By Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Anthony Salvanto, and Fred Backus
As President Barack Obama prepares for the first State of the Union Address of his second term, one which will primarily be focused on economic issues, fewer than half of Americans (45 percent) approve of how he's handling the economy, while more (49 percent) disapprove.
Overall, Mr. Obama is performing better with 52 percent of Americans now approving of the job he is doing as President, while 38 percent disapprove.
Mr. Obama's approval rating has remained fairly constant over the past year, though it rose as high as 57 percent in December. Only 12 percent of Republicans approve; 86 percent of Democrats do. Just under half of independents approve.
On the other hand, the President enjoys particularly strong support for his handling of terrorism - 57 percent approve, while 31 percent disapprove.
Use of Drones
The practice of using unmanned drone aircrafts to attack suspected terrorists in foreign countries - a policy begun by the Bush Administration and expanded under President Obama - enjoys widespread and bipartisan support. Seven in 10 Americans favor using drones to attack suspected terrorists abroad, including most Republicans, Democrats, and independents.
Americans also support a more controversial measure, although in smaller numbers. Forty-nine percent of Americans favor the targeting and killing of U.S. citizens living abroad who are suspected of carrying out terrorist activities against the U.S.; 38 percent oppose that.
Cooperation between Republicans and Democrats?
Looking ahead, Americans are not especially optimistic that there will be more cooperation between Republicans and Democrats in the next four years than there was during the President's first term. Just 17 percent think there will be more cooperation, 22 percent say less, and 58 percent say cooperation will be about the same as it was during the last four years.
This poll was conducted by telephone from February 6-10, 2013 among 1,148 adults nationwide. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups may be higher. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.
President Obama called North Korea's latest nuclear test "a highly provocative act" that undermines regional stability and threatens international peace.
North Korea announced earlier today that it successfully tested a miniaturized nuclear device underground, according to state media.
Official state media said the test was conducted in a safe manner and is aimed at coping with "outrageous" U.S. hostility that "violently" undermines the North's peaceful, sovereign rights to launch satellites. Unlike previous tests, North Korea used a powerful explosive nuclear bomb that is smaller and lighter, state media reported.
North Korea kept up its belligerent talk today, vowing more provocative actions.
If the U.S. "makes this situation complex in hostility, we will come up with second and third reactions," North Korea said in a statement.
The regime blamed the nuclear test on the United States.
"Originally we didn't have to test the nuclear bomb and we didn't plan to," the statement said. "The major purpose of this test is to show our anger to the hostile actions of the U.S. and show off our will and capability to protect our sovereign right to the end."
The statement lashed out at the U.S.-led sanctions as well as the search of North Korean ships that are suspected of exporting illegal arms.
"We will consider the search of our ships and other sanctions by the international community as an act of war. And it will bring on our relentless retaliatory attack," North Korea said.
Obama also talked tough today.
North Korea Says it Has Conducted a Nuclear Test Watch Video
"The danger posed by North Korea's threatening activities warrants further swift and credible action by the international community. The United States will also continue to take steps necessary to defend ourselves and our allies.
"The United States remains vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations and steadfast in our defense commitments to allies in the region," he added.
The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on North Korea's nuclear test later this morning.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement expressing "firm opposition" to the test.
"We strongly urge the DPRK (North Korea) to abide by its denuclearization commitments, and to refrain from further actions that could lead to a deterioration of the situation," the statement read. "Safeguarding Korean Peninsula and East Asian peace and stability serves the shared interests of all parties."
China, North Korea's main ally in the region, has warned North Korea it would cut back severely needed food assistance if it carried out a test. Each year China donates approximately half of the food North Korea lacks to feed its people and half of all oil the country consumes.
Suspicions were aroused when the U.S. Geological Survey said it had detected a magnitude 4.9 earthquake Tuesday in North Korea.
The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization told ABC News, "We confirm that a suspicious seismic event has taken place in North Korea."
"The event shows clear explosion-like characteristics and its location is roughly congruent with the 2006 and 2009 DPRK nuclear tests," said Tibor Toth, executive secretary of the organization.
"If confirmed as a nuclear test, this act would constitute a clear threat to international peace and security, and challenges efforts made to strengthen global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation," Toth said in a statement on the organization's web site.
Kim Min-seok, a South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman, told reporters that North Korea informed United States and China that it intended to carry out another nuclear test, according to the AP. But U.S. officials did not respond to calls from ABC News Monday night.
