Evening Edition

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Resignations rock Tunisia as thousands protest

by Dario Thuburn, AFP

59 mins ago

TUNIS (AFP) – Four ministers in Tunisia’s new unity government pulled out a day after being appointed Tuesday amid popular rage against the continued presence of the ousted president’s party on the political scene.

Thousands of people protested across Tunisia to call for ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s once all-powerful Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) party to be excluded from the fledgling government and abolished.

In a bid for survival, the RCD officially expelled the ex-president, who fled to Saudi Arabia in disgrace Friday after a wave of protests against his 23 years of iron-fisted rule, the official TAP news agency reported.

2 Tunisia’s new leadership braces for protests

by Dario Thuburn, AFP

Tue Jan 18, 6:23 am ET

TUNIS (AFP) – Tunisia braced for protests on Tuesday as its new transition government unveiled unprecedented freedoms but also left powerful posts in the hands of old regime.

Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi was one of eight ministers staying on from the previous government of disgraced president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who resigned and fled on Friday in the Arab world’s first such popular revolt.

Ghannouchi said that the ministers remaining, including the defence and interior ministers, had “acted to preserve the national interest.”

3 Duvalier taken to court in Haiti

by Clarens Renois, Reuters

14 mins ago

PORT-AU-PRINCE (AFP) – Haitian police Tuesday whisked former dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier away to court, less than 48 hours after his return from exile stunned a nation he once ruled with an iron fist.

Duvalier’s lawyer told AFP the 59-year-old, who returned on Sunday from exile in France, had not been arrested but that prosecutors were preparing unspecified charges against him.

After being questioned for well over an hour by Haiti’s chief prosecutor and a judge, Duvalier, without handcuffs and smiling, was escorted calmly out of the luxury hotel where he had been holed up.

4 Lebanon tribunal charges under wraps as tensions rise

by Mariette le Roux, AFP

57 mins ago

LEIDSCHENDAM, Netherlands (AFP) – The tribunal set up to try the killers of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri insisted Tuesday on keeping its first indictment under wraps as fears of violence rose on the streets of Beirut.

The prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon warned that speculation on the indictment which he submitted on Monday and is widely believed to implicate Hezbollah, would be “counter-productive”.

“This is the first step in our collective quest to end impunity in Lebanon,” prosecutor Daniel Bellemare said in a recorded message as soldiers deployed in Beirut amid soaring tension.

5 Apple share price drops on Jobs health fears

by Germain Moyon, AFP

Tue Jan 18, 12:55 pm ET

NEW YORK (AFP) – Apple shares were down at mid-day on Wall Street on Tuesday as renewed health concerns for iconic co-founder and chief executive Steve Jobs raised questions about the future of the company.

Apple shares were down 2.92 percent at $338.20 shortly after noon (1700 GMT) after Jobs, the Silicon Valley legend behind the Macintosh computer, iPod, iPhone and iPad, announced he was taking another medical leave of absence.

Apple, whose share price rose 60 percent last year, had closed at a record high of $348.48 in New York on Friday.

6 Suicide bomber kills 50 at Iraq police centre

by Mahmud Saleh, AFP

Tue Jan 18, 12:27 pm ET

TIKRIT, Iraq (AFP) – A suicide bomber blew himself up and killed 50 people in a crowd waiting outside a police recruitment centre in the Iraqi city of Tikrit on Tuesday, in the bloodiest attack in more than two months.

The blast, which also wounded up to 150, was the first major strike in Iraq since the formation of a new government on December 21 and recalled an August attack against an army recruitment centre in Baghdad that killed dozens of people.

“I have been trying for hours to call my brother, he was in the queue to join the police but his phone is off,” said Mohammed Aiseh, who was standing at a checkpoint set up to bar family members from entering the city’s hospital, which was already filled with victims.

