Chavez back in Venezuela, on Twitter with four million followers

CARACAS (Reuters) - After Hugo Chavez spent two months out of the public eye for cancer surgery in Cuba, the Venezuelan government hailed his homecoming on Monday and said the president had achieved another milestone - 4 million followers on Twitter.

The 58-year-old flew back from Havana before dawn and was taken to a military hospital. No new details were given on his health, and there were no images of his arrival. Officials say his condition remains delicate.

The normally loquacious socialist leader, who is struggling to speak as he breathes through a tracheal tube, took to Twitter with a passion back in April 2010, tweeting regularly and encouraging other leftist Latin American leaders to do likewise.

His @chavezcandanga account quickly drew a big mixed following of fans, critics and others just curious to see how his famously long speeches and fiery anti-U.S. invective would work within the social media network's 140-character limit.

But as he fought the cancer and underwent weeks of grueling chemotherapy and radiation therapy, he began to tweet less and less frequently, before stopping altogether on November 1.

Early on Monday morning, he made his reappearance.

"It was 4:30, 5 a.m. He got to his room and surprised everyone: rat-tat-tat, he sent three or four messages, and at that moment fireworks began to go off around the country," Vice President Nicolas Maduro said in a televised cabinet meeting.

During the day, Maduro added, the president's number of followers had shot up to well over four million.

"It's incredible, in just a few hours ... he's the second most-followed president in the world (after Barack Obama), and the first if we make the comparison by per capita," he said.

Obama has more than 27 million Twitter followers and is No. 5 most followed globally. Chavez is Twitter's No. 190 globally.

4TH MILLION FOLLOWER

Maduro said Chavez's four millionth follower was a 20-year-old single Venezuelan woman named Alemar Jimenez from the gritty San Juan neighborhood in downtown Caracas, near the military hospital where the president arrived earlier in the day.

"She's one of the golden generation of youth who support the fatherland and have been waiting with growing love for commander Hugo Chavez," Maduro said, before presenting a dazzled-looking Jimenez to the cameras and giving her a bunch of flowers.

"We were really emotional" she said, recounting how she was with her mother when they heard Chavez had returned. "I sent him a message on Twitter saying he must get better."

There are still big questions over the president's health. He could have come back to govern from behind the scenes, or he may be hoping to ease political tensions and pave the way for a transition to Maduro, his preferred successor.

Chavez has often ordered followers to fight back against opposition critics of his self-styled revolution by using social media, leading from the front himself on Twitter and referring to the Internet as a "battle trench."

As his ranks of followers grew, Chavez said he hired 200 assistants to help him respond to messages - which he said were a great way to receive first-hand the requests, demands, complaints and denunciations of citizens in the thousands.

During his re-election campaign last year, the government launched an SMS text message service that forwards his tweets to cellphones that lack Internet service, broadening their reach to the poorest corners of the South American country.

"He's a communication revolution!" Maduro said, later unbuttoning his shirt on TV to show he was wearing a T-shirt bearing Chavez's eyes emblazoned across his chest.

For the tens of thousands who signed up on Monday to follow Chavez on Twitter, it is unclear how much will be posted there in the weeks and months ahead. Venezuela's 29 million people are mostly wondering something similar.

(Additional reporting by Diego Ore; Editing by Todd Eastham)

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Shares in Australia's APN hit after directors quit

SYDNEY: Shares in Australian media firm APN News and Media plunged Tuesday after a walkout from board members over a capital raising dispute with major shareholder Ireland's Independent News and Media.

APN, owner of several Australian radio stations, billboard advertising assets, regional newspapers and some of New Zealand's top titles, said its chairman, CEO and three directors had resigned over a financial impasse.

"While the board agreed the company needed to reduce its debt, it was unable to agree on the methodology," APN said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) after the close of trading on Monday.

"Independent News and Media and its major shareholder, together with (fund manager) Allan Gray -- representing approximately 51 percent of APN's shares -- have unequivocally indicated they are opposed to a capital raising at the present time."

Australian-listed shares in the media group slumped more than 13 percent at the open Tuesday. They were down 11.11 percent in neighbouring New Zealand.

The departures had been expected, with Irish tycoon Tony O'Reilly's INM requesting the removal of six directors, including the chairman and CEO, in favour of establishing a new board. A sixth board member is to retire as planned in April.

APN had intended to launch an Aus$150 million (US$155 million) rights issue in conjunction with its full-year earnings results later this week.

