No Powerball Winner; Jackpot Grows to $425 Million

Nov 25, 2012 10:37am

                                                                (Image Credit: Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo)

The Powerball jackpot has swelled to $425 million, the largest in the lottery’s history, after no tickets matched the winning numbers in a drawing Saturday night.

The Powerball numbers for Saturday were 22-32-37-44-50, and the Powerball was 34.

Iowa Lottery spokeswoman Mary Neubauer said the jackpot could get even bigger before Wednesday, because sales tend to increase in the run-up to a big drawing.

The previous top windfall was $365 million. The jackpot was claimed by eight co-workers in Lincoln, Neb., in 2006.

PHOTOS: Biggest Lotto Jackpot Winners

While millions of Americans can have fun dreaming about how they’d spend the jackpot, the odds of winning are 1 in 175,000,000, according to lottery officials.

To put that in perspective, a ticket holder is 25 times less likely to win the jackpot then they are to win an Academy Award.

Even still, the old saying holds true: “You’ve got to be in it to win it.”

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Egypt stocks plunge after Mursi power grab

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's stock market plunged on Sunday in its first day open since Islamist President Mohamed Mursi's seizure of new powers set off street violence and a political crisis, unraveling efforts to restore stability after last year's revolution.

More than 500 people have been injured in protests since Friday, when Egyptians awoke to news Mursi had issued a decree temporarily widening his powers and shielding his decisions from judicial review.

Mursi and the judiciary hinted at compromise to avert a full-scale political crisis.

The Supreme Judicial Council said Mursi's decree should apply only to "sovereign matters". Although it did not specify what that meant, its statement, read on television, suggested it did not reject his decree outright. It called on judges and prosecutors who have called for a strike to return to work.

Mursi's office repeated assurances that the measures would be temporary, and said he wanted dialogue with political groups.

"This declaration is deemed necessary in order to hold accountable those responsible for corruption as well as other crimes during the previous regime and the transitional period," the presidency said in a statement.

Justice minister Ahmed Mekky, who has said he has some reservations over Mursi's decree, launched an effort to mediate between Mursi and judges.

Sunday's stock market fall of nearly 10 percent - halted only by automatic curbs - was the worst since the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak in February, 2011.

Images of protesters clashing with riot police and tear gas wafting through Cairo's Tahrir Square were an unsettling reminder of that uprising. Activists were camped in the square for a third day, blocking traffic with makeshift barricades. Nearby, riot police and protesters clashed intermittently.

Mursi's supporters and opponents plan big demonstrations on Tuesday that could be a trigger for more street violence.

"We are back to square one, politically, socially," said Mohamed Radwan of Pharos Securities, an Egyptian brokerage firm.

Mursi's late Thursday decree marks an effort to consolidate his influence after he successfully sidelined Mubarak-era generals in August. It reflects his suspicions of a judiciary little reformed since the Mubarak era.

Issued just a day after Mursi received glowing tributes from Washington for his work brokering a deal to end eight days of violence between Israel and Hamas, the decree drew warnings from the West to uphold democracy. Washington has leverage because of billions of dollars it sends in annual military aid.

"The United States should be saying this is unacceptable," former presidential nominee John McCain, ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on Fox News.

"We thank Mr. Mursi for his efforts in brokering the cease fire with Hamas.... But this is not what the United States of America's taxpayers expect. Our dollars will be directly related to progress toward democracy."

Forged out of the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood, the Mursi administration has defended his decree as an effort to speed up reforms that will complete Egypt's democratic transformation.

Yet leftists, liberals, socialists and others say it has exposed the autocratic impulses of a man once jailed by Mubarak.

"There is no room for dialogue when a dictator imposes the most oppressive, abhorrent measures and then says 'let us split the difference'," prominent opposition leader ElBaradei said on Saturday in an interview with Reuters and the Associated Press.

Floating one possible way out of the crisis, political scientist Moataz Abdelfattah said he had told Mursi's advisors that the president should issue an "explanatory memo" outlining what he would and would not do with the decree.

WARNINGS FROM WEST

Investors had grown more confident in recent months that a legitimately elected government would help Egypt put its economic and political problems behind it. The stock market's main index had risen 35 percent since Mursi's victory. It closed on Sunday at its lowest level since July 31.

