Evening Edition is an Open Thread
Now with 51 Top Stories.
| From Yahoo News Top Stories |
1 Anti-regime forces take west Libyan towns
by Samer al-Atrush, AFP
1 hr 56 mins ago
| BENGHAZI, Libya (AFP) – Forces opposed to Moamer Kadhafi took control of several western Libyan towns, an official said on Sunday as the strongman played down such reports after world leaders called on him to quit.
Protest leaders meanwhile established a transitional “national council” in mainly eastern cities seized from the Kadhafi regime and called on the army to help them take the capital Tripoli. The chaos engulfing the oil-rich North African state of 6.3 million has fanned fears that Kadhafi’s hold on power could descend into civil war as the United Nations said nearly 100,000 people have streamed out of the country. |
2 Libya exodus ’emergency’ as Asian workers land in Malta
by Gildas Le Roux, AFP
49 mins ago
| VALLETTA (AFP) – The UN refugee agency on Sunday said a “humanitarian emergency” was underway as thousands fled Libya in a mass exodus of foreigners from the strife-torn country by air, land and sea.
The UN refugee agency said almost 100,000 migrant workers, mostly from Egypt and Tunisia, have fled Libya in the past week and many remain stranded at the Libya-Tunisia border as Libyan customs officers deserted their posts on Sunday. “We call upon the international community to respond quickly and generously to enable these governments to cope with this humanitarian emergency,” said Antonio Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). |
3 Terror in Tripoli as Kadhafi told to quit
AFP
Sat Feb 26, 5:45 pm ET
| TRIPOLI (AFP) – Residents of Tripoli cowered in their homes Sunday as US President Barack Obama hoped to avert a bloody battle for the Libyan capital by urging a defiant Moamer Kadhafi to step down “now.”
Libya’s former justice minister late Saturday announced the formation of a transitional government, which will include military representatives, that will pave the way for free elections in three months’ time. “Our national government has military and civilian personalities. It will lead for no more than three months, and then there will be fair elections and the people will choose their leader,” said Mustafa Abdel Jalil. |
4 World scrambles to evacuate thousands from Libya
by Matthew Xuereb, AFP
Sat Feb 26, 3:43 pm ET
| VALLETTA (AFP) – Thousands of foreign workers were evacuated from Libya by air, land and sea in dramatic scenes on Saturday as fears of a civil war in the oil-rich North African state triggered a desperate exodus.
British military planes evacuated more than 150 people from camps in the Libyan desert in one rescue mission, while a British warship and a Chinese-chartered ferry docked in the Mediterranean island of Malta loaded with 2,500 evacuees. “It was very scary, the scariest experience of my life,” George Camilleri, a Maltese national who fled violence in the now rebel-held eastern Libyan port of Benghazi, told AFP as he stepped off the ferry back onto his homeland. |
5 International court dispute holds up UN Libya sanctions
by Tim Witcher, AFP
Sat Feb 26, 2:55 pm ET
| UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – The UN Security Council on Saturday held an urgent meeting on how to sanction Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi for his deadly offensive on opposition protesters.
Western powers have proposed an arms embargo, travel ban and assets freeze on Kadhafi, his family and top ministers and military officials. But their move to refer the Libya crackdown to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for a possible crimes against humanity investigation held up a vote. Diplomats said China, Russia, South Africa, India, Brazil and Portugal have raised various concerns about ICC involvement. |
6 The whimsy and menace of Moamer Kadhafi
AFP
Sun Feb 27, 2:04 pm ET
| CAIRO (AFP) – With his exotic dress sense, all-girl squad of bodyguards and often whimsical aphorisms, Libya’s embattled Moamer Kadhafi has been an enigma of the North African desert for more than 40 years.
His take on Shakespeare, England’s greatest dramatist, for example. Not so, according to Kadhafi, self-styled “leader of the Arab leaders, the king of kings of Africa and the imam of the Muslims.” “Shakespeare, the great playwright of Arab origin,” he proclaims, explaining that of course the writer must have been an Arab, with a name like Sheikh Zubayr. |
7 Libya council formed as world tells Kadhafi to go
by Samer al-Atrush, AFP
Sun Feb 27, 11:53 am ET
| BENGHAZI, Libya (AFP) – Libyan protest leaders established a transitional “national council” on Sunday in cities seized from Moamer Kadhafi, as world leaders called on him to quit and protesters closed in on Tripoli.
