Evening Edition

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

Now with 60 Top Stories.

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Tunisia readies cabinet shake-up as army speaks out

by Ines Bel Aiba and Kaouther Larbi, AFP

2 hrs 6 mins ago

TUNIS (AFP) – Tunisia prepared for a major cabinet shake-up on Monday as the head of the army warned thousands of anti-government protesters in the centre of Tunis that a “power vacuum” could lead to a dictatorship.

“Our revolution, your revolution, the revolution of the young, risks being lost … There are forces that are calling for a void, a power vacuum. The void brings terror, which brings dictatorship,” Rachid Ammar told the protesters.

Speaking through a megaphone and surrounded by soldiers, the popular general said the army would act as a “guarantor” for the revolution that ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and would respect the country’s constitution.

2 Tunisian protesters camp outside PM’s office

by Imed Lamloum, AFP

Sun Jan 23, 7:34 pm ET

TUNIS (AFP) – Hundreds of Tunisians defied a night-time curfew and camped out in front of Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi’s office Sunday in a bid to force the government to resign following president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s ouster.

Protesters said the revolt against Ben Ali has not gone far enough and should be followed up by the removal of all old-regime figures from the leadership and the abolition of Ben Ali’s powerful RCD party.

The protest defied a night-time curfew and a state of emergency that bans any public assemblies but security forces did not intervene — in stark contrast to the violent crackdown seen in the final days of Ben Ali’s rule.

3 Tunisian army chief warns against ‘power vacuum’

by Ines Bel Aiba, AFP

Mon Jan 24, 1:14 pm ET

TUNIS (AFP) – Tunisia’s army chief on Monday warned that a “power vacuum” in the country could lead to dictatorship, as the government prepared a major cabinet reshuffle after thousands rallied in the capital.

“Our revolution, your revolution, the revolution of the young, risks being lost … There are forces that are calling for a void, a power vacuum. The void brings terror, which brings dictatorship,” General Rachid Ammar told the crowd.

Speaking through a megaphone and surrounded by soldiers, the popular general said the army would act as a “guarantor” for the revolution that ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and would also respect the constitution.

4 Tunisian police fire tear gas at anti-PM protest

by Imed Lamloum and Thibauld Malterre, AFP

Mon Jan 24, 6:43 am ET

TUNIS (AFP) – Police fired tear gas at a protest rally outside the Tunisian prime minister’s office on Monday at the start of a make-or-break week for the government following the fall of the country’s veteran leader.

Some of the hundreds of protesters threw stones, charged against police lines and and smashed up a police car near the government quarter in the centre of Tunis, as security forces sealed off the area with barbed wire.

“We will stay here until the government resigns and runs away like (ousted president Zine El Abidine) Ben Ali,” said 22-year-old student Othmene, one of the hundreds who staked out the building overnight in defiance of a curfew.

5 35 killed in Moscow airport suicide bombing

by Dmitry Zaks and Anna Malpas, AFP

2 hrs 8 mins ago

MOSCOW (AFP) – A suicide bomber killed at least 35 people and wounded dozens Monday when he blew himself up in the packed arrivals hall of Moscow’s largest airport in an attack slammed by the Kremlin as an act of terror.

There were scenes of carnage at Domodedovo airport in southern Moscow as corpses were stretchered out of the smoke-filled arrivals area after the blast, the latest deadly attack to hit the capital after the metro bombings in March.

Describing the attack as an act of terror, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev chaired an emergency meeting of top officials and ordered a special security regime across the country’s main airports and railway stations.

6 Protests as Lebanon tycoon set to be next premier

by Jocelyne Zablit, AFP

1 hr 28 mins ago

BEIRUT (AFP) – Protests erupted in Sunni regions across Lebanon on Monday as outgoing premier Saad Hariri’s party accused the Shiite Hezbollah of staging a coup by imposing its candidate to head a new government.

Demonstrations broke out in various regions with a significant Sunni population where protesters burned tyres and blocked major roads as they vented their anger at the likely appointment of billionaire Najib Mikati to replace Hariri, Lebanon’s most popular Sunni leader.

“Sunni blood is boiling!” and “Hezbollah, party of the devil!” chanted demonstrators in the northern port city of Tripoli, Mikati’s home town and Lebanon’s main Sunni bastion.

7 Secret files expose Palestinian ‘offers’ to Israel

by Hazel Ward, AFP

1 hr 43 mins ago

JERUSALEM (AFP) – The Palestinians offered Israel major concessions on the thorny issues of annexed east Jerusalem and refugees in 2008 peace talks, in leaked documents angrily dismissed as “distortions” on Monday.

Details of the proposals emerged as Al-Jazeera news channel began late Sunday to release the first of some 1,600 documents known as the “Palestine Papers” on more than 10 years of secret US-brokered Middle East peace talks.

The files, shared with Britain’s Guardian newspaper, caused surprise and anger among Palestinian leaders, with chief negotiator Saeb Erakat saying they contained “lies” and president Mahmud Abbas saying they distorted the issue.

8 Israel probe okays flotilla raid, Turkey ‘stunned’

by Sara Hussein, AFP

Sun Jan 23, 7:31 pm ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – An Israeli probe ruled on Sunday that a May 2010 raid on Gaza-bound aid ships that killed nine Turks was in keeping with international law, a finding which “stunned and dismayed” Ankara.

In its preliminary findings released the same day, a Turkish investigation said Israeli troops had used “disproportionate” force in boarding the flotilla of ships to prevent them from reaching Israeli-blockaded Gaza.

