presidents in year four is somewhat depressing, says Princeton University historian Julian Zelizer.

"It is possible to govern in the fourth year, whether you're popular or unpopular" he says, "but it's obviously much more limited, usually, in terms of what you can get."

Calvin Mackenzie, a presidential historian at Colby College in Maine, says the problem for sitting presidents is bigger than simply fourth-year blues.

"The system is stacked against effective presidential leadership," says Mackenzie. "In everything that involves economic and domestic policy, the president is circumscribed by constraints everywhere he turns."

Obama doesn't need a historian to tell him that: The Republican-controlled Congress has made it clear that the president's big jobs package won't go anywhere, forcing the president to plead for bite-size pieces and look for chunks that he can put in place on his own.

"We can't wait for Congress to do its job," he said in on recent speech. "If they won't act, I will."

But in the same speech, he acknowledged a countervailing truth, saying: "The only way we can attack our economic challenges on the scale that's needed is with bold action by Congress."

Obama's tone, a year out from the 2012 elections, is sharply different than when he spoke exactly one year out from Election Day 2008.

Then, he spoke optimistically of "an opportunity to deal with those challenges that we haven't met for decades because of a political system in Washington that has failed the American people."

"I'm running because I don't want to wake up one morning four years from now and turn on one of those cable talk shows and see that Washington is stuck in the same food fight that it's been in for over a decade."

Well, it's four years later, and Obama can point to some big accomplishments, such as health care reform, and winding down the war in Iraq.

But the partisan divide in Washington is as broad as ever, hemming in the president's opportunities for further action and leaving many voters feeling disappointed.

And Mackenzie says the president must take a share of the blame for raising expectations unrealistically high.

"The problem is we do expect much ? and presidents encourage us to expect much," Mackenzie says. "So we've got this awful paradox of rising expectations and diminishing ability of presidents to meet those expectations. So we're constantly disappointed in our presidents."

___

Nancy Benac can be followed at http://twitter.com/nbenac.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111114/ap_on_el_pr/us_obama_year_four

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Corzine Resigns from MF Global, Retains Defense Attorney (Michellemalkin)

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Man City keeps 5-point lead

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updated 5:09 p.m. ET Nov. 5, 2011

LONDON - Manchester City defeated Queens Park Rangers 3-2 Saturday on Yaya Toure's goal with 16 minutes left to stay in first place by five points in the English Premier League.

Manchester United looked set to close the gap on its city rival. But goals by Edin Dzeko and David Silva were offset by Jay Bothroyd and Heidar Helguson, and Toure headed in Alexsandr Kolarov's left-wing cross to give the team its 10th win in 11 league games.

United beat Sunderland 1-0 to mark Alex Ferguson's 25th anniversary as manager, while Chelsea kept in contention with a 1-0 win at Blackburn.

"It was a long day," Ferguson said. "I was worried we wouldn't play well. I thought we were anxious. Sometimes these emotional occasions ? which for me it was ? get through to them."

The lone goal came in the final minute of the first half when defender Wes Brown headed a ball into his own net. He was making his return to his former club after leaving in July.

Ferguson walked onto the field through a guard of honor formed by United and Sunderland. A crowd of 75,570 gave Ferguson an ovation and chief executive David Gill announced the north stand was being renamed after him.

"I never expected that," Ferguson said. "It was a real surprise."

Chelsea scored on Frank Lampard's 50th-minute header and recorded its first shutout since opening day to stay within four points of second-place United. Newcastle remained unbeaten in third place after a 2-1 win over Everton. Arsenal's resurgence continued with a 3-0 win over West Bromwich Albion.

___

ROME (AP) ? Palermo pulled within three points of the Italian league lead with a 3-1 win over Bologna.

Eran Zahavi put Palermo ahead on a rebound 13 minutes into the game. Matias Silvestre made it 2-0 with a header in the 52nd and Josip Ilicic finished a counterattack to make it 3-0 in the 75th. Gaston Ramirez scored for Bologna in the 87th.

Palermo remained perfect at home with its fifth consecutive win under new coach Devis Mangia, who was promoted from the youth squad after Stefano Pioli's dismissal. Pioli was at the match as manager of Bologna.

