Pages

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Obama pushes Congress on immigration, split emerges

Obama pushes Congress on immigration, split emerges

Obama pushes Congress on immigration, split emerges

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:35 PM PST

U.S. President Barack Obama arrives on stage to deliver remarks on immigration reform at Del Sol High School in Las VegasLAS VEGAS (Reuters) - President Barack Obama pushed Congress on Tuesday to overhaul the U.S. immigration system but disagreement with Republicans over securing the border with Mexico has already begun to sour bipartisan efforts. "We need Congress to act on a comprehensive approach that finally deals with the 11 million undocumented immigrants," Obama said at a high school in Las Vegas. After years on the back burner, immigration reform has suddenly looked possible as Republicans, chastened by Latino voters who rejected them in the November election, look more kindly on an immigration overhaul. ...

Adver-teasers: Super Bowl viewers get peek at ads

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:34 PM PST

FILE - In this Feb. 5, 2012, file photo, Ron Blydenburgh, of Hampton Bays, N.Y., watches the broadcast of the 2012 NFL football Super Bowl. In 2013, Super Bowl advertisers are learning the art of the tease. More Super Bowl advertisers are ditching the tradition of keeping spots secret and are instead releasing shortened versions of their Game Day spots called NEW YORK (AP) — Super Bowl advertisers are learning the art of the tease.

Mexico breaks up alleged border sex-slavery cult

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:32 PM PST

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican officials broke up a bizarre cult that allegedly ran a sex-slavery ring among its followers on the U.S. border, authorities said Tuesday.

Wallenda crosses Fla. tightrope 200 feet over road

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:32 PM PST

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — Famed daredevil Nik Wallenda glided 500 feet across a wire suspended 200 feet above the ground on Tuesday, wowing several thousand people below in his hometown of Sarasota.

WADA calls UCI 'deceitful' in doping probe

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:31 PM PST

FILE - This is a Monday, Oct. 22, 2012 file photo of Pat McQuaid, President of the Union Cycliste Internationale, UCI, as he informs about the position of the UCI regarding the decision from USADA in the case of Lance Armstrong, during a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland. The head of cycling's governing body has been replaced on a key International Olympic Committee panel as he deals with the fallout from the Lance Armstrong doping scandal. International Cycling Union President Pat McQuaid said Wednesday he was too busy to attend all the meetings of the Olympic commission evaluating bids for the 2020 Summer lympics.(AP Photo/Keystone, Salvatore Di Nolfi, File)LONDON (AP) — The World Anti-Doping Agency called the UCI "deceitful" Tuesday for shutting down its independent doping panel and said it won't participate in an amnesty commission set up by the cycling governing body.

Senate votes to confirm Kerry as secretary of state

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:31 PM PST

U.S. Senator Kerry testifies during his Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing to be secretary of state, on Capitol Hill in WashingtonWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator John Kerry received enough Senate votes on Tuesday to be confirmed as President Barack Obama's new secretary of state, succeeding Hillary Clinton. The five-term senator and 2004 unsuccessful presidential candidate had broad support from fellow Democrats and Republicans in the Senate. As voting continued, he had received well over 60 votes in favor of his confirmation, and just two against it. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Will Dunham)

Obama on immigration overhaul: 'Now is the time'

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:24 PM PST

President Barack Obama points to someone in the crowd as he arrives to speak about immigration at Del Sol High School, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)LAS VEGAS (AP) — Declaring "now is the time" to fix broken immigration laws, President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged Congress to put millions of illegal immigrants on a clear path to U.S. citizenship while cracking down on businesses that employ people illegally and tightening security at the borders. He heralded a rare show of bipartisanship between the White House and Senate leaders on basic plans to resolve the long, emotional national issue.

Transportation chief LaHood to step down

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:24 PM PST

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood talks about an agreement to build a new public bridge between Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Canada during a news conference in Windsor CanadaWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said on Tuesday he planned to resign, marking the latest departure from President Barack Obama's Cabinet as the administration tries to find the root cause of safety problems with Boeing's Dreamliner plane. The Republican and former Illinois congressman brought a bipartisan element to the Democratic president's team, and his legislative skills helped Obama win approval of a new highway funding bill last year that had been stalled due to political bickering. ...

