Biden Hints at Executive Order on Gun Control

Vice President Biden, meeting today with outside groups on gun safety, told reporters he has already started putting together a list of recommendations that he plans to issue next Tuesday.

Biden meets with representatives of the NRA and other supporters of gun rights on the second day of this week's meetings on gun violence.

But he told reporters Thursday, during meeting a with sportsmen, women and wildlife groups, that he would deliver the list of recommendations to the president on Jan. 15, and that an improved system for background checks has emerged as a a priority for the stakeholders he's met so far.

Biden told a group of sportsmen and wildlife interest groups that he has "never quite heard so much talk about high-capacity magazines" as he has since last month's mass shooting in Newtown, Conn.

Biden met with gun-violence victims' groups and proponents of gun control on Wednesday. Thursday was his opportunity to get a different side of the story. Biden meets with the National Rifle Association and Attorney General Eric Holder meets with representatives from Wal-Mart, one of the largest sellers of firearms in the country.

Spokesmen for the NRA and Wal-Mart confirmed representatives from their organizations would be included in the meetings Thursday. The NRA said it would be represented by James J. Baker, its top lobbyist. Advocates for sportsmen, women's groups, wildlife groups and gun owners were also invited. The vice president is slated to meet with members of the entertainment industry in the evening.

Gabby Giffords, Mark Kelly Say 'Enough' to Gun Violence Watch Video

Rep. Gabby Giffords' Exclusive Interview with Diane Sawyer Watch Video

In December, the NRA called for armed officers to be placed in every school after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

Wal-Mart initially turned down an invitation to participate in the talks but reversed its decision after it "underestimated the expectation to attend the meeting on Thursday in person," a spokesman said.

"We take this issue very seriously and are committed staying engaged in this discussion as the administration and Congress work toward a consensus on the right path forward," David Tovar, vice president of corporate communications for Wal-Mart, said.

The latest meetings come one day after Biden held a first round of talks this week with gun safety advocacy groups and victims of gun violence. Speaking to reporters before the meeting, the vice president expressed the administration's commitment to develop effective gun policy by considering all ideas. He suggested the administration would be ready to take executive action on the issue, which would not require votes from Congress.

"We're here today to deal with a problem that requires our immediate action, urgent action. And the president and I are determined to take action," Biden told reporters before a meeting in his ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. "I want to make it clear that we are not going to get caught up in the notion [that] unless we can do everything, we're going to do nothing."

"There are executive orders, executive action that can be taken. We haven't decided what that is yet, but we're compiling it all with the help the attorney general and all the rest of the cabinet members, as well as legislative action, we believe, is required," Biden said.

Colin Goddard, a survivor of the shooting at Virginia Tech University in 2007, participated in the meeting at the White House Wednesday and said the talks gave the groups "encouragement from the highest office in the country."

"I was really encouraged by seeing how focused and determined the administration is in seeing comprehensive changes to the gun violence in America," Goddard, who is now the assistant director for federal legislation at the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, told ABC News. "It was really great to see even the Vice President of the United States of America supporting us. He wants to see this done to the end and bringing us all to the table to share our personal stories, share our ideas about what our proposals could be."

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Karzai's U.S. visit a time for tough talk

The last time Presidents Obama and Karzai met was in May in Kabul, when they signed a pact regarding U.S. troop withdrawal.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Afghan President Karzai meeting with President Obama in Washington this week


• Felbab-Brown: Afghan politics are corrupt; army not ready for 2014 troop pullout


• She says Taliban, insurgents, splintered army, corrupt officials are all jockeying for power


• U.S. needs to commit to helping Afghan security, she says, and insist corruption be wiped out

Editor's note: Vanda Felbab-Brown is a senior fellow in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution. Her latest book is "Aspiration and Ambivalence: Strategies and Realities of Counterinsurgency and State-Building in Afghanistan."

(CNN) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai is meeting this week with President Obama in Washington amid increasing ambivalence in the United States about what to do about the war in Afghanistan.

Americans are tired of the war. Too much blood and treasure has been spent. The White House is grappling with troop numbers for 2013 and with the nature and scope of any U.S. mission after 2014. With the persisting corruption and poor governance of the Afghan government and Karzai's fear that the United States is preparing to abandon him, the relationship between Kabul and Washington has steadily deteriorated.

As the United States radically reduces its mission in Afghanistan, it will leave behind a stalled and perilous security situation and a likely severe economic downturn. Many Afghans expect a collapse into civil war, and few see their political system as legitimate.

