Evening Edition

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Tunisian leader vows ‘total break’ with old regime

by Dario Thuburn, AFP

1 hr 42 mins ago

TUNIS (AFP) – Tunisia’s interim president on Wednesday promised a “total break” with the past and hailed “a revolution of dignity and liberty,” as prosecutors opened a vast inquiry against the previous leader.

Investigators will look into the extensive domestic and foreign assets held by former president Zine El Abdine Ben Ali, who resigned abruptly on Friday and fled to Saudi Arabia after a wave of social protests against his regime.

“Together we can write a new page in the history of our country,” Foued Mebazaa said in an address to the nation in which he also vowed to ensure an amnesty for political prisoners, media freedoms and an independent judiciary.

2 Hundreds rally against Tunisia’s new government

by Kaouther Larbi, AFP

Wed Jan 19, 6:51 am ET

TUNIS (AFP) – Hundreds of Tunisians rallied against their new government on Wednesday, as the leadership tried to defuse public anger over the continued power of the former ruling party.

“Ben Ali has gone to Saudi Arabia! The government should go there too,” more than 1,000 protesters chanted in central Tunis, referring to former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who fled on Friday after 23 years of iron-fisted rule.

“We want a new parliament, a new constitution, a new republic! People rise up against the Ben Ali loyalists!” they chanted at the peaceful demonstration.

3 Haiti’s ‘Baby Doc’ hopes to run for presidency

by Edouard Guihaire, AFP

52 mins ago

PORT-AU-PRINCE (AFP) – More than two decades after being ousted from power, ex-dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier aims to profit from Haiti’s turmoil to recapture the presidency, an aide said Wednesday.

The news came as Duvalier’s lawyer confirmed the former leader had returned from exile amid the political upheaval after disputed elections and planned to stay in the Caribbean nation which he once ruled with an iron fist.

“We need to shake everything up so that the elections are annulled and new elections are held in which Duvalier can run,” Henry Robert Sterlin, a former Haitian ambassador to France, told AFP.

4 Ex-Haiti dictator ‘Baby Doc’ charged with corruption

by Clarens Renois, AFP

Tue Jan 18, 7:50 pm ET

PORT-AU-PRINCE (AFP) – Haitian prosecutors on Tuesday slapped a slew of corruption charges on Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, less than 48 hours after the former dictator’s unexpected return to his homeland.

Duvalier stands accused of corruption, theft and misappropriation of funds related to the siphoning off of hundreds of millions of dollars during a 1971-1986 rule allegedly marked by widespread human rights abuses.

“Yes he has been charged. But I don’t understand it,” his lawyer Gervais Charles told AFP.

5 South Sudan votes to secede: preliminary results

by Guillaume Lavallee, AFP

1 hr 10 mins ago

JUBA, Sudan (AFP) – South Sudan achieved the simple majority needed to secede in its independence referendum, preliminary results collated by AFP showed on Wednesday, even with many counties still to report.

As several areas returned landslides exceeding 99 percent for separation of the mainly Christian, African south from the mainly Arab, Muslim north, the majority was achieved although some of 10 states, including the most populous, Jonglei, had yet to announce any results.

Figures gathered from state and county referendum officials showed that 2,224,857 votes for independence have already been returned.

6 US, China ink $45 bln of export deals

by Andrew Beatty, AFP

Wed Jan 19, 1:28 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States and China have agreed export deals worth $45 billion dollars, the White House said Wednesday, as President Hu Jintao formally began a US state visit.

Citing 70 agreements spanning 12 US states, the White House edged away from the fevered rhetoric that has come to dominate trade ties between the two powers, saying the massive package would support 235,000 US jobs.

The total includes an order for 200 Boeing aircraft worth an estimated $19 billion dollars.

7 Obama, Hu air divides but seek common ground

by Stephen Collinson, AFP

30 mins ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao sparred Wednesday over human rights but smoothed over sharp differences by making an economic and strategic case for working together.

