Jack Hanlon, actor in Our Gang films, dies in NV






RENO, Nev. (AP) — Jack Hanlon, who had roles in the 1926 silent classic “The General” and in two 1927 “Our Gang” comedies, died Thursday in Las Vegas at the age of 96.


His niece, Wendy Putnam Park of Las Vegas, says the precocious, freckle-faced Hanlon was a natural as a child actor from 1926 to 1933.






After a small role with Buster Keaton in “The General,” he played mischievous kids in two of Hal Roach’s “Our Gang/Little Rascals” films: “The Glorious Fourth” and “Olympic Games.”


Hanlon also played an orphan in the 1929 drama “The Shakedown,” and got an on-screen kiss from Greta Garbo in the 1930 film “Romance.”


After leaving Hollywood, Hanlon became a furniture mover and moved to Las Vegas in 1994.


Burial will be in Santa Monica, Calif.


Entertainment News Headlines – Yahoo! News





Title Post: Jack Hanlon, actor in Our Gang films, dies in NV
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment




Read More..

Boehner opens door to tax hikes, shifts U.S. fiscal cliff talks






WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner‘s offer to accept a tax rate increase for the wealthiest Americans knocks down a key Republican road block to a deal resolving the year-end “fiscal cliff.”


The question now boils down to what President Barack Obama offers in return. Such major questions, still unanswered so close to the end of the year suggest, however, that no spending and tax agreement is imminent.






A source familiar with the Obama-Boehner talks confirmed that Boehner proposed extending low tax rates for everyone who has less than $ 1 million in net annual income, meaning tax rates would rise on all above that line.


Under current law, the 35 percent top tax rate is scheduled to expire on January 1, and would automatically go to 39.6 percent. Boehner’s proposal would allow that rate to rise as scheduled at a threshold of $ 1 million – putting it back to where it was during the Clinton administration.


The White House has not accepted the proposal and the source could not confirm any additional talks were held on Sunday between Obama and Boehner.


With just over two weeks before the fiscal cliff’s $ 600 billion in automatic tax hikes and spending cuts are triggered, threatening a new recession, there is little time to craft a comprehensive deal that will satisfy both Democrats and Republicans.


Until the latest Republican offer, made on Friday, Boehner had insisted on extending all of the Bush era’s lower tax rates, resisting Obama’s demand to let the marginal rates rise on income above $ 250,000. A rising chorus of business executives also had urged Republicans to agree to this.


Some lawmakers and congressional aides had predicted that Republicans, once serious negotiations began, might try to raise the $ 250,000 threshold, say to $ 500,000 or $ 1 million. They also speculated that Republicans, if forced into a tax rate hike on the upper-income groups, might seek a smaller increase, say to around 37 percent.


Although the White House has not accepted Boehner’s gambit, it could push negotiations away from entrenched, ideological positions.


“Boehner has now accepted the premise of higher rates. So now we’re just arguing over details. I think it’s a significant step,” said Greg Valliere, chief political strategist at Potomac Research Group.


A framework deal spelling out tax revenue and spending cut targets to be finalized in the new year could be possible, Valliere said.


“Boehner’s offer to allow tax rates to go up for taxpayers earning over $ 1 million fundamentally transforms fiscal cliff negotiations,” added Sean West, U.S. policy analyst at Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy.


In a note to clients, West wrote that it signals, significantly, that Boehner ultimately believes a deal to avoid the cliff is still possible.


“The political burden is now shifted back to the president, who must be willing to take on his party in order to get a deal Boehner can ultimately pass. We do not think the president will overreach: Obama will work with Boehner to get to a deal.”


There are still several critical elements to a deal besides a tax rate increase on the wealthy, including Republican demands to cut spending on social programs.


Changes to the expensive Medicare and Medicaid health care programs for the elderly and the poor could be central to any deal, which must also include an increase in the federal debt limit needed by the end of February.


DEMANDS SOCIAL PROGRAM CUTS


Boehner conditioned his tax rate increase offer on Obama’s agreement to cuts in social program spending, often called entitlements.


Many Republican lawmakers want to raise the eligibility age for Medicare to 67 from 65. They also want to link Medicare to the income of recipients, making wealthier retirees pay more for their care.


Currently, Medicare does have some means testing, charging higher premiums for coverage of doctors visits and prescription drugs to individuals earning more than $ 85,000 and married couples earning more than $ 170,000. Only about 5 percent of recipients pay these higher premiums.


Thus far, Obama has offered only about $ 400 billion in 10-year entitlement savings, mostly through small adjustments in reining in health care costs – not fundamental changes such as raising the eligibility age.


And just as Boehner faces opposition in his own party to raising any tax rates, Obama faces opposition to cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security from Democrats, who pledged in election campaigns they would protect these programs.