Karzai and Obama face thorny issues such as the stalled negotiations with the Taliban. Recently, Kabul has persuaded Pakistan to release some Taliban prisoners to jump-start the negotiations, relegating the United States to the back seat. Much to the displeasure of the International Security Assistance Force, the Afghan government also plans to release several hundred Taliban-linked prisoners, although any real momentum in the negotiations is yet to take place.

U.S. may remove all triips from Afghanistan after 2014

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Washington needs to be careful that negotiations are structured in a way that enhances Afghanistan's stability and is not merely a fig leaf for U.S. and NATO troop departure. Countering terrorism will be an important U.S. interest after 2014. The Taliban may have soured on al Qaeda, but fully breaking with the terror group is not in the Taliban's best interest. If negotiations give the insurgents de facto control of parts of the country, the Taliban will at best play it both ways: with the jihadists and with the United States.

Negotiations of a status-of-forces agreement after 2014 will also be on the table between Karzai and Obama. Immunity of U.S. soldiers from Afghan prosecution and control over detainees previously have been major sticking points, and any Afghan release of Taliban-linked prisoners will complicate that discussion.

Karzai has seemed determined to secure commitments from Washington to deliver military enablers until Afghan support forces have built up. The Afghan National Security Forces have improved but cannot function without international enablers -- in areas such as air support, medevac, intelligence and logistical assets and maintenance -- for several years to come. But Washington has signaled that it is contemplating very small troop levels after 2014, as low as 3,000. CNN reports that withdrawing all troops might even be considered.

Everyone is hedging their bets in light of the transition uncertainties and the real possibility of a major security meltdown after 2014. Afghan army commanders are leaking intelligence and weapons to insurgents; Afghan families are sending one son to join the army, one to the Taliban and one to the local warlord's militia.

With Afghan president's visit, nations' post-2014 future takes shape

Patronage networks pervade the Afghan forces, and a crucial question is whether they can avoid splintering along ethnic and patronage lines after 2014. If security forces do fall apart, the chances of Taliban control of large portions of the country and a civil war are much greater. Obama can use the summit to announce concrete measures -- such as providing enablers -- to demonstrate U.S. commitment to heading off a security meltdown. The United States and international security forces also need to strongly focus on countering the rifts within the Afghan army.

Assisting the Afghan army after 2014 is important. But even with better security, it is doubtful that Afghanistan can be stable without improvements in its government.

Afghanistan's political system is preoccupied with the 2014 elections. Corruption, serious crime, land theft and other usurpation of resources, nepotism, a lack of rule of law and exclusionary patronage networks afflict governance. Afghans crave accountability and justice and resent the current mafia-like rule. Whether the 2014 elections will usher in better leaders or trigger violent conflict is another huge question mark.

Emphasizing good governance, not sacrificing it to short-term military expediencies by embracing thuggish government officials, is as important as leaving Afghanistan in a measured and unrushed way -- one that doesn't jeopardize the fledgling institutional and security capacity that the country has managed to build up.

U.S. likely to keep thousands of troops in Afghanistan after NATO forces leave

Karzai has been deaf and blind to the reality that reducing corruption, improving governance and allowing for a more pluralistic political system are essential for Afghanistan's stability. His visit provides an opportunity to deliver the message again -- and strongly.

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The opinions in this commentary are solely those of Vanda Felbab-Brown.

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Football: Winning start for LionsXII

SINGAPORE: The LionsXII have got their 2013 Malaysian Super League (MSL) campaign off to a winning start with victory over Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM) FA on Wednesday.

A solitary strike from captain Shahril Ishak in the 66th minute was enough to give the Singaporean side a 1-0 win at the Paroi Stadium in Seremban.

ATM FA missed a golden opportunity when Marlon James miscued three yards from goal, while defender Irwan Shah looped his shot wide late on with just ATM goalkeeper Farizal Harun to beat.

The LionsXII next face Selangor this Saturday at the Jalan Besar Stadium in their first home fixture of the season.

- TODAY/jc

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Biden: Obama may act alone to combat gun violence

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Obama is exploring executive orders, Biden announces


• Wal-Mart reversed a decision, saying it now will attend a Thursday meeting


• Burlington, Vermont, passed a resolution that could lead to an assault weapons ban


• A Marine supporting an assault weapons ban pushes back against another Marine

On Wednesday night, Piers Morgan goes one-on-one with firearms lobbyist Larry Pratt over guns in America. "Piers Morgan Tonight" airs nightly at 9 ET.

(CNN) -- President Barack Obama is exploring executive orders to help stop mass shootings in America, Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday.

"The president is going to act. Executive orders, executive action, can be taken," Biden told reporters before meetings with groups representing survivors of mass shootings. "We haven't decided what this is yet, but we're compiling it all with the help of the attorney general and all the rest of the Cabinet members."