NJ man in Hudson plane crash called wife, then 911

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:23 PM PST

Christopher Smidt, right, thanks 12-year-old Daniel Higgins Jr. at a ceremony on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, at City Hall in Yonkers, N.Y. Higgins was among those who rescued Smidt and his flight instructor after they crash-landed in the icy Hudson River Sunday evening. At center is Yonkers Mayor Michael Spano. (AP Photo/Jim Fitzgerald)YONKERS, N.Y. (AP) — A man who was plucked from a plane crash in the icy Hudson River said Tuesday that he wasn't sure he'd survive, and he'd contacted 911 only after calling his wife and asking her to "tell the kids I love them."

Judge OKs $4B BP oil spill criminal settlement

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:22 PM PST

FILE - In this April 21, 2010 aerial file photo taken in the Gulf of Mexico more than 50 miles southeast of Venice, La., the Deepwater Horizon oil rig is seen burning. A U.S. judge on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, approved an agreement for British oil giant BP PLC to plead guilty to manslaughter and other charges and pay a record $4 billion in criminal penalties for the company's role in the 2010 oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)NEW ORLEANS (AP) — BP PLC closed the book on the Justice Department's criminal probe of its role in the Deepwater Horizon disaster and Gulf oil spill Tuesday, when a federal judge agreed to let the London-based oil giant plead guilty to manslaughter charges for the deaths of 11 rig workers and pay a record $4 billion in penalties.

Amazon.com posts lower 4Q net income

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:21 PM PST

SEATTLE (AP) — Amazon.com says its fourth-quarter net income fell 45 percent, as higher revenue failed to keep pace with increased spending on order fulfillment and digital content.

Syria "breaking up before everyone's eyes:" envoy tells U.N.

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:21 PM PST

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N.-Arab League mediator Lakhdar Brahimi told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may be able to cling to power for now but the country is "breaking up before everyone's eyes," diplomats told Reuters. "The Syrian regime's legitimacy has been seriously, probably irreparably, damaged," Brahimi told the 15-nation council, diplomats present at the meeting quoted him as saying. Brahimi suggested that attempts to bring an end to the 22-month-old conflict that has claimed over 60,000 lives, according to U.N. ...

Brazil police: Outdoor flare started club fire

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:19 PM PST

Girls cry in front of a makeshift memorial outside the Kiss nightclub where a fire killed over 230 people in Santa Maria, Brazil, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. The repercussions of a tragic nightclub fire in southern Brazil widened Tuesday as mayors around the country cracked down on such venues in their own cities and investigators searched two other nightspots owned by a partner in the club that caught ablaze. Most of the dead were college students 18 to 21 years old, but they also included some minors. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)SANTA MARIA, Brazil (AP) — Penny-pinching by a band known for its onstage pyrotechnic displays may have cost more than 230 people their lives at a nightclub in southern Brazil, according to a state police inspector leading the investigation into this weekend's deadly blaze.

Doctor says not only cyclists used his doping

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:19 PM PST

Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, left, cycling team manager, Manolo Saiz, right, former team manager of Kelme, Vicente Belda, second right, and trainer José Ignacio Labarta, second left, stand at a court house in Madrid, Spain, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. The Operation Puerto doping-in-sport trial starts Monday where Judge Julia Santamaria will try six defendants, including doctors Eufemiano and Yolanda Fuentes and Jose Luis Merino, cycling team managers Manolo Saiz and Vicente Belda and trainer Ignacio Labarta. No athlete will sit in the dock, but many must appear as witnesses, including Alberto Contador. The trial ends March 22. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)MADRID (AP) — The doctor at the center of Spain's long-awaited Operation Puerto trial testified Tuesday that athletes from sports other than cycling used his blood-doping services.

Stocks advance, pushing Dow toward 14,000

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:19 PM PST

Trader Gregory Rowe works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. Stocks opened mixed on Wall Street, with the Standard & Poor's 500 holding at 1,500. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)NEW YORK (AP) — Drugmaker Pfizer gave the Dow a lift after posting a strong earnings report. That helped push the index closer to 14,000.

