Inside Organized Retail Crime Raids

We used to call it shoplifting, but these days the foot soldiers of retail crime rings are known as boosters. Police even have an acronym for these operations: ORC, which stands for Organized Retail Crime.

"It's just like a Fortune 500 company," said Sergeant Eric Lee of the Gardena Police Department in Gardena, Calif. "All of this is just organized."

Watch the full story on "Nightline" TONIGHT at 12:35 a.m. ET

Police say big retail stores, from Walgreens to J.C. Penny, are getting hit by highly sophisticated shoplifting networks that steal and resell everything from underwear to razors to milk. According to the National Retail Federation, theft can amount to annual losses as high as a $37 billion for retail businesses.

"Every store in every city has to go through this," Lee said. "They wait until no one's paying attention and they walk out."

Tide detergent is currently a hot target because it is compact, expensive and easy to sell on the streets for profit, police said. The Street name: "liquid gold."

"Sometimes we get rings that just do alcohol," Lee said. "And then we get some that do just meat and seafood."

Investigators say boosters move the loot for cents on the dollar to fencing operations -- the black market resellers of the stolen goods -- which sell the stolen merchandise in plain sight in stores. Boosters, fencers, Mr. Bigs, all of those involved in these shoplifting operations can potentially make millions a year from boosting and re-selling stolen goods.

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Alleged Underage Prostitution in Philippines Watch Video

And Mike Swett is on the case. A former Riverside County sheriff's deputy in Los Angeles, Swett was badly injured in a car wreck and now works as a full-time private investigator on the ORC beat who has worked with Target, Marshalls, T.J. Maxx. Stores hire him to do his own undercover police work, catching thieves before involving local law enforcement.

"Kind of like working a narcotics case, it's like you've got low-level, mid-level and then top dog," Swett said. "We like to go after the top dog and the only way to get to the top dog is mid-level first."

At his command center -- his apartment -- Swett showed off the boxes upon boxes of tapes and photographs he has collected, the fruits of countless silent stake-out hours.

Swett said he has been casing two joints in L.A. for months, both alleged to be mid-level fencing operations. "Nightline" was invited to ride along with him when he sent undercover agents in for a final reconnaissance mission.

At some stores and shopping malls, clerks do little to stop shoplifters and often let them run, which has contributed to the growing fencing operations.

"[The stores] don't want their employees to get injured," Swett said. "So oftentimes they will call the police, but by the time we get there they are already in their car and they are gone."

This leaves professional investigators like Swett to put the pieces together and bust open the gangs to lead over-stretched police departments to the prey.

When raid day arrived, a motorcade of squad cars departed from the Gardena, Calif., police department and pulled up to one fencing operation. Swett said the merchandise being sold was boosted goods.

"There is Victoria's Secret, expensive Victoria's Secret, the gift sets," he said, pointing down a line of tables. "J.C. Penny, Miramax, its real stuff not counterfeit."

He spotted a bottle of Katy Perry brand perfume, which usually retails for around $90 but one seller had it priced at $59.

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UN calls for independent inquiry into Palestinian death

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations called Monday for an independent inquiry into the death of a Palestinian in Israeli custody, warning that mounting tensions risk an eruption of violence in the occupied territories.

The Palestinians also demanded an independent investigation in a letter to the UN Security Council, which said that Arafat Jaradat, who died at the weekend, could have been tortured.

UN Middle East peace envoy Robert Serry made the call for an investigation in a statement after talks with Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad on the Jaradat's death.

Serry noted that Israeli and Palestinian experts had examined the body.

"The United Nations expects the autopsy to be followed by an independent and transparent investigation into the circumstances of Mr Jaradat's death, the results of which should be made public as soon as possible," the envoy added.

Jaradat was detained on February 18 and died five days later.

Israeli prison authorities said Jaradat appeared to have died of a heart attack. But the Palestinian minister of prisoner affairs, Issa Qaraqaa, citing the preliminary findings of the joint autopsy, reported bruises on Jaradat's body, muscle damage and broken ribs.

A letter sent by Palestinian UN ambassador Riyad Mansour to the Security Council said the autopsy revealed that Jaradat "was subjected to severe beatings, abuse and medical negligence during his captivity, possibly amounting to torture."

The letter said Jaradat had six broken bones in his neck, spine, arms and legs, along with other injuries.

Israel has said the prisoner could have suffered broken bones in attempts to resuscitate him after the heart attack.

"This horrific incident is further proof of the inhumane treatment systematically meted out by Israel against Palestinians in its jails," added the letter, which called for an "impartial investigation" and Security Council action to make Israel abide by humanitarian law.

Thousands attended the Jaradat's West Bank funeral on Monday and some militants have threatened revenge for his death.

Serry's statement said "mounting tensions present a real risk of destabilisation".

UN leader Ban Ki-moon expressed concern last week about the deteriorating state of Palestinian hunger strikers in Israeli jails and said that the rights of all Palestinian detainees must be fully respected.