Juventus leads with 19 points, with Udinese and Lazio next with 18 each. AC Milan has 17 and Palermo 16. Bologna remained 14th with 10 points.

___

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) ? Sevilla was held to a 0-0 draw at Mallorca on a rain-soaked field in the Spanish league.

Mallorca's Emilio Nsue came closest to breaking the deadlock with a long strike in the 40th that Sevilla goalkeeper Javi Varas was able to parry.

Sevilla's fifth draw in five road games this season left the club three points behind fourth-place Valencia.

___

BERLIN (AP) ? Claudio Pizarro scored a hat trick to help Werder Bremen rally to a 3-2 Bundesliga win over Cologne, while defending champion Borussia Dortmund routed Wolfsburg 5-1.

Christian Clemens and Lukas Podolski put Cologne up 2-0 at the half. Pizarro scored after a goalmouth scramble in the 49th, then tied it with a penalty kick five minutes later after Cologne had a player sent off. He sealed the victory in 86th minute.

Dortmund, Bremen and Borussia Moenchengladbach, which won 2-1 at Hertha Berlin, are all two points behind leader Bayern Munich. Bayern plays at relegation-threatened Augsburg on Sunday.

___

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) ? Nikica Jelavic had a hat trick to give Rangers a 3-1 win over Dundee United and a 12-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premier League.

Jelavic scored a 19th-minute header from Matt McKay's cross and converted a 63rd-minute penalty kick. Jon Daly got a goal back for Dundee before Jelavic struck his third goal for the defending champions.

Second-place Motherwell plays Celtic on Sunday. Celtic is three points behind Motherwell.

___

ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? Olympiakos took over first place in the Greek league by beating winless Aris 3-2.

Rafik Djebbour and Francois Modesto scored in the first half and Jean Makoun added a third goal in the second half for visiting Olympiakos. Carlos Toja and Ricky Faty scored for Aris.

Olympiakos has 17 points from seven games. Panathinaikos, which hosts AEK on Sunday and idle Atromitos, are a point behind.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Man City keeps 5-point lead

Roundup: Manchester City defeated Queens Park Rangers on Yaya Toure's goal with 16 minutes left to stay in first place in the EPL.

Glyn Kirk / AFP - Getty Images

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45174848/ns/sports-soccer/

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AUTOMOTIVE - DRIVEN: Genesis 3.8 R-Spec Delivers

Maybe it?s a bit rough around the edges, but Hyundai?s Genesis Coupe 3.8 R-Spec is a completely enjoyable and fun-to-drive sports coupe at a price nearly anybody can afford.

It goes fast, it handles and it looks cool. And with a bottom line under $27,000, Hyundai once again shows how much car you can buy on a budget.

A small badge on the rear is the only identification of the R-Spec tuning. (Photo: Hyundai) While most automakers save such labels as R-Spec for their top offerings, Hyundai chose it to define its entry-level performance car, delineating it from the mid-level Grand Touring model with all its high-tech refinement and the top-dog Track model, which incorporates all the good stuff from both models.

The R-Spec, then, becomes the no-nonsense hot rod stripped of non-essentials, lightened for performance and focused on driving fun. The result is edgy enough for track-day prowess and refined enough for daily driving, although with some extra harshness.

Power is provided by Hyundai?s 3.8-liter V6 with variable valve timing that generates 306 horsepower and 266 pound-feet of torque driven through the rear wheels with a Torsen-type limited-slip differential. Power delivery is strong with a wide torque curve that feels ready to rip at any speed.

Fuel-conscious drivers can opt for a 2-liter turbocharged R-Spec with 210 horsepower. And I understand that a 5-liter V8 is being pondered for the near future. The 2-liter R-Spec starts at $22,250, which is a striking bargain.

Wide 19-inch alloys and performance tires add to the distinctive styling of the Genesis Coupe. (Photo: Hyundai) R-Spec is enhanced with a firm track-tuned suspension for better cornering and powerful Brembo disc brakes on all four corners, with four-piston calibers up front. Nineteen-inch alloy wheels are fitted with serious performance rubber.

The coupe dives into corners with impressive stability and sticks to the curves like a proper sports car, balanced and controlled. It?s nicely responsive to throttle steer, which would make it a blast to drive on a competitive road course. On two-lane back roads, it charges along through curves and elevation changes like a champ.