A major bloc of congressional Democrats has already signaled they will not accept major cutbacks in Medicare as part of any fiscal cliff deal.


House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and Maryland Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland are among the high ranking Democrats in the House who have come out forcefully in recent days against raising the age for eligibility for Medicare to 67 years of age.


“Given the level of savings that is being talked about from Medicare, you can’t get it all from providers and drug makers,” said Paul Heldman, an analyst at Potomac Research, which tracks Washington policy for investors.


“So opponents of raising the eligibility age have reason to believe beneficiaries will take some sort of hit if a mega-deal is cut,” he said.


If Republicans are not successful in securing entitlement program cuts in exchange for a tax-rate increase on the wealthy, they are adamant about using a debt-limit increase as leverage to overhaul Social Security and Medicare.


The U.S. Treasury expects to reach its $ 16.4 trillion statutory debt cap by year-end, and will exhaust its remaining borrowing capacity around mid-February, risking a potential default.


Louisiana Republican Representative John Fleming, a member of the conservative Tea Party caucus who has never voted to increase the debt ceiling, said he would support a debt limit hike if it were part of a deal to make Medicare and Social Security sustainable.


The pace of activity could pick up the coming week.


House Republicans were told to prepare for a possible weekend session next week, potentially interrupting travel plans for the long Christmas holiday weekend.


House Majority Leader Eric Cantor scheduled “possible legislation related to expiring provisions of law,” a reference to the expiring tax cuts, for the end of the week, portending a weekend session. Cantor has said the House would meet through the Christmas holidays and beyond.


(This story was fixed to correct current top tax rate to 35 percent from 36 percent)


(Additional reporting by Thomas Ferraro, Richard Cowan and Kim Dixon; Editing by Fred Barbash, Todd Eastham and Jackie Frank)


Medications/Drugs News Headlines – Yahoo! News





Title Post: Boehner opens door to tax hikes, shifts U.S. fiscal cliff talks
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment




Read More..

Egyptians hand Islamists narrow win in constitution vote






CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptians voted in favor of a constitution shaped by Islamists but opposed by other groups who fear it will divide the Arab world’s biggest nation, officials in rival camps said on Sunday after the first round of a two-stage referendum.


Next week’s second round is likely to give another “yes” vote as it includes districts seen as more sympathetic towards Islamists, analysts say, meaning the constitution would be approved.






But the narrow win so far gives Islamist President Mohamed Mursi only limited grounds for celebration by showing the wide rifts in a country where he needs to build a consensus for tough economic reforms.


The Muslim Brotherhood‘s party, which propelled Mursi to office in a June election, said 56.5 percent backed the text. Official results are not expected until after the next round.


While an opposition official conceded the “yes” camp appeared to have won the first round, the opposition National Salvation Front said in a statement that voting abuses meant a rerun was needed – although it did not explicitly challenge the Brotherhood‘s vote tally.


Rights groups reported abuses such as polling stations opening late, officials telling people how to vote and bribery. They also criticized widespread religious campaigning which portrayed “no” voters as heretics.


A joint statement by seven human rights groups urged the referendum’s organizers “to avoid these mistakes in the second stage of the referendum and to restage the first phase again”.


Mursi and his backers say the constitution is vital to move Egypt’s democratic transition forward. Opponents say the basic law is too Islamist and tramples on minority rights, including those of Christians who make up 10 percent of the population.


The build-up to Saturday’s vote was marred by deadly protests. Demonstrations erupted when Mursi awarded himself extra powers on November 22 and then fast-tracked the constitution through an assembly dominated by his Islamist allies.


However, the vote passed off calmly with long queues in Cairo and several other places, though unofficial tallies indicated turnout was around a third of the 26 million people eligible to vote this time. The vote was staggered because many judges needed to oversee polling staged a boycott in protest.


The opposition had said the vote should not have been held given the violent protests. Foreign governments are watching closely how the Islamists, long viewed warily in the West, handle themselves in power.


“It’s wrong to have a vote or referendum with the country in the state it is – blood and killings, and no security,” said Emad Sobhy, a voter who lives in Cairo. “Holding a referendum with the country as it is cannot give you a proper result.”


INCREASINGLY DIVIDED


As polls closed, Islamists attacked the offices of the newspaper of the liberal Wafd party, part of the opposition National Salvation Front coalition that pushed for a “no” vote.


“The referendum was 56.5 percent for the ‘yes’ vote,” a senior official in the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party operations room set up to monitor voting told Reuters.


The Brotherhood and its party had representatives at polling stations across the 10 areas, including Cairo, in this round. The official, who asked not to be identified, said the tally was based on counts from more than 99 percent of polling stations.


“The nation is increasingly divided and the pillars of state are swaying,” opposition politician Mohamed ElBaradei wrote on Twitter. “Poverty and illiteracy are fertile grounds for trading with religion. The level of awareness is rising fast.”