7 US author stirs ‘Chinese’ values debate

by Dan Martin, AFP

Tue Jan 18, 6:26 am ET

BEIJING (AFP) – A book by a Chinese-American woman about her no-nonsense child-rearing has sparked an online flurry of criticism and debate over strict “Chinese” parenting methods versus more relaxed Western ways.

In “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” Yale University law professor Amy Chua recounts the ultra-strict regime of piano lessons and homework favoured by some Asian immigrant families in the United States as the key to future success.

Links to an excerpt published this month in the Wall Street Journal have been shared countless times on Facebook and Twitter, triggering a debate over cultural values at a time of concern in the West about falling behind China.

8 Berlusconi weakened by latest sex scandal

by Ella Ide, AFP

Tue Jan 18, 6:22 am ET

ROME (AFP) – Evidence that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi hooked up with prostitutes he kept in rent-free luxury apartments has weakened the government and damaged the country’s image abroad, experts say.

Italian magistrates on Friday announced an enquiry into the relationship between Berlusconi and an underage girl, known as Ruby, as the prime minister was still reeling from a court ruling partially stripping him of political immunity.

While having sex with prostitutes is not a crime in Italy, having sex with a minor is illegal.

9 Europe set to boost euro debt fund

by Roddy Thomson, AFP

Tue Jan 18, 5:54 am ET

BRUSSELS (AFP) – Europe’s response to its debt crisis crystallised on Tuesday as its richest nations signalled readiness to bump up a euro emergency fund, but demanded that states first put their houses in order.

Closing ranks going into talks between the 27 European Union finance ministers in Brussels, governments that enjoy a “Triple-A” credit rating on international borrowing markets resolved in private talks to boost lending capacity for troubled partners.

They will step up guarantees behind loans made by the temporary 440-billion-euro European Financial Stability Facility, enabling the eurozone fund to reduce the amount that has to be held in a buffer — previously estimated at almost 200 billion.

10 Tunisia coalition hits trouble on day two

By Lin Noueihed and Andrew Hammond, Reuters

1 hr 20 mins ago

TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisia’s new national unity government ran into trouble on Tuesday when four ministers quit and an opposition party threatened to walk out, undermining efforts to restore stability and end unrest on the streets.

Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi brought opposition leaders into the coalition on Monday after president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia following weeks of popular protests.

But key figures from the old guard kept their jobs, angering new opposition appointees and street demonstrators, who saw in it a ploy to deny them the fruits of their “Jasmine Revolution.”

11 Analysis: French race to adapt to new Maghreb mood

By Catherine Bremer, Reuters

Mon Jan 17, 1:20 pm ET

PARIS (Reuters) – An embarrassed France is scrambling to protect its position as the dominant Western influence in the Maghreb after a last-minute ditching of the iron-fisted Tunisian ruler it backed for 23 years.

Paris was caught off guard by the speed with which a build-up of protests brought down Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, an ally for economic reasons and because his repression of Islamist militants created what France believed was a bulwark against fundamentalism.

Once it saw Tunisia’s army and institutions siding with the people against Ben Ali, France cut him off abruptly, mindful of its economic interests in its ex-colony and worried about a backlash by Tunisians in France if it offered refuge.

12 Tunisian economy to be purged-economist

By Paul Taylor, Reuters

Mon Jan 17, 1:12 pm ET

PARIS (Reuters) – Tunisia’s economy will be purged legally of the grip of overthrown president Zine el-Abedine Ben Ali’s extended family, and is well placed to flourish, a leading Tunisian economist said on Monday.

Moncef Cheikhrouhou, forced to sell his shares in a family press group to a relative of the president and go into exile in 2000, said a commission created by the Justice Ministry would unravel assets acquired through nepotism and corruption.

“They behaved like a mafia that reaped money from all sectors of the Tunisian economy,” Cheikhrouhou told Reuters in an interview in Paris, where he teaches international finance at the HEC business school.

