Evening Edition is an Open Thread
Now with 55 Top Stories.
1 Kadhafi set for battle of Tripoli
AFP
57 mins ago
| TRIPOLI (AFP) – An embattled Moamer Kadhafi said he would throw open the country’s arsenals to his supporters in a rabble-rousing speech Friday that presaged a bloody battle for the Libyan capital.
In a brief but chilling address in Tripoli’s Green Square, Kadhafi told hundreds of cheering supporters to prepare themselves for a fight to defend the city.
His loyalists had earlier killed several people in shooting that spread through the capital and French President Nicolas Sarkozy became the first world leader to openly demand the Libyan leader’s ouster. |
AFP
2 Defiant Kadhafi says ‘we will beat them’
AFP
Fri Feb 25, 1:50 pm ET
| TRIPOLI (AFP) – An embattled Moamer Kadhafi said he would throw open the country’s arsenals to his supporters in a rabble rousing speech Friday that presaged a bloody battle for the Libyan capital.
In a brief but chilling address in Tripoli’s Green Square, Kadhafi told hundreds of cheering supporters from the top of a building to prepare themselves for a fight.
If necessary, he said, weapons stores would be opened to arm them for combat. |
3 Kadhafi forces kill protesters in Tripoli
by Samer al-Atrush, AFP
Fri Feb 25, 9:50 am ET
| BENGHAZI, Libya (AFP) – Protesters in the Libyan capital Tripoli braved deadly fire from loyalists of Moamer Kadhafi on Friday as his opponents braced for a fightback by a regime suffering new defections.
Outraged Western governments scrambled to craft a collective response to the bloody crackdown in the oil-rich North African state, including possible sanctions against Kadhafi and his lieutenants and a freeze on assets they are believed to have salted away abroad.
But governments were constrained by fears of reprisals against their people still stranded amid what escaping expatriates described as hellish scenes as evacuation efforts dragged on into the 11th day of the crisis. |
4 15 killed on Iraq ‘Day of Rage’
by Sammy Ketz, AFP
2 hrs 21 mins ago
| BAGHDAD (AFP) – Security forces used water cannons and tear gas to disperse thousands of angry protesters in Baghdad on Friday as a “Day of Rage” across Iraq left 15 demonstrators dead in clashes with police.
Around 5,000 people thronged Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, with angry crowds throwing stones, shoes and plastic bottles at riot police and soldiers blocking off a bridge connecting the site to Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, home to the US embassy and parliament.
The protest was the biggest of at least 17 separate demonstrations across the country, some sparking clashes in which more than 130 people were wounded, according to an AFP tally based on accounts by officials. |
5 Tens of thousands rally across Yemen
by Hammoud Mounassar, AFP
16 mins ago
| SANAA (AFP) – Vast crowds took to the streets across Yemen after weekly Muslim prayers on Friday, staging mass protests to demand that veteran President Ali Abdullah Saleh step down.
Clashes between police and demonstrators continued into the night in the restive south, where one person was killed and 30 were injured, medics said.
The port of Aden, the main city in south Yemen, saw the worst of the violence, with thousands of protesters confronting security forces who used live ammunition to disperse them, the hospital sources said. |
6 US growth slows as state reins in spending
by Andrew Beatty, AFP
1 hr 41 mins ago
| WASHINGTON (AFP) – US economic growth was slower than thought in the final months of 2010, as federal and local governments slashed spending to forestall looming budget crises, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
Growth edged down to 2.8 percent in the last quarter of the year, a slower pace than first thought, putting yet another question mark over the vitality of the recovery.
With the United States locked in a fierce political debate over government costs, local authorities cut spending by nearly 2.5 percent, helping trim the growth rate. |
7 Dior suspends top designer Galliano after alleged assault
by Charles Onians, AFP
Fri Feb 25, 12:38 pm ET
| PARIS (AFP) – Fashion house Dior on Friday suspended John Galliano after police questioned its flamboyant star designer for allegedly assaulting a couple and using anti-Semitic insults in a Paris bar.
Police briefly detained Galliano on Thursday evening in Paris’ fashionable Marais district after he allegedly verbally accosted a couple in a bar. Galliano’s lawyer strongly denied accusations of anti-Semitism.
“The House of Dior declares with the greatest firmness its policy of zero tolerance with regard to any anti-Semitic or racist statement or attitude,” Dior boss Sidney Toledano said in a statement. |
8 Discovery shuttle blasts off on last space odyssey
by Kerry Sheridan, AFP
Thu Feb 24, 7:31 pm ET
| CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AFP) – The shuttle Discovery blasted off Thursday on its final odyssey into orbit, marking the beginning of the end for what has been a central mission of the US space program for three decades.