The chaos engulfing the oil-rich North African state of 6.3 million has fanned fears that Kadhafi’s hold on power could descend into civil war as the United Nations said nearly 100,000 people have streamed out of the country. The UN Security Council imposed a travel and assets ban on Kadhafi’s regime and ordered an investigation into possible crimes against humanity by the Libyan leader, the first time such a decision has been made unanimously. |
8 World tells Kadhafi to quit
by Samer al-Atrush, AFP
Sun Feb 27, 11:33 am ET
| BENGHAZI, Libya (AFP) – World leaders called on Moamer Kadhafi to step down on Sunday as Libyan protesters appeared to take control of the city closest to Tripoli, threatening an endgame to his four-decade rule.
The chaos engulfing the oil-rich North African state of 6.3 million has fanned fears that his hold on power could descend into civil war as the United Nations confirmed that nearly 100,000 people have streamed out of the country. The UN Security Council imposed a travel and assets ban on Kadhafi’s regime and ordered an investigation into possible crimes against humanity by the Libyan leader, the first time any such decision has been made unanimously. |
9 Two protesters shot dead in Oman as turmoil spreads
by Karim Sahib, AFP
1 hr 47 mins ago
| SOHAR, Oman (AFP) – Omani police shot dead two demonstrators on Sunday as the deadly wave of protests rocking the Arab world spread to the normally placid pro-Western sultanate, a security official said.
The protests in Sohar, more than 200 kilometres (125 miles) northwest of Muscat, prompted Sultan Qaboos to introduce swift appeasing measures, including the provision of jobs for 50,000 citizens and unemployment benefits. Five people were also wounded when security forces opened fire on the demonstrators who tried to storm a police station in Sohar, the official said. |
10 Two protesters shot dead in Oman
AFP
Sun Feb 27, 11:49 am ET
| MUSCAT (AFP) – Omani police shot dead two demonstrators with rubber bullets on Sunday, a security official said, as the deadly wave of protest rocking the Arab world spread to the normally placid pro-Western sultanate.
Five people were also wounded when security forces opened fire on the demonstrators who tried to storm a police station, the official said. “Two were killed after being shot with rubber bullets as protesters attempted to storm a police station” in Sohar, some 200 kilometres (125 miles) northwest of Muscat, the official said, requesting anonymity. |
11 Tunisia gets new premier after new violence
AFP
51 mins ago
| TUNIS (AFP) – Tunisia’s prime minister Mohammed Ghannouchi resigned Sunday and was replaced by Beji Caid Essebsi, a former minister, after anti-government protests left five people dead over the weekend.
Security forces again clashed with protesters in Tunis demanding the removal of some ministers of Ghannouchi’s interim government before the premier announced his resignation. “The acts of violence and looting, the unrest and the fires on Habib Bourguiba avenue in Tunis on Saturday have left five people dead,” said a ministry statement quoted by TAP news agency. |
12 Arab revolts claim French minister, as Sarkozy changes tack
by Dave Clark, AFP
2 hrs 1 min ago
| PARIS (AFP) – President Nicolas Sarkozy tried Sunday to rescue France’s rudderless foreign policy, axing his scandal-hit foreign minister, who was left floundering in the wake of uprisings in the Arab world.
Foreign minister Michele Alliot-Marie, 64, resigned, still insisting she had broken no laws in accepting flights and hospitality from an ally of the Tunisian strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali just before he was overthrown. Sarkozy moved quickly to replace her with former prime minister and outdoing defence minister Alain Juppe, striving to restore France’s reputation with the North African peoples revolting against their leaders. |
13 Ireland’s new leader vows to hit ground running
by Alice Ritchie and Andrew Bushe, AFP
Sun Feb 27, 9:42 am ET
| DUBLIN (AFP) – Irish opposition leader Enda Kenny was poised to take power Sunday with a promise to move quickly on amending an unpopular international bailout after his Fine Gael party won historic elections.