The tradeoff is a fairly buffeting ride that can turn harsh on rough road surfaces. I found it mostly acceptable and even agreeably sporty, but some drivers and, especially, their passengers might find it a bit much. Sometimes, I did, too.

In the test car, the V6 was routed through a close-ratio six-speed manual, with no automatic option offered on the R-Spec. The shifting and the clutch action were somewhat dicey, though, with a notchy feel to the shifter and weirdly mushy takeup in the clutch. It worked well enough but not really up to snuff with the competition.

Source: http://automotive.speedtv.com/article/driven-genesis-38-r-spec-delivers/

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West Virginia holds Big 12 welcoming party

ALTERNATE CROP OF WVDS102 - West Virginia President James Clements puts on a Big 12 Conference hat during a press conference to announce the university's entrance into the conference Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011, in Morgantown, W.Va. (AP Photo/David Smith)

ALTERNATE CROP OF WVDS102 - West Virginia President James Clements puts on a Big 12 Conference hat during a press conference to announce the university's entrance into the conference Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011, in Morgantown, W.Va. (AP Photo/David Smith)

West Virginia President James Clements speaks during a press conference to announce the university's entrance into the Big 12 Conference Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011, in Morgantown, W.Va. (AP Photo/David Smith)

West Virginia Athletic Director Oliver Luck speaks during a press conference to announce the university's entrance into the Big 12 Conference Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011, in Morgantown, W.Va. (AP Photo/David Smith)

Big 12 Conference Interim Commissioner Chuck Neinas speaks during a press conference to announce West Virginia's entrance into the conference Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011, in Morgantown, W.Va. (AP Photo/David Smith)

West Virginia President James Clements, left, talks with Big 12 Interim Commissioner Chuck Neinas following a press conference to announce the school's entrance into the conference Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011, in Morgantown, W.Va. At right are West Virginia Athletic Director Oliver Luck, second from right, and Big 12 Deputy Commissioner Tim Weiser. (AP Photo/David Smith)

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) ? Interim Big 12 Commissioner Chuck Neinas said Tuesday he fully expects West Virginia to start play next season despite a hard-line stance from the Big East.

Neinas attended a reception in Morgantown officially welcoming the Mountaineers into the Big 12 on Tuesday, a day after the university filed a lawsuit against the Big East seeking to clear the way for West Virginia to start Big 12 competition next fall.

Neinas, West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck and university President James Clements were peppered with questions about the lawsuit and the timetable on the Mountaineers' Big 12 debut.

"I'm not concerned because I trust the two gentlemen on each side of me, that's why," Neinas said.

The Big East has said it plans to keep West Virginia from leaving for 27 months under the league's bylaws.

Luck and Clements declined comment on the lawsuit. Filed in Monongalia County Circuit Court, it seeks to declare the Big East bylaws invalid, claiming the conference breached its fiduciary duty to West Virginia by failing to maintain a balance between football-playing and non-football members.

When Neinas was asked what happens if the Big East is successful in delaying West Virginia's quick exit, "then I guess for the first time in college football history, we'll have home and home" schedules, he joked. "Oklahoma State told me they don't want to play Oklahoma twice."

On a serious note, Neinas said: "We fully expect West Virginia will be there."

Neinas, Luck and Clements tried to keep the focus on the Big 12's newest member during the packed reception at the school's football stadium, which included a pep band playing the Mountaineers' fight song. Neinas even wore a striped gold tie and blue shirt in West Virginia's school colors.

Neinas said West Virginia's entrance into the Big 12 was contingent on the university being available next year.

"We needed a 10th member next season to fulfill our TV commitments," Neinas said. "There's an inventory that goes with a contract for TV, so we've got to be able to do that."

He said the immediate availability wasn't a deciding factor in West Virginia being chosen over Louisville, which briefly entered the picture last week before the choice of the Mountaineers was solidified.

West Virginia becomes the Big 12's easternmost member, joining Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, TCU and Iowa State. Missouri, which was left off the Big 12's list of members for 2012-13, is expected to finalize a move to the Southeastern Conference soon.

Neinas said Missouri is considered a Big 12 member until it withdraws and the league will accommodate 11 football teams if necessary.

"We can do it," Neinas said. "We don't have it on paper. But our computers will work out to provide a schedule that will accommodate 11 teams."