NASA’s most journeyed shuttle launched at 4:53 pm (2153 GMT) on its way to the International Space Station (ISS). When it returns next month, it will be the first of the three-member fleet to enter retirement.
“Good to be here,” Discovery Commander Steve Lindsey said over the radio once the shuttle disappeared from sight and reached orbit. |
9 EADS ‘disappointed and perplexed’ by US tanker decision
by Delphine Touitou, AFP
Fri Feb 25, 10:40 am ET
| PARIS (AFP) – Senior European leaders and EADS head Louis Gallois expressed disappointment Friday after the Airbus plane maker lost out to arch US rival Boeing on a massive US Air Force tanker contract.
“We’re disappointed and perplexed. We wonder about the reasons why we lost. I think that the US Air Force said … that it was about price,” Gallois told a telephone press conference.
“There will be an opportunity for a debriefing on Monday and we’ll see for which reasons we lost and in which conditions so I won’t talk about the procedure,” he said. |
10 Aussies cruise past Kiwis, Irish heartbroken
by Dave James, AFP
Fri Feb 25, 11:33 am ET
| NEW DELHI (AFP) – Australia racked up a 25th consecutive World Cup victory on Friday, defeating New Zealand in an emotional encounter while Ireland wasted a golden opportunity to heap more pain on Bangladesh.
In a match played out against the raw emotional background of the Christchurch earthquake, Australia defeated their trans-Tasman rivals by seven wickets in Nagpur.
Mitchell Johnson took 4-33 to help limit New Zealand to 206 with Nathan McCullum top-scoring with 52. |
11 US shooter refuses to sign Pakistan charge sheet
by Waqar Hussain, AFP
Fri Feb 25, 9:17 am ET
| LAHORE, Pakistan (AFP) – A CIA contractor charged with double murder after shooting dead two men in Pakistan refused to sign a charge sheet in court on Friday and insisted he had diplomatic immunity, lawyers said.
The hearing in the murder case against Raymond Davis took place amid high security in Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore where he is being held, and was adjourned until March 3.
“Davis refused to sign the copy insisting that he be released and claiming that he enjoys immunity,” public prosecutor Abdul Samad told AFP. |
12 British economic recovery falters in fourth quarter
by Roland Jackson, AFP
Fri Feb 25, 7:29 am ET
| LONDON (AFP) – Britain’s economy shrank by a worse-than-expected 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter, official data showed Friday, as harsh wintry weather hampered prospects of a swift recovery.
Gross domestic product (GDP) — the total value of goods and services produced in the economy — contracted 0.6 percent in the three months to December, the Office for National Statistics said in statement.
The reading was revised down from an earlier estimate of a 0.5 percent fall, and marks the largest GDP drop since the second quarter of 2009. |
Reuters
13 Gaddafi vows to fight as opposition closes in
By Ahmed Jadallah and Maria Golovnina, Reuters
20 mins ago
| TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Muammar Gaddafi vowed to “crush any enemy” on Friday, addressing a crowd of supporters in Tripoli as Libya’s popular uprising closed in around him.
“We will fight if they want,” the 68-year-old leader declared after a day of clashes all over the capital between security forces and crowds of protesters, which Gaddafi’s opponents said had left some districts in their hands.
With eastern Libya already under opposition control after a week of unrest, protesters held the center of Zawiyah, west of the capital, a witness said, and laid makeshift defences to fend off government forces after successive fierce attacks. |
14 U.S., Saudi reassure on growth as Libya turmoil drives oil
By Jeff Mason and Amena Bakr, Reuters
1 hr 40 mins ago
| WASHINGTON/RIYADH (Reuters) – The world can weather a spike in oil prices, U.S. President Barack Obama said, as Saudi Arabia offered some respite to fears over Middle East oil supplies by indicating it can cover export cuts resulting from Libya’s civil war.
After a surge in Brent oil prices to 2- year highs near $120 a barrel, South Korea, the world’s fifth-biggest crude importer, warned that its inflation situation was getting tougher.
Business executives fretted about rising prices and investment banks said oil was reaching an inflection point that could endanger the world’s recovery from the global financial crisis. |
15 Witness: Up close, but not very personal, with Col. Gaddafi
By Edmund Blair, Reuters
Fri Feb 25, 9:39 am ET
| CAIRO (Reuters) – There were, give or take, 1,000 tanks. They tore up Tripoli’s seafront boulevard, literally. None had rubber pads to protect the road surface from the metal tracks. The Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, looked on.
He was seated on a podium, with a handful of other African and Arab leaders and officials. It was 1994 and he was celebrating 25 years of a revolution that swept him to power.