Legislative action also is needed, Biden said.

"I'm convinced we can affect the well-being of millions of Americans, and take thousands of people out of harm's way, if we act responsibly," he said.

President Obama vowed last month that a new task force overseen by Biden will provide "concrete proposals" by the end of January to reduce gun violence. The group, which includes an array of Cabinet members and government officials, was established in the wake of the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut that left 27 people dead -- 20 of them elementary school children.

In addition to gun laws, the group is looking at mental health care and what the president has described as a culture that often "glorifies guns and violence."

CNN iReport: The gun control debate

Biden's brief remarks Wednesday came before what will likely be some of the most emotional testimony before the task force.

We can... take thousands of people out of harm's way, if we act responsibly.
Vice President Joe Biden

Among those addressing the group to push for tougher gun laws is Colin Goddard of the Brady Campaign. He was shot four times in the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, in which a gunman killed 32 people and himself.

"My job is to represent the voice of the overwhelming majority of Americans ... that want some comprehensive, common sense changes to our gun policy," he told CNN Wednesday. "There are common ground solutions that respect the Second Amendment."

Many gun sales take place without background checks, and "that's bad policy," he argues. Conducting such checks "doesn't stop a law-abiding citizen from getting a gun. But somebody with a history of illness, felony record, they need to get checked."

The campaign's phones have been "ringing off the hook" since the Newtown massacre, he said.

Reaction to Newtown school killings

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The task force will also hear from gun safety organizations Wednesday.

Where do you stand? Weigh in on Twitter

Gun lobby faces challenge

On Thursday, Biden's group will hear from the other side: gun rights groups, including the National Rifle Association.

The NRA has argued that it is committed to keeping people protected, but that a focus on stricter gun control is misguided.

NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre has called for all U.S. schools to have armed guards

NRA President David Keene later told CNN the group supports schools choosing whether they want armed guards.

A rising chorus of voices is standing up against the NRA and the gun lobby's sway over U.S. politics.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, shot in the head in a mass shooting two years ago, and her husband Mark Kelly, a former Navy captain and astronaut, launched a new political action committee Tuesday to end what they called lawmakers' "fear" of the gun lobby.

CNN's Piers Morgan has also garnered attention for speaking out against the influence of the gun lobby.

Wal-Mart changes tune, will attend White House meeting

After initially saying it would not attend a meeting with the White House on Thursday, Wal-Mart , the nation's largest retailer, said Wednesday it now will.

The company has had "ongoing conversations with the administration, Congress, (New York) Mayor (Michael) Bloomberg's office, sportsmen groups, suppliers and others to listen and share our thoughts and experiences," company spokesman David Tovar said in a statement to CNN.

"Knowing our senior leaders could not be in Washington this week, we spoke in advance with the vice president's office to share our perspective," he said. "We underestimated the expectation to attend the meeting on Thursday in person, so we are sending an appropriate representative to participate."

Wal-Mart sells guns and ammunition.

Previously, the company had insisted that its "experts" on gun control needed to be in Bentonville, Arkansas, where the company is headquartered, for important meetings, and insisted the move should not be interpreted as a "slight" or "diss" to the White House.

The future of gun laws: Weigh in on Facebook

States, cities make their own moves

Across the country, people are sharing their views on what Washington should decide. Among them are Californians who have packed into town hall meetings.

Some have spoken out in support of renewing a ban on assault weapons -- high-capacity weapons that have been used in numerous mass shootings. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, is pushing to reinstate a ban that expired in 2004.

But others at the town halls argue that banning those guns isn't the answer, and could even be a slippery slope toward banning all guns.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, meanwhile, plans to push for major new gun laws Wednesday, including one of the country's most restrictive bans on assault weapons, the New York Times reported.

Bloomberg, a longtime advocate of stricter gun control, is pushing for tough steps nationwide.

Burlington, Vermont, a city of less than 43,000 people, has already made a move of its own: passing a resolution that could lead to a ban on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines.

The city council voted 10-3 in favor of the resolution, which will now be presented in public hearings and voted on by the public before going to the state legislature.

Amid the cacophony of voices battling over the issue, two young former Marines have found themselves in a spotlight online, representing very different views.

First, Joshua Boston posted on CNN iReport an open letter to Feinstein explaining why he would not abide by an assault weapons ban. "I do not believe it is the government's right to know what I own," he wrote in the post, which went viral. "Nor do I think it prudent to tell you what I own so that it may be taken from me by a group of people who enjoy armed protection yet decry me having the same a crime."

On Tuesday, Nick DiOrio responded with his own iReport. Marines don't believe in following the law "only when it suits us," DiOrio wrote, calling Boston's letter "embarrassing because he makes Marines seem insensitive and uncaring." DiOrio said he supports an assault weapons ban.