West Virginia wouldn't simply move into Missouri's Big 12 football schedule if the Tigers leave.

Instead, "we're going to have to redo the schedule for a variety of reasons," Neinas said. "We're going to have to do some adjusting."

Clements reiterated his commitment to getting started in a new conference.

"We were a very proud member of the Big East for a long time. And a good member," Clements said. "But now it's all about the Big 12. And we're thrilled to be a member of the Big 12. It is a great conference. It's strong. It's stable. From an academic standpoint. From a leadership standpoint. We couldn't feel better. The stuff with the Big East will work itself out."

Luck said West Virginia has started the complex process of reviewing details related to athletic department expenses and revenue as a Big 12 member along with looking at next season's nonconference football schedule.

"There are a lot of things we don't know yet," Luck said. "Clearly the television payout is much bigger than it is in the Big East, but we also would have additional travel expenses."

The issues also include finding a home for West Virginia's men's soccer team. The Big 12 doesn't sponsor the sport. Teams in rifle, wrestling and women's gymnastics at West Virginia compete in other conferences besides the Big East.

"We're just becoming familiar with the bylaws of the Big 12," Luck said. "There's lots of details we have to look at, but we'll get to that in due time and we'll make prudent decisions based on the best interests of our student-athletes and our university."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-11-01-West%20Virginia-Big%2012/id-a37df520ae794dad86be0547575c00a7

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Palestine becomes member of UNESCO

Permanent delegate of the US to UNESCO David Killion, center, reacts as delegates vote on the Palestinian membership, during a session of UNESCO's 36th General Conference, in Paris, Monday Oct. 31, 2011. Palestine became a full member of the U.N. cultural and educational agency Monday, in a highly divisive move that the United States and other opponents say could harm renewed Mideast peace efforts. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Permanent delegate of the US to UNESCO David Killion, center, reacts as delegates vote on the Palestinian membership, during a session of UNESCO's 36th General Conference, in Paris, Monday Oct. 31, 2011. Palestine became a full member of the U.N. cultural and educational agency Monday, in a highly divisive move that the United States and other opponents say could harm renewed Mideast peace efforts. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Delegates cheer after they approved the membership in a vote of 107-14 with 52 abstentions, during the session of UNESCO's 36th General Conference, in Paris, Monday Oct. 31, 2011. Palestine became a full member of the U.N. cultural and educational agency Monday, in a highly divisive move that the United States and other opponents say could harm renewed Mideast peace efforts. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Delegates cheer after they approved Palestine's membership in a vote of 107-14 with 52 abstentions, during the session of UNESCO's 36th General Conference, in Paris, Monday Oct. 31, 2011. Palestine became a full member of the U.N. cultural and educational agency Monday, in a highly divisive move that the United States and other opponents say could harm renewed Mideast peace efforts. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Palestinian school girls walk past a graffiti on a wall depicting UN humanitarian aid supplies, in Gaza City, Monday, Oct. 31, 2011. Palestine became a full member of the U.N. cultural and educational agency Monday, in a highly divisive move that the United States and other opponents say could harm renewed Mideast peace efforts. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

Delegates cheer after they approved the membership in a vote of 107-14 with 52 abstentions, during the session of UNESCO's 36th General Conference, in Paris, Monday Oct. 31, 2011. Palestine became a full member of the U.N. cultural and educational agency Monday, in a highly divisive move that the United States and other opponents say could harm renewed Mideast peace efforts. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

PARIS (AP) ? Palestine became a full member of UNESCO on Monday in a highly divisive breakthrough that will cost the agency a fifth of its budget and that the U.S. and other opponents say could harm renewed Mideast peace efforts.

Soon after the vote, the United States cut funding to the organization because of a U.S. law that bars funding an organization that has Palestine as a member before an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal is reached.

That decision will have an immediate effect: The United States won't make a $60 million payment scheduled for November, according to State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

UNESCO depends heavily on U.S. funding ? Washington provides 22 percent of its budget or about $80 million a year ? but has survived without it in the past: The United States pulled out of UNESCO under President Ronald Reagan, rejoining two decades later under President George W. Bush.

Monday's vote is a grand symbolic victory for the Palestinians, but it alone won't make Palestine into a state. The issues of borders for an eventual Palestinian state, security troubles and other disputes that have thwarted Middle East peace for decades remain unresolved.