Those who resigned, including chairman Peter Hunt and CEO Brett Chenoweth, had advocated this approach as consistent with "a continued focus on repositioning the publishing business and potential asset sales."

The remaining board members believed that "consideration of an equity raising should be undertaken in a time frame that allowed other options to be pursued", APN said.

"The departing directors have a different view on gearing levels to the major shareholders, and in light of their opposing position it is not tenable for them to continue."

APN intends to announce its full-year results on Thursday as planned and has begun the process of recruiting replacements to the board.

O'Reilly failed in a 2007 takeover bid for APN after shareholders rejected his Aus$3 billion offer.

APN publishes 20 daily and more than 100 other newspapers across Australia and New Zealand, including the leading New Zealand Herald national broadsheet. It owns three of New Zealand's top five radio stations.

-AFP/gn

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Google doodle does circles around Copernicus' birthday

Google doodle of Copernicus' model of the universe.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Steven Musil/CNET)

Google is invoking the name Copernicus again, but this time it's not a joke.

The Web giant is celebrating the 540th birthday of the Renaissance mathematician and astronomer who changed the way people look at the universe with a doodle. Nicolaus Copernicus, who was born in 1473, is perhaps best known his heliocentric theory, which asserted that the sun, and not the Earth, was at the center of our universe.

The doodle is a representation of Copernicus' model for the solar system -- a golden sun encircled by six planets on stylized plane.

In an effort to improve the calendar, the Catholic church appealed to Copernicus in 1514. His heliocentric theory was central to "De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium" ("On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres"), which Copernicus finished in 1530. The theory challenged the long-held belief that the Earth was the stationary center of the universe with other planets, including the sun and moon, rotating around it.

"De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium" was published in 1543, shortly before Copernicus died on May 24 at age 70. (Legend has it the first copy was placed in his hands the day he died.) After centuries of searching, his grave was located in 2005, allowing his remains to be re-interred under a tombstone that bears a representation of Copernicus' model of the solar system.

In what is widely regarded as one of the greatest Internet hoaxes, Google borrowed the great astronomer's name in 2004 in a recruiting effort for the Copernicus Center -- its new "lunar hosting and research center." The Google Copernicus Hosting Environment and Experiment in Search Engineering (G.C.H.E.E.S.E.) was described as a research center for high-density high-delivery hosting (HiDeHiDeHo).

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In Libya, justice elusive on uprising's anniversary

BENGHAZI, Libya Col. Faraj el-Dersi, who defected to the rebel side from Muammar Qaddafi's police force, was gunned down late last year on the streets of Benghazi, and he bled to death in the arms of his teenage daughter.

24 Photos

Elections in Libya

35 Photos

The life of Muammar Qaddafi

As Libya on Sunday marked the second anniversary of the start of the uprising that toppled Qaddafi, the death of el-Dersi and nearly 40 other similar slayings are seen as evidence that some in the country are too impatient for a political system that has yet to deliver justice and national reconciliation.

Suspicion in many of the killings of senior security and military officials has fallen on Islamists who were brutally suppressed under Qaddafi. Now, they have become among the most powerful groups in the new Libya, particularly in the east, with heavily armed militias at their command.

And they are settling old scores themselves, rather than wait for transitional justice — the process of society punishing or forgiving the abuses of the old regime.

Mustafa al-Kufi, a 59-year-old former prisoner and political activist, said the various post-Qaddafi governments and the current parliament are all fearful that if they head down the path of transitional justice, many members of the ruling class would be among those punished for past wrongdoing.

"This is a very pressing issue and a core demand in the street," said al-Kufi, who spent 12 years in prison under Qaddafi.

"We need to know who did what and then ask families of the victims for forgiveness. But since this didn't take place, violence will continue because there is no justice.

Like other Arab countries that ousted authoritarian leaders, Libya is now mired in a chaotic and violent transition to a new society. It is plagued by unruly and heavily armed militias that have slowly come under a unified command but remain filled with hard-liners who were in the front line in the war against Qaddafi.

The transition is further complicated by an autonomy movement in the oil-rich east, a central government too weak to exert its authority across the vast desert nation, and heavily armed Islamic extremists who are pressing to fill a power vacuum.

The civil war swept Qaddafi from power, but the bitterness and rage lingers in a country where the authoritarian government imprisoned, tortured and killed its opponents.

Hana al-Gallal, a prominent Benghazi lawyer, said allowing old regime figures to be part of the new order will only fuel more violence.

"Those whose sons were killed, their dreams shattered by the Qaddafi regime, will seek revenge when they see them back in power," she said. "The result is assassinations."