The assault earned the Jewish state international censure, prompting Israeli MPs to appoint a commission to examine both the military operation’s legality and Israel’s blockade.

9 France rallies China, Russia for G20 reform drive

by Roland Lloyd Parry, AFP

Mon Jan 24, 10:34 am ET

PARIS (AFP) – France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy rallied China, Russia and other allies Monday as he launched his G20 plans for world finance reform which he said aimed to defend poor and emerging economies.

Sarkozy said he would meet his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in China in March and invited Britain, Germany and Russia to aid his efforts to police financial transactions and stabilise currency and raw commodities markets.

He also said France wants to reform the International Monetary Fund, a support for emerging economies, to broaden its world finance role.

10 Steelers, Packers head to NFL Super Bowl

AFP

Mon Jan 24, 7:22 am ET

CHICAGO (AFP) – Green Bay and Pittsburgh punched their tickets to the Super Bowl, building substantial first-half leads then surviving late scares before holding on to win their NFL semi-final games.

The Packers advanced to their first Super Bowl in 13 years with a 21-14 victory over long-time rival Chicago, who could not overcome a quarterback crisis in the NFC championship game.

“This is a dream come true, incredible feeling. I am at a loss for words,” Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “We just had enough points on offense and B.J. had an incredible touchdown.”

11 Irish government in tatters as coalition partners pull out

by Andrew Bushe, AFP

Sun Jan 23, 3:33 pm ET

DUBLIN (AFP) – Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen’s government was in tatters Sunday after the junior coalition partners pulled out, in a move likely to spark elections even earlier than those planned for March 11.

Green Party leader John Gormley told a press conference in Dublin that “our patience has reached an end” after a week of political turmoil that resulted in Cowen quitting as leader of his ruling Fianna Fail party on Saturday.

“Because of these continuing doubts, the lack of communication and the breakdown in trust, we have decided that we can no longer continue in government,” Gormley said after talks with his party’s national executive.

12 Ireland’s political parties hold crisis talks

by Andrew Bushe, AFP

Mon Jan 24, 10:50 am ET

DUBLIN (AFP) – Ireland’s crumbling government held crisis talks with opposition parties on Monday over their demands to bring elections forward to February and fast-track a finance bill to secure an EU-IMF bailout.

The meeting led by Finance Minister Brian Lenihan follows a torrid weekend in which Prime Minister Brian Cowen’s coalition lost the vital support of the Green party and Cowen himself resigned as leader of the Fianna Fail party.

Lenihan will be one of four candidates to run in the succession race, with former foreign minister Micheal Martin seen as the favourite.

13 Duvalier must face Haiti justice: Preval

by Edouard Guihaire, AFP

Sun Jan 23, 7:32 pm ET

PORT-AU-PRINCE (AFP) – Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier must face justice for alleged crimes under his 1971-1986 dictatorship and cannot leave Haiti until legal proceedings are concluded, President Rene Preval said.

Within 48 hours of Duvalier’s unexpected return one week ago, government prosecutors slapped him with a slew of charges, many related to the alleged siphoning off of hundreds of millions of dollars during his 15-year rule.

Six private lawsuits have also been filed against the 59-year-old former strongman over alleged human rights violations and torture, and judicial officials expect more complaints to follow.

14 Music industry takes to the digital cloud

by Audrey Stuart, AFP

Sun Jan 23, 2:48 pm ET

CANNES, France (AFP) – Music is taking to the clouds after Sony said it is expanding its cloud-based digital Music Unlimited service around Europe to enable fans to access music on their digital devices.

After being launched in the United States, Britain and Ireland, Sony’s “Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity” service, is being extended to France, Germany, Spain and Italy, Sony said in an announcement to coincide with Sunday’s opening of the MIDEM music industry convention on the French Riviera.

The subscription service will be competing with a fast-growing number of free and paying music streaming services that include Spotify, Pandora, Last.fm, Groove Shark and We7.

15 Ouattara calls ban on I.Coast cocoa exports

by Emmanuel Peuchot, AFP

Mon Jan 24, 1:22 pm ET

ABIDJAN (AFP) – The internationally recognised winner of Ivory Coast’s election, Alassane Ouattara, tried to choke off funding for his rival Monday by ordering a month-long halt to cocoa and coffee exports.

The Ivory Coast is the world’s largest producer and exporter of cocoa and the announcement led cocoa futures to jump to a one-year high on the New York Board of Trade, also climbing on the London exchange.

Ouattara’s government flexed its muscles by calling for “the immediate stoppage of all exports of coffee and cocoa”, as Nigeria urged the UN Security Council to authorise force to prise his rival Laurent Gbagbo from the presidency.

16 I. Coast’s Ouattara calls for ban on cocoa exports

AFP

Mon Jan 24, 6:34 am ET

ABIDJAN (AFP) – Alassane Ouattara, internationally recognised as the winner of Ivory Coast’s election, tried to choke off funding for his rival Laurent Gbagbo on Monday by ordering a halt to cocoa and coffee exports.

As Nigeria called on the UN Security Council to authorise force to prise Gbagbo out of the presidency, Ouattara flexed his muscles by insisting on “the immediate stoppage of all exports of coffee and cocoa”.

Producers and exporters who violate the ban would be considered to be “financing the illegitimate regime” of Gbagbo, said an edict from his office.

17 US man wrongfully jailed shares cautionary tale

by Anita Hassan, AFP

Mon Jan 24, 11:06 am ET

HOUSTON, Texas (AFP) – In the 27 years Michael Anthony Green spent locked up in a cramped Texas prison cell for a crime he didn’t commit, he often dreamed of moments like this one.