Political turmoil also raised the cost of government borrowing at a treasury bill auction on Sunday.

"Investors know that Mursi's decisions will not be accepted and that there will be clashes on the street," said Osama Mourad of Arab Financial Brokerage.

Just last week, investor confidence was helped by a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund over a $4.8 billion loan needed to shore up state finances.

Mursi's decree removes judicial review of decisions he takes until a new parliament is elected, expected early next year.

It also shields the Islamist-dominated assembly writing Egypt's new constitution from a raft of legal challenges that have threatened it with dissolution, and offers the same protection to the Islamist-controlled upper house of parliament.

"I am really afraid that the two camps are paving the way for violence," said Hassan Nafaa, a professor of political science at Cairo University. "Mursi has misjudged this, very much so. But forcing him again to relinquish what he has done will appear a defeat."

Many of Mursi's political opponents share the view that Egypt's judiciary needs reform. Mursi's new powers allowed him to sack the prosecutor general, a holdover from the Mubarak era who is unpopular among reformists of all stripes. But his liberal critics see the decree as a threat to democracy.

"What is confusing is that it seems the revolutionaries are meshing with the remnants of the old regime," said Nafaa.

(Additional reporting by Yasmine Saleh in Cairo and Philip Barbara in Washington; Editing by Peter Graff)

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Republicans ease on tax as US budget talks resume

WASHINGTON: As Congress prepared to dive back into "fiscal cliff" talks on Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday, there were encouraging signs that Republican intransigence on tax could be easing.

For the second time in days, a leading Republican, this time Senator Lindsey Graham, edged toward violating something that had been sacrosanct -- a longstanding pledge signed by many in his party never to raise taxes.

Strings were attached -- concessions by Democrats on social welfare programs like health care for the elderly. But his change of heart was a hopeful sign that the Republican leadership is ready to make tough choices in order to strike a deal.

Both Republicans and Democrats are well aware of the need for the country to get its fiscal house in order, as America tries to rein in a huge debt that has been growing bigger by the day and reduce deficit spending.

If no deal is reached before the end of the year, a poison pill law of tax hikes and massive spending cuts, including slashes to the military, comes into effect with potentially catastrophic effects for the fragile US economy.

After months of stalemate, congressional leaders met on November 16 with President Barack Obama -- who is deemed to have a considerably stronger negotiating hand after handily winning re-election 10 days earlier.

Just five weeks now remain in the calendar year to conclude an agreement before the expiration of tax cuts put in place during the presidency of Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush.

Obama has said that any deal he concludes would have to include an increase in taxes on wealthy taxpayers, something congressional Republicans so far have rejected.

The plan he proposes -- and presented to voters on the campaign trail -- would raise the tax rate for top earners, but keep Bush-era tax rates for individuals who make less than $200,000 per year and families earning less than $250,000.

Republicans insist raising taxes on the wealthy would be counter-productive and only serve to slow economic growth and ensure that the country continues to be plagued by economic stagnation.

They insist that higher taxes would dampen spending and hiring and investment by business owners.

The top income tax rate, which now stands at 35 percent, will automatically revert to 39.6 percent at the beginning of 2013 unless there is a new budget deal.

Republicans say they prefer to look at ways to bring in more tax revenue by completely overhauling the old and unwieldy US tax code, including closing what they say are "special interest loopholes" likely to hit the poor and the middle class as well as the rich.

Graham, speaking Sunday on ABC's "This Week" program, said it was fair to ask his party to do this in turn for Democratic concessions on reducing government spending on social welfare programs, known here as entitlements.

"When you're $16 trillion in debt, the only pledge we should be making to each other is to avoid becoming Greece, and Republicans -- Republicans should put revenue on the table," Graham said.

He was alluding to Grover Norquist, a powerful conservative political player in the US budget debate, who over the past two decades has persuaded many Republicans to sign a pledge not to raise taxes.

"I want to buy down debt and cut rates to create jobs, but I will violate the pledge, long story short, for the good of the country, only if Democrats will do entitlement reform," Graham said.

Graham's apparent willingness to ignore the no higher taxes pledge came just days after another prominent US senator, Saxby Chambliss, said he would not be not bound by the promise either.

"I care more about my country than I do about a 20-year-old pledge," Chambliss said.

