Evening Edition is an Open Thread
Now with 50 Top Stories.
| From Yahoo News Top Stories |
1 Mubarak falls as a million Egyptians march
by Mona Salem, AFP
49 mins ago
| CAIRO (AFP) – Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak was forced to cede power to a junta of senior military commanders on Friday after more than a million furious demonstrators took to the streets.
In Washington, US President Barack Obama said the people of Egypt had spoken after history moved at a “blinding pace.”
News of the regime’s collapse whipped rapidly across Cairo, sparking an eruption of joy and joyous chants of “We the people have overthrown the regime!” |
2 Egypt revolt set to flare as Mubarak clings to power
by Sara Hussein, AFP
Thu Feb 10, 7:53 pm ET
| CAIRO (AFP) – Furious Egyptian demonstrators vowed to launch their most spectacular protest yet in Cairo on Friday to demand the immediate departure of President Hosni Mubarak and his newly anointed deputy.
Many tens of thousands of citizens thronged Tahrir Square in the heart of the capital on Thursday, expecting to hear the 82-year-old strongman step down. Instead he delegated presidential power to Vice President Omar Suleiman.
Mubarak said he would remain nominally in charge until September, and vowed he would one day die in Egypt rather than seek exile, infuriating protesters. |
3 Mubarak quits Cairo as a million march
by Jailan Zayan, AFP
Fri Feb 11, 10:55 am ET
| CAIRO (AFP) – President Hosni Mubarak flew out of Cairo to his Red Sea retreat on Friday as more than a million furious Egyptians marched in cities around the country to demand he step down.
Egypt’s army threw the 82-year-old strongman a lifeline, endorsing his plan to stay in office until September even as determined protesters marched on state television headquarters and the presidential palace.
Demonstrators sobbed as they conducted the weekly Muslim prayer in massed ranks in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the city plaza that has become a symbol and focal point of the revolt since it was occupied by protesters in late January. |
4 Egyptian army backs Mubarak rule despite ‘day of rage’
by Joseph Krauss, AFP
Fri Feb 11, 6:57 am ET
| CAIRO (AFP) – Egypt’s army threw President Hosni Mubarak a lifeline on Friday, endorsing his plan to stay in office until September even as hundreds of thousands of angry protesters took back to the streets.
Demonstrators sobbed as they conducted the weekly Muslim prayers in massed ranks in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. The preacher choked up as he gave the sermon and the crowd screamed “Leave! Leave!” at each mention of the hated president.
In a statement read out on state television a little earlier, the military said it would guarantee that Mubarak follow through with his promises to reform the constitution to ensure a fair presidential poll in September. |
Umm… Spectacularly WRONG!
5 Pakistan rejects US man’s self-defence claim
by Waqar Hussain, AFP
1 hr 48 mins ago
| LAHORE, Pakistan (AFP) – Pakistani police on Friday rejected the self-defence claim of a US official who shot dead two men in broad daylight, accusing him of cold-blooded murder as a court extended his remand.
In a move likely to further inflame ties with Washington, which says the man has diplomatic immunity and should be released immediately, a judge in the eastern city of Lahore ordered Raymond Davis be held in prison for 14 days.
On January 27 he shot two Pakistani men and after his arrest told police he acted in self-defence because he feared they were trying to rob him. |
6 Swedish PM ‘harmed chances of Assange fair trial’: lawyer
by Sam Reeves, AFP
Fri Feb 11, 1:12 pm ET
| LONDON (AFP) – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will hear on February 24 if a judge agrees that he can be extradited to Sweden, a court official said Friday, after his lawyer argued he could not get a fair trial.
Rounding off a three-day extradition hearing, lawyer Geoffrey Robertson claimed Sweden’s prime minister had made Assange “enemy number one” by criticising the boss of the whistleblowing website.
Fredrik Reinfeldt’s remarks on Tuesday that Assange lacked respect for women’s rights had shown “complete contempt for the presumption of innocence”, the lawyer told Belmarsh Magistrates Court in London. |
7 Nokia joins forces with Microsoft in mobile phone ‘war’
by Aira-Katariina Vehaskari, AFP
Fri Feb 11, 12:32 pm ET
| HELSINKI (AFP) – Nokia, the world’s largest mobile phone maker, said Friday it was slashing jobs and joining forces with US giant Microsoft in a major strategy shake-up that left investors disappointed.
In an effort to radically change course and fight off encroaching competition from RIM, Apple and Google, chief executive Stephen Elop said Windows Phone would now serve as Nokia’s primary smartphone platform.