One opposition official also told Reuters the vote appeared to have gone in favor of Islamists who backed the constitution.


The opposition initially said its exit polls indicated the “no” camp would win comfortably, but officials changed tack during the night. One opposition official said in the early hours of Sunday that it would be “very close”.


A narrow loss could still hearten leftists, socialists, Christians and more liberal-minded Muslims who make up the disparate opposition, which has been beaten in two elections since Hosni Mubarak was overthrown last year.


They were drawn together to oppose what they saw as a power grab by Mursi as he pushed through the constitution. The National Salvation Front includes prominent figures such as ElBaradei, former Arab League chief Amr Moussa and firebrand leftist Hamdeen Sabahy.


If the constitution is approved, a parliamentary election will follow early next year.


DEADLY VIOLENCE


Analysts question whether the opposition group will keep together until the parliamentary election. The Islamist-dominated lower house of parliament elected earlier this year was dissolved based on a court order in June.


Violence in Cairo and other cities has plagued the run-up to the referendum. At least eight people were killed when rival camps clashed during demonstrations outside the presidential palace earlier this month.


In order to pass, the constitution must be approved by more than 50 percent of those casting ballots. There are 51 million eligible voters in the nation of 83 million.


Islamists have been counting on their disciplined ranks of supporters and on Egyptians desperate for an end to turmoil that has hammered the economy and sent Egypt’s pound to eight-year lows against the dollar.


The army deployed about 120,000 troops and 6,000 tanks and armored vehicles to protect polling stations and other government buildings. While the military backed Mubarak and his predecessors, it has not intervened in the present crisis.


(Additional reporting Yasmin Saleh and Marwa Awad; Writing by Edmund Blair and Giles Elgood; Editing by Tom Pfeiffer)


World News Headlines – Yahoo! News





Title Post: Egyptians hand Islamists narrow win in constitution vote
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment




Read More..

'Always smiling': Portraits of Connecticut victims


Most died at the very start of their young lives, tiny victims taken in a way not fit for anyone regardless of age. Others found their life's work in sheltering little ones, teaching them, caring for them, treating them as their own. After the gunfire ended Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the trail of loss was more than many could bear: 20 children and six adults at the school, the gunman's mother at home, and the gunman himself.


A glimpse of some of those who died:


Olivia Engel, 6, student


The images of Olivia Engel will live far beyond her short lifetime. There she is, visiting with Santa Claus, or feasting on a slice of birthday cake. There's the one of her swinging a pink baseball bat, and another posing on a boat. In some, she models a pretty white dress, in others she makes a silly face.


Dan Merton, a longtime friend of the girl's family, says he could never forget the child, and he has much to say when he thinks of her.


"She loved attention," he said. "She had perfect manners, perfect table manners. She was the teacher's pet, the line leader."


On Friday, Merton said, she was simply excited to go to school and return home and make a gingerbread house.


"Her only crime," he said, "is being a wiggly, smiley 6-year-old."


Victoria Soto, 27, teacher


She beams in snapshots. Her enthusiasm and cheer was evident. She was doing, those who knew her say, what she loved.


And now, Victoria Soto is being called a hero.


Though details of the 27-year-old teacher's death remained fuzzy, her name has been invoked again and again as a portrait of selflessness and humanity among unfathomable evil. Those who knew her said they weren't surprised by reports she shielded her first-graders from danger.


"She put those children first. That's all she ever talked about," said a friend, Andrea Crowell. "She wanted to do her best for them, to teach them something new every day."


Photos of Soto show her always with a wide smile, in pictures of her at her college graduation and in mundane daily life. She looks so young, barely an adult herself. Her goal was simply to be a teacher.


"You have a teacher who cared more about her students than herself," said Mayor John Harkins of Stratford, the town Soto hailed from and where more than 300 people gathered for a memorial service Saturday night. "That speaks volumes to her character, and her commitment and dedication."


Ana Marquez-Greene, 6, student


A year ago, 6-year-old Ana Marquez-Greene was reveling in holiday celebrations with her extended family on her first trip to Puerto Rico. This year will be heartbreakingly different.


The girl's grandmother, Elba Marquez, said the child's family moved to Connecticut just two months ago, drawn from Canada, in part, by Sandy Hook's pristine reputation. The grandmother's brother, Jorge Marquez, is mayor of a Puerto Rican town and said the child's 9-year-old brother was also at the school, but escaped safely.


Elba Marquez had just visited the new home over Thanksgiving and finds herself perplexed by what happened.


"It was a beautiful place, just beautiful," she said. "What happened does not match up with the place where they live."


Jorge Marquez confirmed the girl's father is saxophonist Jimmy Greene, who wrote on Facebook that he was trying to "work through this nightmare."


"As much as she's needed here and missed by her mother, brother and me, Ana beat us all to paradise. I love you sweetie girl," he wrote.