-AFP/sb

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Twitter to build app for new Firefox OS smartphones

Twitter for Firefox OS.

(Credit:
Twitter)

Twitter is jumping into the Firefox mobile mania, committing an app to the forthcoming platform.

The microblogging site announced today that when devices running Mozilla's browser-based operating system begin to be shipped to consumers in the next couple of months, it will have an app for the mobile platform in its
Firefox Marketplace.

"Similar to our other mobile apps, Twitter for Firefox OS has a rich interface, featuring the Home, Connect, Discover and Me tabs, as well as the search and compose Tweet icons, so you can easily find and send Tweets from anywhere in the app," Twitter engineer Manuel Deschamps wrote in a company blog post today.

The new app will also feature Web Activities, a feature unique to Firefox OS that allows users to tweet photos from within any app that supports the feature.

Mozilla announced yesterday at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona, Spain, that it's lined up 18 mobile network operators and four mobile phone makers to back its open-source mobile operating system. The first phones should arrive in the second quarter of the year.

Like its desktop cousin, Firefox OS runs Web apps written in Web languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, but it also features phone-specific interfaces for things like monitoring battery life and phone orientation.

Mozilla won commitments to sell Firefox OS phones from these carriers: America Moovil, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, Hutchison Three Group, KDDI, KT, MegaFon, Qtel, SingTel, Smart, Sprint, Telecom Italia Group, Telefonica, Telenor, Telstra, TMN, and VimpelCom. Handset manufacturers on board are Alcatel, ZTE, LG Electronics, and Huawei, with a boost from chipmaker Qualcomm.

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9/11 families upset over "Zero Dark Thirty" recordings

(CBS News) NEW CANAAN, Conn. - "Zero Dark Thirty" took just one minor award at the Oscars last night. There was a lot of debate about the way the film depicted torture during the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

Turns out that wasn't the only controversy.

The film starts with actual voices of victims of September 11, recorded as they made their last phone calls. For Mary and Frank Fetchet, it brings back painful memories. One of those voices was their son Brad, who worked on the 89th floor of the World Trade Center's South Tower.

Mary Fetchet

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CBS News

"When I arrived home I found Brad's message on our phone, and, of course, these were his last words in my view, because we never heard from him again," Mary said.

"Losing a loved one so horribly -- the ongoing anguish we've been going through -- it's a treasured remembrance, it's a treasured message. It's ours," Frank said.

They say that treasured remembrance was used in the film without their permission.

"My first thought was, 'isn't anything sacred anymore?'" Mary said.

The Fetchets used the recording in testimony for the September 11 Commission, and it has appeared in broadcast TV news reports. But the couple says this is different.

"I used it in situations where I wanted to convey Brad's story," Mary said. "None of those situations were used for promotional or professional or commercial endeavors."

Kathryn Bigelow defends "Zero Dark Thirty" torture scenes
Sony exec: "Zero Dark Thirty" does not advocate torture
Watch: "Zero Dark Thirty" director Kathryn Bigelow talks torture, art

The film has grossed more than $90 million worldwide. In a statement, the film distributor, Sony, and studio, Annapurna Pictures, say "Zero Dark Thirty" is a "tribute" to the victims of September 11 and "before the film's release, (they) initiated contact with a number of family members of the victims of the 9/11 attacks."

Frank said the statement wasn't enough. "To say they've reached out to families -- yeah, reached to say, 'come to the preview' after the film is already completed," he said.

Harry Ong

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CBS News

Harry Ong's sister Betty was a flight attendant who was killed on American Airline Flight 11.

"We were never given any notification or asked for permission to use Betty's voice, unlike many documentary companies," Ong said.

"We're asking that they apologize and that they recognize that they used Betty's voice and Brad's and others at liberty."

After the film was released, the Fetchets and Ongs asked Sony and Annapurna for donations to their September 11 charities in exchange for the use of their loved ones' voices. But the filmmakers had already decided to donate to the national 9/11 Memorial Museum.

"The real driver in all of this is getting this record set straight. I'm incensed by it," Frank Fetchet said. "Others run the risk of going through the same thing, so I think this should put a line in the sand that says, 'it's not right.'"

The Fetchets hope that by speaking out, they'll prevent other victims of tragedies from experiencing similar surprises.

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Americans Targeted for Allegedly Running Underage Prostitution in Philippines

Arthur Benjamin is sitting at the edge of a small stage, wearing a lavender Hawaiian shirt and nursing a bottle of San Miguel Light beer. The 6-foot-6 mustachioed Texan lazily watches the half dozen or so girls dancing rather unenergetically around the stage's pole.

"I forgot your gift again, it's in the car," Benjamin says to one of the girls on stage, shouting above the pop music blaring from the speaker system.