Kenny looks certain to be taoiseach, or prime minister, after the ruling Fianna Fail party of incumbent Brian Cowen suffered a crushing defeat by voters angry at the collapse of their once-booming economy and the subsequent bailout. But the 59-year-old Fine Gael leader told supporters in Dublin late Saturday there was “no time to lose, no hour to waste” as he confronted the challenges ahead, not least the form of the government he will lead. |
14 Stars gather as ‘King’s Speech’ eyes Oscars crown
by Michael Thurston, AFP
50 mins ago
| HOLLYWOOD (AFP) – Hollywood held its breath Sunday ahead of the Academy Awards, the climax of its annual prizes season, with British royal drama “The King’s Speech” the frontrunner to be crowned with Oscars glory.
But Facebook movie “The Social Network” hopes it could yet dethrone the British film, nominated in 12 categories including best picture and best actor, which is widely expected to go to Colin Firth. Ballet thriller “Black Swan” is also among a clutch of films hoping for one of the prestigious golden statuettes, with Natalie Portman in the lead for the best actress Oscar. |
15 Hollywood ready for Oscars coronation
by Michael Thurston, AFP
Sun Feb 27, 1:36 pm ET
| HOLLYWOOD (AFP) – Hollywood holds its biggest night of the year Sunday, as the annual Oscars coronation gets underway with two very different front-running films vying for top honors.
British royal drama “The King’s Speech” was seen as a major contender for Best Picture, buoyed by glowing reviews and a bevy of other awards seen as accurate barometers of Oscars glory. The movie, nominated for 12 Academy Awards — including best actor for Colin Firth — has been tipped by some critics as a shoo-in for best picture. |
16 India and England in sensational cricket tie
by Julian Guyer, AFP
Sun Feb 27, 12:58 pm ET
| BANGALORE, India (AFP) – India and England tied a thrilling World Cup clash here on Sunday in a match which yielded 676 runs and was adorned by blistering centuries from Sachin Tendulkar and Andrew Strauss.
England, chasing a World Cup record 339 to win, finished on 338 for eight having scored 13 off the last over when 14 were needed for victory. Zaheer Khan’s dramatic three-wicket burst turned the match back in India’s favour after England captain Strauss’s man-of-the-match winning innings of 158. |
17 England rugby manager dismisses Grand Slam talk
by Rob Woollard, AFP
Sat Feb 26, 8:41 pm ET
| LONDON (AFP) – England manager Martin Johnson dismissed talk of a possible Grand Slam as “ridiculous” after watching his side maintain their unbeaten start to the Six Nations with a hard-fought win over France.
A second-half try by fullback Ben Foden clinched a gritty 17-9 victory at Twickenham for England, who are now only two wins away from a first Six Nations title since 2003 after earlier wins over Wales and Italy. Johnson however brushed off suggestions England were now poised to win the Grand Slam, saying his team would remain solely focused on their next fixture, against Scotland at Twickenham in a fortnight. |
18 Ireland beat Scotland in Six Nations rugby
by Allan Kelly, AFP
Sun Feb 27, 12:31 pm ET
| EDINBURGH (AFP) – A superb performance from veteran fly-half Ronan O’Gara inspired Ireland to a 21-18 win over ragged Scotland in the Six Nations at Murrayfield on Sunday.
Recalled to win his 106th cap, the 33-year-old Munster tactician scored 11 points with a try and three conversions to go alongside first half tries from Jamie Heaslip and Eoin Reddan. Only Irish generosity on the penalty count kept Scotland in the game with Chris Paterson sending over 15 points with the boot and Dan Parks adding a drop goal. |
19 Libyan rebels await counter-attack by Gaddafi forces
By Maria Golovnina, Reuters
52 mins ago
| ZAWIYAH, Libya (Reuters) – Armed rebels who have seized control of Zawiyah, close to the capital Tripoli, were preparing for a counter-attack as Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi vowed to cling on to his 41-year-old rule.
The rebels said on Sunday about 2,000 troops loyal to Gaddafi had surrounded the city. “If we are fighting for freedom, we are ready to die for it,” said a former police major who switched sides and joined the rebellion which started about 10 days ago. |
20 U.N. Security Council imposes sanctions on Gaddafi
By Maria Golovnina and Louis Charbonneau, Reuters
Sat Feb 26, 11:35 pm ET
| TRIPOLI/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council unanimously imposed travel and asset sanctions on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and close aides, ratcheting up pressure on him to quit before any more blood is shed in a popular revolt against his rule.