Dawn Hochsprung, 47, principal


Dawn Hochsprung's pride in Sandy Hook Elementary was clear. She regularly tweeted photos from her time as principal there, giving indelible glimpses of life at a place now known for tragedy. Just this week, it was an image of fourth-graders rehearsing for their winter concert, days before that the tiny hands of kindergartners exchanging play money at their makeshift grocery store.


She viewed her school as a model, telling The Newtown Bee in 2010 that "I don't think you could find a more positive place to bring students to every day." She had worked to make Sandy Hook a place of safety, too, and in October, 47-year-old Hochsprung shared a picture of the school's evacuation drill with the message "Safety first." When the unthinkable came, she was ready to defend.


Officials said she died while lunging at the gunman in an attempt to overtake him.


"She had an extremely likable style about her," said Gerald Stomski, first selectman of Woodbury, where Hochsprung lived and had taught. "She was an extremely charismatic principal while she was here."


Mary Sherlach, 56, school psychologist


When the shots rang out, Mary Sherlach threw herself into the danger.


Janet Robinson, the superintendent of Newtown Public Schools, said Sherlach and the school's principal ran toward the shooter. They lost their own lives, rushing toward him.


Even as Sherlach neared retirement, her job at Sandy Hook was one she loved. Those who knew her called her a wonderful neighbor, a beautiful person, a dedicated educator.


Her son-in-law, Eric Schwartz, told the South Jersey Times that Sherlach rooted on the Miami Dolphins, enjoyed visiting the Finger Lakes, relished helping children overcome their problems. She had planned to leave work early on Friday, he said, but never had the chance. In a news conference Saturday, he told reporters the loss was devastating, but that Sherlach was doing what she loved.


"Mary felt like she was doing God's work," he said, "working with the children."


Lauren Gabrielle Rousseau, 30, teacher


Lauren Rousseau had spent years working as a substitute teacher and doing other jobs. So she was thrilled when she finally realized her goal this fall to become a full-time teacher at Sandy Hook.


Her mother, Teresa Rousseau, a copy editor at the Danbury News-Times, released a statement Saturday that said state police told them just after midnight that she was among the victims.


"Lauren wanted to be a teacher from before she even went to kindergarten," she said. "We will miss her terribly and will take comfort knowing that she had achieved that dream."


Her mother said she was thrilled to get the job.


"It was the best year of her life," she told the paper.


Rousseau has been called gentle, spirited and active. She had planned to see "The Hobbit" with her boyfriend Friday and had baked cupcakes for a party they were to attend afterward. She was born in Danbury, attended Danbury High, college at the University of Connecticut and graduate school at the University of Bridgeport.


She was a lover of music, dance and theater.


"I'm used to having people die who are older," her mother said, "not the person whose room is up over the kitchen."


Anne Marie Murphy, 52, teacher


A happy soul. A good mother, wife and daughter. Artistic, fun-loving, witty and hardworking.


Remembering their daughter, Anne Marie Murphy, her parents had no shortage of adjectives to offer Newsday. When news of the shooting broke, Hugh and Alice McGowan waited for word of their daughter as hour by hour ticked by. And then it came.


Authorities told the couple their daughter was a hero who helped shield some of her students from the rain of bullets. As the grim news arrived, the victim's mother reached for her rosary.


"You don't expect your daughter to be murdered," her father told the newspaper. "It happens on TV. It happens elsewhere."


Chase Kowalski, 7, student


Chase Kowalski was always outside, playing in the backyard, riding his bicycle. Just last week, he was visiting neighbor Kevin Grimes, telling him about completing — and winning — his first mini-triathlon.


"You couldn't think of a better child," Grimes said.


Grimes' own five children all attended Sandy Hook, too. Cars lined up outside the Kowalski's ranch home Saturday, and a state trooper's car idled in the driveway. Grimes spoke of the boy only in the present tense.


Emilie Parker, 6, student


Quick to cheer up those in need of a smile, Emilie Parker never missed a chance to draw a picture or make a card.


Her father, Robbie Parker, fought back tears as he described the beautiful, blonde, always-smiling girl who loved to try new things, except food.


Parker, one of the first parents to publicly talk about his loss, expressed no animosity for the gunman, even as he struggled to explain the death to his other two children, ages 3 and 4. He's sustained by the fact that the world is better for having had Emilie in it.


"I'm so blessed to be her dad," he said.


Nancy Lanza, 52, gunman's mother


She was known before simply for the game nights she hosted and the holiday decorations she put up at her house. Now Nancy Lanza is known as her son's first victim.


Authorities say Lanza's 20-year-old son Adam gunned his mother down before killing 26 others at Sandy Hook. The two shared a home in a well-to-do Newtown neighborhood, but details were slow to emerge of who she was and what might have led her son to carry out such horror.