The trip, my first to Libya, gave me a close-up view of Gaddafi’s idiosyncratic system of rule, now teetering as rebels have taken charge of huge swathes of the country. |
16 Libyan oil ports, terminals mostly halted: sources
By Emma Farge and Jonathan Saul, Reuters
Fri Feb 25, 9:30 am ET
| LONDON (Reuters) – Crude oil shipments from Libya, the world’s 12th largest exporter, have almost halted as reduced production, a lack of staff at ports and security concerns due to violence take their toll, industry sources said on Friday.
A violent uprising against leader Muammar Gaddafi’s 41-year rule has deterred some shippers from sailing to Libya, with some vessels refusing to dock at Libyan ports or turning back.
“You can’t get into those ports. There is zero communication,” said a buyer of Libyan crude. “We’ve heard reports of vessels turning around.” |
17 Gaddafi son says fighting limited, sees end soon
By Maria Golovnina, Reuters
29 mins ago
| TRIPOLI (Reuters) – A son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi tried on Friday to minimize the extent of fighting with rebels who have seized much of the country, and said he expected negotiated ceasefires in two flashpoint cities within a day.
Speaking in English to foreign journalists flown to Tripoli under official escort, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi said rebels who surrendered would not be harmed and that Libya needed reforms.
His account of the state of the country, however, seemed at odds with the control exercised for the past few days in much of the east by groups intent on ending Gaddafi’s 41-year rule and with reports from residents in and around the capital itself. |
18 Fed’s Lacker says oil price risks "manageable"
By Mark Felsenthal and Kristina Cooke, Reuters
2 hrs 25 mins ago
| NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil price gains to date do not pose a risk to the U.S. economy but they could prove nettlesome if they jump a lot higher or create an inflationary psychology, Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Jeffrey Lacker said on Friday.
“I think the oil price rises we’ve seen so far don’t pose a risk to the recovery,” he told reporters after a speech on regulation.
“Oil price changes could have the potential, if they were very large, for slowing the recovery, but we have a lot of experience and a lot of data on past instances, and I think it’s a manageable risk,” he added. |
19 Gaddafi opponents hold off attack on town: witnesses
By Michael Georgy, Reuters
Fri Feb 25, 11:52 am ET
| RAS JDIR, Tunisia (Reuters) – Libyan security forces tried to seize back control of the coastal town of Zawiyah, about 50 km (30 miles) west of the capital, but were driven back by government opponents, witnesses said on Friday.
The strategic town, site of an oil terminal on the main highway into Tripoli, has become the focus of a stand-off between forces loyal to leader Muammar Gaddafi, and civilians – — some of them armed — who want an end to his 41 years in power.
“There are corpses everywhere … It’s a war in the true sense of the word,” said Akila Jmaa, who crossed over into Tunisia on Friday after traveling from the town. |
20 "Free Benghazi" says united with people of Tripoli
By Tom Pfeiffer and Mohammed Abbas, Reuters
Fri Feb 25, 9:22 am ET
| BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Libya’s rebel-held city of Benghazi has filled a political void with a coalition which is cleaning up, providing food, building defenses, reassuring foreign oil firms and telling Tripoli it believes in one nation.
After noon prayers, about 6,000 Benghazi residents voiced solidarity with Tripoli protesters and ruled out splitting the country, saying they wanted Libya united.
“God make our brothers in Tripoli victorious,” they chanted as reports emerged that at least five people were killed in the capital when security forces opened fire on protesters. |
21 Libyans overcome fear to spread word of violence
Reuters
Thu Feb 24, 8:58 pm ET
| LONDON (Reuters) – Libyans say they risk arrest or even death for talking to the foreign media because the authorities are desperate to stop information about their violent crackdown reaching the outside world.
A nationwide wave of protests against the 41-year rule of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has been met with a fierce response from security forces which, according to some European governments, has killed several thousand people.
The crackdown has also targeted anyone trying to send information out of the country which deviates from the government’s own version of events. |
22 Control of key Libyan sites seen crucial for Gaddafi
By Christian Lowe, Reuters
Thu Feb 24, 7:22 pm ET
| ALGIERS (Reuters) – Muammar Gaddafi’s grip on Libyan territory was shrinking on Thursday after reports that the area outside his control had expanded from the east and included some towns near the capital.
There are four strategic locations that are likely to hold the key to whether Gaddafi survives or falls: the capital, Gaddafi’s desert home town of Sirte to the east, and the Gulf of Sirte oil terminals Ras Lanuf and Marsa el-Brega.
The uprising against Gaddafi in the Cyrenaica region around Libya’s second city of Benghazi last week wrested it away from central control, possibly setting the stage for a civil war unless he is toppled first. |
23 Pakistan puts CIA contractor on trial for murder
By Mubasher Bokhari, Reuters
Fri Feb 25, 4:58 am ET
| LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) – A Pakistani court adjourned on Friday the trial of a CIA contractor charged with killing two Pakistanis until March 3, dismissing U.S. demands for his release.