On a long-awaited state visit, Hu made the unusual comment for a Chinese leader that “a lot” remained to be done on freedoms in China, but pointedly did not share Obama’s view that basic human rights were “universal.”

Trumpets sounded and a 21-gun salute blasted over Washington as Hu arrived at a White House draped with US and Chinese flags, in the most sumptuous pageantry a US president can muster. But tough talking soon ensued.

8 China’s Hu lands in US for state visit

by Stephen Collinson, AFP

Tue Jan 18, 7:08 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – China’s President Hu Jintao arrived in the United States Tuesday for a state visit promising frank talk over economics and currency disputes, but likely to expose a wide gulf over human rights.

Hu landed at Andrews Air Force base and was expected soon afterwards at the White House for a rare private dinner hosted by President Barack Obama in recognition of the key nature of a relationship under severe recent strain.

US military officers rolled out a red carpet and gave full military honors complete with a brass band to the Chinese leader, who arrived at the base, just outside Washington, aboard an Air China jet.

9 Climate change study had ‘significant error’: experts

by Kerry Sheridan, AFP

1 hr 55 mins ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A climate change study that projected a 2.4 degree Celsius increase in temperature and massive worldwide food shortages in the next decade was seriously flawed, scientists said Wednesday.

The study was posted Tuesday on EurekAlert, a independent service for reporters set up by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and was written about by numerous international news agencies, including AFP.

But AAAS later retracted the study as experts cited numerous errors in its approach.

10 Saudi Arabia quits Lebanon mediation efforts

by Jocelyne Zablit, AFP

2 hrs 34 mins ago

BEIRUT (AFP) – Saudi Arabia on Wednesday abandoned efforts to mediate in Lebanon’s political crisis, warning of a “dangerous” situation, as the focus turned to a Turkish-Qatari bid to defuse tensions.

In an interview with Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television, Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said the Saudi king was “pulling his hand” from Lebanon.

He said the monarch — whose country is a key ally of embattled caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri — took the decision after the failure of Saudi-Syrian efforts for rival camps in the small Mediterranean country to reach a compromise.

11 Twin suicide blasts kill 16 in central Iraq

by Ali al-Tuwaijri, AFP

Wed Jan 19, 11:08 am ET

BAQUBA, Iraq (AFP) – A suicide bomber rammed an ambulance packed with explosives into a security headquarters on Wednesday, killing 14 people in the second major attack against Iraqi forces in as many days.

Another suicide attack in a nearby town killed two others and wounded a top provincial official, shattering a relative calm in Iraq since the formation of a new government by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki last month.

“I was on my way to the market close to the building when I saw the ambulance arrive at the entrance,” 53-year-old Sumaya Sabr, who suffered wounds to her head in the first blast, said from her hospital bed in Baquba, capital of Diyala province and site of the first attack.

12 Tunisia frees prisoners, says wants break with past

By Christian Lowe and Andrew Hammond, Reuters

45 mins ago

TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisia’s interim leadership promised a “complete break with the past” and freed political prisoners on Wednesday in efforts to appease street protesters who want a total purge of the old guard from a unity government.

Five days after veteran strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia with some of his wealthy entourage, former political allies including the prime minister were still trying to coax opposition figures into a national unity government which can restore order and oversee promised free elections.

Demonstrators, though less numerous than during the days of rage which unseated Ben Ali, continued to insist on the removal of all ministers from his once feared RCD party. Only that, they say, can satisfy the hopes of their “Jasmine Revolution,” which has delivered a shock to autocrats across the Arab world.

13 Obama presses China’s Hu on currency, rights

By Chris Buckley and Matt Spetalnick, Reuters

21 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama pressed Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday to let the value of China’s currency rise and delivered a firmer message on U.S. concerns over Beijing’s human rights record.

Amid the pomp of a state visit, both leaders spoke glowingly about cooperation but made no major breathroughs on a range of disputes over trade and security that have strained relations over the past year.