Economists have said that closing loopholes and ending deductions will likely not generate sufficient money to chip away at the national debt, and that a combination of tax increases and spending cuts will be needed.

Speaking on the same program as Graham, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin insisted that tax rates for the highest earners do have to up.

"How in the world are you going to reduce deductions and generate enough revenue for meaningful deficit reduction," Durbin said.

Some experts said that there need not be a "grand deal" by the end of the year, because they could give themselves an extension by passing new legislation.

"Anytime Congress puts handcuffs on itself, it still has the key to those handcuffs. It can open the handcuffs anytime they want, or say. 'OK, we'll change the lock'," said Roberton Williams at the Tax Policy Center, an independent think tank.

-AFP/ac

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Mamata intolerant, wants only yes men: Katju

KOLKATA: Terming West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as "intolerant", Press Council of India chairman Markandey Katju Sunday said she only wants "yes men" around her. However, he praised her for feeling for the 'aam aadmi'.

"I had praised her earlier...She has got the good quality of integrity. I think she feels for the aam aadmi," said Katju.

"But she must realise that in democracy you have to act in a democratic manner. This is the defect in her. She is very intolerant," he said at a Calcutta Press Club programme.

The press council chief's criticism of the chief minister came on a day the local media reported about the disciplinary proceedings launched against an Indian Police Service officer for writing two books critical of the government.

"She is not prepared to listen to others. You have to listen to others. Ultimately you take the decision yourself, but after getting good advice," said Katju, a retired Supreme Court judge.

Quoting Chanakya - the shrewd minister of Maurya emperor Chandragupta - Katju said: "A good ruler is he who appoints good advisers and listens to good advisers."

He quoted a saying in Hindi which means if the king says cat has carried away the camel, you must say yes. "Yes, this is the defect of your chief minister," he said.

"She wants yes men. But you must not have yes men around you," he warned.

But Katju also said that Banerjee has shown some improvement in the state. "But she needs to improve more."

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AP PHOTOS: Simple surgery heals blind Indonesians

PADANG SIDEMPUAN, Indonesia (AP) — They came from the remotest parts of Indonesia, taking crowded overnight ferries and riding for hours in cars or buses — all in the hope that a simple, and free, surgical procedure would restore their eyesight.

Many patients were elderly and needed help to reach two hospitals in Sumatra where mass eye camps were held earlier this month by Nepalese surgeon Dr. Sanduk Ruit. During eight days, more than 1,400 cataracts were removed.

The patients camped out, sleeping side-by-side on military cots, eating donated food while fire trucks supplied water for showers and toilets. Many who had given up hope of seeing again left smiling after their bandages were removed.

"I've been blind for three years, and it's really bad," said Arlita Tobing, 65, whose sight was restored after the surgery. "I worked on someone's farm, but I couldn't work anymore."

Indonesia has one of the highest rates of blindness in the world, making it a target country for Ruit who travels throughout the developing world holding free mass eye camps while training doctors to perform the simple, stitch-free procedure he pioneered. He often visits hard-to-reach remote areas where health care is scarce and patients are poor. He believes that by teaching doctors how to perform his method of cataract removal, the rate of blindness can be reduced worldwide.

Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness globally, affecting about 20 million people who mostly live in poor countries, according to the World Health Organization.

"We get only one life, and that life is very short. I am blessed by God to have this opportunity," said Ruit, who runs the Tilganga Eye Center in Katmandu, Nepal. "The most important of that is training, taking the idea to other people."

During the recent camps, Ruit trained six doctors from Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.

Here, in images, are scenes from the mobile eye camps:

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'Honey Trap' Professor Convicted of Drug Smuggling

A court in Argentina has convicted an Oxford educated University of North Carolina professor of attempting to smuggle four pounds of cocaine into the United States.

Paul Frampton, a 68-year-old esteemed professor of physics and astronomy, says he thought he was flying to South America to meet with a bikini model but ended up getting caught in what they call a "honey trap."

Frampton flew to Bolivia from North Carolina earlier this year after communicating with someone who claimed to be Denise Milani, winner of Miss Bikini World 2007. She never showed up.

Instead, Frampton says he was met by a man who gave him a suitcase, identifying himself as an intermediary for Milani, and instructing him to take it to her in Argentina.