The contractor, Raymond Davis, shot dead two men in the eastern city of Lahore last month. He said he acted in self-defense and the United States says he has diplomatic immunity and should be repatriated.
The case has inflamed anti-American sentiment in Pakistan and is straining relations between the allies. Pakistani efforts against Islamist militants on its border with Afghanistan are seen as crucial to ending the war in neighboring Afghanistan. |
24 Wisconsin Republicans push ahead with union bill
By James Kelleher, Reuters
10 mins ago
| MADISON, Wisconsin (Reuters) – Wisconsin Republicans seeking to curb the power of public sector unions tried on Friday to pressure absent Democrats to return home and vote on a plan that has sparked labor protests across the country.
Fresh from a first round victory overnight, when the state Assembly passed the union bill along party lines, Republicans turned to trying to break a Democratic boycott of the Senate.
Undaunted by the setback in the Assembly, U.S. labor groups planned for large demonstrations in Madison and in every state capital in the nation on Saturday to fight the proposal they see as trying to break the union movement. |
25 Republicans raise pressure on spending cuts
By Donna Smith and Kim Dixon, Reuters
Fri Feb 25, 1:59 pm ET
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republicans in the House of Representatives on Friday called a government shutdown “unacceptable” but raised the pressure on President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats to go along with deep spending cuts this year.
The two parties are fighting a pitched battle over public spending and must agree at least to a stopgap measure next week or the government will run out of cash and nonessential services will shut down.
Energized by big wins in November elections, Republicans say any short-term funding for government operations must include deep savings. |
26 Indebted Irish take revenge in crisis poll
By Carmel Crimmins and Padraic Halpin, Reuters
Fri Feb 25, 2:08 pm ET
| DUBLIN (Reuters) – Irish voters went to the polls on Friday to punish their government for bringing the former “Celtic Tiger” economy to its knees and leaving it a ward of the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
The ruling Fianna Fail party is set to be the first political victim of Europe’s debt crisis with opinion polls suggesting the giant of Irish politics will be reduced to a rump amid voter anger over the economic meltdown.
In the biggest political shake-up since Ireland won independence from Britain in 1921, Enda Kenny’s center-right Fine Gael party is expected to win, possibly with an outright majority for the first time. |
27 Boeing basks in glow of tanker win, but risks loom
By Kyle Peterson, Reuters
2 hrs 11 mins ago
| CHICAGO (Reuters) – Boeing Co, its suppliers and investors had good reason to cheer after the company snared a $30 billion Pentagon order this week, but challenges loom as Boeing prepares to fill the historic order on what may be a tight budget.
There is also a chance that the contract for 179 U.S. Air Force refueling planes could be broken if Boeing’s snubbed European rival EADS protests the award.
Boeing shares rose on the victory, but experts predicted a muted stock reaction in the longer term. |
28 U.S. envoy’s name blocked in latest run-in with China
Reuters
Fri Feb 25, 8:45 am ET
| BEIJING (Reuters) – China has blocked a microblog search of the Chinese name of the U.S. ambassador after he was seen near a pro-democracy gathering, the latest in a series of run-ins between a possible U.S. presidential candidate and the Communist Party.
China has tightened control over the Internet in the wake of the unrest sweeping through the Middle East, underscoring the party’s anxiety over the easy spread of information that might challenge its one-party rule.
The online censorship coincides with a rash of detentions after an overseas Chinese-language website, Boxun, spread a call for “Jasmine Revolution” gatherings to press the Communist Party to make way for democratic change. |
29 Special report: The biggest company you never heard of
By Eric Onstad, Laura MacInnis and Quentin Webb, Reuters
Fri Feb 25, 7:52 am ET
| BAAR, SWITZERLAND (Reuters) – On Christmas Eve 2008, in the depths of the global financial crisis, Katanga Mining accepted a lifeline it could not refuse.
The Toronto-listed company had lost 97 percent of its market value over the previous six months and was running out of cash. Needing to finance its mining projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo — a country which has some of the world’s richest reserves of copper and cobalt — Katanga’s executives had sounded the alarm and made a string of calls for help.
Global credit was drying up, the copper market had fallen 70 percent in just five months, and Congo — still struggling to recover from a civil war that killed some five million people – was the last place an investor wanted to be. |
30 Wisconsin Assembly approves plan to curb unions
By James Kelleher, Reuters
Fri Feb 25, 5:59 am ET
| MADISON, Wisconsin (Reuters) – The Wisconsin state Assembly on Friday passed a Republican plan to curb public sector union power over the fierce objections of protesters, setting the stage for a showdown with Senate Democrats who fled the state last week to prevent a vote in that chamber.