The small, dingy bar, which Benjamin says he owns, is called Crow Bar. It's in a rundown part of the picturesque Subic Bay in the western Philippines, about a three hour drive from the capital, Manila. Home for 50 years to a United States naval base, Subic Bay has become synonymous with foreigners looking for sex in the long string of bars that line the main road along the coast.

Watch the full story on "Nightline" TONIGHT at 12:35 a.m. ET

The bars in this area are often packed with older foreign men ogling the young Filipina women available for the night for a "bar fine" of around 1,500 Filipino pesos, or just over $35. Many of the bars are owned and operated by Americans, often former military servicemen who either served on the base or whose ships docked here until the base was shuttered under political pressure in 1992.

Most of the prostitutes working in the bars are indeed 18 or older. But in the Philippines, just a small scratch to the surface can reveal a layer of young, underage girls who have mostly come from impoverished rural provinces to sell their bodies to help support their families.

Benjamin, 49, is, according to his own statements, one of the countless foreigners who has moved beyond just having sex with underage girls to owning and operating a bar where girls in scantily-clad outfits flaunt their bodies for patrons.

"My wife recently found out that I have this place," he tells an ABC News "Nightline" team, unaware they are journalists and recording the conversation on tiny hidden cameras disguised as shirt buttons.

Benjamin said that a "disgruntled waitress" had written his wife on Facebook, detailing his activities in Subic Bay.

"She sent her this thing saying that I have underage girls who stayed with me, that I [have anal sex with them], I own a bar, I've got other girls that I'm putting through high school, all this other crap," he said.

"All of which is true," he laughed. "However, I have to deny."

He sends a text message summoning his current girlfriend, a petite dark-skinned girl called Jade, who he said is just 16 years old. Benjamin says he bought the bar for her about a year ago and while most still call it Crow Bar, he officially re-named it with her last name.

"She needed a place to stay, I needed a place to do her. I bought a bar for her," he says, explaining that she lives in a house out back by the beach.

"You're not going to find anything like this in the States, not as a guy my age," he said as he looked down at Jade. "Ain't going to happen."

Benjamin is the latest target of Father Shay Cullen, a Catholic priest with a thick Irish brogue and fluency in the local language, Tagalog. Through his non-profit center called Preda, he's been crusading against underage sex trafficking in the Philippines for 40 years.

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Cuban leader Raul Castro announces he will retire in 2018

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban President Raul Castro announced on Sunday he will step down from power after his second term ends in 2018, and the new parliament named a 52-year-old rising star to become his first vice president and most visible successor.

"This will be my last term," Castro, 81, said shortly after the National Assembly elected him to a second five-year tenure.

In a surprise move, the new parliament also named Miguel Diaz-Canel as first vice president, meaning he would take over if Castro cannot serve his full term.

Diaz-Canel is a member of the political bureau who rose through the Communist Party ranks in the provinces to become the most visible possible successor to Castro.

Raul Castro starts his second term immediately, leaving him free to retire in 2018, aged 86.

Former President Fidel Castro joined the National Assembly meeting on Sunday, in a rare public appearance. Since falling ill in 2006 and ceding the presidency to his brother, the elder Castro, 86, has given up official positions except as a deputy in the National Assembly.

The new government will almost certainly be the last headed up by the Castro brothers and their generation of leaders who have ruled Cuba since they swept down from the mountains in the 1959 revolution.

Cubans and foreign governments were keenly watching whether any new, younger faces appeared among the Council of State members, in particular its first vice president and five vice presidents.

Their hopes were partially fulfilled with Diaz-Canel's ascension. He replaces former first vice president, Jose Machado Ventura, 82, who will continue as one of five vice presidents.

Commander of the Revolution Ramiro Valdes, 80, and Gladys Bejerano, 66, the comptroller general, were also re-elected as vice presidents.

Two other newcomers, Mercedes Lopez Acea, 48, first secretary of the Havana communist party, and Salvador Valdes Mesa, 64, head of the official labor federation, also earned vice presidential slots.

Esteban Lazo, a 68-year-old former vice president and member of the political bureau of the Communist Party, left his post upon being named president of the National Assembly on Sunday. He replaced Ricardo Alarcon, who served in the job for 20 years.

Six of the Council's top seven members sit on the party's political bureau which is also lead by Castro.

Castro's announcement came as little surprise to Cuban exiles in Miami.

"It's no big news. It would have been big news if he resigned today and called for democratic elections," said Alfredo Duran, a Cuban-American lawyer and moderate exile leader in Miami who supports lifting the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba. "I wasn't worried about him being around after 2018," he added.

The National Assembly meets for just a few weeks each year and delegates its legislative powers between sessions to the 31-member Council of State, which also functions as the executive through the Council of Ministers it appoints.

Eighty percent of the 612 deputies, who were elected in an uncontested vote February 3, were born after the revolution.

EFFORT TO PROMOTE YOUNGER GENERATION

Raul Castro, who officially replaced his ailing brother as president in 2008, has repeatedly said senior leaders should hold office for no more than two five-year terms.