Kingston, N.H., Police Chief Donald Briggs Jr. said Nancy Lanza once lived in the community and was a kind, considerate and loving person. The former stockbroker at John Hancock in Boston was well-respected, Briggs said.


Court records show Lanza and her ex-husband, Peter Lanza, filed for divorce in 2008. He lives in Stamford and is a tax director at General Electric. A neighbor, Rhonda Cullens, said she knew Nancy Lanza from get-togethers she had hosted to play Bunco, a dice game. She said her neighbor had enjoyed gardening.


"She was a very nice lady," Cullens said. "She was just like all the rest of us in the neighborhood, just a regular person."


Catherine Hubbard, 6, student


A family friend turned reporters away from the house but Catherine's parents released a statement expressing gratitude to emergency responders and for the support of the community.


"We are greatly saddened by the loss of our beautiful daughter, Catherine Violet and our thoughts and prayers are with the other families who have been affected by this tragedy," Jennifer and Matthew Hubbard said. "We ask that you continue to pray for us and the other families who have experienced loss in this tragedy."


Madeleine Hsu, 6, student


Dr. Matthew Velsmid was at Madeleine's house on Saturday, tending to her stricken family. He said the family did not want to comment.


Velsmid said that after hearing of the shooting, he went to the triage area to provide medical assistance but there were no injuries to treat.


"We were waiting for casualties to come out and there was nothing. There was no need unfortunately," he said. "This is the darkest thing I've ever walked into by far."


Velsmid's daughter, who attends another school, lost three of her friends.


___


Associated Press writers Denise Lavoie, Mark Scolforo, Allen Breed and Danica Coto contributed to this report.


Read More..

“Modern Family” star’s dad granted control of her estate






LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The father of “Modern Family” star Ariel Winter was given temporary control over the teenage actress’ estate on Wednesday in a court-approved settlement in Los Angeles after allegations that her mother had abused her.


Winter, 14, who plays the brainy and precocious teenager Alex Dunphy on the Emmy-winning ABC comedy, will remain under temporary guardianship of her older sister, Shanelle Gray, under the settlement, court officials said.






Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Levanas scheduled a hearing for March 29 in which he could hand permanent guardianship over to Gray and control of Winter’s estate to her father, Glenn Workman.


Gray, 34, was first awarded temporary guardianship of the actress in October.


Winter’s mother, Chrisoula Workman, has denied allegations, earlier submitted in court documents, that she verbally and physically abused her daughter.


Messages left with Winter’s publicist and attorney seeking comment were not immediately returned.


“Modern Family” portrays the lives of three zany families and has won three consecutive Emmy awards as American television’s best comedy series.


(Reporting By Eric Kelsey; Editing by Nick Zieminski)


TV News Headlines – Yahoo! News


Read More..

White House won’t accept new tax offer from Republican leader






WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama is not ready to accept a new offer from the Republican leader of the U.S. the House of Representatives to raise taxes on top earners in exchange for major cuts in entitlement programs, a source said late Saturday.


The shape and details of Boehner‘s offer were uncertain Saturday night, as was the exact reason the president was prepared to reject it.






The source said Obama sees the offer made on Friday by U.S. House Speaker John Boehner as a sign of progress, but simply believes it is not enough and there is much more to be worked out before Obama can reciprocate.


Tax rates and entitlements are the two most difficult issues in the so-far unproductive negotiations to avert the “fiscal cliff” of steep tax hikes and spending cuts set for the new year unless Congress and the president reach a deal to avoid them.


The Boehner offer is the first significant sign of a shift in the Republican insistence that low tax rates set to expire on December 31 be extended for all taxpayers, and comes at some risk to the speaker.


Conservatives, particularly Tea Party-supported Republicans, see opposition to tax increases for anyone as an abandonment of party principles, and of the Republican base.


Obama wants high earners – those earning roughly $ 250,000 a year or more – to pay higher taxes in order to put the burden of deficit reduction on those he says can best afford it.


Republicans have privately spoken of coming back at Obama with a threshold of $ 1 million. Obama has previously called that unacceptable because it would not raise enough money on its own to cut the deficit significantly or provide enough money to avert across-the-board spending cuts.


On entitlements, the president faces pressures of his own from Democrats, who see protecting Medicare, the government health insurance program for seniors, as a bedrock principle.


A major bloc of congressional Democrats has already signaled they will not accept major cutbacks in Medicare as part of any deal.


It was unclear on Saturday if the president had communicated his response to Boehner.


NOT A COMPLETE SURPRISE


Boehner’s shift did not come as a complete surprise. Recent polls have suggested little public support for his position and he has been getting pressure from Senate Republicans to be more flexible.


The massacre in Connecticut silenced fiscal cliff talk in public on Saturday as the both sides got ready for a final scramble, with sessions of the House now scheduled just days before Christmas.