Canadian Elop — a former Microsoft executive who in September became the first non-Finn to lead Nokia — also announced changes to Nokia’s executive board and “substantial” job cuts. |
8 Formula 1 driver Kubica targets quick return
AFP
Fri Feb 11, 12:42 pm ET
| PARIS (AFP) – Robert Kubica on Friday vowed to be back in Formula One by the end of the year as experienced German Nick Heidfeld emerged as the favourite to deputise for the injured Pole at the Lotus Renault team.
Kubica was racing in the Ronde di Andora rally in Italy at the weekend when he lost control at high speed on a bend and crashed into a church wall.
Surgeons battled for seven hours to save the functionality of his right hand and he is due to go under the knife again for surgery on his arm and foot. |
9 End of Mubarak era as protests topple president
By Edmund Blair and Samia Nakhoul, Reuters
Fri Feb 11, 11:25 am ET
| CAIRO (Reuters) – Hosni Mubarak stepped down as Egypt’s president on Friday, handing over to the army and ending three decades of autocratic rule, bowing to escalating pressure from the military and protesters demanding that he go.
Vice President Omar Suleiman said a military council would run the affairs of the Arab world’s most populous nation. A free and fair presidential election has been promised for September.
A speaker made the announcement in Cairo’s Tahrir Square where hundreds of thousands broke down in tears, celebrated and hugged each other chanting: “The people have brought down the regime.” Others shouted: “Allahu Akbar (God is great). |
10 Obama launches housing overhaul plan, long road ahead
By Corbett B. Daly and David Lawder, Reuters
18 mins ago
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration nailed a ‘condemned’ sign on the wrecked U.S. housing finance system on Friday but did not offer a clear blueprint for a rebuilding project that promises to take years.
In a long-awaited move, the White House offered three big-picture options for overhauling a $10.6-trillion market that cratered in 2008, triggering a wave of home foreclosures and the worst banking crisis since the Great Depression.
All the alternatives sketched out in a 31-page “white paper” would unwind the troubled mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and shrink the government’s market footprint, in order for private capital to step in. |
11 Romney takes on Obama on handling of economy
By Steve Holland, Reuters
Fri Feb 11, 12:42 pm ET
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican Mitt Romney accused President Barack Obama on Friday of presiding over “the greatest job loss in modern American history” in a speech to conservatives that strongly hinted at a run for president.
Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who ran for the Republican nomination in 2008 and lost to John McCain, wasted little time in attacking the Democratic incumbent in remarks to the Conservative Political Action Conference.
“Let me make this very clear. If I decide to run for president, it won’t take me two years to wake up to the job crisis threatening America,” Romney said to cheers. |
12 Nokia and Microsoft join forces in smartphone war
By Tarmo Virki and Bill Rigby, Reuters
2 hrs 1 min ago
| LONDON/SEATTLE (Reuters) – Nokia and Microsoft Corp will team up to build an iPhone rival, the Finnish phonemaker’s last-ditch attempt to catch up with Google and Apple and arrest its decline in the global smartphone arena.
Shares of the world’s largest cellphone maker plunged 14 percent on fears the decision by new chief executive Stephen Elop to throw in the towel and use Microsoft’s Windows Phone software will hammer margins and weaken its position during a tumultuous transition.
The deal marks a potential breakthrough for Microsoft, which has flailed in mobile for years but should now get its software into upward of 30 million smartphones sold by Nokia every quarter. But its shares slid 1.5 percent as investors weighed the merits of teaming up with a weakened player. |
13 Germany confirms Weber to leave Bundesbank
By Noah Barkin and Annika Breidthardt, Reuters
Fri Feb 11, 11:20 am ET
| BERLIN (Reuters) – Axel Weber will step down as head of the Bundesbank a year before his term ends, the German government said on Friday, formally ending his chances of becoming the next president of the European Central Bank.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that Weber planned to remove himself from consideration for the top ECB post held by Frenchman Jean-Claude Trichet and leave the Bundesbank early, but Friday’s statement was the first official confirmation.
“Bundesbank president Axel Weber told German Chancellor Angela Merkel that he would like to step down on April 30, 2011 at the end of his seventh year in office,” government spokesman Steffen Siebert told Reuters. |
14 HKEx could look to join hands with Nasdaq and CBOE
By Kelvin Soh, Reuters
Fri Feb 11, 4:37 am ET
| HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd may knock on the doors of the tech-heavy Nasdaq or Chicago’s CBOE as the world’s most valuable stock exchange operator eyes a partner amid a frenzy of merger activity engulfing the sector.