Ford shares down as 4Q profit eclipsed by Europe

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:18 PM PST

FILE - Ford Motor Company's logo is shown atop its world headquarters in Dearborn, Mich., in this June 5, 2003 file photo. Ford's net income fell from $13.6 billion in the same quarter last year, but that figure included a big accounting-related gain it was announced Tuesday Jan. 29, 2013. Without that gain, Ford's earnings were up from $1 billion in the fourth quarter of last year. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Ford is posting record profits in North America, but it's not enough to quell unease about the company's prospects elsewhere.

Hilary Mantel wins 2012 Costa Book of the Year

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:17 PM PST

Author and winner of the Costa Book of the Year Award for 2012 Hilary Mantel poses for photographers at the Costa Book awards ceremony in London, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. Mantel won with her book entitled 'Bring Up The Bodies' . (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)LONDON (AP) — Two-time Booker Prize winner Hilary Mantel has snagged the top honor at the Costa Book Awards for her novel "Bring Up the Bodies."

Judge weighs amount of access to secret Gitmo camp

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:15 PM PST

In this pool photo of a sketch by courtroom artist Janet Hamlin and reviewed by the U.S. Department of Defense, three of the five Sept. 11 defendants, from left, Ramzi Binalshibh, Walid bin Attash and the self-proclaimed terrorist mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, attend a hearing on pretrial motions in their death penalty case at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in Cuba, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. Two of the defendants delayed the start of the hearing Monday when they refused to respond to questions from military judge U.S. Army Col. James Pohl, second from right. (AP Photo/Janet Hamlin, Pool)GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) — A military judge was deciding on Tuesday how much access defense lawyers should have to a secret section of the Guantanamo Bay prison where five men charged in the Sept. 11 attacks have been held in near-total secrecy for more than six years.

US eyes drone base in Africa with al-Qaida in mind

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:13 PM PST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Plans to base unarmed American surveillance drones in the African nation of Niger highlight the Obama administration's growing concern about extremist influences in the volatile region. They also raise tough questions about how to contain al-Qaida and other militant groups without committing U.S. ground forces in yet another war.

Scouts' future uncertain if ban on gays is dropped

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:12 PM PST

A statue of a Boy Scout stands in front of the National Scouting Museum, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013, in Irving, Texas. The Boy Scouts of America announced it is considering a dramatic retreat from its controversial policy of excluding gays as leaders and youth members. (AP Photo/LM Otero)NEW YORK (AP) — The Boy Scouts of America's proposed move away from its no-gays membership policy has outraged some longtime admirers, gratified many critics and raised intriguing questions about the iconic organization's future.

Mali secures recaptured towns, donors pledge funds

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:11 PM PST

French troops, aboard an armoured vehicle, guard the Timbuktu airportDOUENTZA/GAO, Mali (Reuters) - French-backed Malian troops searched house-to-house in Gao and Timbuktu on Tuesday uncovering arms and explosives abandoned by Islamist fighters, and France said it would look to hand over longer-term security operations in Mali to an African force. An 18-day offensive in France's former West African colony has pushed the militants out of major towns and into desert and mountain hideouts to defuse the risk of Mali being used as a springboard for jihadist attacks in the wider region or Europe. ...

A step for Tiger, but nothing more

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:10 PM PST

Tiger Woods is silhouetted as he walks across the 14th green during the final round in the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Monday, Jan. 28, 2013, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)SAN DIEGO (AP) — Tiger Woods hates the question, even though the answer should be simple enough.

US consumers less optimistic after tax increase

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:09 PM PST

In this Thursday, Jan. 20, 2013, photo, a woman shops at a Nordstrom store in Chicago. U.S. consumer confidence plunged in January to its lowest level in more than a year, reflecting higher Social Security taxes that left Americans with less take-home pay. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)WASHINGTON (AP) — An increase in Social Security taxes is leaving Americans with less take-home pay — and a more negative outlook for the U.S. economy.