Obama canceled a trip he had planned to make next Wednesday to Portland, Maine, to press his case for tax hikes for the wealthy. He is heading on Sunday to Newtown, the site of Friday’s school shootings, in which a gunman killed 20 children and six adults before taking his own life. The gunman also killed his mother, according to police.


Boehner of Ohio canceled the standard Republican radio response on Saturday to Obama “so that President Obama can speak for the entire nation at this time of mourning,” he said in a statement issued late on Friday.


The moratorium on cliff pronouncements masked a growing recognition the two sides could remain deadlocked at the end of the year on the key sticking points – taxes and entitlements.


Senate Republicans prodded their counterparts in the House to beat a retreat on tax hikes, in a fashion that would allow Obama’s proposal to pass the Republican-controlled House while allowing Republicans to cast a face-saving vote against it.


Republicans could then shift the debate onto territory they consider more favorable to them, cutting government spending to reduce the deficit.


“Just about everyone is throwing stuff on the wall to see if anything sticks,” one Republican aide said in reference to various proposals being discussed on how to proceed.


Alluding to public opinion polls, the aide added: “We know if there is no deal, we will get blamed.”


“We could win the argument on spending cuts,” said a Republican senator who asked not to be identified. “We aren’t winning the argument on taxes.”


However, Republican leaders in both chambers are leery about seeming to cave on taxes. “There’s concern that if we did that, Obama would simply declare victory and walk away and not address spending,” said one aide. “We don’t trust these guys.”


‘A BALANCED PLAN’


Some of the prodding was coming from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.


Don Stewart, a McConnell spokesman, said the minority leader in the Democratic-controlled Senate hasn’t embraced any single plan, but has discussed and circulated measures offered by fellow Senate Republicans.


“Senator McConnell does not advocate raising taxes on anybody or anything,” Stewart said.


“We’re focused on getting a balanced plan from the White House that will begin to solve the problem of our debt and deficit to improve the economy and create American jobs,” said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel.


“Right now, all the president is offering is massive tax hikes with little or no spending cuts and reforms,” Steel said.


House Majority Leader Eric Cantor scheduled “possible legislation related to expiring provisions of law,” a reference to the expiring tax cuts, for the end of the week, portending a weekend session.


Cantor has said the House would meet through the Christmas holidays and beyond.


Hopes expressed after the November 6 general election of some “grand bargain” on deficit reduction have all but disappeared, at least for this year.


This is partly because time is running out and partly the result of growing warnings from Democrats in Congress that they would not support big changes in the Medicare program, the government-run health insurance program for seniors that is a major contributor to the government’s debt.


House Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California ruled out one frequently mentioned proposal – raising the age of eligibility for Medicare, in a December 12 CBS television interview.


Asked if she was drawing a “red line” around that idea, Pelosi said her comments were “something that says, ‘don’t go there,’ because it doesn’t produce money.


(Reporting by Thomas Ferraro, Richard Cowan and Kim Dixon; Editing by Fred Barbash and Todd Eastham)


Health News Headlines – Yahoo! News


Read More..

RIM shows how BlackBerry 10 touch screen keys could rival even its traditional keyboards [video]






Read More..

Nigeria governor, 5 others die in helicopter crash






LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — A navy helicopter crashed Saturday in the country’s oil-rich southern delta, killing a state governor and five other people, in the latest air disaster to hit Africa’s most populous nation, officials said.


Nigeria‘s ruling party said in a statement that the governor of the central Nigerian state of Kaduna, Patrick Yakowa, died in the helicopter crash in Bayelsa state in the Niger Delta. The People’s Democratic Party’s statement described Yakowa’s death as a “colossal loss.”






The statement said the former national security adviser, General Andrew Azazi, also died in the crash. Azazi was fired in June amid growing sectarian violence in Nigeria, but maintained close ties with the government.


Yushau Shuaib, a spokesman for Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency, said four other bodies had been found, but he could not immediately give their identities.


The crash occurred at about 3:30 p.m. after the navy helicopter took off from the village of Okoroba in Bayelsa state where officials had gathered to attend the burial of the father of a presidential aide, said Commodore Kabir Aliyu. He said that the helicopter was headed for Nigeria’s oil capital of Port Harcourt when it crashed in the Nembe area of Bayelsa state.


Aviation disasters remain common in Nigeria, despite efforts in recent years to improve air safety.


In October, a plane made a crash landing in central Nigeria. A state governor and five others sustained injuries but survived.


In June, a Dana Air MD-83 passenger plane crashed into a neighborhood in the commercial capital of Lagos, killing 153 people onboard and at least 10 people on the ground. It was Nigeria’s worst air crash in nearly two decades.


In March, a police helicopter carrying a high-ranking police official crashed in the central Nigerian city of Jos, killing four people.


