Town mourns for slain bus driver amid Ala. standoff

Updated 9:45 PM ET

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. As the police standoff with an Alabama man accused of holding a 5-year-old boy hostage continued Saturday, a nearby community prepared to bury the beloved bus driver who was shot to death trying to protect children on his bus when the episode began days earlier.

Charles Albert Poland Jr., 66, who was known around town as Chuck, was described by folks in his hometown of Newton as a humble hero. Hundreds of people attended a viewing service for Poland on Saturday evening. His funeral was set for Sunday afternoon.

"I believe that if he had to do it all over again tomorrow, he would," said Poland's sister-in-law, Lavern Skipper, earlier Saturday. "He would do it for those children."

Play Video

Ala. hostage standoff: New info on kidnapper

Authorities said Jim Lee Dykes boarded a stopped school bus filled with 21 children Tuesday afternoon and demanded two boys between 6 and 8 years old. When Poland tried to block his way, the gunman shot him several times and took one 5-year-old boy — who police say remains in an underground bunker with Dykes.

Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson said in a briefing with reporters Saturday that Dykes has told them he has blankets and an electric heater in the bunker on his property. Authorities have set up a command post at a church and have been communicating with Dykes through a ventilation pipe to the underground bunker.

Olson also said Dykes has allowed police to deliver coloring books, medication and toys for the boy.

"I want to thank him for taking care of our boy," Olson said. "That's very important."

The shooting and abduction took place in Midland City, a small town near Dothan, Ala., in the state's southeastern corner.

Newton is about three miles away, a small hamlet with fewer than 2,000 residents. It sits amid cotton farms and rolling hills sprinkled with red earth; most of the residents commute to Dothan or to a nearby Army post.

William Lisenby, a school bus driver who also taught Sunday School with Poland, was flanked by other area bus drivers as he arrived at Saturday night's viewing service for his friend at a local funeral home.

Lisenby spoke in Biblical terms when referring to Poland.

Bus driver Charles Albert Poland Jr. is seen in this undated picture released by the Dale County Board of Education.

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AP Photo/Dale County Board of Education

"If you'll notice the similarities there, of what Chuck did was the same thing that Jesus Christ did. These children, even though they were not Chuck's, he laid down his life to defend those children. My hat's off to him for that."

"He was a bus driver just like we are," Lisenby said. "But for the grace of God that could have been us."

Others spoke of the loss of a good man, and their hope that the little boy being held captive is alive and well and will be released soon.

"The community is real concerned," said Fred McNab, mayor of Pinckard, Ala. "You can tell by the food that's been carried over there to the church. It's just devastating. We want it to come to a resolution. We want to save that little child."

Earlier Saturday, local residents remembered Poland as a friendly, giving person.

"He's probably the nicest guy you'll ever meet," said Lonnie Daniels, the 69-year-old owner of the NAPA Auto Parts store, one of three establishments in town that was open Saturday.

Daniels last saw his friend Tuesday morning, when Poland agreed to buy a car from him. The two men shook hands and closed the deal "like gentlemen," Daniels said. Poland was to return after working his bus route to pay for the car.

"He never came back," Daniels said quietly.

Play Video

Ala. hostage crisis: Behind-the-scenes of a negotiation

Daniels said Poland had been married to his wife for 43 years. Poland was from Idaho, but his wife was from Newton. The couple lived there for decades in a small mobile home, and Poland enjoyed gardening and clearing brush from his property.

"I knew that he was always there if I needed," said Daniels, adding that Poland was an excellent mechanic with an array of tools that he lent to people in town.

Neighbors and friends said Poland did various acts of kindness for people in town, from fixing someone's tractor to tilling the garden of a neighbor who had a heart attack.

"You don't owe me anything," Poland once told a recipient of his good deed. "You're my neighbor."

Skipper said Poland and his wife would often sit on their porch, drinking coffee, praying and reading the Bible.

"They loved to be together," Skipper said.

On Saturday morning, Poland's wife wasn't home. A rack of worn trucker's caps sat on hooks on the porch, and two freshly baked pies were laid atop a cooler.