Despite their geographical proximity, political, economic and organizational challenges make any potential marriage between the HKEx and the Shanghai or Shenzhen stock exchanges difficult.
“If I am the Hong Kong exchange, I would be trying to approach the bigger U.S. stock exchanges like Nasdaq right now,” said Ronald Wan, managing director of the Hong Kong unit of China Merchants Securities. |
15 Lebanese bank denies U.S. money-laundering charge
By Dominic Evans, Reuters
Fri Feb 11, 12:44 pm ET
| BEIRUT (Reuters) – The chairman of a Lebanese bank accused by the U.S. of laundering profits from a drug-smuggling ring linked to Hezbollah militants denied any involvement on Friday and said it would co-operate fully with authorities.
“To the best of our knowledge I can confirm that we have no clients related in any way to the crimes mentioned by the American Treasury,” said Georges Zard Abou Jaoude, chairman and general manager of Lebanese Canadian Bank (LCB).
The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday designated LCB a “primary money-laundering concern,” claiming it was involved in a money-laundering and drug-trafficking operation with ties to Shi’ite militant group Hezbollah. |
16 Tea Party makes a quick mark in Congress
By John Whitesides, Reuters
Fri Feb 11, 2:17 pm ET
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Tea Party conservatives — those budget-cutting, anti-establishment activists who shook up the Republican Party last year — have a message for congressional leaders: We weren’t kidding.
The Tea Party won its first big victory in Congress on Thursday, forcing House of Representatives Republican leaders to make deeper spending cuts than they planned and setting up a showdown with the White House and Democratic-led Senate.
Earlier in the week, Republican leaders suffered a series of setbacks in House floor votes after a rebellion by the Tea Party members who helped carry them to a majority in November’s elections. |
17 Possible Republican presidential candidates gather
By Steve Holland, Reuters
Fri Feb 11, 12:05 am ET
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Potential Republican presidential candidates flocked to a gathering of conservatives on Thursday to road-test a message that basically boiled down to this: Beat President Barack Obama in 2012.
Republicans have no obvious heir-apparent for 2012, leaving 11,000 conservatives at a conference to ponder a crowded field fighting for attention 21 months before the election.
Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives who is flirting with a run next year, declared that Republican victories in congressional elections last year were only the start. “2010 was the appetizer, 2012 is the entree,” he told the Conservative Political Action Conference. |
18 China sees U.S. stoking Brazil and India anger over yuan
By Zhou Xin and Koh Gui Qing, Reuters
Fri Feb 11, 5:06 am ET
| BEIJING (Reuters) – The United States has incited Brazil and India to criticize China’s currency policy, but Beijing need not worry too much because it can defuse the tension through talks, a series of Chinese government advisers told Reuters.
Independent analysts warned, however, that a belief that Brazil and India are doing Washington’s bidding and are not truly aggrieved could make Beijing complacent and undermine fledgling ties between the emerging powers.
Increasingly widespread calls for a stronger yuan are awkward for China, which is accustomed to facing U.S. pressure over its tightly controlled exchange rate but has long tried to cast itself as the natural ally of other developing nations. |
19 Deutsche Boerse-NYSE deal faces antitrust snags
By Edward Taylor and Jonathan Spicer, Reuters
Fri Feb 11, 12:58 am ET
| FRANKFURT/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Deutsche Boerse AG’s planned takeover of NYSE Euronext faces intense scrutiny from German regulators and European antitrust authorities, potentially imperiling the blockbuster exchange tie-up.
It could also run into hurdles in Washington as U.S. lawmakers and regulators consider whether they are prepared to allow the citadel of American capitalism to fall into foreign hands, although there has been virtually no public criticism in the United States as yet.
The companies said on Wednesday they are in “advanced talks” to join forces and create an exchange operator with unprecedented global reach and — most worrisome for regulators — a dominant grip on Europe’s lucrative derivatives markets. |
20 Special Report: After Mideast, should Russia and China worry?
By Guy Faulconbridge, Chris Buckley and Ben Blanchard, Reuters
Thu Feb 10, 8:08 pm ET
| MOSCOW/BEIJING (Reuters) – On the last day of January, a crowd of 600 gathered in sub-zero temperatures on Moscow’s Triumph Square and began to chant “Freedom! Freedom!” and call for the resignation of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
“What is the difference between Mubarak and our lot? Nothing. Nothing at all. Resign. Resign you all. We have had enough of you,” Boris Nemtsov, an opposition leader, told the crowd, raising chants of “Putin resign!” and “Russia without Putin!”