"Although we kept on trying to promote young people to senior positions, life proved that we did not always make the best choice," Castro said at a Communist Party Congress in 2011.

"Today, we are faced with the consequences of not having a reserve of well-trained replacements ... It's really embarrassing that we have not solved this problem in more than half a century."

Speaking on Sunday, Castro hailed the composition of the new Council of State as an example of what he had said needed to be accomplished.

"Of the 31 members, 41.9 percent are women and 38.6 percent are black or of mixed race. The average age is 57 years and 61.3 percent were born after the triumph of the revolution," he said.

The 2011 party summit adopted a more than 300-point plan aimed at updating Cuba's Soviet-style economic system, designed to transform it from one based on collective production and consumption to one where individual effort and reward play a far more important role.

Across-the-board subsidies are being replaced by a comprehensive tax code and targeted welfare.

Raul Castro has encouraged small businesses and cooperatives in retail services, farming, minor manufacturing and retail, and given more autonomy to state companies which still dominate the economy.

The party plan also includes an opening to more foreign investment.

At the same time, Cuba continues to face a U.S. administration bent on restoring democracy and capitalism to the island and questions about the future largess of oil rich Venezuela with strategic ally Hugo Chavez battling cancer.

(Editing by Kieran Murray and Vicki Allen)

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Castro picks 'young' new heir to take regime into future

HAVANA: Cuban President Raul Castro on Sunday won re-election to what he pledged will be his last term, and finally unveiled a 52-year-old political heir he wants to bring the regime into the future.

"This will be my last term," Castro, 81, told lawmakers after the National Assembly reelected him and named a new regime number two -- Council of State Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel, 52.

Choosing the former military man and professor from Villa Clara, who has represented the president on foreign trips in recent months, "marks a final step in configuring the country's future leadership, through the slow and orderly transfer of the main leadership positions to new generations," Castro said.

This is not the transition Cuba's nemesis, the United States, has fruitlessly spent decades and millions of dollars seeking.

Washington has long prodded neighbor Cuba to open up to a multiparty system and market economics, much of the time during the more than 40-year rule of revolution icon Fidel Castro.

Through the Cold War and now for over two decades after it, the United States has kept trying to isolate Cuba to press for democratic change.

It has had a full trade embargo on Havana, the only one-party Communist regime in the Americas, since 1962 to pressure the communist island to open up democratically and economically.

Cuba finally appears poised to have new leadership lined up -- if only it can continue to prop up its dysfunctional economy while keeping the regime afloat.

In addition to depending on Venezuelan aid, Cuba has so far failed to discover oil in its waters that experts say lies beneath the seabed off its Gulf of Mexico coast.

The fate and future of the Cuban regime also depends on the health of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Cuba's main economic supporter and political ally, who is recovering from cancer surgery.

There is no guarantee a successor would feed Cuba's economy as much as Chavez.

Diaz-Canel, who turns 53 in April, is an electrical engineer by training, a former education minister and the president's de facto political heir seeking to project the Americas' only one-party Communist regime into the future.

Since March, Diaz-Canel has been one of the eight vice presidents on the Council of Ministers.

He took the number two spot from Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, 82, who relinquished the post but remains among Cuba's vice presidents.

Diaz-Canel, as political heir, cuts a starkly different profile from the revolutionary leadership, whose members are mostly in their 80s.

If he comes to lead Cuba, he would be the first leader of the regime whose entire life has been under the Castro regime that started in January 1959.

Barring any changes, Diaz-Canel would succeed Raul Castro, who will be 82 in June, if the president serves out his term through 2018.

A careful speaker, the lanky Diaz-Canel also has been a leader of the Communist Youth Union, and went on an international "mission" to Nicaragua during the first leftist Sandinista government.

He rose up the ranks, leading the party in Villa Clara in central Cuba, before being chosen to lead it in Holguin province in the east.

Diaz-Canel was then bumped up to the Politburo in 2003.

There was more new blood among the five vice presidents on the Council of State, in the person of Mercedes Lopez Acea, 48, the former leader of the Communist Party's Havana provincial assembly.

Raul Castro became Cuba's interim president when Fidel took ill in 2006. He formally became president in 2008.

The National Assembly, whose members ran for office in October unopposed, also chose Esteban Lazo, 68, as their new speaker.

Seen as an ideological hardliner, he is also the regime's most prominent Afro-Cuban leader.

"The choice of Lazo to lead the National Assembly confirms that the approach to any ideological change is a really cautious one.

Lazo has been all about ideological orthodoxy," said professor Arturo Lopez-Levy, at the University of Denver in the US state of Colorado.

On Friday, Raul Castro surprised some by joking publicly about resigning.

"I am going to resign. I am about to turn 82. I have the right to retire. Don't you believe me?" Castro said.

-AFP/sb

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Samsung, Tim Burton brighten Oscars with rainbow-colored unicorn blood

Movies take a lot of thinking.