The victim's son, Aaron Poland, told NBC News that he wasn't surprised by his father's act to protect the kids on the bus.

"He considered them his children," Poland said, choking back tears. "And I know that's the reason why my dad took those shots, for his children, just like he would do for me and my sister."

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Gun Violence 'Depletes Precious Natural Resource'

It took the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, to prompt lawmakers to call for stricter gun legislation. But the reality is that in a city like Chicago, where 515 murders took place last year and more than 100 shooting incidents have occurred since January 1, gun violence is an ongoing issue and it has been for years. Only, these shootings have become so common that they don't make national headlines.

"We lost a classroom full of children in Connecticut which sparked national outrage that needs to be translated into action, but in Chicago, we sometimes lose a dozen or more young people every weekend," Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Illinois), who serves the Chicago area, said in a statement. "Too many bullets and too many guns are killing the next generation and we have got to make it stop."

Gutierrez, like many others, believe that any debate about gun violence shouldn't just take into account mass shootings that make headline news. It should also consider the chronic gun violence that takes place on a daily basis across the U.S.

In Chicago's case, many of the victims are young minorities growing up in poor, gang-ridden neighborhoods on the south and west side of the city.

Just earlier this week a 15-year-old girl who performed at President Barack Obama's recent inauguration was gunned down, The Washington Post reported.

The teen, Hadiya Pendleton, was hanging out in a park with about a dozen other young people when she was shot. Two other victims were reportedly wounded. By all accounts she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Reports indicate that the gunman was not even aiming at her.

And Pendleton is just the latest example. Chicago police officer Ron Holt lost his son, Blair, to gun violence in the spring of 2007. The 16-year-old was shot and killed while riding a bus after school.

Holt now works with young people in the community, particularly minorities at an increased risk of engaging in dangerous behavior, to encourage them to focus on their education instead of turning to violence.

"I explain to them that if they continue to ascribe to this diabolical idea of resolving conflict with firearms they're depleting the most precious natural resource in the community, and that is them," Holt said.

What's clear is that the root of the gun problem is not just the guns. There are several factors that play a role, many of which are rarely discussed. For example, for minority youth living in urban communities characterized by poverty, violence, particularly gun violence, tends to be chronic. And the groups largely impacted tend to be African American and Hispanic.

A lot of that has to do with acculturation, according to Rahsmia Zatar, executive director of Strong Youth, a gang prevention and intervention organization. There is a sense that it's difficult to move beyond one's cultural sphere.

As a result, minorities often tend to gravitate toward other young minorities in similar situations, and turn to violence to gain a sense of control, however false it really is.

Charles Rex Arbogast/AP Photo

"It's easy to fall victim to feeling a sense of empowerment through violence," Zatar said. "They feel they have limited opportunities and they don't have a sense of 'I can achieve,' [or] that there is something here for me that's better."

According to the 2011 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 30 percent of Chicago's African-American population and nearly 27 percent of Hispanics live below the poverty line. Perhaps more importantly, blacks and whites remain largely segregated, with African-Americans making up the vast majority of neighborhoods in the south, and whites comprising most of the north. Latinos are somewhat more mixed, often living in "buffer" communities between blacks and whites, which could exacerbate the pressure to conform to two cultures, neither of which is entirely comfortable.

These various enclaves also suffer from a distinct gang problem. Chicago Police Commissioner Garry McCarthy told Reuters the city is plagued by the breakup of larger more established gangs into new factions that are fighting over everything from turf to money.

Then there's the city's illicit gun issue, which is bigger than New York's or Los Angeles' despite strict laws to limit weapons. Gun shops are actually outlawed in Chicago, as are assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Handguns were even banned until 2010.

Still, in a place like Chicago it's handguns doing the most damage. According to statistics from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, most of the guns they recovered in Illinois were pistols, followed by revolvers and rifles. Machine guns come in a distant sixth.

Why so many guns? Gun laws in neighboring communities are not as strict, and firearms make their way into the city. According to a recent article by The New York Times, officials "seized 7,400 guns [in Chicago] in crimes or unpermitted uses last year (compared with 3,285 in New York City), and have confiscated 574 guns just since Jan. 1 — 124 of them last week alone."