Some of the anger is directed at those who were in the old government — from low-level police officials to ex-ministers who are now police chiefs and lawmakers. That has prompted a push to prevent those with ties to the former leadership from serving in positions of power.

Libya's parliament, the General National Congress, is debating a draft bill that would bar anyone deemed to have had ties to the former regime from state institutions for 10 years. A version of the draft law published on the GNC's website last week listed 36 reasons for excluding Libyans from political life.

They include those who participated in Qaddafi's coup in 1969; members of the notorious Revolutionary Guards, which were formed to hunt down the dictator's opponents; those who took part in reform efforts in the 2000s led by Qaddafi's son, Seif al-Islam; and those who worked for leading magazines, newspapers, news agencies or served as an ambassador under Qaddafi.

The bill's supporters say such sweeping measures are needed to allow the ministries and state institutions in the fledgling democracy to develop free of the toxic influence and corruption of the Qaddafi era and to stop the cycles of bloodshed like what happened in Benghazi.

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Pistorius Case: Agent Cancels All Future Races

Oscar Pistorius won't run in any of the future races that the athlete was contracted to compete in, but the Paraylmpic gold medalist's sponsors are still supportive as he faces a murder charge, his agent said today.

The decision to cancel Pistorius' scheduled appearances was made to "allow Oscar to concentrate on the upcoming legal proceedings and to help and support all those involved as they try to come to terms with this very difficult and distressing situation," Peet Van Zyl of In Site Athlete Management said in a statement.

"I have decided that following these tragic events that we have no option but to cancel all future races that Oscar Pistorius had been contracted to compete in," Van Zyl said.

Pistorius is charged with murder in the shooting death of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. He has denied murdering her, saying the shooting was accidental, He is in jail awaiting a bail hearing on Tuesday.

Pistorius was slated to compete in races in Australia and Brazil, as well as at the Drake Relays in Iowa and the Manchester City Games in the U.K.

Van Zyl also said that Pistorius' sponsors and partners are supportive.

"I can confirm that at this point in time, all parties are supportive and their contractual commitments are maintained. They have said they are happy to let the legal process takes its course before making any change in their position," Van Zyl said in the statement.

However, M-Net movies, a subscription-funded South African television channel has pulled their ad campaign featuring Pistorius, tweeting, "Out of respect & sympathy to the bereaved, M-Net will be pulling its entire Oscar campaign featuring Oscar Pistorius with immediate effect."

The agent's announcement comes as a report appeared in South Africa's City Press that police found a bloody cricket bat in Pistorius' home, and are working to identify whose blood is on it.

Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images; Mike Holmes/The Herald/Gallo Images/Getty Images

'Blade Runner' Murder Mystery: Family Speaks Out Watch Video

'Blade Runner' on Suicide Watch After Charged With Girlfriend's Murder Watch Video

Oscar Pistorius Charged in Shooting Death of Girlfriend Watch Video

According to the paper, law enforcement sources said they are investigating whether Pistorius might have used the bat to assault Steenkamp, or whether she used it in self-defense.

Family and friends rallied to Pistorius' defense -- saying they believe the Paralympic gold medalist's story that he shot Steenkamp by accident after he mistook her for an intruder.

"When you are a sportsman, you act even more on instinct ... it's instinct -- things happen and that's what you do," Pistorius' father Henke Pistorius, 59, told The Telegraph.

The 26-year-old athlete, known as the "Blade Runner" because of the carbon-fiber blades he runs on, was charged Friday with premeditated murder.

PHOTOS: Paralympic Champion Charged With Murder

If convicted, Pistorius could face at least 25 years in jail.

"All of us saw at firsthand how close [Steenkamp] had become to Oscar during that time and how happy they were. They had plans together and Oscar was happier in his private life than he had been for a long time," Pistorius' uncle Arnold Pistorius said on Saturday.

According to South African newspaper Beeld, Steenkamp was killed nearly two hours after police were called to Pistorius' home to respond to reports of an argument at the complex.

Police said they have responded to disputes at the sprinter's residence before, but did not say whether Steenkamp was involved.

The athlete's best friend said Pistorius called him after the shooting to say "there has been a terrible accident, I shot Reeva," Justin Divaris told the Sunday People.

While his family insists he is not a murderer, prosecutors disagree.

Police sources told local media that Steenkamp was shot through the bathroom door where she may have been trying to hide to save herself.

Reeva Steenkamp

A memorial service for Steenkamp will be held in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday evening, SABC reported. Her body will be flown back for the service before being cremated, her family said.