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Holmes posed playfully with gun before shootings

CENTENNIAL, Colo. The hearing to determine whether the suspected gunman in last year's Colorado theater shooting ended Wednesday with one last detail from police: James Holmes used a cell phone to take self-portraits the night of the attack, sticking out his tongue, smiling and posing with a Glock pistol

The defense decided not to call witnesses to talk about Holmes' mental health. They are expected to present an insanity defense.

23 Photos

The Aurora shooting victims

Police also showed the court photos of the theater they say Holmes took a month before the attack, which left 12 dead and at least 58 injured in one of the country's worst mass shootings.

The judge said he will rule by Friday on whether Holmes should stand trial. If the judge decides he should be tried, Holmes could enter a plea that day. Cases rarely advance to this stage without a judge agreeing to set a trial.

Prosecutors this week have argued that Holmes acted with deliberation and extreme indifference.

Defense attorneys decided not call any witnesses, saying the rules of the hearing severely limited what evidence they could present. They had been granted permission to call two people to talk about Holmes' mental state.

16 Photos

The Colorado massacre suspect

His lawyers have previously stated that Holmes, 25, is mentally ill. Defense lawyer Tamara Brady pointedly asked a federal agent in court Tuesday whether any Colorado law prevented "a severely mentally ill person" from buying the 6,295 rounds of ammunition, body armor and handcuffs that Holmes purchased online.

The hearing was dominated by prosecutors' details of Holmes' preparations. Police and authorities said he spent months amassing tear gas grenades, two Glock handguns, a shotgun and an AR-15 rifle, along with the 6,295 rounds of ammunition, targets, body armor and chemicals. He also purchased chemicals including improvised napalm, as well as thermite, a substance which burns so hot that water can't extinguish the blaze.

Holmes' purchases were for two planned attacks, prosecutors said - the theater shooting and his apartment, which would have blown up if anyone had entered. The traps weren't triggered.

Holmes, clad from head to toe in body armor, was found standing by his car outside the theater. He told investigators that the apartment was an effort to pull police away from the theater. He didn't expect to see officers so quickly.

Police said he volunteered information about the apartment traps. Authorities went to the apartment and carefully dismantled them.

Play Video

Aurora 911 calls played at Holmes hearing

On Tuesday, police played a 911 call from a teenage cousin of 6-year-old Veronica Moser-Sullivan, the youngest person killed. A dispatcher tried to talk her through CPR but she sounded panicked and said she couldn't hear.

"My two cousins, they are sitting on the floor," 13-year-old Kaylan told the dispatcher, according to CBS correspondent Barry Petersen. "One of them is not breathing."

If Holmes is found sane, goes to trial and is convicted, his attorneys can try to avoid a possible death penalty by arguing he is mentally ill. Prosecutors have yet to say whether they will seek the death penalty.

If he's found not guilty by reason of insanity, he would likely be sent to the state mental hospital, not prison. Such a defendant is deemed not guilty because he didn't know right from wrong and is therefore "absolved" of the crime, said former Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey.

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Holmes Took Disturbing Photos Before Massacre

Hours before James Holmes allegedly carried out a massacre at a Colorado movie theater he took a series of menacing self-portraits with his dyed orange hair curling out of from under a black skull cap and his eyes covered with black contacts.

A prosecutor told the court after the photographs were shown that Holmes had a "depravity of human heart."

Those haunting photographs, found on his iPhone, were shown in court today on the last day of a preliminary testimony that will lead to a decision on whether the case will go to trial. The hearing concluded without Holmes' defense calling any witnesses.

The judge's decision on whether the case will proceed to trial is expected on Friday.

Holmes, 25, is accused of opening fire on a crowded movie theater in Aurora, Colo., on July 20, 2012, killing 12 people and wounding 58 others during a showing of "Dark Knight Rises."

The photos presented in court showed Holmes mugging for his iPhone camera just hours before the shooting.

Click here for full coverage of the Aurora movie theater shooting.

Half-a-dozen photos showed Holmes with his clownish red-orange hair curled out from underneath a black skull cap. He wore black contact lenses in some of the pictures.

In one particularly disturbing image, he was making a scowling face with his tongue out. He was whistling in another photo. Holmes is smiling in his black contacts and flaming hair in yet another with the muzzle of one of his Glock pistols in the forefront.

James Holmes: Suspect in Aurora Movie Theatre Shootings Back in Court Watch Video

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Trail of Cheetos Lead Police to Robbery Suspect Watch Video

Yet another showed him dressed in black tactical gear, posing with an AR-15 rifle.