Green stood a free man on the stage of a Houston high school auditorium and looked out at row after row of teenagers.

Many were no older than Green was back in the summer of 1983, when he was wrongfully convicted of raping a woman based on faulty eyewitness testimony.

18 Court tosses Emanuel off Chicago mayoral ballot

By Mary Wisniewski, Reuters

31 mins ago

CHICAGO (Reuters) – A state appeals court on Monday threw the Chicago mayor’s race into turmoil by ruling that front-runner and former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel did not qualify for the February ballot.

Emanuel immediately responded that he would appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court and urged quick consideration. The ruling on Monday overturned decisions by a lower court and a Chicago elections board that allowed him on the February 22 ballot.

“I have no doubt that, in the end, we will prevail,” Emanuel said at a news conference held at a downtown restaurant. “As my father always used to say, ‘nothing is ever easy in this life.'”

19 Suicide bomber kills 35 at Russia’s biggest airport

By Alexei Anishchuk, Reuters

1 hr 20 mins ago

MOSCOW (Reuters) – A suicide bomber killed at least 35 people at Russia’s busiest airport on Monday, state TV said, in an attack on the capital that bore the hallmarks of militants fighting for an Islamist state in the North Caucasus region.

President Dmitry Medvedev vowed to track down and punish those behind the bombing, which also injured over 150 people, during the busy late afternoon at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport. The dead included some foreigners.

Islamist rebels have vowed to take their bombing campaign from the North Caucasus to the Russian heartland in the year before presidential elections, hitting transport and economic targets. They have also leveled threats at the 2014 Winter Olympics, scheduled for the Black Sea resort town of Sochi, a region some militants consider “occupied.”

20 Leaks show Palestinians giving much ground to Israel

By Crispian Balmer and Tom Perry, Reuters

Mon Jan 24, 8:20 am ET

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Palestinian negotiators secretly told Israel it could keep swathes of occupied East Jerusalem, according to leaked documents that show Palestinians offering much bigger peace concessions than previously revealed.

The documents, obtained by the Al Jazeera television channel, could undermine the position of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose public declarations about Jerusalem are at odds with what his officials were promising in private.

Equally sobering for the Palestinian people, who want to create a state on land Israel seized in a 1967 war, is the fact that Israel offered nothing in return for the concessions and turned down their offer, saying it did not go far enough.

21 Palestinians accuse Al Jazeera, Qatar over leaks

By Ali Sawafta, Reuters

Mon Jan 24, 10:40 am ET

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – A Palestinian official on Monday accused Qatar of launching a campaign against President Mahmoud Abbas’s administration, saying documents released by Doha-based Al Jazeera television aimed to mislead.

In Ramallah, several dozen Abbas loyalists tried to break into Al Jazeera’s office, witnesses said, during a protest against the channel’s publication of leaked documents showing the Palestinians offered big concessions to Israel in peace talks.

The documents released on Sunday showed Abbas’s negotiators willing to give substantial ground on important issues at the heart of the decades-old conflict with Israel, such as the fate of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.

22 Leaks stoke Arab anger, show what peace deal needs

By Edmund Blair, Reuters

Mon Jan 24, 10:12 am ET

CAIRO (Reuters) – Leaked documents that show Palestinians made major concessions to Israel on occupied East Jerusalem have infuriated many Arabs who fear their rights to the holy city are being sold too cheaply.

Some Arab analysts said the documents, published by Al Jazeera television, did not differ markedly from offers discussed in previous peace talks over the years and showed the kind of concessions needed for any settlement.

But ordinary Arabs, many of them angered by their leaders who they feel are too ready to capitulate to U.S. and Israeli demands, still voiced fury about the content of leaks that touch on issues sensitive to many across the Middle East.

23 Hezbollah-backed Mikati set to lead Lebanon government

By Mariam Karouny, Reuters

2 hrs 39 mins ago

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Hezbollah and its allies won support on Monday to nominate their candidate for Lebanon’s prime minister, giving them the upper hand in attempts to form a government and sparking accusations of a pro-Iranian coup.

Telecoms tycoon Najib Mikati, backed by a Hezbollah-led coalition, looked set to be asked to form a government after the first of two days of consultations among Lebanese politicians.

Caretaker Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, whose government collapsed earlier this month, said he and his group would not serve in an administration dominated by Hezbollah, and Hariri supporters in north Lebanon called for a “day of anger.”

24 Talks under way to replace Tunisian government

By Tarek Amara and Andrew Hammond, Reuters

Mon Jan 24, 2:14 pm ET

TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisian politicians are negotiating the creation of a council to replace or oversee the interim government, several sources said on Monday after days of street protests demanding that the cabinet resign.

The sources said the council would be tasked with protecting the revolution that toppled veteran president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali this month, amid widespread complaints that former members of the ruling party are trying to cling on to power.

The council is expected to include respected opposition politician Ahmed Mestiri, whom a range of opposition politicians and former members of the ruling RCD believe they can work with.

25 Vampire Squid? Big Government? Crisis report splits

By Kevin Drawbaugh and Dave Clarke, Reuters

22 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Three competing, politically charged tales of the financial crisis will emerge this week when a U.S. congressional panel finally concludes its 20-month investigation.

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission has failed to produce a consensus explanation of the 2007-2009 banking debacle, as it was asked to do in May 2009.