And while Chicago residents are required to report the loss or theft of a handgun, that same law does not apply to all of Illinois, so a stolen firearm could easily make its way into Chicago without the owner ever reporting it missing.

The dynamics created in poor minority communities like those in Chicago combined with the sheer number of guns that make their way into such a city bear out in the overall statistics.

According to the Bureau of Justice's National Crime Victimization Survey, African Americans were disproportionately represented among homicide victims and offenders between 1980 and 2008. They were six times more likely than whites to be homicide victims and seven times more likely than whites to commit homicides.

Latinos don't fare much better. According to the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest Hispanic advocacy organization, "Today in America, every three hours a young person is killed by firearm violence. Every 14 hours, that teen or child is Latino."

Young Latinos are especially likely to be impacted by gang violence in places like Chicago. Nationally, Hispanics are also more likely than non-Hispanics to be victims of violent crimes committed by gang members.

The impact of guns on the Latino community may explain why they're inclined to favor increased gun control. According to the Pew Research Center, while 57 percent of whites think it's more important to protect the rights of Americans to own guns than to protect gun ownership, only 29 percent of Latinos feel the same way.

Holt would certainly like to see something change. Several days after his son was killed, he received a voicemail. It was then-Senator Barack Obama. The young lawmaker had called Holt to express his condolences and to promise that if there was anything he could do in the future to help curb gun violence, he was prepared to do it. The two never spoke on the phone, but Holt remembers the message.

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Astrophile: A scorched world with snow black and smoky

Astrophile is our weekly column on curious cosmic objects, from the solar system to the far reaches of the multiverse

Object: Titanium oxide snow
Location: The hot-Jupiter planet HD 209458b

There is something magical about waking up to discover it has snowed during the night. But there's no powdery white blanket when it snows on exoplanet HD 209458b. Snow there is black, smoky and hot as hell – resembling a forest fire more than a winter wonderland. Put it this way: you won't be needing mittens.

HD 209458b belongs to a family called hot Jupiters, gas-giant planets that are constantly being roasted due to their closeness to their sun. By contrast, the gas giants in our immediate neighbourhood, including Jupiter, are frigid, lying at the solar system's far reaches.

HD 209458b is also noteworthy because it is tidally locked, so one side is permanently facing towards its star while the other is in perpetual night. On the face of it, these conditions wouldn't seem to invite snow: temperatures on the day side come close to 2000° C, while the night side is comparatively chilly at around 500° C.

Snow made of water is, of course, impossible on this scorched world, but the drastic temperature differential sets up atmospheric currents that swirl material from the day side to night and vice versa. That means that any substances with the right combination of properties might be gaseous on the day side and then condense into a solid on the night side, and fall as precipitation. Say hello to titanium oxide snow.

Stuck on the surface

Although oxides of titanium make up only a small component of a hot Jupiter's atmosphere, these compounds have the right properties to fall as snow. But there was a snag that could have put a stop to any blizzards. Older computer models of hot Jupiters suggested that titanium oxides condensing in the air on the night side would snow – and remain on the relatively cool surface forever. "Imagine on Earth if you had no mechanism to evaporate water, it would never rain," says Vivien Parmentier of the Côte d'Azur Observatory in Nice, France.

Now he and colleagues have created a more detailed 3D computer model that shows that the snow can become a gas again as it falls and the temperature and pressure increase. Strong updraughts can then blow the titanium oxides back to the upper atmosphere. "The gas can come back on the top layers and snow again and again," says Parmentier.

Snowfall on HD 209458b would be like none you've ever seen. Though titanium dioxide is white and shiny, for example, the snowflakes would also contain silica oxides from the atmosphere, making them black. Since the atmosphere is also dark, snowstorms on the planet would be a smoky affair, the opposite of the white-outs we get on Earth. "It would be like being in the middle of a forest fire," says Parmentier.

Although the team studied a particular hot Jupiter, their model should apply equally to other planets of this type, suggesting hot snow is a common occurrence. Parmentier says we may have already spotted snow clouds on another hot Jupiter, HD 189733b, as spectral analysis of the planet suggests the presence of microscopic particles in its atmosphere.