(Credit:
Samsung Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

"This is getting too weird for me."

These are words you never expected to hear coming from the mouth of Tim Burton.

Yet Samsung, which these days leaves no competitive joke unturned and no Hollywood star untapped, delivered precisely that during the Oscars broadcast.

The ad, released by Samsung a little while before the show, features Burton playing a director delighted to be turning the "Unicorn Apocalypse" game into a movie.

In this context, "delighted" takes on a very idiosyncratic form.

We begin by hearing that another Samsung endorser, LeBron James, is addicted to "Unicorn Apocalypse."

More Technically Incorrect

It's surely hard for anyone not to become addicted to zombie unicorns.

Who more appropriate, then, to direct the movie of the game than Tim Burton?

The man who sees blackness in darkness and deep gray in white saunters into the gaming company and plays, well, himself.

"Did you guys know that unicorns were basically goats?" Burton informs the rapt game creators.

He follows that fascinating information with the perhaps even less-well known fact that unicorn blood is rainbow-colored with little weird sparkles in it.

Which would sum up this ad.

Yes, there are Samsung products in it.

More important, however, are the little weird sparkles that are being sprayed upon the brand with stars, cheek and, most of all, wit.

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Oscars 2013: Stars dazzle on the red carpet

Stars dazzled on the Oscars red carpet Sunday night in Los Angeles, wearing shades of red and blue, along with neutral tones -- and practically everything in between.

67 Photos

Oscars 2013: Red carpet

"Silver Linings Playbook" actress Jennifer Lawrence opted to wear her hair pulled back as she walked the red carpet in a strapless white Dior Haute Couture gown, reminiscent of a bride's dress. While speaking with host Kristin Chenoweth on ABC's red carpet pre-show, Lawrence mentioned how she was excited to see Sally Field and her new buddy Laura Dern at the Oscars.

Nine-year-old actress Quvenzhane Wallis donned a blue Armani Junior gown, and of course, carried her pooch purse, which has become her staple on the red carpet.

Jessica Chastain, in a stunning Armani Prive gown and vintage Harry Winston jewelry, told the story behind her dress choice. "It came down to old Hollywood for me," she said, adding, "What I love so much about this dress is the pink beads and underneath it's copper."

Chastain wasn't the only actress wearing Armani; Naomi Watts also chose the designer for her beaded gown.

Kerry Washington walked the red carpet in a Miu Miu dress, Christian Louboutin shoes, a Prada bag, earrings by Chopard and a Fred Leighton ring. When asked about her dress' interesting hue, Washington described it as "Coral-ly, red, hot pink and copper...I can't really put a name on the color."

Amanda Seyfried, wearing a fitted Alexander McQueen dress, said on the red carpet, "I can't sit down and I feel like my organs are being pulled out of my body slowly."

"Lincoln" star Field stood out in a red gown, while Jennifer Aniston, also in red, said her Valentino gown felt "very princess." Reese Witherspoon opted for a strapless bright royal blue number with black across to the top, designed by Louis Vuitton. "I saw this dress and I just loved the color, " said Witherspoon, who also donned Louis Vuitton jewelry.

Amy Adams, meanwhile, sported a flowing Oscar de la Renta powder blue dress with tiered layers throughout the large ballskirt.

Prada was a last-minute decision for Anne Hathaway, who said she decided on her blush-colored dress only three hours before her red-carpet arrival. She paired her gown with a sparkly Tiffany necklace.

Jennifer Garner, in a strapless plum Gucci gown, did a bit more planning, telling, Chenoweth, "They made it for me...I loved this from the minute I saw the first sketch."

Halle Berry, in a black and silver-striped Versace dress, said she wanted to go "as a Bond girl to the Oscars."

Gold also made its way onto the red carpet. Rennee Zellweger chose a gold Carolina Herrera gown, one of her favorite designers and one she describes as "easy" to wear.

"Skyfall" songstress Adele, sporting a black gown, joked, "My dress weighs 50 kilos."

Tell us: Who was your favorite on the red carpet?

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Oscars 2013: Live Blog of the Academy Awards

Feb 24, 2013 1:13pm

10: 49 p.m.: “Lincoln” wins Best Production Design.

READ MORE: Full Wrap of the Oscars

10: 47 p.m.: Dubbed “boy wizard” and “girl vampire” by MacFarlane, Daniel Radcliffe and Kirsten Stewart present the award for Achievement in Production Design. Stewart is sans the crutches she was sporting on the red carpet earlier. Here’s the picture in case you missed it.

Watch Live Oscars Coverage Here

10: 44 p.m. ET: Nicole Kidman introduces the third batch of Best Picture nominees — “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Django Unchained” and ”Amour.”

10:35 p.m. ET: The unstoppable Adele performs her hit “Skyfall.” Our eyes are glued to the TV as our everyone’s backstage, including winner Anne Hathaway, Entertainment Weekly’s Jess Cagle tweeted.