Instead, the 10-member panel has fractured along the same ideological fault lines that divide much of political Washington. Three reports will be issued by commission members on Thursday, each conforming with a familiar political slant.

26 Corrected: Goldman profit slides as bond trading wilts

By Jonathan Stempel, Reuters

Mon Jan 24, 1:38 pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc posted a 53 percent decline in fourth-quarter profit as trading revenue tumbled, dashing hopes that the Wall Street bank had bucked a tough trading climate in debt markets.

Bond trading revenue, including commodities and currencies, slid 39 percent from the third quarter as worries about European sovereign debt and rising U.S. Treasury yields kept investors on the sidelines.

“Things were just dead” in December, though “it’s sure a lot more active” in January, Chief Financial Officer David Viniar said on a conference call.

27 Obama speech may spur fight over pace of budget cuts

By Caren Bohan and Jeremy Pelofsky, Reuters

Mon Jan 24, 11:43 am ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday is likely to ignite a clash with Republicans over the federal deficit and the pace of budget cuts, an issue that may dominate the political debate this year.

The No. 2 Republican in the House of Representatives, Eric Cantor, said Sunday his party would demand “serious spending cuts” in an array of federal programs.

Obama has signaled he will call for efforts to tackle the long-term problem of high annual U.S. deficits and surging debt in his nationally televised annual address at 9 p.m. Tuesday (0200 GMT Wednesday) but he and his advisers also want to calibrate the pace of the fiscal pullback.

28 Corrected: Morgan Stanley results beat; Smith Barney pays off

By Dan Wilchins, Reuters

Mon Jan 24, 12:23 pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Morgan Stanley posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results and retail brokerage profit jumped, validating its strategy of bolstering businesses that are less threatened by tougher regulation following the financial crisis.

Morgan Stanley shares rose 4.6 percent.

In 2009, after the financial crisis brought the bank to the brink of failure, Morgan Stanley began reducing its reliance on trading and risk-taking for profit.

29 Judges to weigh mortgage document destruction

By Scot J. Paltrow, Reuters

Mon Jan 24, 8:07 am ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal bankruptcy judges in Delaware are due to hold separate hearings Monday on requests by two defunct subprime mortgage lenders to destroy thousands of boxes of original loan documents.

The requests, by trustees liquidating Mortgage Lenders Network USA and American Home Mortgage, come despite intense concerns that paperwork critical to foreclosures and securitized investments may be lost.

A series of recent court rulings have increased the importance of original loan documents, holding that they are essential for investors to prove ownership of mortgages and to have the right to foreclose.

30 Sarkozy lays out G20 agenda, targets commodities

By Catherine Bremer and Daniel Flynn, Reuters

Mon Jan 24, 7:49 am ET

PARIS (Reuters) – French President Nicolas Sarkozy called in a speech laying out his G20 agenda Monday for new rules to curb commodity price volatility, warning that the world risks food riots and weaker growth if leaders fail to act.

Speaking to 300 diplomats and journalists in the Elysee presidential palace, Sarkozy also voiced support for a tax on financial transactions, calling such a move a “moral question” but admitting the idea had many enemies.

“How can you explain that we regulate money markets and not commodities?,” said Sarkozy, who holds the rotating presidency of the Group of 20, a policy forum for the world’s leading rich and developing economies, for 2011.

31 U.S. power unbeatable for decades: China policy planner

By Chris Buckley, Reuters

Mon Jan 24, 2:27 am ET

BEIJING (Reuters) – The United States will retain unchallengeable global dominance for at least two decades, a top Chinese official has said in an essay urging his government to find a balance between assertion and restraint.

Le Yucheng, director-general of policy planning for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, made the remarks before Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to the United States last week, but they reflect the thinking behind Hu’s four-day effort to both reassure Washington while pressing Beijing’s own complaints.

The worst of the global financial crisis had passed, but its aftershocks would continue to drag on wealthy economies, and are hastening a “historic transformation in the international balance of powers,” Le said in the Foreign Affairs Review, a Chinese-language publication overseen by his ministry.

32 Israel inquiry clears government and navy in Gaza ship raid

By Dan Williams, Reuters

Sun Jan 23, 3:25 pm ET

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – An Israeli inquiry cleared the government and military on Sunday of wrongdoing in the bloody seizure of a Turkish aid ship that tried to breach the Gaza blockade, provoking an angry response from Ankara.

The Turkel Commission, whose report will form the core of Israel’s submission to a U.N. investigation into the May 31 incident, endorsed the sea closure but called for reviews by Israel of how to direct its sanctions at Gaza’s Hamas rulers and spare civilians.

“By clearly resisting capture, the Mavi Marmara had become a military objective,” the commission said in a 245-page report, referring to the converted cruise ship which Israeli marines boarded on the high seas after it ignored orders to turn away.

33 Scandal damages Berlusconi but not his party: poll

By Silvia Aloisi, Reuters

Sun Jan 23, 2:03 pm ET

ROME (Reuters) – The latest sex scandal surrounding Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has damaged his public image but support for his party has risen, meaning he would likely win an early election, a respected pollster said on Sunday.

Presenting the findings of his latest ISPO survey for Corriere della Sera daily, Renato Mannheimer said that while half of those interviewed thought Berlusconi should resign, support for his center-right party had increased.

The poll was conducted after Milan prosecutors alleged that Berlusconi paid for sex with a “significant” number of prostitutes, including a 17-year old nightclub dancer.