After two all-night debating sessions and an eleventh hour Democratic bid for a compromise, the Republican-dominated Assembly abruptly ended all debate early Friday morning and approved the bill by a vote of 51 to 17.
The outcome of the vote, which was taken so fast many Democratic lawmakers who were outside the chamber when it was called were unable to participate, was greeted by chants of “it’s not over yet” and “we are here to stay” from more than a thousand protesters who stayed to watch in the capitol rotunda overnight. |
31 Shuttle Discovery soars into space one last time
By Irene Klotz, Reuters
Thu Feb 24, 8:20 pm ET
| CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) – Space shuttle Discovery blasted off for the last time Thursday, carrying six astronauts and carting a load of supplies, spare parts and a robot for the International Space Station.
The shuttle lifted off at 4:53 p.m. EST (2153 GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center, riding a flame-tipped pillar of smoke across the Atlantic Ocean as it soared through partly cloudy skies toward space.
The launch was delayed three minutes due to a glitch with a range safety computer minutes before the scheduled 4:50 p.m. EST (2150 GMT) liftoff. The problem was resolved with seconds to spare. |
32 Wisconsin police sent to search for Democratic senators
By James Kelleher, Reuters
Thu Feb 24, 6:42 pm ET
| MADISON, Wisconsin (Reuters) – Wisconsin Republicans dispatched police to the homes of absent Democratic senators on Thursday to try to round them up for a vote on a plan to strip public sector unions of most collective bargaining rights.
While the search failed to find the Democrats, it raised the stakes as Gov. Scott Walker’s self-imposed deadline of Friday for approving the proposal neared.
Wisconsin has become ground zero in a national struggle over labor unions power, and union members from all over the country have converged on the state to protest the proposal. |
33 U.S. foreclosure deal slowed by infighting: sources
By Joe Rauch and Dave Clarke, Reuters
Thu Feb 24, 6:18 pm ET
| CHARLOTTE, N.C./WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. regulators’ efforts to settle with banks over improper mortgage foreclosures are being hampered by disagreements among the groups involved over the size and shape of an accord, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Banking regulators and a coalition of state attorneys general are trying to forge a settlement with the largest U.S. banks, which have been accused of foreclosing on borrowers without having the necessary paperwork in place.
A settlement would relieve a potentially large legal liability and reputational black eye for the banks, as they could face a myriad of lawsuits and fines without a universal agreement. |
AP
34 Protesters hit by hail of gunfire in Libya march
By PAUL SCHEMM and BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press
1 hr 30 mins ago
| BENGHAZI, Libya – Protesters demanding Moammar Gadhafi’s ouster came under a hail of bullets Friday when pro-regime militiamen opened fire to stop the first significant anti-government marches in days in the Libyan capital. The Libyan leader, speaking from the ramparts of a historic Tripoli fort, told supporters to prepare to defend the nation.
Witnesses reported multiple deaths from gunmen on rooftops and in the streets shooting at crowds with automatic weapons and even an anti-aircraft gun.
“It was really like we are dogs,” one man who was marching from Tripoli’s eastern Tajoura district told The Associated Press. He added that many people were shot in the head, with seven people within 10 yards (meters) of him cut down in the first wave. |
35 US closes embassy in Libya, prepares sanctions
By BRADLEY KLAPPER and MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press
47 mins ago
| WASHINGTON – The United States shuttered its embassy in Libya on Friday and readied stiff financial and other penalties against Moammar Gadhafi and his loyalists, ending days of cautious condemnation by all but calling for the unpredictable leader’s immediate ouster.
Gadhafi’s legitimacy has been “reduced to zero,” the White House said as it announced the steps.
The sharper U.S. tone and pledges of tough action came after American diplomatic personnel were evacuated from the capital of Tripoli aboard a chartered ferry and a chartered airplane, escorting them away from the violence to Malta and Turkey. As they left, fighting raged on in Tripoli and elsewhere in Libya as Gadhafi vowed to crush the rebellion that now controls large parts of the country. |
36 Ferry with Americans aboard finally reaches Malta
By MARK CARLSON and SELCAN HACAOGLU, Associated Press
2 hrs 16 mins ago
| VALLETTA, Malta – After three days of delays, a U.S.-chartered ferry carrying Americans and other foreigners out of the chaos of Libya finally arrived Friday at the Mediterranean island of Malta.
The Maria Dolores ferry evacuated over 300 passengers, including at least 167 U.S. citizens, away from the turmoil that has engulfed the North African nation as residents rise up over Moammar Gadhafi’s iron-fisted rule.