The seismic force measured 6 to 7 kilotons, according to South Korea.
"Now that's an absolutely huge explosion by conventional terms. It's a smallish, but not tiny explosion by nuclear terms. It's about two-thirds the size of the bomb that the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima," James Acton, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told ABC News.
North Korea threatened in January to carry out a "higher-level" test following the successful Dec. 12 launch of a long range rocket. At the time, North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un said his country's weapons tests were specifically targeting the United States.
Tech-savvy campaigns get mixed results, as the Arab Spring shows (Image: William Dupuy/Picturetank)
Gavin Newsom's Citizenville shows that technology can empower people, but the book fails to explore deep-rooted problems within the democratic process
THERE'S a lot of crime in Oakland, California. But until a few years ago, citizens had little way of assessing the scale of the problem. Then Michal Migurski hurt his back. It was Christmas 2006 and Migurski, a computer programmer, was stuck at home in Oakland, looking for ways to use his time until his back healed. He knew about the area's crime problem and decided to create an online map showing where and when crimes had been committed - something local government had failed to do.
Migurski's crimespotting.org website gets enthusiastic coverage in Gavin Newsom's Citizenville, a homage to technology's ability to empower people and reform government. If committed and skilled citizens like Migurski can access official data, for example, they can create services that governments don't have time for or aren't well equipped to provide. The internet has already disrupted a swathe of industries, from journalism to telecommunications. Citizenville is packed with examples that show that it is government's turn.
For the book, Newsom - California's lieutenant governor - talked to a host of Silicon Valley luminaries, from Google founder Sergey Brin to Tim O'Reilly, tech publisher and one of the most high-profile advocates of the idea that technology can transform government. The result is a 239-page tribute to what the valley does best: suggest radical and scalable ways to do things better.
Unfortunately, Newsom's unfettered enthusiasm for the power of the internet and smartphones to transform social and governmental problems makes for a shallow read. Take his analysis of FarmVille, the incredibly successful Facebook game in which players run virtual farms. Why couldn't a similar game be used to help govern a real city, he asks? It's an intriguing idea, based in part on the argument put forward by Jane McGonigal, a game designer, that gaming can be used to solve real-world problems.
But doesn't FarmVille's appeal have much to do with its lack of real-life responsibility? Newsom only touches on this before rushing off to his next tech-inspired solution.
It's a frustrating approach because Newsom was mayor of San Francisco between 2003 and 2010, and rolled out some bold tech-based reforms during his tenure, so he is well placed to discuss the benefits and difficulties of applying technology to governance.
Some of the most interesting parts of Citizenville address ideas that did not work, like radical transparency. After becoming mayor, Newsom decided to post his diary on the web, until his chief of staff pointed out that fundraising meetings would be visible. Newsom relented, accepting that voters don't like to see politicians asking for money.
It's a great example of how technology is just part of the reform equation. To truly empower, technology will have to deal with many entrenched problems, ranging from the shameless distortions that most elected officials spout to the huge number of alienated people who don't register to vote. Any proper assessment of technology's power to change needs to do more than consider the solutions it offers. The impoverished democratic process in the US will not improve until the causes of this situation are part of the discussion.
Broader initiatives exist, of course. Political scientists who study how misinformation spreads have teamed up with technologists to create systems for reining in erroneous memes, like the claim that Barack Obama is not a US citizen. Public health experts are studying not just the internet's ability to communicate health information but also the extent to which that information changes behaviour. It is this kind of thinking, which accepts that technology is only part of the solution, that is missing from Citizenville. I was left wishing that Newsom had focused on just a few of the issues he writes about, and had taken his research beyond the confines of Silicon Valley.
This article appeared in print under the headline "There is no app for political reform"
Book information: Citizenville: How to take the town square digital and reinvent government by Gavin Newsom and Lisa Dickey Penguin $25.95
LONDON: Rival betting firms Betfred and Paddy Power have seen enough of the Premier League race to take the gamble of paying out early on Manchester United winning the title, despite the fact there are still 12 matches to play.
Betfred boss Fred Done has risked facing the wrath of his fellow United supporters, paying out early again despite twice having his fingers burnt by making such a move before, including when Alex Ferguson's side were overhauled by neighbours City in the dying minutes of last season.
That decision cost the Salford-born bookmaker over £1 million (1.173 million euros) and led some fans to accuse him of jinxing the Old Trafford outfit, having also paid the price for a similar move when Arsenal clawed back a huge deficit in 1998.