It also adopted an arms embargo and called for the deadly crackdown against anti-Gaddafi protesters to be referred to the International Criminal Court for investigation and possible prosecution of anyone responsible for killing civilians. The 15-nation council passed the resolution hours after Gaddafi’s police abandoned parts of the capital Tripoli to the revolt that has swept Libya and the United States bluntly told him he must go. |
21 Oman police kill two protesters
By Saleh Al-Shaibany, Reuters
2 hrs 2 mins ago
| MUSCAT (Reuters) – Omani police fired rubber bullets at stone-throwing protesters demanding political reform on Sunday, killing two people, and demonstrators set government buildings and cars ablaze, witnesses said.
Hours after the violence, Oman’s ruler, Sultan Qaboos, gave an order to create 50,000 jobs for citizens in the Gulf Arab state of 2.7 million people, 70 percent of whom are nationals. All detained protesters were later freed, state media said. |
22 Egypt’s Moussa indicates will run for president
By Marwa Awad, Reuters
Sun Feb 27, 2:24 pm ET
| CAIRO (Reuters) – Veteran Egyptian diplomat Amr Moussa said on Sunday he intends to run for president, a post held for three decades by Hosni Mubarak until he was toppled from power by a mass uprising this month.
Moussa, 74, and Arab League secretary general for a decade, said in a statement it was his intention to run for the post but would make a decision later once constitutional amendments are finalized that will open up competition for the job. The military council, in power since Mubarak’s ouster on February 11, is expected to call a referendum on the constitutional changes for March, Sobhi Saleh, a lawyer who helped draft them said on Sunday. It would announce the date this week, he said. |
23 Republican says won’t back down in union battle
By David Bailey, Reuters
Sun Feb 27, 12:34 pm ET
| MADISON, Wisconsin (Reuters) – Wisconsin’s Republican Governor Scott Walker said on Sunday he would not back down in his confrontation with state public sector unions and repeated his threat to lay off state workers if the standoff continues.
Walker urged the 14 Senate Democrats who fled Wisconsin to block a vote on his plan to curb public union collective bargaining rights to return, and said he hoped to avoid layoffs. “If we do not get these changes and the Senate Democrats do not come back, we’re going to be forced to make up the savings in layoffs and that to me is unacceptable,” Walker said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” |
24 Congress inches back from budget shutdown abyss
By Kevin Drawbaugh, Reuters
Sun Feb 27, 2:07 pm ET
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Playing for time to overcome a deep partisan impasse over the budget, senior lawmakers backed away on Sunday from a possible government shutdown.
Washington will run out of money on Friday and non-essential services will halt unless action is taken. A short-term fix to buy time seemed increasingly likely. Amid concern about damaging the fragile economic recovery, Republican House Speaker John Boehner said lawmakers have “a moral responsibility” to address the huge U.S. budget deficit. |
25 Irish PM-in-waiting eyes coalition and bailout talks
By Kate Holton and Carmel Crimmins, Reuters
Sun Feb 27, 1:10 pm ET
| DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ireland’s victorious opposition party Fine Gael set the stage for coalition talks with its traditional partner Labour next week, after a historic election that crushed long-time rival Fianna Fail.
The parties are under intense pressure to clinch a quick deal so they can present a united front to European partners as they bid to renegotiate the terms of a bailout that some fear could bankrupt the former “Celtic Tiger” economy. “We don’t have any time to lose,” Fine Gael’s leader and prime minister-in-waiting Enda Kenny said after claiming victory. “The country can’t borrow money, the banks can’t borrow money, we are up to our necks here.” |
26 Warren Buffett’s enthusiasm for U.S. could boost markets
By Ben Berkowitz and David Gaffen, Reuters
Sun Feb 27, 1:47 pm ET
| NEW YORK (Reuters) – Warren Buffett is going long on America, and investors are likely to take note when markets open on Monday.
Buffett’s annual letter, released Saturday, is brimming with references to the strength of the American people, economy and spirit. Investors said they were struck by how confident the letter was, particularly in comparison to his annual missives of recent years. |
27 China’s Wen puts social stability at heart of economy
By Chris Buckley and Ken Wills, Reuters
Sun Feb 27, 3:47 am ET
| BEIJING (Reuters) – Fighting inflation is a priority for China and the government must ward off threats to social stability stemming from rapid price increases and pressure to raise the value of the yuan, Premier Wen Jiabao said on Sunday.