Minutes after the ship docked in Malta’s Valletta harbor, a few people on wheelchairs were escorted out. Women holding babies then walked down a ramp, while others held the hands of children as they stepped off the ship after 8-hour voyage across the choppy Mediterranean Sea. |
37 12 killed as Iraqis protest in ‘Day of Rage’
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press
Fri Feb 25, 3:40 pm ET
| BAGHDAD – Thousands marched on government buildings and clashed with security forces Friday in cities across Iraq in an outpouring of anger that left 12 people dead – the largest and most violent anti-government protests in the country since political unrest began spreading in the Arab world weeks ago.
In northern Iraqi cities, security forces trying to push back crowds opened fire, killing 10 demonstrators. In the western Anbar province, two people were shot and killed in a protest. In the capital of Baghdad, demonstrators knocked down blast walls, threw rocks and scuffled with club-wielding troops who chased them down the street.
The protests, billed as a “Day of Rage, were fueled by anger over corruption, chronic unemployment and shoddy public services from the Shiite-dominated government. Shiite religious leaders discouraged people from taking part, greatly diminishing the Shiite participation and the overall size of the crowd in a country where such religious edicts hold great sway. |
38 As Madison impasse continues, schools eye layoffs
By PATRICK CONDON, Associated Press
11 mins ago
| MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin school districts are warning teachers that their contracts might not be renewed as Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to cut nearly all public employees’ collective bargaining rights remains in limbo.
The proposal took a concrete step forward Friday when Republicans in the state Assembly abruptly approved the bill and sent it to the Senate after three straight days of debate and amid confusion among Democrats. But with all 14 Democratic state senators still out of state, another stalemate awaits the measure that Walker insists will help solve budget deficits and avoid mass layoffs.
The legislative gridlock prompted the Wisconsin Association of Schools Boards to warn districts that they have until Monday to warn teachers of possible nonrenewal of contracts. That’s because if Walker’s bill becomes law, it would void current teacher collective bargaining agreements that lay out protocol and deadlines for conducting layoffs. |
39 State budget crisis looms over governors meeting
By LIZ “Sprinkles” SIDOTI, AP National Political Writer
7 mins ago
| WASHINGTON – Confronting crushing budget woes, many of the nation’s governors are calling for painful spending cuts. But beyond that, their approaches are diverging drastically, from union-cramping proposals in Wisconsin and other states to higher taxes in Illinois and elsewhere.
Most states’ chief executives are struggling to plug massive budget holes without pushing unemployment higher and hampering a fragile post-recession recovery, and that’s setting a worrisome atmosphere as they gather in Washington for their winter meeting.
Not all are coming; some are choosing to stay at home to wage budget battles with their legislatures. |
40 Government budget cuts pose threat to recovery
By MICHAEL SANDLER and JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Business Writers
2 hrs 38 mins ago
| WASHINGTON – Deep spending cuts by state and local governments pose a growing threat to an economy that is already grappling with high unemployment, depressed home prices and the surging cost of oil.
Lawmakers at state capitols and city halls are slashing jobs and programs, arguing that some pain now is better than a lot more later. But the cuts are coming at a price – weaker growth at the national level.
The clearest sign to date was a report Friday on U.S. gross domestic product for the final three months of 2010. The government lowered its growth estimate, pointing to larger-than-expected cuts by state and local governments. The report suggested that worsening state budget problems could hold back the recovery by putting more people out of work and reducing consumer spending. |
41 House GOP detail plan to cut $4B in spending
By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press
20 mins ago
| WASHINGTON – House Republicans on Friday detailed a proposal to slash $4 billion in federal spending as part of legislation to keep the government operating for two weeks past a March 4 deadline. They urged Senate Democrats to accept their approach and avoid a government shutdown.
Democrats said they were encouraged that the two sides appeared to be narrowing the gap on possible spending cuts, but warned against Republican efforts to force their position on Congress.
“A government shutdown is not an acceptable or responsible option for Republicans,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia said in a conference call where he and other Republicans promoted their plan for avoiding the first government shutdown since 1996. |
42 NFLPA head hopes deal gets done to avert lockout
By MICHAEL MAROT, AP Sports Writer
2 hrs 41 mins ago
| INDIANAPOLIS – The NFL Players Association doesn’t want a lockout. It wants a deal.
On Friday, union executive director DeMaurice Smith and four of the league’s most prominent agents put on a unified front at the league’s annual scouting combine. The hope is the union and the NFL can agree on a new collective bargaining agreement before the current one expires next week.
If they can’t, a lockout could begin next Friday. |
43 Dior suspends Galliano for alleged anti-Semitism
By ANGELA CHARLTON, Associated Press
Fri Feb 25, 2:26 pm ET
| PARIS – Famed fashion house Christian Dior SA suspended creative director John Galliano on Friday after he was detained and accused of an anti-Semitic insult – a bombshell development just days before the catwalks in Paris heat up for fashion week.