However, with United again a dozen points ahead of their nearest rivals following a 2-0 defeat of Everton, Done has seen enough to declare them champions for a record 20th time.
"After it all went wrong last year, my missus made me promise to never do it again, but with United 12 points clear with just 12 games left the title race is over - so my punters can collect their dough on United." explained Done.
Irish bookmakers Paddy Power, had already stolen a march on their competitors by paying out on United to finish top of the table, even before they had claimed their victory on Sunday.
A spokesman for the firm declared: "The fat lady might not be singing yet but she's definitely getting warmed up.
"We can't see United letting their lead slip and, with Real Madrid to come in midweek (Champions League first-leg), we thought we'd take some of the pressure off Fergie (Ferguson) and give punters an early payday."
NEW: A local official resigns, taking responsibility for the disaster
Local media report grim scenes of bodies spread across the floor at the station
The rail station stampede mars the world's largest religious festival
An estimated 40 million Hindu pilgrims came to bathe in the Ganges River
New Delhi (CNN) -- A local Indian official resigned Monday after a chaotic crush at a railroad station a day earlier left 36 people dead among tens of millions of Hindu pilgrims flocking to the banks of the Ganges River for the world's largest religious gathering.
The stampede occurred on Sunday evening as floods of pilgrims entering the station in Allahabad, the scene of this year's Kumbh Mela festival, broke through temporary barriers and crowded onto already busy platforms, railway authorities said.
In addition to the 36 killed in the ensuing crush, more than 30 people were injured, according to North-Central Railway, which operates the station.
Local television footage showed bodies, many of them covered in white sheets, lying on the floor in the railway station, with wailing relatives sitting nearby. Luggage, shoes, slippers and other belongings also lay strewn across the ground.
Stampede leaves dozens of pilgrims dead
HIDE CAPTION
Shreya Dhoundial, a reporter for CNN affiliate IBN in Allahabad, said that almost four hours after the stampede occurred, dead bodies remained on the station platform and injured people were still crying for help.
"If the media could get in, if police officials could get in, if railway officials could get in, why couldn't the doctors, why couldn't the ambulances?" she said.
Worried families
Relatives of many of the people injured in the chaos gathered at a hospital in the city on Monday, waiting for news on their loved ones, Dhoundial said.
Azam Khan, the local official in charge of security for the huge Hindu festival, resigned Monday, IBN reported.
Khan, who is also the minister for urban development in Uttar Pradesh, the state where Allahabad is situated, said he was taking responsibility for the fatal disaster.
Amid confusion about what exactly had set off the panic, the Uttar Pradesh government ordered an inquiry into a the stampede, IBN said.
Some eye witnesses blamed police for the crush, saying they had charged at the heaving crowds in the station. Authorities, however, denied police used force to try to control the mass of people.
At one point on Sunday, Sandeep Mathur, a spokesman for North-Central Railway, suggested that the mayhem had been prompted by a person falling from a platform bridge.
But on Monday, Railway Minister P.K. Bansal said straightforward overcrowding was the cause.
"There was a lot of chaos," he said, adding that the station remained very crowded Monday.
Authorities said they would give 500,000 rupees ($9,300) compensation to the families of victims and 100,000 rupees to those who were injured.
Tens of millions of pilgrims
An estimated 40 million people came to Allahabad, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, on Sunday to bathe at the confluence of the Yamuna and Ganges rivers and the mythical Saraswati River. It's the most significant Hindu pilgrimage, occurring every 12 years, Indian cultural and political observer K.G. Suresh said.
"The Hindus believe that a dip in the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and the Saraswati on this occasion helps get rid of all worldly sins," Suresh said.
Sunday was the main day for bathing of the 55-day Kumbh Mela. In Hindu mythology, Allahabad is one of the four places where drops of the "nectar of immortality" contained in a pitcher fell to earth as gods and demons fought for it.
The holy bathing began on Saturday afternoon and peaked after midnight, festival official Satish Kumar Sharma said.
More than 12,000 police officers were guarding the nearly 20-square-kilometer (7.7-square-mile) site, India's government said.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was "deeply shocked" by the deaths and promised to extend "all possible help" to state authorities.
"I send my heartfelt condolences to the members of the bereaved families and wish those injured a speedy recovery," Singh said in a statement issued by his office. He pledged that those injured and the families of those killed would receive compensation.
CNN's Aliza Kassim in Atlanta, Georgia, contributed to this report.