13 U.S. officials privately say WikiLeaks damage limited

By Mark Hosenball, Reuters

8 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Internal U.S. government reviews have determined that a mass leak of diplomatic cables caused only limited damage to U.S. interests abroad, despite the Obama administration’s public statements to the contrary.

A congressional official briefed on the reviews said the administration felt compelled to say publicly that the revelations had seriously damaged American interests in order to bolster legal efforts to shut down the WikiLeaks website and bring charges against the leakers.

“I think they just want to present the toughest front they can muster,” the official said.

14 Hu arrives in U.S. as China pushes back on currency

By Caren Bohan and Chris Buckley, Reuters

42 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in the United States on Tuesday for a four-day state visit punctuated in advance by threats from U.S. senators to punish Beijing over its currency policies.

The White House weighed in on the dispute over the level of the yuan hours before Hu was due to arrive, urging China to take more steps to allow its currency to strengthen.

“We believe that more must be done. That is an opinion that is held not just by this country but by many countries around the world,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

15 Two charged over iPad hacking on AT&T network

By Jonathan Stempel, Reuters

2 hrs 7 mins ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors have charged two men with stealing and distributing email addresses for about 120,000 users of Apple Inc’s popular iPad.

Investigators accused Daniel Spitler and Andrew Auernheimer of using an “account slurper” to conduct a “brute force” attack over five days last June, to extract data about iPad users who accessed the Internet through AT&T Inc’s 3G network.

Among the possible victims were celebrities, businesses executives and government officials like New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer, movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and perhaps then-White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, prosecutors said.

16 Citigroup trading drop shows revival obstacles

By Maria Aspan, Reuters

1 hr 28 mins ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A steep drop in bond trading revenue pushed Citigroup Inc’s fourth-quarter profit far below expectations, casting doubt over Chief Executive Vikram Pandit’s claim that the bank had “turned the corner.”

The poor fixed income results left Pandit and other top executives facing myriad questions about what had gone so wrong at the bank, which only survived the financial crisis thanks to a massive taxpayer bailout.

The bottom line result — 4 cents a share, or 50 percent less than what analysts were expecting — stoked concern that the bank has yet to resolve the operational weaknesses that have plagued it for years.

17 Russia’s Medvedev backs independent Palestine

By Alexei Anishchuk, Reuters

Tue Jan 18, 10:08 am ET

JERICHO, West Bank (Reuters) – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev endorsed a Palestinian state on Tuesday, saying Moscow had recognized independence in 1988 and was not changing the position adopted by the former Soviet Union.

Making his first visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank as Russian head of state, Medvedev stopped short of issuing a ringing declaration of recognition of Palestinian statehood by the modern Russian Federation which he represents.

“Russia’s position remains unchanged. Russia made its choice a long time ago … we supported and will support the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to an independent state with its capital in East Jerusalem,” Medvedev said.

18 Europe goes slow on rescue fund, stress tests

By Marcin Grajewski and John O’Donnell, Reuters

Tue Jan 18, 7:23 am ET

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European finance ministers agreed on Tuesday to take their time over beefing up the euro zone’s rescue fund and to publish new stress tests on the region’s shaky banks in the second half of the year.

The go-slow approach could test the patience of investors, spooked by the euro zone debt crisis, who sold off peripheral countries’ bonds this month until the European Central Bank intervened to steady markets.

Going beyond last July’s flawed exercise, which failed to expose Irish banks’ frailty, EU ministers agreed to include targets on liquidity in new, tougher tests of banks’ ability to withstand financial shocks to be conducted by the end of May, with results in the third quarter, EU presidency sources said.

19 EU to toughen bank stress tests, disagrees on how

By John O’Donnell and Jan Strupczewski, Reuters

Tue Jan 18, 10:44 am ET

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU finance ministers agreed on Tuesday they wanted tougher stress tests for the region’s banks to restore confidence in the bloc’s financial system, but remained locked in dispute over how strict they should be.

“We discussed bank stress tests … and we are really agreed that the new stress tests should include more banks,” said German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.