David Sing of the University of Exeter, UK, who helped identify such particles on HD 189733b, says the team's new model goes a long way to explaining how titanium oxides behave on hot Jupiters. "We're pretty used to water condensing on Earth; there it is titanium because the temperatures are so much hotter."

Hot, black snow – now that would be something to wake up to.

Reference: http://arxiv.org/abs/1301.4522

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SMU holds inaugural service learning symposium

SINGAPORE: Filial piety, being less self-centred and not taking family for granted -- these were some of the topics discussed at the Singapore Management University's inaugural service learning symposium on Saturday.

Service learning is a method to get students to participate and learn in community projects.

Some 300 students from secondary and tertiary institutions gathered at SMU to share their thoughts on social responsibility and community service.

-CNA/ac

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Parole board: Release member of 'Manson family'

By Michael Martinez and Kyung Lah, CNN

updated 10:06 PM EST, Fri February 1, 2013

Bruce Davis was sent to prison on April 21, 1972, for the 1969 first-degree murders of two men.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• "He earned it," defense attorney says of recommendation


• California parole board formally recommends parole for Bruce Davis, 70


• Governor must modify, affirm or reverse the recommendation in 30 days


• Davis is serving a life sentence for 1969 first-degree murders of two men

(CNN) -- California Gov. Jerry Brown is considering whether to grant parole to a convicted murderer who followed notorious killer Charles Manson, a spokeswoman for the governor said.

Brown's office received a formal recommendation from the state board parole Friday to release Bruce Davis, 70, who would be the first Manson "family" member to secure freedom solely for good behavior.

Brown has 30 days -- or until March 3 -- to either modify, affirm or reverse the parole board's recommendation, a corrections spokeswoman said.

In 2010, Davis secured his first formal recommendation for parole by the state board, but then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reversed the board's decision.

Charles Manson: The infamous inmate

HIDE CAPTION

Davis was sent to prison on April 21, 1972, for the 1969 first-degree murders of musician Gary Hinman and stuntman Donald "Shorty" Shea. Davis is serving a life sentence.

Michael Beckman, Davis' attorney, urged Brown to grant parole.

If the case were not connected to Charles Manson, Davis would have already been released by now, Beckman said. He called it "not fair."

"He earned it," Beckman said.

"I think the governor should respect the work by his parole board. That hearing took five or six hours. They took into account everything about Bruce. And they didn't grant him parole as a favor. They didn't grant him parole on a whim. They considered it very carefully," Beckman said.

In 2010, the parole board said that Davis had not been disciplined since 1980 and participated in all available education, vocation and self-help programs.

Davis is one of several imprisoned followers of Manson, 78, who is serving a life sentence for nine murders.

Manson led his "family" of followers in a deadly spree in 1969, whose victims included eight-months-pregnant actress Sharon Tate.

Last year, Manson was denied parole for the 12th time.

Manson, whose gruesome killings inspired the best-selling book "Helter Skelter," will be up for parole again 15 years from now, when he would be 92.

CNN's Michael Cary contributed to this report.

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Twitter: 250,000 users' data compromised in hacking attacks

#1157946: Twitter bird logo, social networking and microblogging service, graphic element on white / AP Graphics

Twitter said today that it recently detected a series of attempts to hack into user data, and that the attackers may have successfully absconded with some users' information.

In a blog post Friday afternoon, Twitter explained the situation, and the steps it has taken to fight off the hackers.

This week, we detected unusual access patterns that led to us identifying unauthorized access attempts to Twitter user data. We discovered one live attack and were able to shut it down in process moments later. However, our investigation has thus far indicated that the attackers may have had access to limited user information - usernames, email addresses, session tokens and encrypted/salted versions of passwords - for approximately 250,000 users. As a precautionary security measure, we have reset passwords and revoked session tokens for these accounts. If your account was one of them, you will have recently received (or will shortly) an email from us at the address associated with your Twitter account notifying you that you will need to create a new password. Your old password will not work when you try to log in to Twitter.