Image credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

10: 33 p.m. ET: “Argo” wins Film Editing.

10: 32 p.m. ET: “Editors make so many of us look way better than we ever had a right to,” Sandra Bullock says before presenting the award for Best Film Editing.

10:23 p.m. ET: No surprise! Anne Hathaway takes home Best Supporting Actress. “It came true,” she says, clutching the statue.

Image credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

10:20 p.m. ET: Best Supporting Actress time … finally!It’s between Amy Adams, “The Master”; Sally Field, “Lincoln”; Anne Hathaway, “Les Miserables”; Jacki Weaver, “Silver Linings Playbook”; Helen Hunt, “The Sessions.”

10:15 p.m. ET: “We have a tie,” Mark Wahlberg said before announcing the award for Best Sound Editing. The first one goes to “Zero Dark Thirty.” The second one goes to “Skyfall.” Is a tie allowed, you ask? It’s not the first in Oscars history. The most famous was in 1986 when Barbra Streisand and Katharine Hepburn tied for Best Actress, but there were five in total: Best Actor category in 1949, Best Documentary Short Subject in 1968, Best Actress in 1986, Documentary Feature in 1994, and Live Action Short Film, ABC News’ Alexis Shaw reports.

10:13 p.m. ET: Ted wouldn’t be Ted without a Jewish joke. The bear asks Mark Wahlberg if he’s Jewish because he has “a berg” at the end of his name.  ” Wrong answer. Try again. If you want to work in this town… ” he says. “I was born Theodore Shapiro…”

10:11 p.m. ET: Ted is in the house. The stars of MacFarlane’s box office hit, “Ted,” Mark Wahlberg and Ted, presented the award for Sound Mixing to “Les Miserables.”

Image credit: Getty Images

10:01 p.m. ET: The cast of “Les Miserables” is singing “One Day More.” Anne Hathaway stole the show, as expected.

9:59 p.m. ET: No words. Jennifer Hudson is breaking it down with “Dreamgirls’” “And I’m Telling You.”

Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

9:53 p.m. ET: The movie musical tribute is off to a killer start with Catherine Zeta-Jones’ performance of “All That Jazz” from “Chicago.”

9:50 p.m. ET: Best Foreign Language Film is “Amour.”

9:44 p.m. ET: “Searching for Sugar Man” takes home Best Documentary Feature. Jaws music creeps in again … (An aside: there’s an official Twitter handle for Jaws music already with one tweet: “GET OFF THE STAGE!!!!!!!!”)

Full List of Winners

9:42 p.m. ET: MarFarlane gets some laughs at the expense of Ben Affleck and Jessica Chastain. On Affleck’s facial hair: “The first time I saw him with all that facial hair I thought finally the Kardashians have made the jump to film.” On Jessica Chastain’s character in “Zero Dark Thirty” — a movie about a “woman’s innate ability to never let anything go,” he jokes.

9:40 p.m. ET: Second batch of Best Picture nominees — “Argo,” “Lincoln,” “Zero Dark Thirty” – get their moment in the spotlight.

9: 36 p.m. ET: Best Documentary Short Subject goes to “Inocente.”

9: 33 p.m. ET: Shawn Christensen of “Curfew” wins for Live Action Short Film. Stars of “Django Unchained” Kerry Washington and Jamie Foxx present.

9:27 p.m. ET: Standing ovation for Shirley Bassey singing “Goldfinger.” Thoughts on her performance?

9: 22 p.m. ET: Bond… James Bond! A ravishing Halle Berry takes to the stage in Marchesa for the Academy’s tribute to 50 years of James Bond films.

9:20 p.m. ET: “Les Miserables” picks up Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

9:18 p.m. ET: Jennifer Aniston and Channing Tatum Best Costume Designgoes to Jacqueline Durran for “Anna Karenina.” Click here to see her Oscar-winning costumes.

9:11 p.m. ET: And they’re playing people off with Jaws music. Hilarious and brilliant. Nicole Kidman mouths from her seat: “Poor thing.”

9:10 p.m. ET: That’s two for “Life of Pi.” The film picks up another win for Visual Effects.

9:07 p.m. ET:The Best Oscar for Cinematography goes to… Claudio Miranda for “Life of Pi.” The cast of “The Avengers” hands out the award.

Full List of Winners

9:05 p.m. ET: MacFarlane jokes about nine-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis’ age. “It’ll be 16 years till she’s too old for George Clooney.”

9:03 p.m. ET: Reese Witherspoon just gave us a briefing on the three of the Best Picture nominees: “Les Miserables,” “Life of Pi,” and “Beasts of the Southern Wild.” That song from “Les Mis” — “Do You Hear the People Sing?” — is now in my head.

9:00 p.m. ET: Best Animated Feature Oscar goes to….”Brave.”

8: 58 p.m. ET: “Paperman” wins Best Animated Short.