Hu gave up little aside from $45 billion in export deals that seemed aimed at quelling anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States and allowing Obama to tout job creation as U.S. unemployment remains stubbornly above 9 percent.

14 Goldman profit slides as bond trading wilts

By Jonathan Stempel, Reuters

32 mins ago

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.

15 Saudi ends Lebanon mediation, says country at risk

By Mariam Karouny, Reuters

2 hrs 47 mins ago

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it had abandoned mediation efforts in Lebanon between Shi’ite Hezbollah and Sunni leader Saad al-Hariri over the killing of his father and warned that the country’s future was at stake.

Regional power Saudi Arabia and Syria had worked for months to resolve a dispute between Hezbollah and Hariri over indictments in the 2005 killing of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, which are widely expected to accuse Hezbollah members.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said the kingdom had abandoned its efforts and that the situation in Lebanon was “dangerous.”

16 Swiss arrest ex-banker for giving data to WikiLeaks

By Emma Thomasson and Catherine Bosley, Reuters

9 mins ago

ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss police arrested ex-banker Rudolf Elmer on Wednesday for giving data to Wikileaks, hours after he was found guilty of breaching strict Swiss bank secrecy laws in another case.

At 1830 (1730 GMT) Elmer was taken into custody by police, having just been found guilty of breaching strict banking secrecy for publicizing private client data and of threatening an employee at his former firm Julius Baer.

“The state prosecutor’s office is checking to see whether Rudolf Elmer has violated Swiss banking law by handing the CD over to WikiLeaks,” the Zurich cantonal (state) police and state prosecutor said in a joint statement.

17 Former Swiss banker linked to WikiLeaks goes on trial

By Emma Thomasson and Martin de Sa’Pinto

Wed Jan 19, 6:36 am ET

ZURICH (Reuters) – Former Swiss banker Rudolf Elmer admitted on Wednesday he sent private client data to tax authorities as he went on trial for breaching bank secrecy, but denied blackmail and a bomb threat against Julius Baer.

Elmer, 55, among the first to use WikiLeaks to publish private bank documents, said he took his information to the website after Swiss authorities failed to act on it.

“The ethics of business leadership on both sides of the Atlantic have disappointed me,” he said, adding that he wanted to expose illegal offshore activity in the Cayman Islands.

18 Lieberman won’t seek re-election: aide

By Thomas Ferraro, Reuters

2 hrs 45 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senator Joe Lieberman, the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee who crossed the political aisle to back Republican John McCain in 2008 White House race, plans to announce on Wednesday that we won’t seek re-election next year, a Lieberman aide said late on Tuesday.

Lieberman, 68, bolted the Democratic party to become an independent five years ago but still often sides with his old party. He plans to declare his political intentions for 2012 at a news conference in his home state of Connecticut.

“Senator Lieberman will announce tomorrow that he won’t run for re-election in 2012,” said the aide, who asked not to be identified by name.

19 Ivory Coast talks fail, Gbagbo rejects mediator

By Tim Cocks and Ange Aboa, Reuters

2 hrs 51 mins ago

ABIDJAN (Reuters) – Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga said an African effort to mediate Ivory Coast’s disputed poll had failed on Wednesday, and Laurent Gbagbo rejected him as mediator after Odinga warned he faced harsh sanctions or force.

Gbagbo’s rival Alassane Ouattara was proclaimed winner of a November 28 poll by the electoral commission and is internationally recognized as president-elect, but Gbagbo has refused to go, alleging rigging.

He maintains control of the security forces, much of the cocoa sector and state institutions.

20 Comcast wins approval for NBC Universal combination

By Paul Thomasch and Jasmin Melvin, Reuters

Tue Jan 18, 6:31 pm ET

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Comcast Corp will sacrifice day-to-day control of popular video website Hulu as a condition for regulatory approval of its combination with NBC Universal, clearing the way for the deal to close in the next two weeks.

The Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice approved the combination – but with a variety of conditions — more than a year after the companies announced it. The deal creates a new media powerhouse that controls not just how television shows and movies are made, but how they are delivered to people’s homes.

Comcast sees it as a potent combination, particularly as viewing habits change and audiences expect to find their favorite entertainment on the TV set as well as the PC, tablet and smartphone. Not only is Comcast the largest U.S. cable company, it is also the top broadband provider.

21 Google investors to look beyond search

By Alexei Oreskovic, Reuters

Tue Jan 18, 8:31 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A strong holiday shopping season will help Google Inc beat Wall Street’s quarterly targets again, but investors may need more convincing to buy into the Internet giant’s longer-term future.

Google, whose shares underperformed the market in 2010, will need to overcome past failures to get onto the social Web and local advertising — twin areas that threaten to siphon off Internet traffic, and advertising dollars.

Now, the world’s top Internet company is recruiting and driving an acquisitions spree, aiming to ensure its online products remain popular as surfers turn to new services like Facebook — now the most heavily trafficked site — and wireless gadgets.

22 Analysis: New funds regulator must shed Goldman skin

By Ross Kerber and Sarah N. Lynch, Reuters

1 hr 55 mins ago

BOSTON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – For U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro, the choice of a Goldman Sachs Group insider as her new top funds regulator could be a double-edged sword.

Eileen Rominger will have to prove she can be a neutral regulator of the industry from which she came. She spent the past 11 years at Goldman Sachs, most recently as chief investment officer of Goldman’s asset management unit before announcing her retirement in September.

On the other hand, Rominger, 56, will give the agency some of the Wall Street experience it has been accused of lacking in its oversight of complex instruments sold to small-scale investors.

23 Apple’s bright view outshines Jobs’s plight

By Gabriel Madway, Reuters

Wed Jan 19, 5:48 am ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc landed blockbuster results and a strong outlook on dazzling sales of the iPhone and iPad, reassuring investors that visionary CEO Steve Jobs’s medical leave will have no impact on growth.

Shares in Apple leapt almost 4 percent after hours following a brief trading suspension. It later backtracked to stand about 2 percent higher, recouping most of the losses incurred after Jobs’s surprise announcement.

Apple, once notorious for its conservative forecasts, said it expected earnings for the March quarter of $4.90 a share on revenue of $22 billion, surpassing the forecast of $4.47 a share on revenue of $20.8 billion.

24 U.S. officials privately say WikiLeaks damage limited

By Mark Hosenball, Reuters

Tue Jan 18, 4:33 pm ET

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.

25 South Sudan seeks millions for war-hit wildlife

By Jason Benham, Reuters

Tue Jan 18, 7:59 am ET

JUBA, Sudan (Reuters) – South Sudan appealed for investors to plough $140 million into its war-hit wildlife parks, seeking to kick-start a tourism industry and wean itself off oil months ahead of its expected independence.

The south has the world’s second largest migration of mammals, untamed wildernesses and vast herds of gazelles and antelopes, rivaling anything seen in Kenya, Uganda and other African holiday hotspots, say experts.

But populations of elephants, hippos and other fleshier animals have plummeted after hungry militia fighters hunted them for their meat and forced them to take shelter in dense forests.

26 Sen. Joe Lieberman says he will retire in 2012

By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN and SUSAN HAIGH, Associated Press

1 hr 16 mins ago

STAMFORD, Conn. – Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut announced Wednesday that he will not seek a fifth term, ending a political career spanning four decades in which he evolved from a reliably Democratic state legislator into an independent U.S. senator who backed the war in Iraq and the Republican candidate for president.

While Lieberman’s supporters lamented his decision not to run in 2012, many constituents, especially Democrats, said they were pleased because the “Joe” they knew as a state lawmaker and activist state attorney general is already long-gone.