Wen’s comments ahead of China’s annual parliament session from March 5 showed the sensitivity among ruling Communist Party leaders to public grumbling about rising real estate and food prices. That wariness has been amplified by jitters about fallout from the unseating of authoritarian rulers in the Middle East. |
28 China protest call smothered in police blanket
By Michael Martina and Royston Chan, Reuters
Sun Feb 27, 7:43 am ET
| BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – An online call for anti-government protests across China on Sunday instead brought an emphatic show of force by police determined to deter any buds of the kind of unrest that has shaken the Middle East.
Lines of police checked passers-by and warned away foreign photo journalists in downtown Beijing and Shanghai after a U.S.-based Chinese website spread calls for Chinese people to emulate the “Jasmine Revolution” sweeping the Middle East and stage gatherings in support of democratic change. Officials from China’s ruling Communist Party have dismissed the idea that they could be hit by protests like those that have rippled across the Middle East. |
29 Largest crowds since Vietnam War march in Wisconsin
By James Kelleher and David Bailey
Sun Feb 27, 12:03 am ET
| MADISON, Wisconsin (Reuters) – A crowd estimated at more than 70,000 people on Saturday waved American flags, sang the national anthem and called for the defeat of a Wisconsin plan to curb public sector unions that has galvanized opposition from the American labor movement.
In one of the biggest rallies at the state Capitol since the Vietnam War, union members and their supporters braved frigid temperatures and a light snowfall to show their displeasure. The mood was upbeat despite the setback their cause suffered earlier this week when the state Assembly approved the Republican-backed restrictions on union collective bargaining rights over fierce Democratic objections. |
30 ‘Free Libya’ chants heard in city near capital
By MAGGIE MICHAEL, Associated Press
22 mins ago
| ZAWIYA, Libya – With residents shouting “Free, free Libya,” anti-government rebels who control this battle-scarred city nearest to the capital deployed tanks and anti-aircraft weapons Sunday to brace for an attack by troops loyal to Moammar Gadhafi. The Obama administration offered “any type of assistance” to Libyans seeking to oust the longtime leader.
Politicians in the opposition stronghold of Benghazi set up their first leadership council to manage day-to-day affairs, taking a step toward forming what could be an alternative to Gadhafi’s regime. In the capital Tripoli, where Gadhafi is still firmly in control, state banks began handing out the equivalent of $400 per family in a bid to shore up public loyalty. |
31 Clinton: US ready to aid to Libyan opposition
By BRADLEY KLAPPER, Associated Press
Sun Feb 27, 2:50 pm ET
| WASHINGTON – The Obama administration stands ready to offer “any type of assistance” to Libyans seeking to oust Moammar Gadhafi, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday, adding a warning to other African nations not to let mercenaries go to the aid of the longtime dictator.
Clinton made no mention of any U.S. military assistance in her remarks to reporters before flying to Geneva for talks with diplomats from Russia, the European Union and other powers eager to present a united anti-Gadhafi front. Shortly before she left, two senators urged the administration to help arm a provisional government in Libya, where Gadhafi is in the midst of the desperate and increasingly violent bid to retain power. |
32 UK, Germany fly secret missions into Libya
By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER and SYLVIA HUI, Associated Press
1 hr 10 mins ago
| BERLIN – British and German military planes swooped into Libya’s desert, rescuing hundreds of oil workers and civilians stranded at remote sites, as thousands of other foreigners are still stuck in Tripoli by bad weather and red tape.
The secret military missions into the turbulent North Africa country signal the readiness of Western nations to disregard Libya’s territorial integrity when it comes to the safety of their citizens. Three British Royal Air Force planes plucked 150 stranded civilians from multiple locations in the eastern Libyan desert before flying them to Malta on Sunday, the British Defense Ministry said in a statement. One of the RAF Hercules aircraft appeared to have suffered minor damage from small arms fire, Defence Secretary Liam Fox said. |
33 UN, world further isolate Libya’s Gadhafi
By ANITA SNOW, Associated Press
Sun Feb 27, 4:18 pm ET
| UNITED NATIONS – Armed with tough Security Council sanctions, the U.N. and many nations began moving to isolate Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi from the international community in hopes of halting his deadly crackdown on protesters.