"Her future has been cut short ... I dare say she's with the angels," said Mike Steenkamp, Reeva Steenkamp's uncle.

The South African reality show Steenkamp competed in premiered Saturday night on SABC as planned and included a special tribute to the slain law school graduate whose modeling career was starting to take off.

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Ecuador's Correa cruises to re-election victory

QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa swept to a re-election victory on Sunday that allows him to strengthen state control over the OPEC nation's economy and gives a timely boost to Latin America's alliance of socialist leaders.

The charismatic leftist had 57 percent support compared with 24 percent for runner-up Guillermo Lasso, with almost 40 percent of votes counted. The electoral authority said it did not expect the results to change significantly.

"Nobody can stop this revolution," a jubilant Correa told supporters from the balcony of the presidential palace, after claiming victory.

"The colonial powers are not in charge anymore. You can be sure that in this revolution it's Ecuadoreans in control."

The combative, U.S.-trained economist took power in 2007 and has won strong support among the poor by using booming oil revenues to build roads, hospitals and schools in rural areas and shantytowns.

"Our Ecuador needs a president like Rafael Correa. He has been strong and has not allowed anyone to intimidate him," said Julieta Moira, 46, who is unemployed, as she celebrated outside the presidential palace. "I'm very excited, happy and thankful."

Supporters also gathered in a park in the upscale north end of Quito, waving the signature neon-green flags of Correa's Alianza Pais party.

DEDICATES WIN TO CHAVEZ

Correa, 49, may now be in line to become Latin America's main anti-American voice and de facto leader of the ALBA bloc of leftist governments as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been silenced during his battle with cancer.

Correa said he dedicated his victory to Chavez.

The principal challenge in Correa's new four-year term will be wooing investors needed to boost stagnant oil production and spur the mining industry. A $3.2 billion debt default in 2008 and aggressive oil contract negotiations scared off many.

Critics view Correa as an authoritarian leader who has curbed media freedom and appointed aides to top posts in the judiciary.

"This government has not given us anything good, only insults and taxes. We're tired of all that. I'm concerned that this government has alliances with communist countries," said Celeste Guerrero, a 68-year-old pensioner in Guayaquil.

Even some supporters disapprove of his tempestuous outbursts, confrontations with media and bullying of adversaries.

But the fractured opposition failed to make a consolidated challenge. It fielded seven candidates, making it easy for Correa, and he is now on track for a decade in office.

That is rare stability in a country where three presidents were pushed from office by coups or street protests in the decade before Correa took power in 2007.

He is already the longest-serving president since the return to democracy in the 1970s following a military dictatorship.

Correa's success has hinged in part on high oil prices that allowed for liberal state spending, including boosting cash handouts to 2 million people, and spurred solid economic growth.

He is likely to continue spending heavily to maintain his popularity, but state revenues would dry up if oil prices fell.

He now hopes to diversify the economy away from its dependence on oil, in part by bringing in new investment for the mining sector. Despite promising reserves of gold and copper, mining operations have barely gotten off the ground.

In a news conference on Sunday after polls closed, Correa played down the need for more foreign investment. He insisted the ultimate goal was to ensure economic growth rather than "mortgaging" the country to bring in cash from abroad.

"We welcome foreign investment, and we're already getting plenty of it," Correa said. "Ecuador is one of the most successful economies in Latin America."

Lasso, a wealthy ex-banker and Correa's closest rival, had tried to woo voters with promises of lower taxes. He congratulated Correa on his victory but also took pride in his Creo party taking a quarter of the vote.

"We are now the second-largest political force in the country," said Lasso, who was beaming despite losing.

CONGRESS BATTLE

The other six opposition candidates included former Correa ally Alberto Acosta, former President Lucio Gutierrez and banana magnate and five-time presidential candidate Alvaro Noboa.

Pollsters say some of them focused their campaigns too much on attacking Correa and failed to put forward concrete proposals to entice voters.

Ecuadoreans also chose a new Congress on Sunday.

The Alianza Pais party was expected to win a majority in the legislature, which would let Correa push ahead with controversial reforms, including a media law and changes to mining legislation, without having to negotiate with rivals.

The results of the vote for Congress are not expected to be known for several days, but Correa said he was confident.

"I think we are going to get a majority and we will manage that majority with great responsibility," he told Latin America's Telesur TV network, set up by Chavez and his allies as an alternative to established media.

Correa never shies away from a fight, be it with international bondholders, oil companies, local bankers, the Catholic Church or media that criticize his policies.