Victims' families in the courtroom stared straight ahead, showing little emotion while the photos were shown. Tom Teves, whose son Alex was killed in the theater, kept an intense stare on the pictures.

Other photos seized from the iPhone show pictures that a detective testified were taken of the interior of the Aurora movie theater in the days leading up to the attack, on June 29, July 5 and July 11.

Before the prosecution called for the photos, public defender Tammy Brady objected. Prosecutor Karen Pearson said that the photos showed deliberation and extreme indifference. Judge William Sylvester overruled the objection and the photos were released.

In Pearson's closing statement, she said there is an abundance of direct evidence that Holmes "wanted to kill call of them. He knew what he was doing."

She said that Holmes had a "depravity of human heart" and that he "went into the theater without knowing or caring who they are." The prosecutor said he "picked the perfect venue for the perfect crime."

Pearson said prosecutors made a decision not to include all of the people who were in theaters eight and nine that night. If they had, they could have had 1,500 counts against Holmes. Instead, they included anyone who had physical injuries, including those with gunshot wounds and those who were hurt running out of the theater. There are 166 counts in all.

The judge has taken the case under advisement and there will be a status hearing or arraignment on Friday when the judge will decide whether the case will proceed to a full trial. Holmes' attorneys have not yet said whether they plan on using a insanity defense, in which case Holmes could possibly be deemed unfit to stand trial. Another possibility is that the hearing could set the stage for a plea deal.

This week's testimony has included emotional testimony from first responders, details about Holmes' elaborately booby trapped apartment, a rundown of his arsenal of legally purchased weapons and descriptions of his bizarre behavior following the shooting.

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Iran faces oil revenue problem

By John Defterios, CNN

January 8, 2013 -- Updated 1535 GMT (2335 HKT)

With elections in June, it remains unclear how energy policy will evolve after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's era

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The IEA has suggested Iraq surpassed Iran in output for the first time in over 20 years


• The Iranian people are faced with spiralling inflation and job layoffs within the state sector


• Iranian oil revenues in the country plummeted 40 percent, while gas export revenues fell by 45%

Editor's note: John Defterios is CNN's Emerging Markets Editor and anchor of Global Exchange, CNN's prime time business show focused on the emerging and BRIC markets. You can watch it on CNN International at 1600 GMT, Sunday to Thursday.

Abu Dhabi (CNN) -- All indications are that sanctions against Iran are really starting to bite and this time it is coming from the oil ministry in Tehran, which for months has denied that oil production was suffering due to international pressure.

In an interview with the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA), Gholam Reza Kateb a member of the national planning and budget committee in Parliament referenced a report from Iran's oil minister Rostam Qasemi. In that report, the minister suggested that oil revenues in the country plummeted 40 percent, while gas and gas products' export revenues fell by 45% compared to the same period last year.

Read more: Official: Iran, nuclear watchdog group deal close

This is a hot button issue in Iran, where the currency due to sanctions has dropped 80 percent from its peak in 2011. The Iranian people are faced with spiralling inflation and job layoffs within the state sector.

I spoke with a source in Iran's representative office to OPEC who declined to comment and referred all matters to the Oil Ministry. A spokesman at the state oil company Iran Petroleum would only say "in this political climate it is difficult to confirm these statements."

Read more: Iran steps up uranium enrichment, U.N. report says

Hours later, a spokesman from the Ministry told another Iranian news agency, Mehr, that the numbers quoted about revenue and production drops are not true, although he offered no specific numbers.

Until this report to the Iranian Parliament, Minister Qasemi has maintained that Iran's production was hovering around four million barrels a day, where it was two years ago.

Read more: Opinion: Time to defuse Iranian nuclear issue

Back at the OPEC Seminar in June 2012, the minister told me that sanctions would not have any influence on plans to expand production and investment, shrugging off questions that suggested otherwise. This despite analysis to the contrary from the Paris based International Energy Agency and Vienna based OPEC of which Iran is a member.

The IEA back in July suggested that Iraq surpassed Iran in production for the first time in over two decades and production in Iran dipped to 2.9 million barrels a day. OPEC in its October 2012 survey said it slipped to 2.72 million at the time Minister Qasemi said output remained at 4 million barrels.

Minister Qasemi was recently quoted at a conference in Tehran that Iran needs to invest $400 billion over the next five years to maintain production targets and to play catch up after years of under investment.

Iran is a land full of potential. According to the annual BP Statistical Review, Iran sits on nearly 10 percent of the world's proven reserves at 137 billion barrels. The South Pars field which it shares with Qatar is one of the largest natural gas fields in the world -- but Iran, due to sanctions, cannot expand development.