“I think Joe at one point was a really good legislator. … He was on the right side of the issues,” said Leslie Simoes of West Hartford, an advocate for people with disabilities and a registered Democrat. “And then, something shifted in him and he has just come out repeatedly, over and over and over again, absolutely on the wrong side of things.”

27 House nears vote to repeal health care law

By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent

23 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Eager to honor their campaign pledge, Republicans pushed legislation to repeal the nation’s year-old health care law toward House passage Wednesday despite implacable opposition in the Senate and a veto threat from President Barack Obama.

Passage would clear the way for the second phase of the “repeal and replace” promise that victorious Republicans made to the voters last fall. GOP officials said that in the coming months, congressional committees will propose changes to the existing legislation, calling for elimination of a requirement for individuals to purchase coverage, for example, and recommending curbs on medical malpractice lawsuits.

Republicans also intend to try to reverse many of the changes Democrats made to Medicare Advantage, the private alternative to the traditional government-run health care program for seniors.

28 Obama, Hu spar over human rights, hail econ ties

By MATTHEW PENNINGTON and JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press

16 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Chinese President Hu Jintao declared Wednesday that “a lot still needs to be done” to improve his country’s record on human rights, a rare concession that came after President Barack Obama asserted that such rights are “core views” among Americans.

The exchange over human rights was balanced by U.S. delight over newly announced Chinese business deals expected to generate about $45 billion in new export sales for the U.S.

Those agreements were cemented during Wednesday’s summit meeting between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies. Obama said the deals would help create 235,000 U.S. jobs.

29 DA: Pa. abortion doc killed 7 babies with scissors

By PATRICK WALTERS and MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press

44 mins ago

PHILADELPHIA – A doctor who provided abortions for minorities, immigrants and poor women in a “house of horrors” clinic has been charged with eight counts of murder in the deaths of a patient and seven babies who were born alive and then killed with scissors, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 69, made millions of dollars over 30 years, performing as many illegal, late-term abortions as he could, prosecutors said. State regulators ignored complaints about him and failed to inspect his clinic since 1993, but no charges were warranted against them given time limits and existing law, District Attorney Seth Williams said. Nine of Gosnell’s employees also were charged.

Gosnell “induced labor, forced the live birth of viable babies in the sixth, seventh, eighth month of pregnancy and then killed those babies by cutting into the back of the neck with scissors and severing their spinal cord,” Williams said.

30 Tunisia calms as government rejects old guard

By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, Associated Press

1 hr 7 mins ago

TUNIS, Tunisia – Tunisia’s new government said Wednesday it has freed all the country’s political prisoners and also moved to track down assets stashed overseas by its deposed president and his widely disliked family.

Tensions on the streets appeared to be calming as the administration tried to show it was distancing itself from the old guard.

Hundreds of protesters led a rally in central Tunis demanding that former allies of deposed President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali stop clinging to power. Later, about 30 youths in the capital broke a curfew and set up camp near the heavily guarded Interior Ministry, bringing mats, food and water for an overnight sit-in. Police didn’t bother them.

31 Lawyer: Duvalier plans to remain in Haiti

By BEN FOX, Associated Press

24 mins ago

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Haitian authorities want Jean-Claude Duvalier to leave the country, but the once-feared dictator will not go and could even choose to get involved in politics, one of his lawyers said Wednesday.

Defense attorney Reynold Georges told reporters that it is Duvalier’s right to remain in Haiti, but that he is free to travel. He stressed that Haiti’s government has not ordered Duvalier to return to France following his surprise return on Sunday.

“He is free to do whatever he wants, go wherever he wants,” Georges said of the once-feared strongman, known as “Baby Doc.” “It is his right to live in his country … He is going to stay. It is his country.”

32 Old dog, new tricks: Study IDs 9,400-year-old mutt

By CLARKE CANFIELD, Associated Press

Wed Jan 19, 8:58 am ET

PORTLAND, Maine – Nearly 10,000 years ago, man’s best friend provided protection and companionship — and an occasional meal.