The council voted 15-0 late Saturday to impose an arms embargo and urged U.N. member countries to freeze the assets of Gadhafi, four of his sons and a daughter. The council also backed a travel ban on the Gadhafi family and close associates, including leaders of the revolutionary committees accused of much of the violence against regime opponents. Council members additionally agreed to refer the Gadhafi regime’s deadly crackdown on people protesting his rule to a permanent war crimes tribunal, the International Criminal Court in The Hague, for an investigation of possible crimes against humanity. The ICC’s Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo was instructed to report back to the council in two months on his investigation. |
34 Oman clashes widen protest rumblings in Gulf
By BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press
2 hrs 12 mins ago
| DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Protests against the tight grip of Gulf rulers widened Sunday as riot police in Oman battled pro-democracy demonstrators in a deadly clash that sharply raised tensions in the region.
Tiny Bahrain is already in turmoil and giant Saudi Arabia is seeking to hold back calls for reforms. The Gulf protests have shaken the once-comfortable command of various monarchs and sheiks. An ever deeper and sustained political revolt would thrust the Arab world’s uprising into the heart of the region’s oil riches and Washington’s front-line allies against Iran. |
35 Arab League boss Moussa to run for Egypt president
By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press
Sun Feb 27, 3:23 pm ET
| CAIRO – Arab League chief Amr Moussa, a popular career diplomat, said Sunday he plans to run in Egypt’s presidential election expected later this year. Moussa, a former foreign minister, declared his candidacy a day after a constitutional reform panel appointed by the country’s new military rulers recommended far-reaching reforms that relaxed eligibility rules governing who can run for president.
The changes, if adopted in a national referendum, would open presidential elections to more competition and impose a two-term limit on future presidents – a dramatic shift from a system that allowed ousted leader Hosni Mubarak to rule for three decades. Moussa told reporters the amendments were still under discussion but that any Egyptian can now run for president. |
36 AP IMPACT: Past medical testing on humans revealed
By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer
25 mins ago
| ATLANTA – Shocking as it may seem, U.S. government doctors once thought it was fine to experiment on disabled people and prison inmates. Such experiments included giving hepatitis to mental patients in Connecticut, squirting a pandemic flu virus up the noses of prisoners in Maryland, and injecting cancer cells into chronically ill people at a New York hospital.
Much of this horrific history is 40 to 80 years old, but it is the backdrop for a meeting in Washington this week by a presidential bioethics commission. The meeting was triggered by the government’s apology last fall for federal doctors infecting prisoners and mental patients in Guatemala with syphilis 65 years ago. U.S. officials also acknowledged there had been dozens of similar experiments in the United States – studies that often involved making healthy people sick. |
37 GOP governors undermine Obama’s agenda in states
By LIZ “Sprinkles” SIDOTI, AP National Political Writer
26 mins ago
| WASHINGTON – Their ranks swollen after the last election, Republican governors from Florida to Alaska are undermining President Barack Obama’s agenda at every turn ahead of the Democrat’s 2012 re-election campaign.
Some are rejecting federal money for high-speed rail. Many are fighting the president’s health care law. And several are going after the Democratic Party’s bedrock constituency, pushing laws that would weaken the power of unions. Not that any Republican governor will acknowledge that this is politics at play – even if it is. |
38 AP sources: Gingrich closer to presidential run
By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent
28 mins ago
| WASHINGTON – Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich intends to take a formal step toward entering the 2012 presidential race within the next two weeks, Republican officials said Sunday, after months spent traveling to important primary and caucus states.
These officials declined to say precisely what type of announcement the 67-year-old former Georgia lawmaker would make, but added they expect him to make clear his determination to run. If so, he would be the first Republican to do so in a slow-to-develop field of potential challengers to President Barack Obama. |
39 US Sen. John Thune won’t run against Obama in 2012
By NOMAAN MERCHANT and PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press
Tue Feb 22, 6:36 pm ET
| PIERRE, S.D. – U.S. Sen. John Thune said Tuesday that he won’t join what’s expected to be a crowded GOP field of presidential hopefuls next year, concluding he would have a difficult time fundraising and that President Barack Obama would be tough to beat.