PHOTOS: Sex, Spies and Scandal

Once there, he says he could not find her and decided to board a plane home, with that suitcase in hand. Police opened it up at the airport and found more than four pounds of cocaine inside.

"He has a high IQ, is well-known and very distinguished in the field of physics and other scientific areas, but when it comes to common sense he scored a zero," said former DC homicide investigator Rod Wheeler.

The Argentinean court sentenced Frampton to serve four years and eight months in custody after prosecutors there presented evidence of text messages they say Frampton sent to the person he thought was the model, saying, "I'm worried about the sniffer dogs," and "I'm looking after your special little suitcase."

READ: UNC Professor Held in Argentina on Drug Charges Wants Raise From University

The University of North Carolina has cut off Frampton's salary in a move that prompted dozens of his colleagues at the university to sign a letter of protest to administrators.

"As more information about his case becomes available ... it becomes more and more obvious that Paul was the innocent, although very gullible, victim of a scam," the joint letter said.

Many wrote separate letters of reference on a website they created to support the embattled professor, who is hoping to serve his time under house arrest in Argentina at a friend's apartment.

From prison Frampton has said, "It does seem unfair that an innocent scam victim is treated as a professional drug smuggler."

Frampton's Argentinean lawyer told ABC News she would have no comment until having a chance to review the judge's complete ruling, which she expects to be released early next week.

However, it appears this is not the first time Frampton has been in hot water over a woman.

The Telegraph, a London based paper that serves Great Britain , reported that friends say he once met another woman online and flew to China to marry her. This time, the woman was real, but after seeing Frampton, she reportedly canceled the wedding.

If you have a story you would like told you can email correspondent Mark Greenblatt at mark.p.greenblatt@abc.com.

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Egypt's Mursi faces judicial revolt over decree

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi faces a rebellion from judges who accused him on Saturday of expanding his powers at their expense, deepening a crisis that has triggered calls for more protests following a day of violence across Egypt.

Judges in Alexandria, Egypt's second city, threatened to go on strike until it was revoked, and there were calls for the "downfall of the regime" - the rallying cry in the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak - during a meeting of judges in Cairo.

Mursi's opponents and supports - representing the divide between newly empowered Islamists and a more secular-minded opposition - have called rival demonstrations on Tuesday over his decree that has triggered concern in the West.

Issued late on Thursday, it marks an effort by Mursi to consolidate his influence after he successfully sidelined Mubarak-era generals in August. It defends from judicial review decisions taken by Mursi until a new parliament is elected in a vote expected early next year.

It also shields the Islamist-dominated assembly writing Egypt's new constitution from a raft of legal challenges that have threatened the body with dissolution, and offers the same protection to the Islamist-controlled upper house of parliament.

Egypt's highest judicial authority, the Supreme Judicial Council, said the decree was an "unprecedented attack" on the independence of the judiciary.

Youths clashed sporadically with police near Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the uprising that toppled Mubarak in 2011, following Friday's violence in which more than 300 people were injured across Egypt. Activists camped out for a second day in the square, setting up makeshift barricades to keep out traffic.

POLARISATION

Liberal, leftist and socialist parties called a big protest for Tuesday to force Mursi to row back on a decree they say has exposed the autocratic impulses of a man once jailed by Mubarak.

In a sign of the polarization in the country, the Muslim Brotherhood - the group that propelled Mursi to power - called its own protests that day to support the president's decree.

At least three Brotherhood offices were attacked on Friday.

"We are facing a historic moment in which we either complete our revolution or we abandon it to become prey for a group that has put its narrow party interests above the national interest," the liberal Dustour Party said in a statement.

Mursi also assigned himself new authority to sack the prosecutor general - a Mubarak hold over - and appoint a new one. The dismissed prosecutor general, Abdel Maguid Mahmoud, was given a hero's welcome by several thousand judges who attended the session of Egypt's Judges' Club in Cairo on Saturday.

Ahmed al-Zind, head of the Judges' Club, introduced Mahmoud by his old title, in open defiance of Mursi's decree.

The Mursi administration has defended the decree on the grounds that it aims to speed up a protracted transition from Mubarak's rule to a new system of democratic government.

Analysts say it reflects the Brotherhood's suspicion towards sections of a judiciary unreformed from Mubarak's days.