NEWPORT, R.I. As electricity returns and highways reopen, Northeast residents are getting back to their weekday routines following the massive snowstorm that had millions digging out from New York to Maine.
But the routine for some New Englanders will be disrupted by school and workplace closings, while residents of New York's Long Island anticipate the reopening of a major roadway. For some, there's also a new worry: the danger of roof collapses as rain and warmer weather melt snow.
The storm that slammed into the region with up to three feet of snow was blamed for at least 15 deaths in the Northeast and Canada, and brought some of the highest accumulations ever recorded.
Still, coastal areas were largely spared catastrophic damage despite being lashed by strong waves and hurricane-force wind gusts at the height of the storm.
Hundreds of people, their homes without heat or electricity, were forced to take refuge in emergency shelters set up in schools or other places.
61 Photos
Powerful blizzard descends on Northeast
Utility crews, some brought in from as far away as Georgia, Oklahoma and Quebec, raced to restore power. By early Monday, region-wide outages had dropped from some 650,000 in eight states at their highest to 149,970 -- more than 126,000 of them in Massachusetts, where officials said some of the outages might linger until Tuesday.
"For all the complaining everyone does, people really came through," said Rich Dinsmore, 65, of Newport, R.I., who was staying at a Red Cross shelter set up in a middle school in Middletown after the power went out in his home on Friday.
Dinsmore, who has emphysema, was first brought by ambulance to a hospital after the medical equipment he relies on failed when the power went out and he had difficulty breathing.
Play Video
Northeast sees record snow fall
"The police, the fire department, the state, the Red Cross, the volunteers, it really worked well," said the retired radio broadcaster and Army veteran.
President Obama declared a state of emergency for Connecticut, allowing federal aid to be used in recovery.
CBS News correspondent Miguel Bojorquez reports that Hamden, Conn., about 80 miles from New York City, got the deepest snow: 40 inches. The blizzard dumped five inches of snow per hour there for some time.
Driving bans were lifted and flights resumed at major airports in the region that had closed during the storm, though many flights were still canceled Sunday. Public transit schedules were being restored.
The Boston-area public transportation system, which shut down on Friday afternoon, was expected to resume full service on Monday, albeit with delays.
Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) General Manager Beverly Scott, speaking at a Sunday afternoon press conference, noted that snow accumulation, downed tree limbs and other damage from high winds and the overall age of the transit system made restoration challenging, reports CBS Boston station WBZ.
The Metro-North Railroad expected to resume much of its train service on its New York and Connecticut routes while the Long Island Rail Road said commuters could expect a nearly normal schedule.
"A lot of progress has been made," said Salvatore Arena, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates Metro-North.
Some public schools canceled classes on Monday, including in Boston, Providence and on Long Island, while local governments in some areas told non-essential workers to take the day off.
On eastern Long Island, the harrowing images from New York's slice of the massive snowstorm -- people stranded overnight, cars abandoned on long stretches of drift-covered highways -- were slowly erased Sunday as hundreds of snowplows and heavy equipment descended to try to help clear the way for Monday's commute.
Long Island was slammed with as much as 30 inches of snow, which shut down roads, including the Long Island Expressway. A 27-mile stretch of the road was closed Sunday and early Monday for snow-removal work.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said more than a third of all the state's snow-removal equipment was sent to the area, including more than 400 plow trucks and more than 100 snow blowers, loaders and backhoes.
"The massive amount of snow left behind effectively shut down the entire region," Cuomo said.
On Sunrise Highway, which runs parallel to the Long Island Expressway, Dennis Lawrence, of Bellport, N.Y., had already spent 90 minutes digging out the car he had abandoned and had at least another 30-60 minutes to go on Sunday. He left it there Friday after getting stuck on his way home from his job in New York City.
"The car was all over the place, it just slid over and wouldn't move," the 54-year-old elevator mechanic said. "I finally decided today to come and get it."
Boston recorded 24.9 inches of snow, making it the fifth-largest storm in the city since records were kept. The city was appealing to the state and private contractors for more front-end loaders and other heavy equipment to clear snow piles that were clogging residential streets.
The National Weather Service was forecasting rain and warmer temperatures in the region on Monday, which could begin melting some snow but also add considerable weight to snow already piled on roofs, posing the danger of collapse. Of greatest concern were flat or gently-sloped roofs and officials said people should try to clear them -- but only if they could do so safely.