Huge cheers went up in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization after delegates approved the membership in a vote of 107-14 with 52 abstentions. Eighty-one votes were needed for approval in a hall with 173 UNESCO member delegations present. In a surprise, France voted "yes" ? and the room erupted in cheers and applause ? while the "no" votes included the United States, Israel, Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany.

"Long live Palestine!" someone shouted in the hall, in French, at the unusually tense and dramatic meeting of UNESCO's General Conference.

Even if the vote's impact isn't felt right away in the Mideast, it will be quickly felt at UNESCO, which protects historic heritage sites and works to improve world literacy, access to schooling for girls and cultural understanding, but it also has in the past been a forum for anti-Israel sentiment.

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova welcomed the decision, but said that she worried it could put the agency in a precarious position.

"It is my responsibility to say that I am concerned by the potential challenges that may arise to the universality and financial stability of the organization," said Bokova, who has led a drive to reform the institution. "I am worried we may confront a situation that could erode UNESCO as a universal platform for dialogue. I am worried for the stability of its budget."

Before the State Department announcement, White House spokesman Jay Carney called UNESCO's decision "premature" and said it undermines the international community's goal of a comprehensive Middle East peace plan. He called it a distraction from the goal of restarting direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Democrats and Republicans in Washington also criticized the vote. U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement, "Today's reckless action by UNESCO is anti-Israel and anti-peace."

Aside from the U.S. funding cut, Israel's Foreign Ministry said it "will consider its further ... cooperation with the organization" after Monday's vote.

Palestinian officials are seeking full membership in the United Nations, but that effort is still under examination and the U.S. has pledged a veto unless there is a peace deal with Israel. Given that, the Palestinians separately sought membership at Paris-based UNESCO. All the efforts are part of a broader push by the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas for greater international recognition in recent years.

"Joy fills my heart. This is really an historic moment," said Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki. "We hope that today's victory at UNESCO marks but a beginning. Our admission to UNESCO is not an alternative, is no substitute for something else."

In the Gaza Strip, Abbas' rival, the militant Hamas government, also praised the UNESCO decision, saying that Hamas' confrontational approach toward Israel was behind the vote.

"It also indicates that the Palestinian cause is getting more support while American policy is regressing," said Hamas official Salah Bardawil.

UNESCO, like other U.N. agencies, is a part of the world body but has separate membership procedures and can make its own decisions about which countries belong. Full U.N. membership is not required for membership in many of the U.N. agencies.

Monday's vote is definitive, and the membership formally takes effect when Palestine signs UNESCO's founding charter.

Israel's outspoken foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said before the vote that if it passed, Israel should cut off ties with the Palestinian Authority. It was not clear whether he was voicing an individual opinion or government policy. He has a history of making comments embarrassing to the prime minister.

In an address to parliament, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu harshly criticized the Palestinians move.

"Unfortunately, the Palestinians continue to refuse to negotiate with us. Instead of sitting around the negotiating table, they have decided to form an alliance with Hamas and take unilateral steps at the U.N., including today," Netanyahu said. He warned his government would "not sit quietly."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said it is up to member states "to ensure the United Nations system as a whole a consistent political and financial support."

"As such, we will need to work on tactical solutions to preserve UNESCO's financial resources," he said. He urged a negotiated solution to Mideast peace.

Ghasan Khatib, spokesman for the Palestinian government in the West Bank, urged the United States to keep UNESCO funding.

"We look at this vote as especially important because part of our battle with the Israeli occupation is about the occupation attempts to erase the Palestinian history or Judaizing it. The UNESCO vote will help us to maintain the Palestinian traditional heritage," he said.

Israel's ambassador to UNESCO, Nimrod Barkan, called the vote a tragedy. "They've forced a drastic cut in contributions to the organization," he said.

"UNESCO deals in science, not science fiction," he said. "They forced on UNESCO a political subject out of its competence."

____

Associated Press writers Angela Charlton in Paris, Dalia Nammari in Ramallah, Edith Lederer at the United Nations, Joe Federman in Jerusalem contributed.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-10-31-UNESCO-Palestinians/id-ccf6008b99eb4251b422391d05c4dcd1

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