The designer vigorously denied wrongdoing and said the suspension was way out of proportion to the cafe dispute, according to his lawyer.
Dior said in a statement it suspended Galliano pending an investigation into an incident in a Paris restaurant on Thursday night. |
44 Google tweaks search to punish ‘low-quality’ sites
By BARBARA ORTUTAY and MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Technology Writers
1 hr 48 mins ago
| NEW YORK – Google has tweaked the formulas steering its Internet search engine to take the rubbish out of its results. The overhaul is designed to lower the rankings of what Google deems “low-quality” sites.
That could be a veiled reference to such sites as Demand Media’s eHow.com, which critics call online “content farms” – that is, sites producing cheap, abundant, mostly useless content that ranks high in search results.
Sites that produce original content or information that Google considers valuable are supposed to rank higher under the new system. |
45 AP Interview: IOC official dispels food defense
By STEPHEN WILSON, AP Sports Writer
Fri Feb 25, 10:48 am ET
| LONDON – The IOC’s top anti-doping official said he has seen no convincing evidence that athletes can inadvertently test positive for clenbuterol or other banned drugs by eating contaminated meat.
In an interview Friday with The Associated Press, Prof. Arne Ljungqvist said claims of food contamination in doping cases are “old stories” going back 30 years and have never been accepted by an international sports panel.
Ljungqvist, chairman of the International Olympic Committee’s medical commission and vice president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said he remains dubious of claims of accidental doping – a defense that has been used by Tour de France champion Alberto Contador and others. |
46 American CIA contractor appears in Pakistani court
By BABAR DOGAR, Associated Press
Fri Feb 25, 2:29 pm ET
| LAHORE, Pakistan – An American CIA employee accused of murdering two Pakistanis appeared handcuffed in a Pakistani court on Friday, where he refused to sign a charge sheet after claiming diplomatic immunity, officials said.
The detention of Raymond Allen Davis has severely frayed ties between the U.S. and Pakistan, whose counterterrorism alliance is considered a crucial part of ending the war in Afghanistan.
Washington insists Davis is immune from prosecution because he is listed as a U.S. Embassy staff member. It says Davis shot two Pakistanis in self-defense when they tried to rob him in late January in the eastern city of Lahore. |
47 Shoppers wary of GM foods find they’re everywhere
By MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press
Fri Feb 25, 7:02 am ET
| WASHINGTON – You may not want to eat genetically engineered foods. Chances are, you are eating them anyway.
Genetically modified plants grown from seeds engineered in labs now provide much of the food we eat. Most corn, soybean and cotton crops grown in the United States have been genetically modified to resist pesticides or insects, and corn and soy are common food ingredients.
The Agriculture Department has approved three more genetically engineered crops in the past month, and the Food and Drug Administration could approve fast-growing genetically modified salmon for human consumption this year. |
48 GOP House freshmen draw mixed response at home
By JOHN KEKIS and BETH FOUHY, Associated Press
16 mins ago
| SALINA, N.Y. – Newly elected Republican Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, like dozens of other freshman members, was sent to Congress on a promise to slash government spending. And slash it she did, voting last weekend to cut $61 billion from the current federal budget and to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care reform plan.
Now, Buerkle and some of her colleagues who visited constituents this week in their home districts are facing reactions ranging from support to mild worry over just the cuts they promised they’d make. Even Buerkle acknowledges some of the cuts she supported were “gut-wrenching.”
“It seems as though recent votes taken would unduly give pain to the poor,” said Janet Muir, a self-described fiscal conservative and one of 300 people who attended a town hall meeting Buerkle hosted here Tuesday. Muir said lawmakers should look to the military and other areas to trim spending. |
49 Miami students cook up healthy Southern classics
By CHRISTINE ARMARIO, Associated Press
44 mins ago
| MIAMI – In a historically black neighborhood tucked beneath two highways far from Miami Beach, students donned aprons Friday and cooked up a meal of collard greens, parmesan chicken and bread pudding.
Their menu: The tastes of the South and Caribbean. Their guest: Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, in town for the South Beach Wine and Food Festival. The twist: Classic recipes with a few healthy alterations.
“They are good!” Oliver proclaimed after settling into his greens. |
50 Democrats, union leaders say no fix for Ohio bill
By ANN SANNER, Associated Press
1 hr 15 mins ago
| COLUMBUS, Ohio – Republican state lawmakers in Ohio sifted through stacks of proposed changes to a bill that would dramatically reduce collective bargaining rights for state employees, as thousands of opponents geared up for demonstrations ahead of a likely vote next week.
Senate leadership set a Friday deadline for amendments, which were still being processed into the evening. All proposals came from Republicans, who control the chamber. It was unclear how many amendments were filed.