“This is the clear position of the German government but also most of the others, and we should try to avoid that which happened last year,” he added, commenting on July tests, branded irrelevant after they gave Irish banks a clean bill of health.

20 Egyptians set themselves ablaze after Tunisia unrest

By Dina Zayed, Reuters

Tue Jan 18, 11:39 am ET

CAIRO (Reuters) – An Egyptian man set himself on fire near parliament on Tuesday and another tried to follow suit, following a self-immolation in Tunisia that provoked mass protests and helped to oust the president.

Similar cases have been reported in Algeria and Mauritania as Arabs in authoritarian states watched with astonishment the speed at which the Tunisian uprising toppled its ruler last week. Some have responded by calling for change at home.

In Egypt, Tuesday’s acts followed an incident a day earlier when a man set himself alight outside parliament in a sign of growing public discontent in the tightly-run country.

21 Goldman to exclude U.S. from Facebook placement

By Ilaina Jonas, Reuters

Mon Jan 17, 11:59 pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs said it will limit its private placement of shares of social networking site Facebook to investors outside the United States, citing “intense media coverage.”

Goldman expects to raise $1.5 billion for Facebook, the wildly popular site used as a message board and for online social networking.

The chance to buy a slice of Facebook ahead of any future public listing attracted widespread commentary and news coverage, which potentially could bring it under regulatory scrutiny.

22 Tunisian ministers quit; police break up protest

By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI and BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA, Associated Press

40 mins ago

TUNIS, Tunisia – At least four ministers slammed the door on Tunisia’s day-old unity government Tuesday, echoing the concerns of demonstrators who insist democratic change is impossible while so many supporters of the freshly ousted president are hoarding posts of power.

Police in riot gear forcefully put down a demonstration of the sort that toppled the North African country’s longtime autocratic leader last week, pummeling a demonstrator with batons and boot kicks – and highlighting a question on many minds: Is the new regime really much different?

As Tunisia struggles to move past the rioting, looting and score-settling that has marked the political transition, there was a growing sense Tuesday that it will be difficult for the interim government to hold together and pave the way toward elections expected within six to seven months.

23 Former Haiti dictator facing questions from judge

JONATHAN M. KATZ, Associated Press

13 mins ago

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – An associate of Jean-Claude Duvalier says a judge has decided to open a formal investigation of the former dictator.

Mona Bernadeau, a Senate candidate from Duvalier’s political party, says Duvalier has been facing questions from the judge in a closed-door legal session since being taken out of his hotel by police Tuesday.

She declined to specify the allegations. Under the Haitian system, judges investigate allegations made by prosecutors. Haiti allows for pretrial detention but that is unlikely in Duvalier’s case. Bernadeau expects Duvalier will be returning to his hotel.

24 Student tracking finds limited learning in college

By ERIC GORSKI, AP Education Writer

Tue Jan 18, 12:43 pm ET

You are told that to make it in life, you must go to college. You work hard to get there. You or your parents drain savings or take out huge loans to pay for it all.

And you end up learning … not much.

A study of more than 2,300 undergraduates found 45 percent of students show no significant improvement in the key measures of critical thinking, complex reasoning and writing by the end of their sophomore years.

25 2 charged with stealing iPad users’ information

By DAVID PORTER, Associated Press

1 hr 42 mins ago

NEWARK, N.J. – Two hackers stole the e-mail addresses of more than 100,000 Apple iPad users, including those of politicians and famous media personalities, federal prosecutors said Tuesday in announcing criminal charges against the men.

AT&T revealed the security vulnerability months ago, and U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said there was no evidence that the two men used the information they acquired for criminal purposes. Authorities cautioned, however, that the information could have wound up in the hands of spammers and scammers.

Daniel Spitler, a 26-year-old bookstore security guard from San Francisco, and Andrew Auernheimer, 25, of Fayetteville, Ark., face charges of fraud and conspiracy to access a computer without authorization.