LaHood departure leaves another vacancy in Cabinet

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:09 PM PST

In this Jan. 11, 2013 photo, Transportation Secretary Raymond LaHood speaks during a news conference at the Transportation Department in Washington, discussing a comprehensive review of Boeing 787 critical systems, including the design, manufacture and assembly. LaHood, the only Republican member of President Barack Obama's first-term Cabinet, says he plans to leave the Obama administration. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)WASHINGTON (AP) — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who lifted the profile of distracted driving as a national safety concern, is stepping down, presenting President Barack Obama with another Cabinet vacancy at the start of his second term.

Defense begins making case in boyfriend slaying

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:09 PM PST

Defendant Jodi Arias appears in court for her murder trial at the Maricopa County Superior Court on Monday, Jan. 28, 2013, in Phoenix. Arias is charged with murder in the death of her boyfriend, Travis Alexander, and prosecution is seeking the death penalty.(AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Charlie Leight)PHOENIX (AP) — Jodi Arias has acknowledged shooting, stabbing and slitting the throat of her lover. She says it was self-defense: Kill or be killed.

Microsoft retools Office for touch screen, Web use

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:08 PM PST

This image provided bu Microsoft shows the company's new version of its Office software. The software became available to consumers as an online subscription service for the first time in an attempt to extend one of the company's key franchises beyond personal computers on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Microsoft)SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Microsoft is aiming its redesigned Office software at the growing number of people who expect their favorite applications to be at their fingertips, wherever there's an Internet connection.

Ex-Michigan justice pleads guilty to bank fraud

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:08 PM PST

Former Michigan Supreme Court Justice Diane Hathaway leaves federal court in Ann Arbor, Mich., Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, with her husband, Michael Kingsley, left, and attorney Steve Fishman after pleading guilty to bank fraud. Hathaway was charged three days before quitting the court because of the scandal. Hathaway pleaded guilty to bank fraud for concealing assets, including a debt-free Florida home, while urging a bank to let her unload a Michigan house in a short sale, claiming financial hardship. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — A former Michigan Supreme Court justice pleaded guilty to bank fraud Tuesday for concealing assets, including a Florida home she and her husband owned, while urging a bank to let her unload a Michigan house in a short sale, claiming financial hardship.

Mo. court sends Woodworth back to Chillicothe

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:03 PM PST

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Supreme Court is sending a Chillicothe man whose murder conviction in the 1990 slaying of a rural neighbor was recently overturned back to Livingston County as the state prepares to put him on trial a third time.

Indiana couple vows to fight fawn rescue charges

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 01:00 PM PST

CONNERSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — An Indiana couple who nursed a wounded fawn back to health have vowed to fight misdemeanor charges for keeping the deer at their farm for two years, and their burgeoning legion of online supporters suggests that popular opinion is firmly on their side.

US military deaths in Afghanistan at 2,045

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 12:59 PM PST

As of Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, at least 2,045 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan as a result of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to an Associated Press count.

Syrian activists say 65 bodies found in Aleppo

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 12:59 PM PST

This citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows dead bodies on a street in Aleppo, Syria, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. Syrian activists say at least 65 bodies, some of them with their hands tied behind their back, found on a river bank in the northern city of Aleppo. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center AMC)BEIRUT (AP) — The bodies of at least 65 people, some with hands tied behind their backs, were found in Syria's northern city of Aleppo Tuesday as the government and rebels trying to overthrow it blamed each other for the latest mass killing.

Texas woman's execution halted; DA won't appeal

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 12:57 PM PST

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Kimberly McCarthy, who is on death row in Texas for the 1997 killing of a neighbor during a robbery. A state judge halted McCarthy's execution Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, less than five hours before she could have been put to death, on the grounds that the jury that convicted her of murder was improperly selected on the basis of race. Dallas County Assistant District Attorney Shelly Yeatts says McCarthy's execution date now is April 3. (AP Photo/Texas Department of Criminal Justice, File)HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A Texas woman won a reprieve from the death chamber Tuesday, mere hours before she was scheduled to be the first woman executed in the U.S. since 2010.