That’s what researchers are saying after finding a bone fragment from what they are calling the earliest confirmed domesticated dog in the Americas.

University of Maine graduate student Samuel Belknap III came across the fragment while analyzing a dried-out sample of human waste unearthed in southwest Texas in the 1970s. A carbon-dating test put the age of the bone at 9,400 years, and a DNA analysis confirmed it came from a dog – not a wolf, coyote or fox, Belknap said.

33 Banks say fewer consumer loans are going bad

By PALLAVI GOGOI and EILEEN AJ CONNELLY, AP Business Writers

9 mins ago

NEW YORK – Americans are starting to get their household finances in order.

In an encouraging round of earnings reports, major banks say fewer mortgages are going bad, credit card defaults are down and more people are paying the bills on time.

One of the nation’s largest consumer lenders, Wells Fargo, said Wednesday that 29 percent fewer loans went bad in the last three months of 2010 than the year before. And late payments on loans considered likely to default declined for the first time since 2008.

34 AP Exclusive: Insurers profit on Medicare float

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press

Wed Jan 19, 6:30 am ET

WASHINGTON – Private health insurance plans catering to Medicare recipients are making millions by taking money the government sends in advance – but isn’t immediately needed – and using it to make investments, federal investigators say in a report obtained by The Associated Press.

In financial parlance, it’s called “playing the float.”

In contrast with another government program that also deals regularly with health insurers, Medicare lets its plans keep the cash.

35 GOP spending cuts would affect millions of people

By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press

Wed Jan 19, 6:31 am ET

WASHINGTON – Low-income students may get smaller grants and the newly disabled might have to wait longer for their benefits. And just about every politician is going to get an earful from the local PTA if school aid gets whacked.

Republicans are finding it’s one thing to issue a blanket promise to cut spending, an entirely different matter when you actually take the scissors to $1 of every $6 spent by agencies like the IRS, the FBI, NASA and the National Park Service. Federal layoffs would be unavoidable, the White House warns.

That’s the real-world impact of House Republicans’ campaign promise to cut $100 billion from the budgets of domestic agencies. Next week, they plan to vote on a resolution setting appropriations for the rest of the year at 2008 pre-recession levels. before President Barack Obama took office.

36 Vatican: 1997 Irish abuse letter ‘misunderstood’

By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press

1 hr 24 mins ago

VATICAN CITY – In a new round of damage control, the Vatican insisted Wednesday that a 1997 letter warning Irish bishops against reporting priests suspected of sex abuse to police had been “deeply misunderstood.”

The Associated Press on Tuesday reported the contents of the letter, in which the Vatican’s top diplomat in Ireland told bishops that their policy of mandatory reporting such cases to police “gives rise to serious reservations of both a moral and canonical nature.”

The newly revealed letter, obtained originally by Irish broadcaster RTE from an Irish bishop, has undermined persistent Vatican claims, particularly when seeking to defend itself in U.S. lawsuits, that Rome never told bishops not to cooperate with police.

37 NYC’s Bloomberg sets sights on pension reform

By SAMANTHA GROSS, Associated Press

5 mins ago

NEW YORK – Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned in his “State of the City” address Wednesday that New York still faces deep budget problems and promised he would seek to cut pensions for government workers that he said were more generous than those found in the private sector.

In his speech on Staten Island, Bloomberg said reforms of the city’s pension system will be his administration’s number one priority in Albany in the weeks ahead. The mayor said he had enlisted the help of former mayor Ed Koch in the effort to wrest control of city-worker pensions back from the state.

The mayor said he wants to raise the retirement age to 65 for non-uniformed workers. The change, which would only apply to new hires, would save billions of dollars over the long term, Bloomberg said.