"It aims to sideline Mursi's enemies in the judiciary and ultimately to impose and head off any legal challenges to the constitution," said Elijah Zarwan, a fellow with The European Council on Foreign Relations.

"We are in a situation now where both sides are escalating and its getting harder and harder to see how either side can gracefully climb down."

RIOT POLICE

Following a day of violence in Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said and Suez, the smell of teargas hung over Tahrir Square.

A handful of hardcore activists hurling rocks battled riot police in the streets near the square, where several thousand protesters massed on Friday to demonstrate against the decree that has rallied opposition ranks against Mursi.

Al-Masry Al-Youm, one of Egypt's most widely read dailies, hailed Friday's protest as "The November 23 Intifada", invoking the Arabic word for uprising. "The people support the president's decisions," declared Freedom and Justice, the newspaper run by the Brotherhood's political party.

The ultraorthodox Salafi Islamist groups that have been pushing for tighter application of Islamic law in the new constitution have rallied behind the decree.

The Nour Party, one such group, stated its support for the Mursi decree. Al-Gama'a al-Islamiya, which carried arms against the state in the 1990s, said it would save the revolution from what it described as remnants of the Mubarak regime.

Mursi is facing the biggest storm of criticism since he won the presidential election in June.

Samir Morkos, a Christian assistant to Mursi, had told the president he wanted to resign," said Yasser Ali, Mursi's spokesman. "The president has spoken to him today but the decision to resign is yet to be taken," Ali told Reuters.

Mursi addressed his supporters outside the presidential palace on Friday. He said opposition did not worry him, but it had to be "real and strong".

Mursi is now confronted with a domestic crisis just as his administration won international praise for mediating an end to the eight-day war between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

"The decisions and declarations announced on November 22 raise concerns for many Egyptians and for the international community," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

The European Union urged Mursi to respect the democratic process, while the United Nations expressed fears about human rights.

(Additional reporting by Omar Fahmy, Marwa Awad and Reuters TV; Editing by Alison Williams)

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Police drama wins best picture at Chinese-language 'Oscars'

ILAN, Taiwan: A Chinese police drama featuring a cast of amateur actors on Saturday became the surprise best picture winner at Taiwan's annual Golden Horse Awards, dubbed the Chinese-language "Oscars."

"Beijing Blues," directed by Gao Qunshu and about plain cloth police hunting down thieves and con artists in Beijing, also bagged best cinematography and best film editing awards.

"This is really unexpected... I am only an amateur director who shot a few films. I didn't expect that I'd have anything to do with the Golden Horse," said Gao at the ceremony in Ilan county in northeastern Taiwan.

Acclaimed Hong Kong director Johnnie To's financial drama "Life Without Principle" also fared well, collecting best director for To, best leading actor for Lau Ching-wan and best original screenplay.

Lau played a simple and honest gangster in the movie that centers on the characters' struggles between money and principles in the midst of a financial crisis in Hong Kong.

To was absent from Saturday's ceremony while Lau, a first-time Golden Horse winner, dedicated the award to his family in a brief speech.

Taiwan's Gwei Lun-mei was crowned best leading actress for her role as a wilful and frustrating woman in the love story "Gf*Bf", also released as "Girlfriend Boyfriend".

"This award is a major encouragement for me. I love making films very much and I will continue to work hard," said Gwei, her voice cracking with emotion. Gwei became the first Taiwanese to take the title in six years.

Hong Kong singer-actor Ronald Cheng won best supporting actor for his role in "Vulgaria" while Liang Jing from China took best supporting actress for playing a mid-wife in the black comedy "Design of Death".

Chinese social satire "Mystery," directed by Lou Ye, only collected best new performer for actress Qi Xi and best original film score despite leading the race with seven nominations.

"Mystery" marked Lou's first film after he was banned from film-making for five years for showing his politically-charged love story "Summer Palace" at the Cannes Film Festival without government approval in 2006.

More than 30 films from Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong were nominated in the 49th edition of the Golden Horse Awards, styled after the US Academy Awards but decided by a jury along the lines of the Cannes festival.