26 What happens when mom unplugs teens for 6 months?

By BETH J. HARPAZ, Associated Press

Tue Jan 18, 12:45 pm ET

NEW YORK – Susan Maushart lived out every parent’s fantasy: She unplugged her teenagers.

For six months, she took away the Internet, TV, iPods, cell phones and video games. The eerie glow of screens stopped lighting up the family room. Electronic devices no longer chirped through the night like “evil crickets.” And she stopped carrying her iPhone into the bathroom.

The result of what she grandly calls “The Experiment” was more OMG than LOL – and nothing less than an immersion in RL (real life).

27 Iraq’s security berated after 52 die in bombing

By LARA JAKES, Associated Press

2 hrs 55 mins ago

BAGHDAD – A suicide bomber killed 52 people among a crowd of police recruits in Saddam Hussein’s hometown Tuesday, shattering a two-month lull in major attacks and spurring calls to keep the U.S. military in Iraq beyond 2011.

It was the second time in three days that efforts to bolster Iraqi police and army soldiers have backfired. The violence underscores persistent gaps in the security forces’ ability to protect the country, despite seven years and $22 billion in training and equipment provided by the U.S.

In an all-too-familiar scene, the suicide bomber joined hundreds of recruits waiting outside a police station in Tikrit to submit applications for 2,000 newly created jobs – a plum, if risky, opportunity in a country with an unemployment rate as high as 30 percent.

28 Apple again turns to Cook in CEO Jobs’ absence

By RACHEL METZ, AP Technology Writer

Tue Jan 18, 8:55 am ET

SAN FRANCISCO – If the past is any indication, Tim Cook’s mastery of inventory management and his high expectations of employees should leave Apple Inc. in good hands while its charismatic leader, Steve Jobs, takes a medical leave of absence.

Apple said Monday that Cook, the chief operating officer, will take charge of the iPhone and iPad maker as Jobs focuses on his health. Unlike Jobs’ half-year medical leave in 2009, during which he specified he’d return to work at the end of June and stuck to it, Apple did not say when, if ever, Jobs would return as CEO.

That means Cook, 50, considered a logical eventual successor to Jobs, 55, could be in charge for a long time, perhaps permanently.

29 Obama orders review of rules to boost economy

By TOM RAUM, Associated Press

50 mins ago

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama, in another move to smooth frayed ties with corporate America, ordered a far-reaching review of federal regulations Tuesday with the goal of weeding out rules that hurt job growth and creation. Republicans and business groups welcomed the step but suggested he do even more.

Business groups have bitterly complained that new regulations carrying out health care and financial overhaul, among others, are holding back hiring and economic growth.

Despite Obama’s directive, there was no indication that the White House will pull back from the biggest regulatory fights ahead: the Environmental Protection Agency’s plans to regulate greenhouse gases and rules carrying out Obama’s health care overhaul.

30 US companies expand goals as China leader arrives

By PAUL WISEMAN and MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writers

Tue Jan 18, 12:10 pm ET

WASHINGTON – U.S. companies have long demanded that China let its currency rise to make U.S. exports cheaper. But as President Hu Jintao visits Washington this week, U.S. companies are stressing other goals: Stopping the theft of intellectual property. And getting a fair chance to win government contracts.

No one expects any big breakthroughs. Instead, many U.S. companies hold out hope that the meetings between Hu and President Barack Obama will make it easier to reach long-term solutions to the major trade disputes dividing the world’s two largest economies.

Hu sounded conciliatory on the eve of his trip.

31 Calif. city considers DUI mug shots on Facebook

By THOMAS WATKINS, Associated Press

Tue Jan 18, 7:11 am ET

LOS ANGELES – Police in a city ranked top in the state for alcohol-related traffic fatalities might soon be trying a new tactic to keep drunken drivers off the road: Electronic shaming on Facebook.