Had the wave of revolution rippling across the Arab world reached as far as Russia? Was this the beginning of a people-power revolution like the one that toppled the Tunisian president and now threatened the Egyptian leader? |
21 Rep Frank vows fight over GOP attack on Dodd-Frank
By Kevin Drawbaugh, Reuters
Thu Feb 10, 7:26 pm ET
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democrats will resist Republican attempts to weaken Dodd-Frank financial reforms through underfunding key U.S. regulatory agencies, Representative Barney Frank told Reuters on Thursday.
“We intend to make a fight,” Frank, senior Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, said in an interview as House Republicans agreed to pursue deep government spending cuts in the name of combating the soaring budget deficit, and pushed for a review of regulations.
“I’m worried that (committee Republicans) are complicit with the appropriators in underfunding the SEC and the CFTC. That’s the biggest problem,” Frank said. |
22 Final tanker bids land; budget questions loom
By Jim Wolf, Reuters
Thu Feb 10, 5:39 pm ET
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Boeing Co submitted a final proposal in its politically sensitive rematch against Europe’s EADS to build a potential $50 billion fleet of U.S. Air Force refueling aircraft.
Even as final bids rolled in, questions arose about whether a contract could be awarded under the temporary measure being used to fund the U.S. government through March 4 or a possible follow-on of a similar stop-gap budget bill.
Boeing, based in Chicago, declined to discuss any changes in its offer, which is based on a 767 jetliner, compared with the 8,000-page proposal it sent the Air Force on July 9, 2010. |
23 ‘Egypt is Free’ chants Tahrir after Mubarak quits
By MAGGIE MICHAEL and LEE KEATH, Associated Press
54 mins ago
| CAIRO – Cries of “Egypt is free” rang out and fireworks lit up the sky over Cairo’s Tahrir Square where hundreds of thousands danced, wept and prayed in joyful pandemonium Friday after 18 days of mass pro-democracy protests forced President Hosni Mubarak to hand over power to the military, ending three decades of authoritarian rule.
Ecstatic protesters hoisted soldiers onto their shoulders and families posed for pictures in front of tanks in streets flooded with residents of the capital of 18 million people streaming out to celebrate. Strangers hugged strangers, some fell to kiss the ground, and others stood stunned in disbelief. Chants of “Hold your heads high, you’re Egyptian” roared with each burst of fireworks overhead.
“I’m 21 years old and this is the first time in my life I feel free,” an ebullient Abdul-Rahman Ayyash, born eight years after Mubarak came to power, said as he hugged fellow protesters in Tahrir, or Liberation, Square. |
24 Analysis: Behind Mubarak’s exit: a military coup
By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press
8 mins ago
| CAIRO – It was the people who forced President Hosni Mubarak from power, but it is the generals who are in charge now. Egypt’s 18-day uprising produced a military coup that crept into being over many days – its seeds planted early in the crisis by Mubarak himself.
The telltale signs of a coup in the making began to surface soon after Mubarak ordered the army out on the streets to restore order after days of deadly clashes between protesters and security forces in Cairo and much of the rest of the Arab nation.
“This is in fact the military taking over power,” said political analyst Diaa Rashwan after Mubarak stepped down and left the reins of power to the armed forces. “It is direct involvement by the military in authority and to make Mubarak look like he has given up power.” |
25 Unforgettable moments on daytime television
By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer
35 mins ago
| NEW YORK – The fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s government Friday made for a giddy day of media coverage that combined the historical sweep of an event such as the fall of the Berlin Wall with the pandemonium of New Year’s Eve in Times Square.
“This is one of those days that all of us would say we’ll never forget,” CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer said, in words that were soon echoed in a mid-afternoon speech by President Barack Obama.
A week ago, Blitzer’s colleague Anderson Cooper cowered in a Cairo hotel room with shades drawn for a live broadcast, following two days in which the Mubarak regime unleashed men to beat, intimidate and take into custody journalists who had entered Egypt to cover pro-democracy demonstrations. The climax of the 18-day revolution came suddenly on Friday, in a short speech by Vice President Omar Suleiman that Mubarak had resigned and turned power over to the military. |
26 Mubarak exit sets off celebrations across Mideast
By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press
2 hrs 15 mins ago
| BEIRUT, Lebanon – Revelers swept joyously into the streets across the Middle East on Friday after Hosni Mubarak stepped down as Egypt’s president. From Beirut to Gaza, tens of thousands handed out candy, set off fireworks and unleashed celebratory gunfire, and the governments of Jordan, Iraq and Sudan sent their blessings.