8: 58 p.m. ET: Paul Rudd and Melissa McCarthy lost us in their intro to animated short film.

8: 51 pm. ET: And the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor goes to Christoph Waltz in “Django Unchained.”

Credit: Chris Pizzello/AP

8:49 p.m. ET: Every nominee for Best Supporting Actor already has an Oscar under his belt.

8: 42 p.m. ET: Another musical number with Daniel Radcliffe and Joseph-Gordon Levitt. And then we got a little Disney music too with “Be Our Guest,” which finally scored MacFarlane the “Best Oscars host ever” headline.

Credit: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

8: 39 p.m. ET: Channing Tatum and Charlize Theron are dancing to MacFarlane singing “The Way You Look Tonight.” A shame not to see the “Magic Mike” star shirtless though.

Credit: Mark Davis/Getty Images

Image credit: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

8:38 p.m. ET: Captain Kirk from “Star Trek” has descended on the stage to warn MacFarlane that he’s about to ruin the Oscars and be branded the worst Oscar host ever. “The show is a disaster. I’ve come back in time … to stop you from ruining the Academy Awards,” William Shatner says. “You sing an incredibly offensive song that upsets a lot of women in the audience.” Cut to MacFarlane singing “We Saw Your Boobs,” a hilarious number referencing when we’ve seen actresses nude in movies.

Image credit: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

8:35 p.m. ET: MacFarlane pokes fun at Daniel Day Lewis’ method. “Your process fascinates me. You were totally 100% in character in Lincoln… So if you saw a cell phone, would you have to be like, ‘Oh god, what’s that?’ If you bumped into Don Cheadle on the studio lot, you’d try and free him on the studio lot.”

8: 32 p.m. ET:  Too much? MacFarlane compared “Django Unchained” to Rihanna and Chris Brown’s relationship.

8:30 p.m. ET: Seth MacFarlane is on stage and quips: “The quest to make Tommy Lee Jones laugh begins now.”

8:27 p.m. ET: The stars are seated and the show is about to start. A lot of anticipation about Seth MacFarlane’s opening monologue. Channing Tatum is tweeting that he’s getting ready to take to the stage: “Hope you like what we’ve been working on. Getting ready to hit the #Oscars stage! Wish me luck!” Will there be a musical number right off the bat?

8:20 p.m. ET: Strapless is definitely a trend of the night. We’ve also seen a lot of beauties in blue.

Image credit: Getty Images

8: 15 p.m. ET: We’ve confirmed that Best Supporting Actress nominee Helen Hunt is rocking … H&M! “The Session” actress is in a  custom made midnight-blue full length gown is silk satin gown (also strapless). 

8:14 p.m. ET: Anne Hathaway is talking about her dress. “My mom says it’s business in the front, party in the back.”

8:08 p.m. ET: Do Jacki Weaver and Olivia Munn share a stylist? ABC News’ Alexis Shaw spotted the Best Supporting Actress nominee and Munn in eerily similar crimson gowns with matching gold embellishment on the top. Click here for more.

Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

8:05 p.m. ET: Kristen Stewart is sporting crutches on the red carpet. Might be because she took home the Worst Actress Razzie award last night for “Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2.”

Credit: Christopher Polk/Getty Images

8:00 p.m. ET: The show is now officially a half hour away. In honor of Oscar night, the President tweeted this picture from a White House movie night.

Image credit: Twitter/BarackObama

7: 52 p.m. ET: “Les Mis” star and Best Actor nominee Hugh Jackman just picked up pre-show host Kristin Chenoweth on the red carpet and said she weighs less than an Oscar. Not really though…Each nearly 14-inch-high statue weighs 8.5 pounds and costs $500 to make. Get more Oscar trivia here.

7:40 p.m. ET: If there’s one star you can count on to look fabulous, it’s Jennifer Aniston.  She’s in a Valentino red strapless gown and has fiance Justin Theroux at her side. They’re in the running for Hollywood’s hottest couple on the red carpet.

7:38 p.m. ET: Bradley Cooper brought his mom as his date. She’s rocking a shrug with serious feathers and what look like sneakers with her gown. Cooper is up for Best Actor in “Silver Linings Playbook.”

7:34 p.m. ET: Reese Witherspoon is in head to toe Louis Vuitton. The presenter’s black and royal blue gown with side-swept hairdo scream old Hollywood glamor. Click here.

Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage/Getty Images

7: 28 p.m. ET: Fashion miss: Jane Fonda is slightly blinding in bright yellow.

7: 24 p.m. ET: Best actress nominee Naomi Watts is in a gunmetal Giorgio Armani gown in grey sequins. Does she make your best dressed list? See more arrivals here.

7:20 p.m. ET: Anne Hathaway’s dress may raise eyebrows tonight. The “Les Miserables” star is in a backless, halter dress that appears slightly sheer on the red carpet.

Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

7:18 p.m. ET: We can’t get enough of Quvenzhane Wallis. The “Beasts of the Southern Wild” star has her mom’s permission to stay out a little bit later tonight, she told Lara Spencer on the red carpet.

Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

7:15 p.m. ET: “I feel super tucked in,” Amanda Seyfried said of the corset in her Alexander McQueen gown. “I can’t sit down.” The “Les Miserables” star is performing tonight. Hope she can breathe on stage.

7:07 p.m. ET: Another star goes strapless. Jennifer Lawrence, who’s up for Best Actress in “Silver Linings Playbook,” is in a blush Dior Haute Couture gown with a full skirt.

Credit: Steve Granitz/Getty Images

7:01 p.m. ET: ABC’s pre-show is kicking off! “Red carpet is 500 feet long. That’s about 2,000 of me,” Chenoweth joked. Tune into ABC now and get a behind-the-scenes look via Backstage Pass on the Oscar App.

6:56 p.m. ET: The red carpet is packed, but not everyone is making it through the notorious L.A. traffic. Mark Ruffalo is running late. The actor, who’s presenting tonight, tweeted to the Academy: “Dear @TheAcademy. We are running a good deal behind would you mind starting a little later this year? Mark and Sunrise Ruffalo.”

Credit: ABC News

6:49 p.m. ET: Presenter Kerry Washington is in Miu Miu. The “Django Unchained” and star “Scandal” star always keeps us guessing and never fails to impress.

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6:44 p.m. ET: Who are you most excited to see on the red carpet? What will be the meme of the night? Angelia Jolie’s right leg stole the show last year and Twitter is reminding us. “1 year ago today you met the glorious thing that is ME #neverforget,” @Angelina Jolie’sLeg posted.  

6:35 p.m. ET: The reigning “Sexiest Man Alive” Channing Tatum and a pregnant Jenna Dewan are both glowing on the red carpet. See them canoodling here.

6:25 p.m. ET: Amy Adams looks ethereal in a seafoam green Oscar de la Renta strapless dress. She’s up for Best Supporting Actress for “The Master.”

Credit: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

PHOTOS: Oscar Red Carpet Arrivals

6:22 p.m. ET: Cutest moment of the red carpet so far, as captured by the Academy. Nine-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis, nominated for “Beasts of the Southern Wild” shows off her puppy-shaped purse to fellow Best Actress nominee Jessica Chastain. It’s reportedly named Sammy after her dog at home.

Credit: @TheAcademy/Twitter

6:10 p.m. ET: The winners have arrived, WABC’s Sandy Kenyon reports! In these briefcases are the top secret ballots from the Academy. Read more here.

Credit: Twitter/SandyKenyon7

5:56 p.m. ET: “GMA” anchors Robin Roberts and Lara Spencer smile backstage before the red carpet heats up.

Credit: ABC

5:42 p.m. ET: ABC pre-show hosts Kristin Chenoweth and Kelly Rowland have arrived on the red carpet and are looking fabulous in black and white.

Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

5:30 p.m. ET: See what the stars see as they walk down the grand staircase to the red carpet at the Dolby Theatre. This cool 360 view is courtesy of the Academy.

5:15 p.m. ET: Get your Oscar party on. Impress your friends with these movie-themed recipes and cocktails. We could go for some Spinach “Argo-choke Dip” right about now…

Oscar 2013: Movie-Themed Recipes
9 Cocktails for Your Oscar Party

5:00 p.m. ET: “GMA” anchor Robin Roberts is back and looking better than ever! Roberts, who returned to the morning show Wednesday after undergoing a bone marrow transplant to treat MDS, will be on the red carpet tonight. “To my wonderful, beloved #TeamRobin … This one’s for you. XO,” she tweeted. She’s in a cobalt blue velvet halter gown from designer Marc Bouwer.

Credit: Twitter/RobinRoberts

4:44 p.m. ET: We’re less than an hour away from red carpet arrivals. “Good Morning America” anchor Lara Spencer is getting red-carpet ready to host the Oscar pre-show.  “Hair + Make-up = Butterflies!” @LaraSpencer tweeted. Spencer, actress Kristin Chenoweth, Entertainment Weekly’s Jess Cagle and singer Kelly Rowland will have interviews with all of the stars, starting at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ABC.

Credit: Twitter/LaraSpencer

1:15 p.m. ET: Hollywood’s biggest night of the year is officially here: the Oscars. Funnyman Seth MacFarlane is hosting the 85^th Annual Academy Awards and we’ll be covering all of the big winners, best moments, surprises, and all-important red carpet arrivals. Refresh for the latest updates all night long.

We are just hours away from seeing the gorgeous gowns and finding out who’s going home with those coveted statuettes. It’s not too late to make your picks and predictions on our interactive Oscar ballot. To get up to speed before the festivities begin, check out our complete Oscars coverage.

Credit: Bob D'Amico/ABC

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Backstage Pass: Download the Oscars App for insider views from the red carpet and behind the scenes. Click here to learn how!

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