Winners of Taiwan's 49th annual Golden Horse Film Awards

Best Picture: Beijing Blues

Best Director: Johnnie To (Life Without Principle)

Best Leading Actor: Lau Ching-wan (Life Without Principle)

Best Leading Actress: Gwei Lun-mei (Gf*Bf)

Best Supporting Actor: Ronald Cheng (Vulgaria)

Best Supporting Actress: Liang Jing (Design of Death)

Best New Director: Chang Jung-chi (Touch of the Light)

Best New Performer: Qi Xi (Mystery)

Best Original Screenplay: Milkyway Creative Team, Au Kin Yee, Wong King Fai (Life Without Principle)

Best Screenplay Adaptation: Bao Jingjing (Love Is Not Blind)

Best Cinematography: Wu Di (Beijing Blues)

Best Visual Effects: Wook Kim, Frankie Chung, Josh Cole (Flying Swords of Dragon Gate)

Best Art Direction: Lin Mu (Design of Death)

Best Make-up/Costume Design: Stanley Cheung (The Bullet Vanishes)

Best Action Choreography: Chin Ka Lok (Motorway)

Best Film Editing: Yang Hongyu (Beijing Blues)

Best Original Film Score: Peyman Yazdanian, Johann Johannsson (Mystery)

Best Original Film Song: Do Re Mi (Romancing in Thin Air)

Best Sound Effects: Kinson Tsang, Lai Chi Hung (Nightfall)

Best Documentary: China Heavyweight

Best Short Film: The Home Gleaners

Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year: Huang Yu-siang (Touch of the Light)

Lifetime Achievement Award: Shih Chun

-AFP/ac

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Missile launch centre to come up in coastal Andhra

HYDERABAD: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) plans to set up a missile launch site in the coastal town of Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh with an investment of Rs.1,000 crore.

DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat, who is also the scientific advisor to the defence minister, told reporters here Friday that they had asked the state government to allot 260 acres of land to set up the long-range missile testing centre.

"As soon as the government clearance comes for land, we will start creating infrastructure. It will take three years to set up the centre," he said.

The DRDO currently has launch facilities at the Chandipur-on-Sea and Wheeler Island at Balasore in Odisha and they are used to test fire the long-range Agni series, Prithvi and other shorter range missiles.

Saraswat said the proposed facility at Machilipatnam would complement the test range in Balasore.

It would be used for launching long-range missiles and also in carrying out tests for the Ballistic Missile Defence Shield wherein multiple missiles need to be launched for trials.

As the proposed site in Rajhamundry falls under the Krishna-Godavari basin, the ministry of petroleum had raised energy and security issues in view of oil and gas exploration activity in the area.

The scientific advisor, however, said the DRDO had resolved issues with the petroleum ministry. "We have amicably sorted out the issue with them," he said.

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AP PHOTOS: Simple surgery heals blind Indonesians

PADANG SIDEMPUAN, Indonesia (AP) — They came from the remotest parts of Indonesia, taking crowded overnight ferries and riding for hours in cars or buses — all in the hope that a simple, and free, surgical procedure would restore their eyesight.

Many patients were elderly and needed help to reach two hospitals in Sumatra where mass eye camps were held earlier this month by Nepalese surgeon Dr. Sanduk Ruit. During eight days, more than 1,400 cataracts were removed.

The patients camped out, sleeping side-by-side on military cots, eating donated food while fire trucks supplied water for showers and toilets. Many who had given up hope of seeing again left smiling after their bandages were removed.

"I've been blind for three years, and it's really bad," said Arlita Tobing, 65, whose sight was restored after the surgery. "I worked on someone's farm, but I couldn't work anymore."

Indonesia has one of the highest rates of blindness in the world, making it a target country for Ruit who travels throughout the developing world holding free mass eye camps while training doctors to perform the simple, stitch-free procedure he pioneered. He often visits hard-to-reach remote areas where health care is scarce and patients are poor. He believes that by teaching doctors how to perform his method of cataract removal, the rate of blindness can be reduced worldwide.

Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness globally, affecting about 20 million people who mostly live in poor countries, according to the World Health Organization.

"We get only one life, and that life is very short. I am blessed by God to have this opportunity," said Ruit, who runs the Tilganga Eye Center in Katmandu, Nepal. "The most important of that is training, taking the idea to other people."

During the recent camps, Ruit trained six doctors from Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.

Here, in images, are scenes from the mobile eye camps:

Read More..