Even in Israel, which had watched Egypt’s 18-day uprising against Mubarak with some trepidation, a former Cabinet minister said Mubarak did the right thing. “The street won. There was nothing that could be done. It’s good that he did what he did,” former Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, who knew Mubarak well and spoke to him just a day earlier, told Israel TV’s Channel 10.
The boisterous street celebrations erupted within moments of the dramatic announcement by Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman that Mubarak had stepped down. The success of Egypt’s protesters in ousting a longtime ruler came less than a month after a pro-democracy movement in Tunisia pushed dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali into exile in Saudi Arabia on Jan. 14. |
27 White House: Limit gov’t backing of mortgages
By DANIEL WAGNER and DEREK KRAVITZ, AP Business Writers
Fri Feb 11, 10:42 am ET
| WASHINGTON – The Obama administration laid out three broad options Friday for reducing the government’s role in the mortgage market. All three would almost certainly lead to higher interest rates and costs for borrowers.
The administration said in a report that the government should withdraw its support for the mortgage market slowly, over five years or more. The report describes a path for winding down the troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
But rather than making a single recommendation, the administration offered Congress three scenarios and will let lawmakers shape the final policy. |
28 Wireless advances could mean no more cell towers
By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer
1 hr 14 mins ago
| NEW YORK – As cell phones have spread, so have large cell towers – those unsightly stalks of steel topped by transmitters and other electronics that sprouted across the country over the last decade.
Now the wireless industry is planning a future without them, or at least without many more of them. Instead, it’s looking at much smaller antennas, some tiny enough to hold in a hand. These could be placed on lampposts, utility poles and buildings – virtually anywhere with electrical and network connections.
If the technology overcomes some hurdles, it could upend the wireless industry and offer seamless service, with fewer dead spots and faster data speeds. |
29 Stroke rehab doesn’t have to be high-tech to help
By ALICIA CHANG and MARILYNN MARCHIONE, Associated Press
32 mins ago
| LOS ANGELES – The largest study ever on stroke rehabilitation found that doing physical therapy at home improved walking just as well as a high-tech treadmill program.
More surprising, patients who started rehab late – six months after their strokes – still improved. It’s long been thought that there was little to gain from rehab after half a year.
“We now have evidence, for the first time, that a prolonged course of therapy will have benefits,” said Dr. Jeffrey Saver, director of the stroke center at the University of California, Los Angeles. “For virtually everyone, we should be doing more intensive therapy than we are.” |
30 Shades of ‘Seinfeld’: Maine bottle scam alleged
By CLARKE CANFIELD, Associated Press
2 hrs 12 mins ago
| PORTLAND, Maine – A memorable “Seinfeld” episode features Kramer and Newman taking thousands of cans and bottles to Michigan so they can get a nickel more per container than they would in New York, but beverage distributors say there’s nothing funny when it happens for real.
In Maine, which has a more expansive bottle-redemption law than neighboring states, three people have been accused of illegally cashing in more than 100,000 out-of-state bottles and cans for deposits, the first time criminal charges have been filed in the state over bottle-refund fraud, a prosecutor said.
A couple that runs a Maine redemption center and a Massachusetts man were indicted this week for allegedly redeeming beverage containers in Maine that were bought in other states. |
31 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110211/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_finland_nokia
By MATTI HUUHTANEN, Associated Press
Fri Feb 11, 8:20 am ET
| HELSINKI – Technology titans Nokia and Microsoft are combining forces to make smart phones that might challenge rivals like Apple and Google and revive their own fortunes in a market they have struggled to keep up with.
Nokia Corp., the world’s largest maker of mobile phones, said Friday it plans to use Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Phone software as the main platform for its smart phones in an effort to pull market share away from Apple’s iPhone and Android, Google’s software for phones and tablets.
The move marks a major strategy shift for Nokia, which has previously equipped devices with its own software. Analysts said the deal was a bigger win for Microsoft than Nokia, whose CEO Stephen Elop in a leaked memo this week compared his company to a burning oil platform with “more than one explosion … fueling a blazing fire around us.” |
32 105 die in fighting between S. Sudan army, rebels
By MAGGIE FICK, Associated Press
Fri Feb 11, 11:46 am ET
| KAMPALA, Uganda – Two days of fighting in Southern Sudan between the region’s army and a rebel faction killed 105 people, a southern army spokesman said Friday, in a reminder that violence can still explode in the volatile region despite its successful independence referendum.
A former high-ranking southern army member who had previously rebelled against the southern regional government attacked the towns of Fangak and Dor in the Upper Nile state on Wednesday, breaking a January cease-fire, said Col. Philip Aguer, the army spokesman.