Twitter said in the post that a very small number of users were affected by the hacking, but it encouraged everyone who uses the service to ensure that they are practicing "good password hygiene, on Twitter and elsewhere on the Internet." Among its suggestions: using unique passwords of at least ten characters, including a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols. Based on attacks on other high-profile tech and media companies, Twitter also said it is recommending the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's recent advisory on disabling Java, among other precautions.

This attack was not the work of amateurs, and we do not believe it was an isolated incident. The attackers were extremely sophisticated, and we believe other companies and organizations have also been recently similarly attacked. For that reason we felt that it was important to publicize this attack while we still gather information, and we are helping government and federal law enforcement in their effort to find and prosecute these attackers to make the Internet safer for all users.

This article originally appeared on CNET under the headline "Twitter says 250,000 users' data compromised in hacking attacks"

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Gov's Handling of Sandusky Case Under Investigation

The newly-elected attorney general of Pennsylvania is going after the state's governor, Tom Corbett, who was attorney general when child sex allegations against Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky were first brought forward.

Kathleen Kane, a Democrat who was sworn in as attorney general on Jan. 15, said that she will name a special prosecutor in the coming days to investigate Corbett's handling of the Sandusky case. Corbett is a Republican.

The investigation will look specifically at why it took the attorney general's office three years to bring criminal charges against Sandusky while he continued to have access to children.

"Attorney General Kane will appoint a special prosecutor to lead the office's internal investigation into how the Sandusky child abuse investigation was handled by the Office of the Attorney General," Kane's office said in a statement released today.

Corbett's attorney general's office was first notified of the allegations against Sandusky in 2008 when a high school student told his mother and school that Sandusky had molested him. The local district attorney passed the allegation on to the attorney general, then Corbett. Corbett convened a grand jury.

Mario Tama; Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Jerry Sandusky Insists Innocence Before Sentencing Watch Video

Jerry Sandusky Sentencing: Why Did He Release Statement? Watch Video

Jerry Sandusky Claims Innocence in Audio Statement Watch Video

It wasn't until 2011 that sex abuse charges were filed against Sandusky while Corbett had since become governor. Sandusky was convicted on 45 counts of sex abuse in June 2012.

The charges sent shockwaves throughout Pennsylvania, as Penn State's president, two top officials, and legendary coach Joe Paterno all lost their jobs over the scandal.

"Why did it take 33 months to get Sandusky off the streets? Was the use of a grand jury the right decision? Why were there so few resources dedicated to the investigation? Were the best practices implemented?" the statement from Kane's office read.

"At the end of this investigation, we will know the answers to these questions and be able to tell the people of Pennsylvania the facts and give them answers that they deserve," the statement said.

Describing an interview Kane gave the New York Times, the Times said Kane suggested that Corbett did not want to upset voters or donors in the Penn State community before his gubernatorial run in 2009.

Corbett has denied those suggestions. His office did not immediately return calls for comment.

Kane's office preemptively fought back against the idea that the investigation is politically motivated. Kane, a Democrat, defeated the incumbent attorney general, Linda Kelly, a Republican in November 2011. Corbett is a Republican.

"The speculation that this is about politics is insane," a staff member in Kane's office told ABC News today. "You go anywhere in Pennsylvania and anywhere across the country and you'll find individuals asking, 'why did it take three years? Why was there a grand jury? Why make these kids talk to 30 different people about what happened?"

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Swarm-mongering: Brainless blobs flock together

Birds of a feather flock together and now so do brainless, inanimate blobs. Made of microscopic particles, the artificial swarms could shed light on the mysterious mechanisms behind the natural swarming seen in fish and birds. They might also lead to materials with novel properties like self-healing.

Animals such as birds, fish and even humans that move together in swarms have individual intelligence, but Jérémie Palacci of New York University and colleagues wondered whether inanimate objects could also swarm. "From a physicist's point of view, if many different systems behave in the same way there must be an underlying physical rule," he says.