34 Ill. court throws Emanuel off Chicago ballot

DEANNA BELLANDI, Associated Press

55 mins ago

CHICAGO – Just days ago, Rahm Emanuel seemed to be steamrolling the entire field of candidates for Chicago mayor. He had millions in the bank, a huge lead in the polls and abundant opportunities to show off his influence, including meeting with the visiting Chinese president.

But on Monday, the former White House chief of staff was waging a desperate bid to keep his campaign alive after an Illinois appeals court kicked him off the ballot for not meeting a residency requirement. The surprise decision threw the race into disarray with less than a month to go.

Emanuel’s lawyers quickly sought help from the Illinois Supreme Court, asking the justices to stay the appellate ruling and to hear an appeal as soon as possible. But time was running short, since the Chicago Board of Elections planned to begin printing ballots without Emanuel’s name within days.

35 Bombing at Moscow airport called terrorist attack

By NATALIYA VASILYEVA, Associated Press

1 hr 19 mins ago

MOSCOW – Terrorists struck again in the heart of Russia, with a suicide bomber blowing himself up Monday in Moscow’s busiest airport and turning its international arrivals terminal into a smoky, blood-spattered hall of dismembered bodies, screaming survivors and abandoned suitcases. At least 35 people were killed, including two British travelers.

No one claimed responsibility for the blast at Domodedovo Airport that also wounded 180 people, although Islamic militants in the southern Russian region of Chechnya have been blamed for previous attacks in Moscow, including a double suicide bombing on the capital’s subway system in March 2010 that resulted in 40 deaths.

The Interfax news agency said the head of the suspected bomber had been found.

36 Resurgent GM nips at Toyota’s heels in sales race

By TOM KRISHER, AP Auto Writer

1 hr 18 mins ago

FLINT, Mich. – General Motors has a shot at being No. 1 again.

The resurgent automaker reported Monday that its worldwide sales last year came within 30,000 of beating Japanese rival Toyota, which took a big hit because of safety recalls.

GM is hiring, producing more and basking in a better reputation for quality. It expects to sell even more cars and trucks this year, putting it within reach of the title of biggest in the world – an honor it held for 76 years before losing it in 2008.

37 Iraq: Car bombs targeting Shiite pilgrims kill 26

By SAAD ABDUL-KADIR, Associated Press

Mon Jan 24, 1:27 pm ET

BAGHDAD – Two car bombs tore through parking lots packed with Shiite pilgrims Monday in an Iraqi holy city, pushing the death toll from a week of attacks to more than 170.

The uptick in violence poses a major test for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s new and somewhat shaky coalition government as followers of a powerful Shiite cleric and key ally demanded he fill key security posts.

The blasts struck Karbala as hundreds of thousands of pilgrims were massing for religious rituals marking the end of a 40-day mourning period for the Islamic sect’s most beloved saint.

38 Tunisian protest tear-gassed, teachers strike

By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, Associated Press

Mon Jan 24, 3:00 pm ET

TUNIS, Tunisia – Authorities clashed with anti-government protesters outside the prime minister’s office Monday, teachers went on strike, and police demanded the right to form a union as Tunisia struggled to stabilize itself after its president was overthrown.

Following an overnight ‘sleep-in’ in defiance of the country’s curfew, scores of protesters from Tunisian provinces gathered in central Tunis, shouting anti-government slogans. As the crowd grew rowdy, police fired tear gas grenades in the air, and some demonstrators shattered the windows of police cars.

Schools were set to reopen Monday after protracted closure because of the unrest, but teachers went on strike. Some students joined the demonstrations instead of heading to their classrooms.

39 An American wish list on eve of Obama’s speech

By CALVIN WOODWARD, Associated Press

Mon Jan 24, 6:28 am ET

WASHINGTON – Health care is Shannon Taylor’s “big, big hot button” and no wonder. She is a nurse in Tennessee who examines hospital bills for a health insurance company, and a mother who saw President Barack Obama’s health care law come just in time for her family.

In the State of the Union speech Tuesday night, she will be looking for Obama to stand firm against Republicans who want to take the law apart. Health insurance for her daughter, who has lifetime medical problems, could hang in the balance.

Many other Americans feel a personal stake in what Obama will say Tuesday and do later – and what Republicans do in response. The hunger for jobs and economic growth stood out in interviews with more than 1,000 people, part of an Associated Press-GfK poll asking Americans what one thing they most want the government to accomplish this year.

40 Got a date? Mixed seating at State of Union

By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press

53 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Civility or just silly, the push to mix Republicans and Democrats through the audience of President Barack Obama’s televised State of the Union address spread across Capitol Hill on Monday, fueled by signals that Americans want to see more cooperation among the nation’s leaders.

Hatched last week by Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., the idea caught fire over the weekend after a poll showed a big majority of the public wanting lawmakers of both parties to sit together at the presidential address. A spirited round of private phone calls and e-mails among lawmakers followed, and by Monday at least five dozen House members and senators had announced they had bipartisan dates for the big dance.

The result could be helpful to Obama as he delivers what is effectively the first speech of his re-election campaign. Rather than serving the traditional visual of the president’s party popping up on one side of the chamber for dozens of standing ovations, the applause will be more evenly spread, perhaps giving the illusion of wider acceptance.

41 State of the Union: It’s the economy, again

By BEN FELLER, AP White House Correspondent

1 hr 49 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Standing before a nation clamoring for jobs, President Barack Obama will call for targeted spending to boost the economy but also for budget cutting in Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, his first in a new era of divided political power.

To a television audience in the tens of millions, Obama will home in on jobs, the issue of most importance to the public and to his hopes for a second term. Though war and other concerns bid for attention, the president has chosen to lean heavily on the economy, with far less emphasis on Afghanistan and Iraq, terrorism and foreign affairs.