Africa News Headlines – Yahoo! News


Read More..

'Evil visited this community today': 20 children killed in shooting



Twenty children died today when a heavily armed man invaded a Newtown,
Conn., elementary school and sprayed staff and students with bullets.



The gunman, identified as Adam Lanza, 20, was found dead in the school.



Lt. Paul Vance said 18 children died in the school and two more died
later in a hospital. Six adults were also slain, bringing the total to
26.



In addition to the casualties at the school, Lanza's mother Nancy Lanza
was killed in her home, federal and state sources told ABC News.



According to sources, Lanza shot his mother in the face, then left his
house armed with at least two semi automatic handguns, a Glock and a Sig
Sauer, and a semi automatic rifle. He was also wearing a bullet proof
vest.



Lanza drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School and continued his rampage,
killing 26 people, authorities said. He was found dead at the school. It
appears that he died from what is believed to be a self inflicted
gunshot wound. The rifle was found in his car.



In the early confusion surrounding the investigation, federal sources
initially identified the suspect as Adam's older brother Ryan Lanza, 24.
He is being questioned by police.



LIVE UPDATES: Newtown, Conn., School Shooting



"Evil visited this community today," Gov. Dan Malloy said at a news conference this evening.



First grade teacher Kaitlin Roig, 29, locked her 14 students in a class bathroom and listened to "tons of shooting" until police came to help.



"It was horrific," Roig said. "I thought we were going to die."



She said that the terrified kids were saying, "I just want Christmas…I don't want to die. I just want to have Christmas."



A tearful President Obama said there's "not a parent in America who doesn't feel the overwhelming grief that I do."



The president had to pause to compose himself after saying these were
"beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10." As he continued
with his statement, Obama wiped away tears from each eye.



He has ordered flags flown as half staff.



CLICK HERE for more photos from the scene.



The alert at the school ended when Vance announced, "The shooter is deceased inside the building. The public is not in danger."



The massacre prompted the town of Newtown to lock down all its schools
and draw SWAT teams to the school, authorities said today. Authorities
initially believed that there were two gunmen and were searching cars
around the school, but authorities do not appear to be looking for
another gunman.



It is the second worst mass shooting in U.S. history, exceeded only by
the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 when 32 were killed before the
shooter turned the gun on himself. Today's carnage exceeds the 1999
Columbine High School shooting in which 13 died and 24 were injured.



The Newtown shooting comes three days after masked gunman Jacob Roberts
opened fire in a busy Oregon mall, killing two before turning the gun
on himself.



Today's shooting occurred at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, which
includes 450 students in grades K-4. The town is located about 12 miles
east of Danbury.



State Police received the first 911 call at 9:41 a.m. and immediately
began sending emergency units from the western part of the state.
Initial 911 calls stated that multiple students were trapped in a
classroom, possibly with a gunman, according to a Connecticut State
Police source.



Lt. Paul Vance said that on-duty and off-duty officers swarmed to the
school and quickly checked "every door, every crack, every crevice" in
the building looking for the gunman and evacuating children.



A photo from the scene shows a line of distressed children being led out of the school.



Three patients have been taken to Danbury Hospital, which is also on lockdown, according to the hospital's Facebook page.



"Out of abundance of caution and not because of any direct threat
Danbury Hospital is under lockdown," the statement said. "This allows us
simply to focus on the important work at hand."



Newtown Public School District secretary of superintendent Kathy June
said in a statement that the district's schools were locked down because
of the report of a shooting. "The district is taking preventive
measures by putting all schools in lockdown until we ensure the safety
of all students and staff," she said.



State police sent SWAT team units to Newtown.



All public and private schools in the town were on lockdown.



"We have increased our police presence at all Danbury Public Schools due
to the events in Newtown. Pray for the victims," Newtown Mayor Boughton
tweeted.



State emergency management officials said ambulances and other units were also en route and staging near the school.



A message on the school district website says that all afternoon
kindergarten is cancelled today and there will be no midday bus runs.




Also Read

Read More..

Owner of Rivera plane being investigated by DEA






PHOENIX (AP) — The company that owns a luxury jet that crashed and killed Latin music star Jenni Rivera is under investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and the agency seized two of its planes earlier this year as part of the ongoing probe.


DEA spokeswoman Lisa Webb Johnson confirmed Thursday the planes owned by Las Vegas-based Starwood Management were seized in Texas and Arizona, but she declined to discuss details of the case. The agency also has subpoenaed all the company’s records, including any correspondence it has had with a former Tijuana mayor who U.S. law enforcement officials have long suspected has ties to organized crime.






The man widely believed to be behind the aviation company is an ex-convict named Christian Esquino, 50, who has a long and checkered legal past. Corporate records list his sister-in-law as the company’s only officer, but insurance companies that cover some of the firm’s planes say in court documents that the woman is merely a front and that Esquino is the one in charge.