Aguer said 105 people were killed in the two towns: 39 civilians, 24 southern police and soldiers, and 42 of rebel commander George Athor’s men. AP attempted to reach Athor and his top aide for comment but the phone calls to the remote region did not go through. |
33 Trade deficit widens to $40.6 billion in December
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer
Fri Feb 11, 11:58 am ET
| WASHINGTON – The trade deficit widened in December as rising oil prices pushed the value of imports up faster than U.S. exports.
The deficit increased 5.9 percent in December to $40.6 billion, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
U.S. exports of goods and services rose to $163 billion, a 1.8 percent gain and the best showing since July 2008. Sales of industrial machinery, civilian aircraft and autos and auto parts led the export gain. |
34 Reported errors double in air traffic control
By JOAN LOWY, Associated Press
Fri Feb 11, 10:54 am ET
| WASHINGTON – In a time of unparalleled aviation safety in the United States, reports of mistakes by air traffic controllers have nearly doubled – a seeming contradiction that puzzles safety experts.
The near collision last month of an American Airlines jet with 259 people aboard and two Air Force transport planes southeast of New York City, coupled with the rise in known errors, has raised concerns in Congress that safety may be eroding.
A US Airways plane carrying 95 people crossed paths with a small cargo plane in September, coming within 50 to 100 feet of each other while taking off from Minneapolis. A few months earlier a US Airways Airbus 319 intersected the path of another cargo plane during an aborted landing in Anchorage, Alaska. |
35 Shirtless lawmaker latest NY political scandal
By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press
Fri Feb 11, 6:57 am ET
| NEW YORK – Former Rep. Eric Massa and his tickle fights are so 2010. Eliot Spitzer? He’s two governors ago. With the shirtless photo sent to a woman he was trying to woo online, Rep. Chris Lee is the latest in a string of New York politicians whose misdeeds have riveted national attention.
Lee, a 46-year old Republican and married father, resigned his Buffalo-area seat Thursday after the gossip website Gawker published e-mails he sent to a woman he met on Craigslist, including a photo where he is shirtless and flexing a bicep. Lee released a statement apologizing to his family and constituents for letting them down.
Lee is hardly the first politician to engage in bad behavior. But many lately have come from the Empire State – from the densely packed, hyper-caffeinated New York City metropolitan area to the rural communities and industrial cities upstate. |
36 Pakistani police: US man committed ‘murder’
By BABAR DOGAR, Associated Press
Fri Feb 11, 2:13 pm ET
| LAHORE, Pakistan – Pakistani police on Friday accused an American held in a pair of shootings of committing “cold-blooded murder,” while a judge ordered the man’s detention extended for 14 days and asked the Pakistani government to clarify if he has diplomatic immunity.
The police claims and extended detention further inflamed tensions over the case between the U.S. and Pakistan, whose always-uneasy partnership is considered key to ending the war in Afghanistan.
The U.S. says the American, 36-year-old Raymond Allen Davis, shot two Pakistanis on Jan. 27 because they were trying to rob him in the eastern city of Lahore. Washington insists his detention is illegal under international agreements covering diplomats because he is a U.S. Embassy staffer, and American officials have begun curbing diplomatic contacts and threatening to cut off billions in aid to Pakistan if he is not freed. |
37 Mistrial request denied in ex-Pa. judge’s trial
By MICHAEL RUBINKAM, Associated Press
18 mins ago
| SCRANTON, Pa. – Veteran federal judge Edwin Kosik isn’t afraid to show his displeasure with lawyers appearing before him, chiding a defense attorney on Friday for “wasting time” during the corruption trial of a former northeastern Pennsylvania judge.
The comment prompted a demand for a mistrial in the case of former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella, who is charged in a $2.8 million scheme to incarcerate youth offenders in privately owned detention centers. Kosik rejected the request and the trial continued.
Prosecutors allege that Ciavarella and another judge, Michael Conahan, received kickbacks from the builder of the PA Child Care detention center and a sister facility in western Pennsylvania, and extorted money from the private lockups’ owner. |
38 Philadelphia church official charged in scandal
Associated Press
25 mins ago
| PHILADELPHIA – Nearly a decade after the scandal over sexual abuse by priests erupted, Philadelphia’s district attorney has taken a step no prosecutor in the U.S. had taken before: filing criminal charges against a high-ranking Roman Catholic official for allegedly failing to protect children.
“I love my church,” said District Attorney Seth Williams, himself a Catholic, “but I detest the criminal behavior of priests who abuse or allow the abuse of children.”