In a contentious move that has raised the hackles of privacy advocates and been met with resistance from a police department fearful of alienating residents, a councilman in Huntington Beach wants police to begin posting the mug shots of everyone who is arrested more than once for driving while under the influence.

“If it takes shaming people to save lives, I am willing to do it,” said Devin Dwyer, the councilman behind the proposal. “I’m hoping it prevents others from getting behind the wheel and getting inebriated.”

32 FACT CHECK: Shaky health care job loss estimate

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press

Tue Jan 18, 7:11 am ET

WASHINGTON – Republicans pushing to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul warn that 650,000 jobs will be lost if the law is allowed to stand.

But the widely cited estimate by House GOP leaders is shaky. It’s the latest creative use of statistics in the health care debate, which has seen plenty of examples from both sides.

Republicans are calling their thumbs-down legislation the “Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act.” Postponed after the mass shootings in Tucson, a House vote on the divisive issue is now expected Wednesday, although Democrats promise they’ll block repeal in the Senate.

33 Twice convicted ex-CIA spy gets 8 more years

By NIGEL DUARA, Associated Press

13 mins ago

PORTLAND, Ore. – One of the highest-ranking CIA officers ever convicted of espionage will spend eight more years in prison after pleading guilty to betraying his country a second time.

U.S. District Court Judge Anna J. Brown sentenced Harold “Jim” Nicholson on Tuesday in Portland federal court on charges of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Two other conspiracy charges were dropped as part of the plea deal.

Nicholson admitted to using his son, Nathaniel, to collect a “pension” from Russian agents while serving time in federal prison in Oregon.

34 Companies won’t sell Ky. lethal injection drug

By BRETT BARROUQUERE, Associated Press

24 mins ago

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Amid a nationwide shortage of a lethal injection drug, documents obtained under a freedom of information request show two pharmaceutical companies declined to sell Kentucky a supply of the sedative.

The state e-mails obtained by The Associated Press show one firm, KRS Global Biotechnology of Boca Raton, Fla., explained its refusal by saying there was no doctor involved in the purchase of sodium thiopental, even though Kentucky law bars physicians from being involved in administering executions.

No reason was given in the e-mail traffic between state officials and pharmacists for a canceled order from the other company, Spectrum Chemical and Laboratory Products of Gardenia, Calif. A Spectrum official told the AP the ordered was scrapped when it sold that part of its business last year.

35 Gun show opens in Vegas, amid gun control debate

By CRISTINA SILVA, Associated Press

39 mins ago

LAS VEGAS – Beneath the gold-flecked chandeliers and classical murals in the gilded meeting rooms of the Venetian hotel and casino, the mighty $28 billion-a-year firearms industry opened one of it’s most opulent annual shows Tuesday.

Industry members networked while catching up on the newest weapons and gun gear from 16,000 vendors spread across more than 630,000 square feet. That there are renewed calls for tougher gun restrictions after a Jan. 8 shooting rampage in Arizona killed six people and wounded 13 others – including apparent assassination target U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords – did little to dampen spirits at the giant show.

Barbara Heetderks of Dallas elbowed her way through a throng of arms dealers, shooting range owners, military buyers and law enforcement officers in search of the perfect ammunition for “Maya,” “Joe” and the other 40 rifles and pistols that make up her personal gun collection.

36 Lawyers accuse US of entrapping anti-Castro agent

By WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press

2 hrs 1 min ago

El PASO, Texas – Lawyers for a former CIA agent charged with perjury and other offences grilled a government attorney on Tuesday, suggesting she only granted their client an immigration hearing because she was helping federal prosecutors gather evidence they could use to bring criminal charges against him.

Gina Garrett-Jackson, a Miami-based attorney for the Department of Homeland Security, testified that federal authorities were considering pressing charges against anti-Castro militant Luis Posada Carriles even as they prepared to interrogate him during an immigration hearing in 2005.