He vowed on Sunday to expand state regulations over media groups he has called "dogs" and "hired assassins."

"One of the things we have to fix is an unethical and unscrupulous press that wants to judge, legislate and govern," Correa said. "That goes against the rule of law and we will not allow it."

His criticism of the U.S. "empire" and his clashes with foreign investors and the World Bank have fueled Correa's popularity as a strong-minded leader who stands up to foreign powers that many say meddled in Ecuador's affairs for decades.

He took the global limelight last year when he granted asylum to WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange. Critics say he did it to brush off accusations that he is curbing freedom of expression in Ecuador.

(Additional reporting by Jose Llangari and Eduardo Garcia in Quito and Yuri Garcia in Guayaquil; Editing by Kieran Murray, Andrew Cawthorne and Eric Beech)

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Yen weakens in Asia after G20 talks

TOKYO: The yen weakened in Asia after G20 finance ministers pledged not to devalue their currencies and avoided targeting Tokyo over the recent plunge in the Japanese unit.

Japan's policy of monetary easing has led to sharp falls in the value of the yen, sparking fears of a global currency war in which rival nations would drive down their currencies to gain a trade advantage.

In the past few months, the dollar has gained about 17 percent on the yen while the euro has jumped about 25 percent against the Japanese currency, leading to charges that Tokyo is manipulating the unit.

But the Japanese government and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) have denied orchestrating a devaluation of the yen, which weakened Monday to 93.81 against the dollar from 93.53 in New York on Friday.

It also lost ground against the euro, which bought 125.26 yen from 124.97 yen in US trade.

The euro also bought $1.3332, compared to $1.3360 in New York on Friday.

The G20 statement issued on Saturday said: "We will refrain from competitive devaluation," adding "we will not target our exchange rates for competitive purposes".

The pledge echoed a recent statement by the G7 richest nations. Neither named Tokyo as a currency manipulator.

The yen's return to a weakening trend -- after rising before the G20 talks on started -- signalled that "exchange rate shifts arising from appropriate domestic monetary and fiscal policies will not be criticised or challenged", National Australia Bank said in a note.

"But direct reference to currencies as a policy objective will be," it added.

"We believe this means the yen is free to weaken, but Japanese officials must refrain from being seen to be goading the yen to weaker levels."

The BoJ, under pressure from Japan's new conservative government, last month unveiled a plan for unlimited monetary easing and an ambitious target for two percent inflation as part of a bid to beat lingering deflation.

A number of senior Japanese officials have speculated publicly about the yen being over-valued based on its previous stronger levels.

Japan's efforts sparked charges of manipulation, particularly in Europe, but others have played down currency war fears, with the International Monetary Fund calling such talk "overblown".

Markets are also watching for the nomination of a new BoJ governor as traders bet that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will choose a candidate who shares his desire for policy easing.

- AFP/ir

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Why Google's stores shouldn't look so much like Apple stores

Is this really different enough?

(Credit:
Crave CNET UK)

Some engineers have never dated a real person.

They've tried to, but it's hard for them to appreciate that real people don't necessarily use data to make decisions -- especially when it comes to love.

Perhaps their most embarrassing moments come when they try to mimic what non-engineers do in order to make themselves more attractive.

This mirrors some of the little issues that the Google brand has had over the years in becoming, well, human.

When you've spent you life believing that facts are everything, it's hard to imagine that people might prefer, oh, rounded corners or that ephemeral thing sometimes known as taste.

Google has made progress through some of its advertising. The "Jess Time" ad for Chrome was one of the very best tech ads of the 2012.

Yet when Google has wandered into retail, it has either believed that all you need is online or that an offline store ought to look rather like Apple's.

This is something against which Microsoft also struggles. It was almost comical when one Microsoft employee explained to me that its store looked -- at first glance -- a lot like the Apple store because the company used the same design firm.

This week, rumors surfaced that Google wants to make the next step in coming toward humanity by having its own shopping-mall retail presence.

The evidence so far from its pop-up stores -- as the picture above shows -- is that Google isn't thinking different. Or, at least, different enough.

If it fully intends to come out to the people -- to be itself-- then instead of having nice, clean retail staff in blue T-shirts (what brand does that remind you of?), it should embrace its true heart.

It should have real house-trained nerds, replete with bedhead and bad taste clothing, there for all to see. Yes, you could have nice, normal members of staff there to translate for them.

But the purpose of a retail store isn't merely to sell. It's to create street theater. Apple has its own version. Google must find its own too.