Democrats and union leaders say no amount of revisions could fix the legislation. |
51 Lawyers seek to double fees in Indian claims case
By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press
1 hr 31 mins ago
| WASHINGTON – Lawyers representing Native Americans helped win a record $3.4 billion settlement with the federal government.
Now they want a judge to double their fees.
Instead of being paid up to $99.9 million, as initially agreed, attorney Dennis Gingold says he other lawyers deserve at least $224 million for their work on the case since 1996. |
52 Afghan minister sees better Pakistan cooperation
By MATTHEW PENNINGTON, Associated Press
2 hrs 10 mins ago
| WASHINGTON – The Afghan defense minister said Friday that security has “vastly improved” in his country as Afghan and NATO forces have targeted militant leaders and prospects are brightening for cooperation with Pakistan in defeating the Taliban-led insurgency.
Afghanistan has long accused Pakistan of harboring the Taliban and plotting terrorist attacks although both countries are allies of the U.S. in its fight against al-Qaida. Pakistan’s military-led intelligence is suspected to retain links with militants so it can retain influence should the Taliban take control of Afghanistan when international forces eventually leave the country.
Those suspicions have progressively soured relations since soon after President Hamid Karzai took power following the ouster of the Pakistan-backed Taliban government in 2001. |
53 Toyota: Source code is automaker’s ‘crown jewel’
By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press
2 hrs 56 mins ago
| SANTA ANA, Calif. – A federal judge overseeing lawsuits against Toyota Motor Corp. for sudden acceleration problems indicated Friday that he will allow the automaker to monitor plaintiffs’ access to its proprietary source code, and he proposed a number of other ways to prevent leaks of what Toyota says is the “crown jewel” of its intellectual property.
U.S. District Judge James B. Selna also urged attorneys from both sides to resolve the dispute over plaintiffs’ access to the source code so that the first trials can begin in 2013. He ordered attorneys to submit a proposed order to the court by March 7 outlining a final plan but shared his thoughts on a number of points Friday during a lengthy hearing.
The ultra-secret source code is the programming at the heart of Toyota’s electronic throttle control system, which is the target of some of the lawsuits alleging injuries and deaths caused by out-of-control vehicles. The lawsuits have been consolidated in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. |
54 New unsafe products database under fire on Hill
By JENNIFER C. KERR, Associated Press
Fri Feb 25, 5:16 pm ET
| WASHINGTON – It’s something Nikki Johns wishes had been around before her infant son died in a drop-side crib: a centralized federal database of people’s safety complaints about thousands of products, from baby gear to household appliances and more.
“If I had known there had been children killed in drop-sides, it would have swayed me against them,” says Johns, who lost her 9-month-old son, Liam, in a faulty crib that came apart at the side rail and trapped the little boy one night after his mom went to bed at their home in Citrus Heights, Calif., nearly six years ago.
Johns, other parents who have tragically lost children, and consumer advocates are eagerly awaiting March 11, the formal launch date for the government database SaferProducts.gov, where people can share complaints of injury or worse from everyday products such as cribs, high chairs, space heaters and toasters. |
55 RI teacher notices renew angst among unions
By MICHELLE R. SMITH, Associated Press
Fri Feb 25, 5:10 pm ET
| PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The mayor insisted Friday that the vast majority of Providence teachers wouldn’t lose their jobs even though the school district has warned them all they could, but the prospect of a mass teacher firing in New England’s second-largest city sent another ripple of uncertainty through public sector unions that feel under attack in Wisconsin and elsewhere.
The school board of Rhode Island’s financially troubled capital city voted Thursday to notify every one of its nearly 2,000 teachers that they were subject to being terminated at the end of the school year.
City officials said the action would give them the ability to make budget cuts. A recent audit showed Providence, which has about 175,000 residents, had nearly depleted its rainy-day fund and overspent its nearly $620 million city budget last year by more than $57 million. Next year’s $308 million school budget is projected to have a gap of $40 million or more. |
This is a series of diaries focused on the 
The diagnosis rests on finding the parasite in body fluid or tissue by microscopy. Patient samples that can be used for diagnosis include chancre fluid, lymph node aspirates, blood, bone marrow, and, during the neurological stage, cerebrospinal fluid. It is important to differentiate between the two parasites that cause the disease. T. b. rhodesiense parasites can easily be found in blood while it is often difficult to detect T. b. gambiense in blood. There is a serological test used outside the United States that is used for screening. It’s not always reliable, so the definitive diagnosis rests on seeing the parasite in the blood or tissue sample under a microscope.
There is no vaccine or drug for prophylaxis against African trypanosomiasis. Preventive measures are aimed at minimizing contact with tsetse flies. Local residents are usually aware of the areas that are heavily infested and they can provide advice about places to avoid. Other helpful measures include:
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