This is a highly charged period. With elections in mid-June, it remains unclear how energy policy will evolve after the era of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad passes. It has been eight years of his tough line against Washington, Brussels and other governments that put forth sanctions against Iran. It is not clear if a new President will usher in a new nuclear development policy to ease the pressure on Iran's energy sector and the country's people.

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Euro unemployment hits 'unacceptable' high

BRUSSELS: European unemployment has hit an unacceptable high, as one national leader put it on Tuesday, with dire figures in Spain highlighting a growing north-south divide that experts warn will only get worse.

The unemployment rate across the troubled 17-nation eurozone hit 11.8 per cent in November, up from 11.7 per cent in October, with the number of people out of work in the single currency area now nudging 19 million.

The 19th rise in a row for the eurozone, home to some 330 million people, represented an increase of more than two million on the dole compared with a year ago, according to data published by the EU statistics service Eurostat.

London-based IHS Global Insight analyst Howard Archer calculated the cumulative increase since April 2011 as 3.278 million after another 113,000 people lost their jobs.

"The only crumb of comfort was that this was the smallest rise since August, although it did follow a particularly sharp rise of 220,000 in October," Archer noted, before adding that he expected the jobless rate to "move clearly above 12 per cent during 2013."

The jobless numbers exceeded 26 million for the first time across the full 27-member European Union, which includes Britain and Poland, but the EU as a whole posted an unchanged unemployment rate of 10.7 per cent.

Such levels are "completely unacceptable," said Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, who currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, during a visit to Germany.

Eurostat figures showed that more jobs were lost over the past year in the eurozone, at 2.015 million, than in the 27-member EU, where the number was slightly lower at 2.012 million.

Hit by a property market bust and riddled with bad debt in its banks, Spain recorded the highest unemployment rate of all European countries -- at 26.6 per cent, worse even than bailed-out Greece.

Among under-25s, both those countries reported unemployment rates that hovered around 57 per cent.

According to figures that were seasonally-adjusted for comparative purposes, the November unemployment rate in key rival economies was 7.8 per cent for the United States and 4.1 per cent for Japan.

"2012 has been another very bad year for Europe in terms of unemployment and the deteriorating social situation," said European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Laszlo Andor.

"The risk of poverty or exclusion is constantly growing," he said, warning that "most national welfare systems have lost much of their ability to protect household incomes."

He added in reference to Germany and other northern economies faring far better than Europe's southern Mediterranean rim: "The divergence is especially striking between the north and the south of the eurozone."

Giving his annual report on employment trends, Andor said it was "unlikely that Europe will see much socio-economic improvement in 2013" and called for "appropriate labour market reforms and improvements in the design of welfare systems."

The Commission concluded there was a divergence between "countries that seem trapped in a downward spiral of falling output, fast-rising unemployment and eroding disposable incomes, and those that have so far shown good or at least some resilience."

Southern and peripheral countries whose governments and companies face higher interest rates or lack access to market financing will continue to struggle, the EU executive warned.

- AFP/jc

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30 shots in 27 seconds

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: ATF agent: Holmes bought 6,295 rounds of ammunition, four guns beginning in May


• Bomb technician testifies about materials designed to set fire inside suspect's apartment


• Police also play 911 calls from the July 20 shooting rampage


• The details come on the second day of suspect James Holmes' preliminary hearing

Centennial, Colorado (CNN) -- The recording is loud, chaotic and difficult to understand. There's too much sound to make out what the caller is saying.

Just one thing is unmistakable: the sound of gunshots.

At least 30 of them. In 27 seconds.

Prosecutors on Tuesday played the first 911 calls from the July 20 Aurora, Colorado, movie theater shooting as they continued building their case at a preliminary hearing for James Holmes, the 25-year-old former neuroscience graduate student accused of killing 12 people at a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises."

Detective Randy Hansen testified that the first call to authorities came 18 minutes after the film started. More trickled in until the torrent was complete: 41 calls in all, he said.

Because the movie was still playing and, in at least one, the gunman was still stalking the theater, the calls are difficult to make out. In one, a 13-year-old girl called to say her cousins had been shot. A 911 operator tried to lead the sobbing girl through performing CPR on one who was still breathing.

Family members of victims attending the hearing held each other and choked back tears as the calls were played.

After detailing the calls, prosecutors turned to the intricate explosive web authorities say Holmes left in his apartment, including jars of homemade napalm with bullets suspended inside and topped with thermite, a material that burns so hot, it's nearly impossible to put out.

In photos displayed in court, the mixture looked like amber-colored gelatin.