Thune, R-S.D., was seen as one of several potential challengers to Obama in 2012. His exit is the first clear signal of who will – and who will not – compete for the Republicans’ nomination. The 50-year-old Thune isn’t well-known among national voters, but some Republican operatives saw him as a can-do, common-sense alternative with a Midwestern aura and strong conservative credentials. The most optimistic suggested Thune could become a Republican Obama – a younger politician whose style could inspire voters looking for change. |
40 Mass. company making diesel with sun, water, CO2
By JAY LINDSAY, Associated Press
2 hrs 7 mins ago
| CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – A Massachusetts biotechnology company says it can produce the fuel that runs Jaguars and jet engines using the same ingredients that make grass grow.
Joule Unlimited has invented a genetically-engineered organism that it says simply secretes diesel fuel or ethanol wherever it finds sunlight, water and carbon dioxide. The Cambridge, Mass.-based company says it can manipulate the organism to produce the renewable fuels on demand at unprecedented rates, and can do it in facilities large and small at costs comparable to the cheapest fossil fuels. |
41 ‘King’s Speech’ poised for Oscar coronation?
By DAVID GERMAIN, AP Movie Writer
28 mins ago
| LOS ANGELES – King George the stutterer seems primed to reign at Sunday night’s Academy Awards, unless there’s a palace coup by that asocial billionaire who created Facebook.
“The King’s Speech,” dramatizing British monarch George VI’s struggle to vanquish a crippling stammer, leads the 83rd annual Oscars with 12 nominations and is favored to win best picture. Yet “The Social Network,” chronicling Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s fierce legal battles over the spoils of his creation, remains a serious candidate for the Oscar crown. |
42 Union bargaining just a dream for many gov workers
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS and ERIK SCHELZIG, Associated Press
Sun Feb 27, 3:23 pm ET
| JACKSON, Miss. – Whenever Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has asked lawmakers to weaken benefits for state employees, his proposals have met little resistance from workers.
Mississippi is among those states – many in the South – where most government employees do not have the right to collective bargaining, the benefit that has caused a political upheaval in Wisconsin and has become a national flashpoint for those who argue that public employee benefits are too generous. Those states provide a snapshot of what life is like for government employees who do not have the same union clout that workers in Wisconsin and some other states are desperately trying to retain. |
43 Soldier impersonators target women in web scams
By JANET CAPPIELLO BLAKE and BRUCE SCHREINER, Associated Press
2 hrs 40 mins ago
| LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Con artists are targeting women on Facebook in what’s becoming an all-too-common ruse: They steal photos of soldiers to set up profiles, profess their love and devotion in sappy messages – and then ask their victims to cut a check.
Army Sgt. James Hursey, 26, discharged and sent home from war in Iraq to nurse a back injury, found a page with his photos on Facebook – on a profile that wasn’t his. It was fake, set up by someone claiming to be an active-duty soldier looking for love. Military officials say they’ve seen hundreds of similar cases in the past several years. Some of the impersonators have even used photos of soldiers who have died overseas. |
44 US citizen recalls ‘humiliating’ post-9/11 arrest
By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press
Sun Feb 27, 9:47 am ET
| LOS ANGELES – Handcuffed and marched through Washington’s Dulles International Airport in his Muslim clothing, the man with the long, dark beard could only imagine what people were thinking.
That scene unfolded in March 2003, a year and a half after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. One of the four planes hijacked in 2001 took off from Dulles. “I could only assume that they thought I was a terrorist,” Abdullah al-Kidd recalled in an interview with The Associated Press. Al-Kidd called his airport arrest “one of the most, if not the most, humiliating experiences of my life.” |
45 Afghan gov’t: NATO op killed 65 civilians
By RAHIM FAIEZ and MIRWAIS KHAN, Associated Press
Sun Feb 27, 3:16 pm ET
| KABUL, Afghanistan – Sixty-five civilians, including 40 children, were killed in a NATO assault on insurgents in eastern Afghanistan earlier this month, according to findings of an Afghan government investigation released Sunday.