Specifically, Obama will focus on improving the education, innovation and infrastructure of the United States as the way to provide a sounder economic base. He will pair that with calls to reduce the government’s debt – now topping a staggering $14 trillion – and reforming government. Those five areas will frame the speech, with sprinklings of fresh proposals.

42 Democrats hope Obama shakes the Wisconsin blues

SCOTT BAUER, Associated Press

2 hrs 25 mins ago

MADISON, Wis. – Few states handed Democrats a bigger defeat in the midterm elections than Wisconsin, and few rebuffed President Obama so completely. Obama visited frequently during the campaign, including once in the final weeks for a major rally, only to have Republicans carry away a Senate seat, the governorship and both houses of the Legislature. But he is returning Wednesday after his State of Union address to launch a new message and to start over with a state critical to his future.

Obama plans to tour Orion Energy Systems, a renewable energy technology company, in Manitowoc, and talk about the economy with company workers. In his address to Congress and the nation Tuesday night, Obama will emphasize his efforts to create jobs now and to promote spending on innovation, according to the White House.

There are signs the Wisconsin economy is improving, which should improve the climate for his visit. Unemployment statewide was 7.5 percent in December, down from 8.3 percent in December 2009.

43 House GOP leader says no federal bailout of states

By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press

2 hrs 29 mins ago

WASHINGTON – A top House Republican said Monday that the federal government will not bail out fiscally ailing states and said he opposes a proposal that Congress allow states to declare bankruptcy as a way of handling their growing piles of debt.

Though there has been little discussion of Washington bailing out states, some congressional Republicans and conservative groups are suggesting that states be allowed to seek protection in federal bankruptcy court, which they are currently barred from doing. Public employee unions, liberal groups and some lawmakers of both parties oppose the bankruptcy idea.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., told reporters Monday that he believes states already have the tools they need to ease crushing budget deficits since they can cut spending, raise taxes and pressure public employee unions to renegotiate their contracts and pension benefits. As a result, he said, he opposes letting states declare bankruptcy because he said they don’t need that power.

44 GOP list of programs for ax loaded with survivors

By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press

2 hrs 57 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Can the tea party kill off what Newt Gingrich couldn’t?

Federal subsidies for Amtrak, mohair farming, public broadcasting, small airlines serving rural airports and many others were targeted in the heady days of the 1995 GOP takeover of Congress. But like cut bamboo, they grew back healthier than ever.

With budget deficits over $1 trillion, conservative Republicans are trying again, determined to weed out dozens of programs ranging from regional development commissions to replenishing sand lost to beach erosion that they see choking a free-enterprise economy. The ardor of tea party-backed GOP freshmen to make the government smaller shouldn’t be underestimated, but most of the programs they want to eliminate have emerged victorious after losing early skirmishes.

45 Virginia’s Allen aims to take back US Senate seat

By BOB LEWIS, AP Political Writer

Mon Jan 24, 5:17 pm ET

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia Republican George Allen officially began his political comeback Monday, announcing his intent to regain his old Senate seat in an e-mailed video that promises “an American comeback.”

The Republican former governor who lost his Senate seat in a 2006 campaign riddled with embarrassments said in an Associated Press interview he will run a more disciplined campaign focused on issues straight out of the tea party playbook.

His 2-minute, 45-second video, sent to supporters and around noon Monday, champions sharp cuts in federal spending, an end to Democratic health reforms and a domestic energy policy more dependent on coal.

46 AP Exclusive: Planned Parenthood seeks FBI probe

By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer

Mon Jan 24, 5:08 pm ET

NEW YORK – Planned Parenthood, a perennial protest target because of its role in providing abortions, has notified the FBI that at least 12 of its health centers were visited recently by a man purporting to be a sex trafficker but who may instead be part of an attempted ruse to entrap clinic employees.

In each case, according to Planned Parenthood, the man sought to speak privately with a clinic employee and then requested information about health services for sex workers, including some who he said were minors and in the U.S. illegally.

Planned Parenthood’s vice president for communications, Stuart Schear, said the organization has requested an FBI probe of the man’s claims and has already fielded some initial FBI inquiries. However, Schear said Planned Parenthood’s own investigation indicates that the man has links with Live Action, an anti-abortion group that has conducted previous undercover projects aimed at discrediting the nation’s leading abortion provider.

47 IG says weak planning puts Afghan projects at risk

RICHARD LARDNER, Associated Press

Mon Jan 24, 4:49 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Poor planning and weak management are undermining the effort to build up the Afghan army and police while putting billions of U.S tax dollars at risk, the U.S. official charged with overseeing the rebuilding of Afghanistan said Monday.

Arnold Fields, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, told the Commission on Wartime Contracting it is not clear how U.S. military authorities are going to construct enough bases and training facilities by late 2013, when the Afghan forces are supposed to assume responsibility for the country’s security.

There are 884 projects valued at $11.4 billion planned for completion over the next two years, but as of November only 133 have been finished, Fields told the commission, which was created by Congress to examine spending in Afghanistan and Iraq. Another 78 are under construction and 673 have not been started, he said.

48 Judge mulls temporary crypt for Venezuela ex-pres

By CURT ANDERSON, AP Legal Affairs Writer

Mon Jan 24, 4:37 pm ET

MIAMI – A judge said Monday he may order former Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez’s body moved to an above-ground crypt to allow more time to settle the feud between his estranged wife and longtime mistress over his final resting place.

Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Arthur Rothenberg said at a hearing he is troubled that the body of Perez, who died Dec. 25 in Miami at age 88, is being stored in a refrigeration unit at a local funeral home.

Entombing the remains in a stone crypt, he said, would bring dignity to the former leader and preserve the rights of both sides. He said it could be April before a final decision is made.

49 GOP turns to budget guru to respond to Obama

By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press

Mon Jan 24, 4:29 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Paul Ryan, the congressman giving the Republican response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, is a rising star in GOP ranks, a “young gun” who has become the party spokesman on budgetary issues because of his expertise and relentless pursuit of spending cuts.

The fifth-generation Wisconsin native, who marks his 41st birthday this week, enters the new Republican-controlled session of the House as chairman of the Budget Committee and the point man for the GOP drive to reduce the national debt by slashing government spending.

Well-spoken and well-liked by House colleagues, Ryan also has drawn the ire of Democrats and liberal groups because, unlike other Republicans who leave out the details in how they would cut federal spending, Ryan has never been afraid to be specific.

50 Life sentence for 1975 reservation slaying in SD

By NOMAAN MERCHANT, Associated Press

Mon Jan 24, 4:20 pm ET

RAPID CITY, S.D. – A man convicted in the 1975 slaying of an American Indian Movement activist will serve life in prison without parole, a judge decided Monday, closing a major chapter in an investigation that has spanned more than three decades.

Prosecutors aren’t saying if other chapters are to come.

John Graham was found guilty last month of felony murder for participating in a kidnapping that ended in Annie Mae Aquash’s death. He’s the second person convicted in Aquash’s death, which garnered international attention and remains synonymous with the 1970s clashes between AIM activists and federal agents.

51 ACLU: Detainees owed bail hearing after 6 months

By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press

Mon Jan 24, 3:57 pm ET

PHILADELPHIA – Immigrants fighting deportation should not languish in U.S. detention centers for years without bail hearings, civil-rights lawyers argued Monday in a U.S. appeals court.

The American Civil Liberties Union, representing a Pennsylvania man now held for nearly three years, suggested a six-month window for such hearings. Cheikh Diop is fighting deportation to his native Senegal over a 1995 drug case.

“We think, under any reading, three years of locking somebody up without a bond hearing is unreasonable,” ACLU lawyer Judy Rabinovitz argued to the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court.

52 Young inventors prompt colleges to revamp rules

By ALAN SCHER ZAGIER, Associated Press

Mon Jan 24, 12:21 pm ET

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Tony Brown didn’t set out to overhaul his college’s policies on intellectual property. He just wanted an easier way of tracking local apartment rentals on his iPhone.

The University of Missouri student came up with an idea in class one day that spawned an iPhone application that has had more than 250,000 downloads since its release in March 2009. The app created by Brown and three other undergraduates won them a trip to Apple headquarters along with job offers from Google and other technology companies.

But the invention also raised a perplexing question when university lawyers abruptly demanded a 25 percent ownership stake and two-thirds of any profits. Who owns the patents and copyrights when a student creates something of value on campus, without a professor’s help?

53 US alpaca herds grow as breeders get tax write-off

By LISA RATHKE, Associated Press

Mon Jan 24, 3:22 am ET

SOUTH STRAFFORD, Vt. – Generous federal tax benefits and high prices for breeding stock have helped boost the alpaca industry in the United States, and breeders now hope to build up the herd and improve fiber quality enough to support commercial mills in this country.

While all businesses qualify for the same deductions, alpaca breeders may benefit more than some other livestock owners because of the amount of their investments and sales. Breeding stock alpacas can start at $4,000 and go up to hundreds of thousands of dollars for a top stud, compared to sheep, which breeders can get for a few hundred dollars.

A 2010 extension of a tax law allows ranchers to write off the entire cost of buying their breeding alpacas the same year. If the animals are raised for profit, the farmer can also deduct expenses like feed, fertilizer and veterinarian care from their income.

54 Tiny island school a beacon for wayward teens

By MARTHA IRVINE, AP National Writer

Mon Jan 24, 12:50 am ET

BEAVER ISLAND, Mich. – This school isn’t a place you end up by accident.

A small propeller plane flight or a two-hour ferry ride into the northern reaches of Lake Michigan gets you as far as St. James, the northern hub of Beaver Island. But it takes another half hour by car, down bumpy gravel roads, to get to the south tip of the island and the small cluster of classroom buildings and log cabins, shadowed by the historic lighthouse for which this secluded alternative high school is named.

“What the hell have I gotten myself into?” That’s exactly what 18-year-old Katie Daugherty thought as she arrived at the Beaver Island Lighthouse School last September.

55 McAuliffe remains vivid to still-grieving NH city

By KATHY McCORMACK, Associated Press

Sun Jan 23, 4:04 pm ET

CONCORD, N.H. – In the 25 years since the Challenger exploded on liftoff, Felicia Brown has gone to college, become a psychologist, gotten married and had kids. Fresh in her mind, though, is the memory of Christa McAuliffe, a teacher at her high school and family friend who was to be the first teacher in space.

“I know how important her field trip into space was to her and how much she hoped to learn and share with students everywhere,” said the Concord High School graduate, who at 43 is now older than McAuliffe was when she died at age 37. “I wouldn’t want her sincerity to get lost in a textbook.”

A whole generation – including McAuliffe’s own students – has grown up since McAuliffe and six other astronauts perished on live TV on Jan. 28, 1986, a quarter century ago this Friday. Now the former schoolchildren who loved her are making sure that people who weren’t even born then know about McAuliffe and her dream of going into space.