Judge okays BP plea, $4 billion penalty in Gulf oil spill

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 12:57 PM PST

Smoke billows from a controlled burn of spilled oil off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico coast line(Reuters) - A U.S. judge accepted an agreement by BP Plc to plead guilty for its role in the Deepwater Horizon disaster and pay a record $4 billion in criminal penalties for the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. The company said it pleaded guilty to 11 felony counts related to workers' deaths, a felony related to obstruction of Congress and two misdemeanors. It faces five years' probation and the imposition of two monitors who will oversee its safety and ethics for the next four years. After the April 2010 explosion on the Transocean rig in the Gulf of Mexico, 4. ...

If Congress doesn't act on immigration, will push own plan: Obama

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 12:54 PM PST

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that if Congress is unable to act in a timely fashion on changing immigration laws, he will propose legislation of his own and demand lawmakers vote on it. Pledging swift action, Obama said in a speech that Washington should have the resolve to "finally put this issue behind us." (Reporting by Steve Holland and Jeff Mason; Editing by Will Dunham)

Time has come for "common-sense" immigration overhaul: Obama

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 12:54 PM PST

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - President Barack Obama appealed for a "common-sense" and comprehensive overhaul of U.S. immigrations laws on Tuesday to help illegal immigrants "get on the right side of the law." In a speech in Las Vegas, Obama said an overhaul would strengthen the U.S. economy. He said some issues will be difficult to negotiate with Congress, but "now's the time" for change. (Reporting by Steve Holland and Jeff Mason; Editing by Will Dunham)

Who's who in Egypt's latest political crisis

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 12:42 PM PST

A masked Egyptian protester part of the Black Bloc, flashes the victory sign during clashes with riot police, background, near Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. An unpredictable new element has entered Egypt's wave of political unrest, a mysterious group of black-masked young men calling themselves the Black Bloc. They present themselves as the defenders of protesters against the rule of President Mohammed Morsi, but Islamists have used them to depict the opposition as a violent force wrecking the nation. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)CAIRO (AP) — Following are the main players in Egypt's latest political crisis, which began around the time of the second anniversary of the start of the uprising against Hosni Mubarak's rule. At least 60 people have died so far in political violence.

FDA warns company over unapproved flu remedy

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 12:40 PM PST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators say a Florida company has been marketing an untested inhaled formula as a flu remedy in violation of drug safety regulations.

Tornado risk follows record warmth in central US

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 12:39 PM PST

A lone jogger makes his way along Lake Michigan in unseasonably warm temperatures at Chicago's North Ave. Beach Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, in Chicago. Unseasonably warm temperatures broke records in the Chicago area with thunderstorm expected to usher in freezing temperatures and snow Wednesday. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Midwesterners who had briefly swapped puffy coats for sandals and shorts switched back Tuesday as balmy conditions gave way to severe storms that carried a risk of tornadoes, freezing rain and, later, snow.

The Dutch monarchy _ some facts and quirks

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 12:35 PM PST

FILE - In a re-crop of this Monday Oct. 30, 2006 file photo, Dutch Queen Beatrix is seen during a state banquet in at Royal Palace Noordeinde in The Hague, Netherlands. The Dutch Queen announced her abdication in a prerecorded speech in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday Jan. 28, 2013. Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, has ruled the nation of 16 million for more than 32 years and would be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)AMSTERDAM (AP) — The Netherlands' Queen Beatrix says she will abdicate her throne in April to make way for her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. Here are some questions and answers about the Netherlands' House of Orange and how it's a little different than, for instance, the British monarchy.

Senate poised to approve Kerry nomination

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 12:35 PM PST

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., emerges after a unanimous vote by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approving him to become America's next top diplomat, replacing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. Kerry, who has served on the Foreign Relations panel for 28 years and led the committee for the past four, is expected to be swiftly confirmed by the whole Senate later Tuesday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate moved toward swift approval of President Barack Obama's choice of five-term Sen. John Kerry to be secretary of state, with Republicans and Democrats praising him as the ideal successor to Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Posted by Anonymous at 1:45 PM

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)