Tribal leaders had alleged that dozens of civilians were killed in the operation in Kunar province, which involved rocket and air strikes, but NATO has not confirmed any civilian deaths. The incident inflamed tensions between the Afghan government and NATO forces, and both sides opened investigations. |
46 Shape of new Irish govt yet to emerge
By ROBERT BARR, Associated Press
Sun Feb 27, 3:17 pm ET
| DUBLIN – Ireland’s opposition parties have made big gains in a general election focussed on the country’s economic woes, but the shape of the next government is hanging in the balance as counting continues for a second day on Sunday.
The Fine Gael party was leading the pack as voters angry about Ireland’s battered economy ended the 80-year dominance of Fianna Fail. “This was a democratic revolution at the ballot box,” Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny told supporters Saturday night. |
47 Scandinavia: a ‘culinary disaster zone’ no more
By LOUISE NORDSTROM and JAN M. OLSEN, Associated Press
Sun Feb 27, 5:37 am ET
| STOCKHOLM – The year was 1986. The setting, one of Stockholm’s most exclusive restaurants. Thomas Harmgardt, a newly arrived German chef, strapped on his apron and got to work.
He was absolutely horrified. The broccoli was frozen. The French string beans came out of a can! In Sweden, he found out, fresh ingredients were as scarce as daylight in winter. “It was a culture shock for me,” the 48-year-old Harmgardt recalled. After working in Mexico, France and Germany, he had arrived in a country where “avocado was viewed as something exotic.” Or as Lund University food researcher Hakan Jonsson called it: “a culinary disaster zone.” |
48 ND residents along Red River avoid flood buyouts
By DAVE KOLPACK, Associated Press
Sun Feb 27, 3:36 pm ET
| FARGO, N.D. – John Stern has lived in Fargo all his life, buying a dream home on the Red River more than 25 years ago.
The city is offering to pay him for the 1,800-square-foot Frank Lloyd Wright family home if he wants to move off the flood plain. But Stern says he’s not going anywhere. He fondly recalls the first time he walked through the brick house, with its unique twists and turns, and looked out at the river from an elevated living area. |
49 Native American groups sue to stop solar projects
By NOAKI SCHWARTZ and JASON DEAREN, Associated Press
Sun Feb 27, 3:04 pm ET
| BLYTHE, Calif. – Native Americans are clashing with the federal government over plans to fast-track approval and construction of massive solar energy projects that the Indians fear will harm sacred and culturally significant sites in Western deserts.
Recent lawsuits by two native groups pose a threat to half dozen proposed solar developments that the Obama administration has identified as a high priority in its quest for more clean energy production. One suit already has halted work on a major solar farm in Southern California. Land use and legal experts say the lawsuits mark a new phase in a historically troubled relationship between the federal Bureau of Land Management and American Indians, who in the past have gone to court to block oil, gas, mining and other energy projects on public lands managed by the agency. |
50 Foreclosures helping change color of some suburbs
By COREY WILLIAMS, Associated Press
Sun Feb 27, 2:49 pm ET
| SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – Three years ago, Lamar Grace left Detroit for the suburb of Southfield. He got a good deal – a 3,000-square-foot colonial that once was worth $220,000. In foreclosure, he paid $109,000.
The neighbors were not pleased. “They don’t want to live next door to ghetto folks,” he says. |
51 LA cardinal’s legacy tainted by priest abuse
By GILLIAN FLACCUS and RACHEL ZOLL, Associated Press
Sat Feb 26, 10:41 pm ET
| LOS ANGELES – When Cardinal Roger Mahony was ordained nearly a half-century ago, the Roman Catholic church was in the throes of a modernization and renewal – and the lanky young priest who grew up near his family’s poultry processing plant was seen as a leading liberal light for the times.
As a seminarian and young cleric, the Spanish-speaking Hollywood native celebrated Mass with Mexican fieldworkers, worked with Cesar Chavez to fight for better farmworker conditions and was appointed auxiliary bishop of Fresno, the heart of California’s bread basket, at the tender age of 38. Mahony retires Sunday and hopes to cement that legacy by dedicating himself fulltime to the fight for immigration reform. For many, though, the cardinal’s career will instead be defined – and irreparably tainted – by a devastating clergy abuse scandal that unfolded on his watch, first as bishop of Stockton and then as head of nation’s largest archdiocese. |
On this day in 1827, 
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