Elsewhere in the sparsely decorated apartment, a container of glycerin hung connected to a tripwire, ready to tip into a frying pan that held a homemade substance that would have sent sparks flying onto carpets soaked in oil and gas -- setting them aflame, FBI bomb technician Garrett Gumbinner testified. A robot sent inside discovered the tripwire.

He said Holmes also told him that he had left a boombox by a trash container outside his apartment rigged to start playing loud music 40 minutes after he turned it on.

Next to it, Holmes said he left a remote-control toy car and a control device set to control the explosives inside his apartment, Gumbinner testified.

It was not immediately clear whether authorities found such a device. Gumbinner said he did not clear the outside of the building.

Also, Steve Beggs, a supervisory agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, testified that Holmes had purchased 6,295 rounds of ammunition and four firearms beginning in May. Ten weeks before the attack, on May 10, he bought two canisters of tear gas over the Internet, Beggs said.

He was still buying materials into July, Beggs said, testifying that authorities have video of Holmes buying an accessory at a Colorado gun store on July 1. In the video, he said, Holmes' hair is bright orange.

The details came on the second day of Holmes' preliminary hearing, which could last all week. It is meant to prove to Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester that prosecutors have enough evidence to proceed to trial.

Colorado massacre: Mourning the victims

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The public gets its first glimpse of James Holmes, 24, the suspect in the Colorado theater shooting during his initial court appearance Monday, July 23. With his hair dyed reddish-orange, Holmes, here with public defender Tamara Brady, showed little emotion. He is accused of opening fire in a movie theater Friday, July 20, in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 people and wounding 58 others. More photos: Mourning the victims of the Colorado theater massacre

Colorado movie theater shooting

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Holmes' attorneys are expected to seek a "diminished capacity" defense that could prevent the case from getting that far.

In Monday's first day of testimony, police officers recounted arriving at the movie theater to find a detached, sweaty Holmes outside and a horrific scene inside the theater, where the floor had become slippery with blood and cell phones rang unanswered.

While none of the law enforcement witnesses who testified Monday offered insight into a possible motive for the shooting, some new details emerged.

Prosecutors aired surveillance camera video taken inside the theater complex that shows a man they say is Holmes dressed in dark trousers, a light-colored shirt with a T-shirt underneath and a ski cap. In the video, the man is shown using a cell phone at a ticket kiosk.

Aurora survivors: How they're doing

Holmes printed out a ticket that had been purchased on July 8, they said.

After going into the theater, Holmes apparently popped a small plastic piece commonly used to secure tablecloths onto an outside door, preventing it from closing, Police Sgt. Gerald Jonsgaard testified. Authorities believe Holmes then went outside, armed himself and returned to the theater to begin killing.

While no cameras captured the shooting inside the theater, cameras outside captured the aftermath as waves of people ran out. One employee leaped over a counter to escape.

Police Officer Jason Oviatt, the first officer to encounter Holmes after the rampage ended, testified Monday that Holmes seemed "very, very relaxed."

Holmes, sweating and smelly, his pupils dilated, didn't struggle or even tense his muscles as he was dragged away to be searched.

"He seemed very detached from it all," Oviatt testified, describing Holmes as unnaturally calm amid the chaos and carnage.

Aurora police Officer Justin Grizzle, a 13-year veteran, wiped away tears Monday while describing his efforts to rush badly wounded victims to a hospital in his police cruiser, including shooting victim Ashley Moser and her husband, who wanted Grizzle to turn around and head back to the theater.

"He was shot in the head somewhere. He kept asking where his ... daughter was," Grizzle said. "He opened the door and tried to jump out."

Grizzle said he had to drive and hold the man by his shoulder to keep him in the car.

The girl the man was seeking, 6-year-old Veronica Moser-Sullivan, was shot four times and was among those killed. Veronica's mother, Ashley, faces a long recovery after being paralyzed in her lower body and miscarrying after the shooting.

The scene was still gruesome when Detective Matthew Ingui arrived 12 hours later with other investigators.

"We saw the first victim laying on the ground," he said "There's shoes, blood, body tissue and popcorn on the floor."

Blood was everywhere, he said.

Holmes had no visible reaction during the testimony.

Investigators found 209 live rounds of .223-caliber ammunition and 15 cartridges of .40-caliber rounds inside the auditorium, Ingui said.

Holmes was a doctoral student in Aurora, in the neuroscience program at the Anschutz Medical Campus of the University of Colorado, Denver, until he withdrew a month before being arrested outside the bullet-riddled movie theater. He had been a patient of a University of Colorado psychiatrist, according to a court document filed by his lawyers.

His attorneys are expected to argue that their client has "diminished capacity," a term that, according to the Colorado Bar Association, relates to a person's ability or inability "to make adequately considered decisions" regarding his or her legal representation because of "mental impairment or for some other reason."