To explore this idea, the team created microscopic plastic spheres, each one with a cubic patch of haematite, an iron oxide, on its surface. When submerged in hydrogen peroxide, the spheres spread out in a disordered fashion. The team then shone blue light on the particles, causing the haematite cubes to catalyse the breakdown of any nearby hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. As hydrogen peroxide concentration dropped temporarily in these regions due to the reaction, osmotic forces cause more hydrogen peroxide to flow into them, and that in turn buffets the spheres. The whole process then repeats.

Self-healing swarm

When two spheres come close enough to each other, the balance of chemical forces shifts so that the two spheres are attracted. If there are enough spheres in the same place they will cluster together to form shapes of symmetrically arranged particles, which the team call crystals (see video, above). These crystals continue to be buffeted by the movement caused by the breakdown of hydrogen peroxide – but now they move together as one object, replicating a life-like swarm. Switch off the light, however, and the reaction stops, causing the crystal to lose the forces that hold it together, and the particle distribution becomes disordered once again.

"This system shows that even though the particles have no social interaction or intelligence, you can exhibit collective behaviour with no biology involved," says Palacci. Since the haematite is magnetic, it is even possible to steer the crystals in one direction by applying a magnetic field. Such control might be useful if the artificial swarms are to be harnessed for applications.

As the particles automatically fill any gaps that form in the crystal, again thanks to the chemical dynamics of the system, they could be used to create a self-assembling, self-healing material. The work is published in the journal Science today.

Schooled by fish

Iain Couzin of Princeton University says these kinds of systems are very useful for studying biological collective behaviour because researchers have complete control over their interactions – unlike natural systems.

His team has its own swarming experiment published in the same issue of Science, based on schools of fish that prefer to stay in shade. Their paper shows that shining a light on some of the fish in the school causes them to speed up, to get away from the light. But as a result, non-illuminated fish also speed up, even though, if acting purely as individuals, they would have had no reason to do so. "We show just by using simple interactions that schools can have a sense of responsiveness to the environment that individuals do not have," he says.

Couzin sees no reason why such behaviour should be limited to natural systems. "In future it may be possible to create systems of particles that can make collective decisions – something we often think of as only possible in biological systems," he says.

Journal references: Living crystals: Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1230020; Fish: Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1225883

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Death toll in Mexico oil firm blast rises to 25

MEXICO CITY - A huge blast rocked the headquarters of Mexican state-owned oil giant Pemex on Thursday, killing at least 25 people, injuring 100 and leaving rescuers scrambling to find survivors into the night.

Smoke billowed skyward as people fled the 54-floor Mexico City skyscraper, with some of those hurt in the blast being carried out on stretchers and office chairs, as witnesses recalled an earthquake-like rumble shaking the floor.

Windows broke on several lower floors, scattering debris. The company said the cause of the deadly incident was under investigation and declared that any reports on the origin of the blast amounted to speculation.

Officials said the blast ripped through an annex at around 3:40 pm (2140 GMT), causing severe damage to three floors. Witnesses said a roof connecting the annex to the tower collapsed. Thousands of people were evacuated.

As night fell, floodlights shone on the rubble and two cranes were brought to help rescuers find survivors.

Almost six hours after the blast, President Enrique Pena Nieto said on Twitter that "one more person was rescued alive in the rubble."

"I don't have any conclusive report on the cause, which is why I insist against any speculation," Pena Nieto told reporters after visiting the site.

A spokesman for the civil protection agency said there was an apparent "accumulation of gas" in an electrical supply room, but the exact cause of the blast has yet to be confirmed.

Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong told a news conference that 17 women and eight men had died, and that 101 people had been injured.

Almost eight hours after the blast, he said it was hard to know if anybody was still trapped in the rubble.

Pena Nieto ordered that the rescue continue "to the last piece of debris, to be sure that there is not one single person trapped under," the minister said.

Emergency workers with rescue dogs, helicopters and several ambulances were at the scene in the capital, a city that is equipped to handle earthquakes.

Pemex said on Twitter that the explosion hit the ground floor and mezzanine of the tower's annex.

"We had two minutes to leave the building. I was headed to the pharmacy when the windows broke. It was a deafening noise," Astrid Garcia Trevino, who worked in the annex, told AFP. "The floor shook as if it was an earthquake."