56 Top senators seek deal on rules for nominations

By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent

Sun Jan 23, 1:19 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Senior senators are negotiating to reduce the 1,400 presidential appointments subject to time-consuming Senate confirmation, hoping to streamline a system that has frustrated administrations of both parties, according to officials familiar with the discussions.

These officials said that 100 posts or more could be dropped from the list if discussions between Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., result in an agreement that gains the support of the rank and file in both parties. Judicial appointments would not be affected, nor would the most senior positions at Cabinet department or independent agencies.

In addition, the two men have discussed curtailing the right enjoyed by individual senators to block action on a nomination or legislation anonymously for up to five days. This rule is widely flouted.

57 As edgy NYC disappears, does its character go too?

By DEEPTI HAJELA, Associated Press

Sun Jan 23, 1:10 pm ET

NEW YORK – CBGB, the birthplace of punk rock, is gone. No longer can visitors to Coney Island plunk down a few coins to play the unsettling attraction called “Shoot the Freak.” And seedy, edgy, anything-might-happen Times Square? These days, it’s all but childproof.

It continues: That diner on the corner for decades – closed. The beer garden down the street – now a Starbucks. The block once home to clusters of independent businesses – thriving as a big-box store.

And last month, another piece of the old New York slipped away with the demise of the city’s Off-Track Betting parlors. It’s enough to make old-school New Yorkers bristle.

58 2 Calif groups battle for historic Navy ship

By SUDHIN THANAWALA, Associated Press

Sun Jan 23, 12:30 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – The USS Iowa supported U.S. forces fighting the Japanese during World War II and helped tankers safely navigate the Persian Gulf in the Iran-Iraq War.

Though the ship has long since been out of service, its final battle is still being waged. Two California nonprofits – one in the San Francisco Bay area, the other in Los Angeles – are vying to host the decommissioned ship as a tourist attraction. The Navy is expected to make a decision within a few months.

Fights over such ships, although not unprecedented, are generally confined to the most coveted of vessels. A group that wanted the USS Missouri – site of Japan’s surrender in Tokyo Bay during World War II – to remain moored in Bremerton, Wash. sued the Navy in 1998 when the ship was awarded to the Honolulu-based USS Missouri Memorial Association. A federal court later dismissed the suit.

59 Women: Pa. abortions left us sterile, near death

By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press

Sun Jan 23, 12:17 pm ET

PHILADELPHIA – When Davida Johnson walked into Dr. Kermit Gosnell’s clinic to get an abortion in 2001, she saw what she described as dazed women sitting in dirty, bloodstained recliners. As the abortion got under way, she had a change of heart – but claims she was forced by the doctor to continue.

“I said, ‘I don’t want to do this,’ and he smacked me. They tied my hands and arms down and gave me more medication,” Johnson told The Associated Press.

Johnson, then 21, had a 3-year-old daughter when she became pregnant again. She said she first went to Planned Parenthood in downtown Philadelphia but was frightened away by protesters.

60 Tea partiers say defense in mix for budget cuts

By DONNA CASSATA, Associated Press

Sun Jan 23, 11:07 am ET

WASHINGTON – Back home, tea partiers clamoring for the debt-ridden government to slash spending say nothing should be off limits. Tea party-backed lawmakers echo that argument, and they’re not exempting the military’s multibillion-dollar budget in a time of war.

That demand is creating hard choices for the newest members of Congress, especially Republicans who owe their elections and solid House majority to the influential grass-roots movement. Cutting defense and canceling weapons could mean deep spending reductions and high marks from tea partiers as the nation wrestles with a $1.3 trillion deficit. Yet it also could jeopardize thousands of jobs when unemployment is running high.

Proponents of the cuts could face criticism that they’re trying to weaken national security in a post-Sept. 11 world.

4 comments

Skip to comment form

    • on 01/24/2011 at 23:42
      Author
    • on 01/25/2011 at 00:11

    They are too busy bemoaning the SOTU and what else Obama will cave on to the Republicans and Big Business.  

    • on 01/25/2011 at 00:33

    {http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/25/world/europe/25moscow.html?hp Medvedev Calls Blast at Airport in Moscow a Terrorist Act]

    Russian authorities said at least 34 people were killed and 168 injured in the attack. The Russian president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, said in televised remarks that the blast was an act of terrorism and ordered the police to track down the perpetrators.

    • on 01/25/2011 at 00:38

    that has been gripping the Eastern US is being blamed on a “Weaker Arctic Fence” This a small excerpt from a two page NYT article on climate change:

    For two winters running, an Arctic chill has descended on Europe, burying that continent in snow and ice. Last year in the United States, historic blizzards afflicted the mid-Atlantic region. This winter the deep South has endured unusual snowstorms and severe cold, and a frigid Northeast is bracing for what could shape into another major snowstorm this week.

    Yet while people in Atlanta learn to shovel snow, the weather 2,000 miles to the north has been freakishly warm the past two winters. Throughout northeastern Canada and Greenland, temperatures in December ran as much as 15 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. Bays and lakes have been slow to freeze; ice fishing, hunting and trade routes have been disrupted.

    Iqaluit, the capital of the remote Canadian territory of Nunavut, had to cancel its New Year’s snowmobile parade. David Ell, the deputy mayor, said that people in the region had been looking with envy at snowbound American and European cities. “People are saying, ‘That’s where all our snow is going!’ ” he said.

Comments have been disabled.