Several times, on cross-examination, the attorneys have asked witnesses about Holmes' demeanor and what he looked like when police found him.

Holmes did not speak during Monday's hearing. His bushy hair and long beard contrasted with the bright red hair and close-cropped facial hair he sported during previous appearances.

During portions of the hearing, family members of victims held one another, sobbing.

Security was tight. Spectators had to pass through a metal detector and then were searched again before entering the courtroom. At least nine armed officers stood guard inside, some of them scanning the audience packed with reporters and victims' family members.

University releases e-mails related to Holmes

CNN's Casey Wian and Jim Spellman reported from Colorado; Michael Pearson wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Michael Cary and Greg Botelho also contributed to this report.

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FBI: Booby trap at Holmes' Aurora home had napalm

Updated at 2:36 p.m. ET

CENTENNIAL, Colo. An elaborate booby trap system allegedly set up to pull police away from the Colorado theater shooting included improvised napalm and thermite, which burns so hot that water can't put out the blaze.

FBI bomb technician Garrett Gumbinner described the system Tuesday at a hearing in which prosecutors laid out their case against suspected gunman James Holmes.

He said three different ignition systems were found in Holmes' apartment. There was a thermos full of glycerin leaning over a skillet full of another chemical. Flames and sparks are created when they mix, and a trip wire linked the thermos to the door.

Police said Holmes hoped a boom box on a timer would lure someone to the apartment.

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The Aurora shooting victims

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Witnesses testify in Colo. movie theater shooting hearing

Prosecutors are trying to show in what is expected to be a weeklong hearing that the attack that killed 12 and wounded dozens July 20 was a premeditated act and that Holmes should stand trial.

Defense attorneys say he is mentally ill.

Daniel King, one of Holmes' lawyers, on Monday pointedly asked a pathologist who had just detailed each of the fatalities: "You're aware that people can be found not guilty on the grounds of insanity?"

When officers arrived at the theater, they found Holmes standing next to his car. At first, Officer Jason Oviatt said, he thought Holmes was a policeman because of how he was dressed but then realized he was just standing there and not rushing toward the theater.

Oviatt said Holmes seemed "very, very relaxed" and didn't seem to have "normal emotional reactions" to things. "He seemed very detached," he said.

At one point, after arresting Holmes, Grizzle asked him if anyone had been helping him or working with him. "He just looked at me and smiled ... like a smirk," Grizzle recalled.

So far, the hearing has focused on the horror Aurora police officers discovered at the theater. The magnitude of the attack could be heard in the first 911 call to police, played Tuesday in court. It lasted 27 seconds and police say at least 30 shots could be heard.

The call came in 18 minutes into the showing of "The Dark Knight Rises."

Police also played a 911 call from a teenage cousin of 6-year-old Veronica Moser-Sullivan, the youngest person killed. A dispatcher tried to talk her through CPR but she sounded panicked and said she couldn't hear.

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Prosecutors: Holmes threatened university prof.

A bearded and disheveled Holmes stared straight ahead as the calls were played and didn't show any emotion.

Holmes also showed little emotion on Monday as police officers struggled to hold back tears during their testimony, reciting a litany of heartbreak: discovering Moser-Sullivan without a pulse, trying to keep a wounded man from jumping out of a moving police car to go back for his 7-year-old daughter, screaming at a gunshot victim not to die.

"After I saw what I saw in the theater — horrific — I didn't want anyone else to die," Grizzle said.

Holmes watched intently as one detective showed a surveillance video of him calmly entering the theater lobby, holding the door open for a couple behind him, and printing out tickets to the midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" that he purchased electronically nearly two weeks earlier. Authorities did not show a video of the attack but say Holmes, wearing body armor, tossed two gas canisters into the packed theater, then opened fire.

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Psychiatrist who treated Holmes testifies

The hearing will be the best opportunity yet for survivors to find out about Holmes' mental state and the sequence of events that led up to the attack. It comes weeks after a shooting at a Newtown, Conn., school killed 20 children and six adults and increased scrutiny on the combustible mix of firearms and mental illness.

Holmes is charged with more than 160 counts, including murder and attempted murder. The hearing will allow the judge to determine whether the prosecution's case is strong enough to warrant a trial, but it's rare for a judge not to order a trial if a case gets this far.

Legal analysts say that evidence appears to be so strong that Holmes may well accept a plea agreement before trial.

While prosecutors have yet to decide on whether they will seek the death penalty, such a plea could get Holmes a lesser sentence, such as life in prison; help the state avoid a costly trial; and spare survivors and families of those who died from the trauma of going through a lengthy trial.

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