Some witnesses told local media that a number of people were trapped in rubble.

"It was dramatic. The building was shaking and suddenly there was debris. We couldn't even see the people next to us," Pemex employee and union member Cristian Obele told reporters.

"Windows broke, people were injured and a lot of people were in shock," an unidentified worker told the Televisa channel, describing the impact of the "very strong explosion."

Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera and several top federal officials headed to the scene, as authorities closed off the avenue in front of the tower.

"I deeply regret the death of Pemex workers," Pena Nieto said on Twitter. "The priority at the moment is to help the injured and protect the people working there."

Pemex, the world's fourth-largest crude producer with around 2.5 million barrels per day, said the administrative centre would remain closed "until further notice," after it had earlier been evacuated due to a power failure.

The company has experienced deadly accidents at its oil and gas facilities in the past. Last year, a huge explosion killed 30 people at a gas plant near the northern city of Reynosa, close to the US border.

The previous worst incident took place in December 2010, when an oil pipeline exploded after it was punctured by thieves in the central town of San Martin Texmelucan, leaving 29 dead and injuring more than 50.

In October 2007, 21 Pemex workers died during a gas leak on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Most drowned when they jumped into the sea in panic.

- AFP/ir

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Tough questioning from conservatives for Hagel

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Hagel says he regrets some past comments; struggles at times under conservative pounding


• NEW: Obama administration official says Hagel had some difficulty, but "we think he's on his way"


• Republicans hone in on Iran, Israel, troop surge in sharp questioning of Hagel


• Hagel is a decorated Vietnam veteran; says experience influenced life, but does not consume him

Washington (CNN) -- Former Sen. Chuck Hagel took on critics at his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday to become President Barack Obama's next defense secretary, saying he may have been wrong at times in the past but always acted in the nation's best interests.

Facing tough questioning from conservatives, the decorated Vietnam veteran told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he fully supported Obama administration policies on ending combat operations in Afghanistan next year, preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and ending the ban on gays openly serving in the military.

However, Hagel stumbled at times and conceded toward the end of the seven hours of testimony that past statements on volatile issues such as the Middle East conflict and sanctions against Iran no longer applied or had been poorly expressed in the first place.

"If I had an opportunity to edit that, like many things I said, I would like to go back and change the words and meaning," Hagel responded at one point to a question about a 2003 comment in which he referred to Israel keeping people "like caged animals."

At another point at the contentious hearing, he referred to Iran as a legitimate state, causing Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York to suggest he meant to say it was a recognized government.

"What I meant to say, should have said is - it is recognizable," Hagel said. "It has been recognized, is recognized at the United Nations. Most of our allies have embassies there. That is what I should have said and thank you."

He also appeared evasive early on when confronted by some former Senate colleagues who challenged his nomination because of what they characterized as shifting positions on confronting Iran, supporting Israel and maintaining a strong military amid pressure to cut costs.

Later in the day, Hagel sounded more certain in responding to the repeated challenges by conservatives over what newly elected Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas called his record of "antagonism" toward Israel.

Despite the campaign against him waged by conservatives, Hagel was expected to win confirmation to succeed Leon Panetta as Pentagon chief.

Other prominent political figures endorsed him, including former Sen. Sam Nunn, a conservative Democrat from Georgia and respected defense and nuclear policy expert, and former Sen. John Warner, a conservative Republican from Virginia, where the Pentagon is located and key military installations are based.

In his opening statement and in response to questions, Hagel defended his 12-year record as a Republican senator from Nebraska and what he called a consistent worldview on the role of the United States and its unparalleled military might.

Old friends McCain and Hagel spar at hearing

"America has and must maintain the strongest military in the world; that we must lead the international community to confront threats and challenges together; and that we must use all tools of American power to protect our citizens and our interests," Hagel said, adding that the United States must engage the world.

Obama is reassembling his national security team at the start of his second term, turning to Vietnam War heroes for marquee positions: Hagel at defense and Sen. John Kerry to lead the State Department.