Williams announced charges Thursday against three priests, a parochial school teacher and Monsignor William Lynn, who as secretary of the clergy was one of the top officials in the Philadelphia Archdiocese from 1992 to 2004. |
39 NYC schools chief weathers rough first 6 weeks
KAREN MATTHEWS, Associated Press
2 hrs 10 mins ago
| NEW YORK – In her first six weeks as head of New York City schools, Cathie Black has been heckled by parent activists – and heckled them back. She joked that birth control was the solution to crowded schools.
The former media executive mockingly teased a throng of angry parents who were shouting at her. A recent poll pegged her approval rating at 21 percent. And opponents are keeping a legal fight alive to block her appointment as schools chancellor because she has no experience as an educator.
“This has not been a good opening round for her,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. |
40 FBI releases 3,600-page file on Ted Stevens
By BECKY BOHRER, Associated Press
Fri Feb 11, 3:17 pm ET
| JUNEAU, Alaska – The FBI released a roughly 3,600-page file on the late-U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens Friday, mostly relating to media coverage surrounding the 2008 corruption trial that ended his political career.
Stevens was convicted on counts of lying on financial disclosure forms about gifts, including renovations of his Alaska home, which was investigated by the FBI. But a federal judge later tossed the case, finding prosecutors withheld evidence at trial.
The release comes six months after Stevens’ death in a plane crash in Alaska, the state he represented for 40 years in the U.S. Senate. It includes documents detailing threats made against Stevens during his time in office, complaints against Stevens that seemingly went nowhere, and apparently unfounded allegations of drug use or purchase. |
41 Convictions in the Abramoff corruption probe
By The Associated Press
Fri Feb 11, 2:09 pm ET
| The lawmakers, lobbyists, Bush administration officials, congressional staffers and businessmen caught up in the Jack Abramoff public corruption probe:
• Abramoff was sentenced in September 2008 to four years in prison on charges of mail fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion. Since pleading guilty in 2006, the once-powerful lobbyist has cooperated with the federal investigation of influence-peddling in Washington. He was sentenced to a six-year prison sentence in a criminal case out of Florida, where he pleaded guilty in January 2006 to charges of conspiracy, honest services fraud and tax evasion in the purchase of gambling cruise boats. He was released to a halfway house in June 2010, then home confinement and worked at a pizzeria until late last year.
• David Safavian, the former chief procurement officer in the administration of President George W. Bush, was sentenced in October 2009 to a year in prison after being found guilty in a retrial in December 2008 for lying to investigators about his relationship with Abramoff, who provided gifts in return for information from Safavian about government property the lobbyist wanted to acquire. Safavian’s 2006 conviction on similar charges was overturned on appeal. The U.S. Court of Appeals heard arguments in his appeal of his second set of convictions on Oct 22. |
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42 Band confirms dead eagle as 1 of Alaska’s oldest
By DAN JOLING, Associated Press
Fri Feb 11, 11:21 am ET
| ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A Kodiak Island bald eagle survived 25 years of Alaska hazards but met an unfortunate fate last month on the crossbar of a utility pole: electrocution.
A band attached to its leg showed the bird to be the second-oldest bald eagle documented in Alaska and one of the oldest in the country.
“It would be, based on the bird-banding record that I’ve seen, one of the top 10 oldest birds ever recorded,” said Robin Corcoran, a wildlife biologist from the Kodiak Island National Wildlife Refuge. |
43 Researchers find whaling ship from 1823 wreck
AUDREY McAVOY, Associated Press
Fri Feb 11, 6:12 am ET
| HONOLULU – A fierce sperm whale sank the first whaling ship under George Pollard’s command and inspired the classic American novel “Moby-Dick”. A mere two years later, a second whaler captained by Pollard struck a coral reef during a night storm and sank in shallow water.
Marine archaeologists scouring remote atolls 600 miles northwest of Honolulu have found the wreck site of Pollard’s second vessel – the Two Brothers – which went down in 1823.
Most of the wooden Nantucket whaling ship disintegrated in Hawaii’s warm waters in the nearly two centuries since. But researchers found several harpoons, a hook used to strip whales of their blubber, and try pots or large cauldrons whalers used to turn whale blubber into oil. Corals have grown around and on top of many of the objects, swallowing them into the reef. |
44 New food safety law protects whistleblowers
By STEVE KARNOWSKI, Associated Press
Fri Feb 11, 3:09 am ET
| MINNEAPOLIS – Food industry workers who become whistleblowers gained protection against retaliation from their employers with a little-noticed provision in the sweeping food safety law President Barack Obama signed last month.