Posada, 82, is charged with 11 counts of perjury, obstruction and naturalization fraud – accused of making false statements under oath during immigration interviews in El Paso, after he sneaked into the United States and sought political asylum. Prosecutors say he lied about how he reached American soil and failed to acknowledge his role in 1997 Cuban hotel bombings.

37 Lawyer for Texas exonerees faces misconduct suit

By JEFF CARLTON, Associated Press

Tue Jan 18, 2:16 pm ET

ARLINGTON, Texas – The State Bar of Texas has filed a lawsuit against an attorney who collected millions of dollars from wrongly convicted ex-inmates, saying he committed professional misconduct by charging fees that were illegal and unconscionable.

Lubbock attorney Kevin Glasheen has been credited by lawmakers and advocates as the driving force behind a 2009 law that made Texas the most generous state in the nation in compensating the wrongly convicted. He has said he acted appropriately in charging his clients a 25 percent contingency fee.

But the bar’s disciplinary counsel office found evidence Glasheen overcharged his clients or charged fees that violate the bar’s professional code of conduct, bar spokeswoman Maureen Ray said Tuesday. It filed the lawsuit in an effort to sanction him.

38 Sweeteners added to recession-battling tax breaks

By CAROLE FELDMAN, Associated Press

Tue Jan 18, 2:08 pm ET

WASHINGTON – This year’s tax season will look a lot like last year’s, with a few sweeteners added.

Most of the tax changes that were put in place in 2009 to spur the economy remained in effect in 2010, even though the recession was officially declared over. Among them: the Making Work Pay tax credit, which put a little extra money in the hands of 95 percent of U.S. taxpayers. Homebuyers and those who installed energy-efficient furnaces, windows and other items in their homes also could benefit, along with college students or their parents, schoolteachers and adoptive parents.

“There’s really not much from a change perspective,” said Greg Rosica, a tax partner ait Ernst & Young accounting firm.

39 Palin explains ‘blood libel’ comment

By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press

Mon Jan 17, 10:30 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, defending herself against criticism following the Tucson, Ariz., shootings, said Monday that she used the term “blood libel” to describe comments made by those who falsely tried to link conservatives to the assassination attempt against Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Speaking out for the first time since she used the term in a video, Palin said on Fox’s Sean Hannity show that the term referred to those “falsely accused of having blood on their hands.”

Some Jewish groups strongly protested her use of the term, which historically was used to accuse Jews of using blood of Christians in religious rituals.

40 Prosecutors: Guantanamo convict deserves life term

By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press

Mon Jan 17, 8:24 pm ET

NEW YORK – The first Guantanamo detainee to be convicted in a civilian court is an “evil” force who helped al-Qaida members bomb two U.S. embassies in 1998, boosting the profile of Osama bin Laden and enabling terrorists to carry out other acts of destruction, federal prosecutors in New York say.

In seeking a life sentence for Ahmed Ghailani at a sentencing next week, prosecutors urged a federal judge to consider how the Tanzanian left a middle class life with a loving family to join hands with terrorists who were determined to carry out a mass killing. The twin bombings in Kenya and Tanzania killed 224 people, including a dozen Americans.

“The defendant traded away everything in his life. His family, his friends, his job, his country, his name – all for a chance to kill as many people as possible,” the prosecutors wrote in a submission late Friday. “This was an appalling choice to make. The man who would make it is evil.”

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  1. I suppose it is the better part of valor to withdraw from the field rather than face ultimate defeat. Conrad’s seat will most likely go “red”, even if he was going for another term. Lieberman, well what can be said? Except for his recent support of the DADT repeal, he may as well have caucused with the Republicans, maybe the Democrats would have fought harder for a better health care bill

  2. The founding director of the Peace Corps passed away from complications of Alzheimer’s Disease.

    An era passes and the Wheel Turns.

    Blessed Be.

  3. our girl said she felt she hadn’t learned much although she earned degrees in chemistry and biology.

    ~

    # 35 title needs jukin’

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