The next defense chief will wind down the war in Afghanistan and face fluid issues related to Iran and the civil war in Syria. Emerging terror hotspots in Africa and managing the Pentagon through budget uncertainty are other top priorities.

On specific issues at the hearing, Hagel said he was committed to Obama's goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

"I've been on record on that issue. And as I've said in the past many times, all options must be on the table to achieve that goal. My policy is one of prevention, and not one of containment -- and the president has made clear that is the policy of our government," he said.

Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, D-Michigan, told Hagel that "your reassurance to me in my office that you support the Obama administration's strong stance against Iran is significant."

However, the panel's top Republican, Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, said he would oppose the nomination because of what he called Hagel's past support for policies that he said would appease U.S. enemies.

In particular, Inhofe cited Hagel's backing of direct talks with Iran, an enemy of Israel. Others challenged a Senate vote by Hagel years earlier to oppose unilateral U.S. sanctions against Iran, and a comment about the "Jewish lobby" in Washington that critics said hinted at anti-Israel sentiments.

Hagel, however, pledged continued support to help Israel's military prowess in the region. In response to repeated questions about his commitment to Israel, Hagel cited his Senate record of voting for every aid authorization or other measure supporting Israel.

"I think my record is pretty clear," he said.

In addition, Hagel said the United States was "not going to unilaterally disarm" when questioned about his ties to a group calling for eliminating nuclear weapons. If confirmed, he said, he would maintain "a modern, strong, safe, ready, and effective nuclear arsenal," adding that he was "committed to modernizing" it.

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Regarding the possibility of impending budget cuts described by some as potentially devastating to Pentagon operations and the civilian economy it supports, Hagel said he would keep defense forces strong through efficient use of taxpayer dollars.

Asked later about the impact of the possible cuts, Hagel said that "the security of this country is not going to be in jeopardy." But he added that "if this happens, it's going to be a severe problem."

The military faces $500 billion in automatic spending cuts over the next decade absent congressional intervention in coming months to avert or soften them. This would come on top of steep budget reductions already in the pipeline.

If confirmed, Hagel will be the first defense secretary to have served all of his military career as an enlisted soldier. He was an Army sergeant in Vietnam, where he was wounded, and said on Thursday that his war experience was an influence in his life.

"I'm not shaped, framed, molded, consumed by that experience, but it's part of me," Hagel said, adding that he thought it would be a positive to have the defense secretary for the first time be someone "who understands the reality and consequences of war."

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A sharp exchange on Thursday came when Sen. John McCain criticized Hagel's opposition to the troop surge in Iraq by the Bush administration and a similar move by Obama in Afghanistan. Both were crucial wartime decisions made by policymakers.

McCain, a former naval aviator and prisoner of war in Vietnam, said Hagel was wrong on both counts. The Arizona Republican said that he and Hagel, who once were close political allies and personal friends, had "fundamental differences" on important issues.

Hagel responded that his questioning of the surge strategy in Iraq was not an aberration.

"I always ask the question is this going to be worth the sacrifice because there will be sacrifice," Hagel said. "Now, was it required? Was it necessary? Senator McCain has his own opinion on that, shared by others. I am not sure. I am not that certain that it was required. It doesn't mean I am right."

Other Republicans on the panel complained that Hagel failed to turn over requested copies of past speeches and financial reports they requested, and he avoided directly answering some questions seeking to force him to declare that previous positions or comments were mistaken.

Hammered during questioning by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, Hagel conceded that he never should have made the comment about the Jewish lobby.

Hagel had three major preparatory sessions for Thursday's hearing, according to an administration official involved in the confirmation process. The official said Hagel chose to "take the high road" by not responding with anger to "political theater."

However, another official acknowledged Hagel had some difficulty, saying "we think he's on his way, but he didn't round the bases today. He could have. He didn't."

A plurality of Americans back Hagel's nomination to succeed Panetta.

According to a CNN/ORC International poll conducted January 14-15 and released two weeks ago, 48% of the public said the Senate should confirm Hagel, with 22% saying no and three in 10 unsure.

CNN's Jessica Yellin, Adam Aigner-Treworgy, Paul Steinhauser and Gabriella Schwarz contributed to this story.

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