Instead of the now almost cliched clean lines and permanent white, it should make its stores look like excitable, sophisticated college playrooms, where books about dragons and vast Hulk hands are lying about and episodes of "Star Trek" and "Game of Thrones" are playing on huge screens.

More Technically Incorrect

It should expose itself fully as a brand that came out of nerdomania by parading its nerdomanic tendencies for all to see and making it lovable.

You might think this marginally insane. You might think that I am suffering from delusions of brandy.

Yet "The Big Bang Theory" has proved to be one of the most popular TV shows, not because the nerds are hidden away, but because they are in full view, with a beautiful counterpoint in a real person called Penny.

Imagine taking your kids, your lover, or your granny into a Google store and having them actually enjoy learning something about, say, comic books or Hermann von Helmholtz.

Imagine walking in and one of the Google nerds has dressed as The Flash, Batman, or Wonder Woman for the day, yet still finds a way to sell you a fascinating
Nexus 7.

In fact, wouldn't it be an excellent human resources idea, as well as a stimulus to make more uplifting products, if every Google engineer had to spend a certain period working in a Google retail store?

Mountain View should surely mine the more lofty, fantastic elements of its reality in order to create something unique and dramatic.

Otherwise, its stores might simply be accused of being Apple rip-offs.

And you know where that will ultimately end up. Yes, in front of Judge Lucy Koh.

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2 firefighters dead, 2 hurt in Texas lodge fire

BRYAN, Texas Two Texas fire lieutenants have died of burns after battling a lodge hall fire, a city official said Saturday.

Greg Pickard and Eric Wallace, both with the department in the Central Texas city of Bryan, were in a group of firefighters responding to the blaze about midnight Friday at a Knights of Columbus hall, city spokeswoman Mary Lynne Stratta said.

The team entered the burning building but didn't emerge when ordered to evacuate, Stratta said.

Wallace, 36, died at the scene and Pickard, 54, on Saturday at a hospital in Galveston, she said.

"He called for help, said he was low on air," Stratta said of Wallace, a 13-year Bryan Fire Department veteran.

With Wallace still inside, Pickard and two other firefighters — Ricky Mantey Jr. and Mitchel Moran — were sent in to rescue him when the roof collapsed in flames, Fire Chief Randy McGregor said.

Rapid response units found the men inside the building. Mantey, 30, and Moran, 21, also were injured. They were taken to the Galveston hospital with burns. On Saturday, Stratta said they were both in serious but stable condition.

The Texas State Fire Marshal's office is investigating the cause of the fire in Bryan, about 90 miles northwest of Houston. A news release from the city said nothing was being held at the hall at the time.

"These four courageous individuals represent the best of the profession and are true heroes in every sense of the word," McGregor said.

Services for Wallace are scheduled for Thursday in Bryan, while those for Pickard, a 32-year veteran of the department, are pending.

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Meteor Blast 'Something We Only Saw in Movies'

A day after a massive meteor exploded over this city in central Russia, a monumental cleanup effort is under way.

Authorities have deployed around 24,000 troops and emergencies responders to help in the effort.

Officials say more than a million square feet of windows -- the size of about 20 football fields -- were shattered by the shockwave from the meteor's blast. Around 4,000 buildings in the area were damaged.

The injury toll climbed steadily on Friday. Authorities said today it now stands at more than 1,200. Most of those injuries were from broken glass, and only a few hundred required hospitalization.

According to NASA, this was the biggest meteor to hit Earth in more than a century. Preliminary figures suggest it was 50 feet wide and weighed more than the Eiffel Tower.

SEE PHOTOS: Meteorite Crashes in Russia

NASA scientists have also estimated the force of the blast that occurred when the meteor fractured upon entering Earth's atmosphere was approximately 470 kilotons -- the equivalent of about 30 Hiroshima bombs.

Residents said today they still can't believe it happened here.

"It was something we only saw in the movies," one university student said. "We never thought we would see it ourselves."

Throughout the city, the streets are littered with broken glass. Local officials have announced an ambitious pledge to replace all the broken windows within a week. In the early morning hours, however, workers could still be heard drilling new windows into place.

Authorities have sent divers into a frozen lake outside the city, where a large chunk of the meteor is believed to have landed, creating a large hole in the ice. By the end of the day they had not found anything.

They are not the only ones looking for it.

Meteor hunters from around the world are salivating at what some are calling the opportunity of a lifetime. A small piece of the meteor could fetch thousands of dollars and larger chunks could bring in even hundreds of thousands.

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