38 Spike in suicides for Army Guard and Reserve

BY PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press

9 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Suicides among active duty soldiers dropped last year for the first time since 2004, the Army said Wednesday, but the improvement was overshadowed by a sharp increase in suicides among National Guard and Reserve troops.

After working much of the past decade to stem the rise of suicide in its ranks, the Army said that 156 active-duty soldiers killed themselves in 2010, down from 162 in 2009. Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli attributed the progress to improved training and counseling programs that help soldiers deal with stress, including from the repeated wartime deployments common for soldiers in an Army still fighting two wars.

But the number of guard and reserve troops who killed themselves while not on active duty jumped to 145 from 80 the previous year. Officials said some of that increase may reflect the difficulty in getting help to people scattered away from military bases and back at their civilian homes and jobs.

39 Jury hears tapes of ex-CIA operative in English

By WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press

46 mins ago

EL PASO, Texas – Federal prosecutors on Wednesday played tapes of a Cuban-born former CIA operative being asked basic questions and answering them in English during a U.S. immigration hearing, undermining his contention that a shaky grasp of the language led him to make misstatements under oath.

Luis Posada Carriles, 82, is charged with 11 counts of perjury, obstruction and immigration fraud for lying during immigration hearings in El Paso after sneaking into the United States in 2005.

Prosecutors say he gave false testimony about how he reached American soil and failed to acknowledge planning a series of Havana hotel bombings in 1997 that killed an Italian tourist, even though he admitted responsibility in 1998 interviews with the New York Times.

40 Year after airlift to Pa., Haitian children thrive

By VICKI SMITH, Associated Press

1 hr 49 mins ago

Dania Brock is no longer afraid to go to the bathroom at night. The rats that haunted the outhouse in Haiti can’t get her in Georgia.

Ketia Brenner is learning three languages – English, Spanish and Hebrew – and spends Friday nights eating popcorn and drinking root beer by the fireplace in Seattle.

And Jimmy Lepp, once the unofficial “mayor” of his Port-au-Prince orphanage, is saving money for a dirt bike and learning to play the drums in Colville, Wash.

41 Backpack bomb found at MLK event rattles Spokane

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS, Associated Press

2 hrs 19 mins ago

SPOKANE, Wash. – A bomb left along the route of a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade was a sophisticated explosive that had a remote detonator and the ability to cause many casualties, an official familiar with the case said Wednesday.

The bomb, which was defused without incident on Monday, was the most potentially destructive he had ever seen, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to release information about the investigation.

The FBI said it has no suspects in the case and has asked the public for help in identifying anyone who might have been seen in the downtown area where the bomb was found.

42 Bacteria bigger threat to citrus than cold weather

By TAMARA LUSH, Associated Press

Wed Jan 19, 3:26 am ET

VERO BEACH, Fla. – While Florida farmers have lost much of their crop to cold weather for the second year in a row, they say a fast-spreading, incurable bacteria presents a greater threat to their trees and the citrus industry.

Citrus greening has destroyed groves in the U.S., Brazil, Asia and Africa. Detected in Florida in 2005, it leaves fruit sour, malformed and unusable. Eventually, it kills the tree.

The disease has been particularly devastating because it takes years for citrus trees to reach peak production, and the disease targets young trees, making it difficult for growers to replace those that have been lost.

43 Texas budget draft cuts $13.7 billion in spending

By APRIL CASTRO, Associated Press

Wed Jan 19, 1:41 am ET

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas lawmakers got their first glimpse of what the next state budget might look like late Tuesday, including a staggering $5 billion cut to public schools, as Gov. Rick Perry and his supporters were dancing at an inaugural celebration.

While public education appeared to bear the brunt of the $15 billion state revenue shortfall, few corners of state government were spared in the draft proposal for the next two years that spends $73.2 billion in state money.

The proposal reduces state spending by almost $14 billion over the current budget. The reduction is smaller than the shortfall because of $1.4 billion in savings requested by the state leaders from the current year budget.

1 comments

Comments have been disabled.