"We don't recommend that people, unless they're young and experienced, go up on roofs," said Peter Judge, spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.
In Middlefield, Conn., two cows were killed when the roof of a barn gave way under the weight of heavy snow, one of two such incidents in the state that prompted agriculture officials to issue an advisory to farmers.
Officials also continued to warn of carbon monoxide dangers in the wake of the storm.
In Boston, two people died Saturday after being overcome by carbon monoxide while sitting in running cars, including a teenager who went into the family car to stay warm while his father shoveled snow. The boy's name was not made public. In a third incident, two children were hospitalized but expected to recover. In Webster, a 60-year-old off-duty member of the Worcester Fire Department died Saturday after suffering a heart attack while clearing snow at his home.
A fire department spokesman said in each case, the tailpipes of the cars were clogged by snow.
In Maine, the Penobscot County Sheriff's office said it recovered the body of a 75-year-old man who died after the pickup he was driving struck a tree and plunged into the Penobscot River during the storm. Investigators said Gerald Crommett apparently became disoriented while driving in the blinding snow.
Christopher Mahood, 23, of Germantown, N.Y., died after his tractor went off his driveway while he was plowing snow Friday night and rolled down a 15-foot embankment.
In Massachusetts, eight teams were formed to assess damage from flooding along the state's coastline, with the hardest hit-areas including historic Plymouth and portions of Cape Cod.
"Considering the severity of the storm, the amount of snow and the wind, we've come through this pretty well," Gov. Deval Patrick told the CBS News broadcast "Face The Nation" Sunday after meeting with local officials in Plymouth.
The U.S. Postal Service said that mail delivery that was suspended in the six New England states, as well as parts of New York and New Jersey, because of the snowstorm would resume Monday, where it is safe to do so.
Pope Benedict XVI announced today that he will resign Feb. 28, saying his role requires "both strength of mind and body."
The pope's decision makes him the first pontiff to resign in nearly 600 years. A conclave to elect a new pope will take place before the end of March. The 85-year-old pope announced the decision to resign in Latin during a meeting of Vatican cardinals.
VIDEO: Pope Benedict to Resign, Vatican Says
"After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths due to an advanced age are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry," he said. "I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only by words and deeds but no less with prayer and suffering."
Pope Benedict XVI was the oldest pope to be elected at age 78 on April 19, 2005. He was the first German pope since the 11th century and his reign will rank as one of the shortest in history at seven years, 10 months and three days.
RELATED: Pope Benedict XVI Resigns: The Statement
The last pope to resign was Pope Gregory XII, who stepped down in 1415.
Pope Benedict XVI Resignation: Who Will Be Next? Watch Video
Vatican officials said they've noticed that he had been getting weaker, while Benedict said he is aware of the significance of his decision and made it freely.
Benedict's brother, the Rev. Georg Ratzinger, had shared his concerns about the pope's health in September 2011, telling Germany's Bunte magazine that he should resign if health issues made the work impossible. More recently, Ratzinger has apparently cited his brother's difficulty in walking and his age, saying that Benedict had been advised by his doctor to cease transatlantic trips and that he had been considering stepping down for months, according to the German DPA news agency.
Benedict has been a less charismatic leader than his predecessor, John Paul II, but tending to the world's roughly 1 billion Catholics still requires stamina Benedict seems to believe he now lacks.
PHOTOS: Pope Benedict XVI Through the Years
"Obviously, it's a great surprise for the whole church, for everyone in the Vatican and I think for the whole Catholic world," the Rev. John Wauck, a U.S. priest of the Opus Dei, told "Good Morning America" today. "But, at the same time, it's not completely surprising given what the pope had already written about the possibility of resigning.
"It's clear in terms of his mental capacity he's in excellent shape, he's very sharp, and so when he says he's making this official with whole freedom, it's clear that that's the case, that makes one believe that this is an act taken out of a sense of responsibility and love for the church."
It is a road that leads back to the 1930s.
Ratzinger started seminary studies in 1939 at the age of 12. In his memoirs, he wrote of being enrolled in Hitler's Nazi youth movement against his will when he was 14 in 1941, when membership was compulsory. In 1943, he was drafted into a Nazi anti-aircraft unit in Munich. He says he was soon let out because he was a priest in training.
He returned home only to find an army draft notice waiting for him in the fall of 1944.
As World War II came to an end, the 18-year-old Ratzinger deserted the army. In May 1945, U.S. troops arrived in his town and he was sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.