The Food Safety and Modernization Act is best known for sections that aim to prevent foodborne illnesses, allow the Food and Drug Administration to order recalls and make it easier to trace contaminated food to its source. But the law also protects workers at food companies regulated by the FDA from being fired, demoted or denied promotions or raises if they speak up about what they think are violations.
Protections mean little if the workers covered by them don’t know they exist, so the Government Accountability Project, a non-profit whistleblowing organization that supported the new safeguards, was sponsoring a conference Friday in Washington to raise awareness. Lawyers, activists and government officials were expected to attend. |
45 Iowa’s politics-free redistricting faces test
Associated Press
Thu Feb 10, 11:48 pm ET
| DES MOINES, Iowa – Iowa residents figure they’re immune from the bare-knuckles, once-a-decade redistricting fights of other states, where incumbents use the process to solidify their re-election chances while parties scramble for any advantage.
But in this rural Midwestern state, politically relevant on the national level mostly for hosting the first caucuses of each presidential election, redistricting is less about politics and more about nonpartisan fairness.
That could be about to change. |
46 Forest Service eyes rules to increase control
Associated Press
Thu Feb 10, 8:50 pm ET
| GRANTS PASS, Ore. – Hoping to break a legal logjam that has stymied logging as well as ecosystem restoration, the U.S. Forest Service said Thursday it was revising its planning rules to take more control over national forests and find more common ground between industry and conservation groups.
The old rules, dating back to the Reagan administration, designated certain animal species that must be protected to assure ecosystems are healthy. However, the system became the basis of numerous lawsuits that sharply cut back logging to protect habitat for fish and wildlife.
The new rules call for monitoring a broader range of species, including plants, while giving forest supervisors greater discretion to decide what science to apply and which species to protect, depending on local conditions. |
47 Wis. governor wants to cut union rights in budget
By SCOTT BAUER, Associated Press
Thu Feb 10, 8:49 pm ET
| MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview Thursday that he will propose removing nearly all public employee collective bargaining rights to help plug a $3.6 billion budget hole.
Walker, a Republican who took office in January, said no one should be surprised by the move he will ask the GOP-controlled Legislature to approve next week given that he’s talked about doing it for two months.
“This is not a shock,” he said. “The shock would be if we didn’t go forward with this.” |
48 Lee, scandalized, fell in a Washington flash
By LAURIE KELLMAN and ANDREW MIGA, Associated Press
Thu Feb 10, 8:15 pm ET
| WASHINGTON – He was a rising star in Congress at lunchtime – and out of office by dinner.
Rep. Christopher Lee fell from power this week with a velocity seldom seen in the annals of Washington sex scandals, a blinking red caution sign for those who need one that the speed and reach of the Internet can crash a political career in the time it takes to push a button.
The now-famous photo of a shirtless Lee, R-N.Y., moved across cyberspace at 2:33 p.m. EST Wednesday, for just about anyone who wanted to see it. Three hours later, Lee resigned. |
49 Ariz. governor countersues federal government
By JACQUES BILLEAUD, Associated Press
Thu Feb 10, 8:13 pm ET
| PHOENIX – Gov. Jan Brewer sued the federal government Thursday for failing to control Arizona’s border with Mexico and enforce immigration laws, and for sticking the state with huge costs associated with jailing illegal immigrants who commit crimes.
The lawsuit claims the federal government has failed to protect Arizona from an “invasion” of illegal immigrants. It seeks increased reimbursements and extra safeguards, such as additional border fences.
Brewer’s court filing serves as a countersuit in the federal government’s legal challenge to Arizona’s new enforcement immigration law. The U.S. Justice Department is seeking to invalidate the law. |
50 Webb’s exit sets off a Democratic scramble in Va
By BOB LEWIS, AP Political Writer
Thu Feb 10, 7:40 pm ET
| RICHMOND, Va. – U.S. Sen. Jim Webb’s decision not to seek re-election means Virginia Democrats must either persuade former Gov. Tim Kaine to run in 2012 or likely field someone who has never won a statewide race.
But Kaine, the Democratic National Committee chairman who has previously disavowed interest in the Senate seat, has been silent since Webb’s Wednesday bombshell. That leaves a gathering field of potential candidates on the sideline awaiting word from Kaine.
“He’s at the top of the list and I would very strongly encourage him to run,” said Brian J. Moran, head of the Democratic Party of Virginia. |
On this day in 1990, 
Mandela was imprisoned on
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