FOR most of us, brushing our teeth is just a tedious part of the daily grind. But for people with dementia or learning difficulties, such tasks can be difficult. They could soon gain more independence thanks to an AI designed by Christian Peters at Bielefeld University in Germany and his colleagues.
Peters has already come up with a system that guides people when washing their hands. Brushing teeth is more complicated because it involves many steps - such as putting toothpaste on the brush, filling a glass with water or rinsing the mouth.
The TEBRA system uses a video camera to monitor someone brushing their teeth and checks that each step happens at the right time. It prompts them via a screen on the washstand if they forget a step or if they get stuck. The idea is not to dictate a routine, but to adapt to that of the user, says Peters.
TEBRA is being tested at a care home in Bielefeld for people with learning disabilities. Caregivers there reported that the system was less distracting for some people than a human carer. The work will be presented at the International Conference on Health Informatics in Barcelona, Spain, next week. Peters also plans to adapt his system to tasks such as shaving.
This article appeared in print under the headline "Time to rinse! An AI to help you clean your teeth"
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PARIS: The Europe-wide scandal over horsemeat sold as beef spread Sunday as six French retailers pulled products from their shelves and France promised to have the results of an urgent inquiry within days.
A senior British lawmaker meanwhile upped the stakes by calling for a temporary ban on importing EU meat, as a French minister suggested London was threatening food safety standards by pushing for EU budget cuts.
Several ranges of prepared food have been withdrawn in Britain, France and Sweden after it emerged that frozen food companies had been using horsemeat -- traced back to Romania -- instead of beef in making lasagnes and other pasta dishes, shepherd's pies and moussakas.
Frozen food giant Findus has lodged a legal complaint in France after evidence showed the presence of horsemeat in its supply chain "was not accidental", while a French meat-processing firm has said it will sue its Romanian supplier.
Highlighting the complexity of European food supply chains, the meat has been traced back from France through Cyprus and The Netherlands to Romanian abattoirs. Romanian officials have also announced an urgent inquiry.
French retailers Auchan, Casino, Carrefour, Cora, Monoprix and Picard announced Sunday they were withdrawing products provided by Findus and French producer Comigel over the horsemeat concerns.
In a statement through the FCD retail association, the retailers said the withdrawal was the result of "labelling non-compliance in regards to the nature of the meat" in the products.
Consumer Affairs Minister Benoit Hamon said French authorities would have the preliminary results of their inquiry into the scandal by Wednesday.
Hamon also told Le Parisien newspaper authorities "will not hesitate" to take legal action if there is evidence that companies were knowingly duping consumers.
In Britain, where tests found that some frozen ready meals produced in mainland Europe and labelled as processed beef actually contained up to 100 percent horsemeat, pressure was mounting for the government to take action.
Anne McIntosh, the head of the British parliament's food affairs scrutiny panel, called for a temporary ban on all EU meat imports.
"I believe there should be a moratorium on the movement of all meat until such time as we can trace the source of the contamination and until we can establish whether there has been fraud," she said on BBC television.
The scandal has had particular resonance in Britain, where eating horsemeat is considered taboo. British authorities have also said they are testing to see whether the horsemeat contains a veterinary drug that can be dangerous to humans.
The Findus meals were assembled by Comigel using meat that was provided by Spanghero, a meat-processing company also based in France. Comigel supplies products to companies in 16 European countries.
Spanghero in turn is said to have obtained the meat from Romania via a Cypriot dealer who had subcontracted the deal to a trader in The Netherlands.
Hamon defended France's food safety checks, saying the system relies on producers and importers to properly identify their meat.
"I can't put an official behind every piece of meat," Hamon said.
He also took a sideswipe at Britain for seeking cuts in the European Union budget, saying reduced spending would affect food safety checks.
"The British are just returning from Brussels where they defended a liberal budget that tends to reduce food safety checks," he said.
Romania's agriculture ministry has said it would launch an inquiry into shipments of meat to France, but on Sunday Romanian food industry officials pointed the finger of blame at the French meat importer.
"I find it hard to believe that a Romanian abattoir could have delivered horsemeat that was labelled beef" because of the controls in place, Dragos Frumoso, the head of Romania's food industry union, told AFP.
Frumoso said it was up to the French importer to verify the quality of the meat it received.
"If it did not make any protest when it received the meat to say that it was horse and not beef, then either it was an accomplice to the Romanian producer or it changed the labels afterwards," Frumoso said.