Esquino’s legal woes date back decades. He pleaded guilty to a fraud charge that stemmed from a major drug investigation in Florida in the early 1990s and most recently was sentenced to two years in federal prison in a California aviation fraud case. Esquino, a Mexican citizen, was deported upon his release. Esquino and various other companies he has either been involved with or owns have also been sued for failing to pay millions of dollars in loans, according to court records.


The 43-year-old California-born Rivera died at the peak of her career when the plane she was traveling in nose-dived into the ground while flying from the northern Mexican city of Monterrey to the central city of Toluca early Sunday morning. She was perhaps the most successful female singer in grupero, a male-dominated Mexico regional style, and had branched out into acting and reality television.


It remained unclear Thursday exactly what caused the crash and why Rivera was on Esquino’s plane. The 78-year-old pilot and five other people were also killed. Esquino was not on the plane.


The late singer’s brother, Pedro Rivera Jr., said that he didn’t know anything about the owner or why or how she ended up in his plane.


Esquino told the Los Angeles Times in a telephone interview from Mexico City earlier this week that the singer was considering buying the aircraft from Starwood for $ 250,000 and the flight was offered as a test ride. He disputed reports that he owns Starwood, maintaining that he is merely the company’s operations manager “with the expertise.”


In response to an email from The Associated Press, Esquino said he did not want to comment. Calls to various phone numbers associated with him rang unanswered.


Esquino is no stranger to tangles with the law. He was indicted in the early 1990s along with 12 other defendants in a major federal drug investigation that claimed the suspects planned to sell more than 480 kilograms of cocaine, according to court records. He eventually pleaded guilty to conspiring to conceal money from the IRS and was sentenced to five years in prison, but much of the term was suspended for reasons that weren’t immediately clear.


He served about five months in prison before being released.


Cynthia Hawkins, a former assistant U.S. attorney who handled the case and is now in private practice in Orlando, remembered the investigation well.


“It was huge,” Hawkins said Thursday. “This was an international smuggling group.”


She said the case began with the arrest of Robert Castoro, who was at the time considered one of the most prolific smugglers of marijuana and cocaine into Florida from direct ties to Colombian drug cartels in the 1980s. Castoro was convicted in 1988 and sentenced to life in prison, but he then began cooperating with authorities, leading to his sentence being reduced to just 10 years, Hawkins said.


“Castoro cooperated for years,” she said. “We put hundreds of people in jail.”


He eventually gave up another smuggler, Damian Tedone, who was indicted in the early 1990s along with Esquino and 11 others in a conspiracy involving drug smuggling in Florida in the 1980s at a time when the state was the epicenter of the nation’s cocaine trade.


Tedone also cooperated with authorities and has since been released from prison. Telephone messages left Thursday for both Tedone and Castoro were not returned.


Esquino eventually pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of concealing money from the IRS.


Joseph Milchen, Esquino’s attorney at the time, said Thursday the case eventually revolved around his client “bringing money into the United States without declaring it.”


However, Milchen acknowledged that a plane purchased by Esquino was “used to smuggle drugs.”


He denied his former client has ever had anything to do with illegal narcotics.


“The only thing he has ever done is with airplanes,” Milchen said.


Court filings also indicate Esquino was sentenced to two years in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2004 to committing fraud involving aircraft he purchased in Mexico, then falsified the planes’ log books and re-sold them in the United States.


Also in 2004, a federal judge ordered him and one of his companies to pay a creditor $ 6.2 million after being accused of failing to pay debts to a bank.


As the years passed, Esquino’s troubles only grew.


In February this year, a Gulfstream G-1159A plane the government valued at $ 500,000 was seized by the U.S. Marshals Service on behalf of the DEA after landing in Tucson on a flight that originated in Mexico


Four months later, the DEA subpoenaed all of Starwood’s records dating to Dec. 13, 2007, including federal and state income tax documents, bank deposit information, records on all company assets and sales, and the entity’s relationship with Esquino and more than a dozen companies and individuals, including former Tijuana Mayor Jorge Hank-Rhon, a gambling mogul and a member of one of Mexico’s most powerful families. U.S. law enforcement officials have long suspected Hank-Rhon is tied to organized crime but no allegations have been proven. He has consistently denied any criminal involvement.


He was arrested in Mexico last year on weapons charges and on suspicion of ordering the murder of his son’s former girlfriend. He was later freed for lack of evidence.


The subpoena was obtained by the U-T San Diego newspaper.


A Starwood attorney listed on the subpoena, Jeremy Schuster, declined Thursday to provide details.


“We don’t comment on matters involving clients,” he said.


In September, the DEA seized another Starwood plane — a 1977 Hawker 700 with an insured value of $ 1 million — after it landed in McAllen, Texas, from a flight from Mexico.


Insurers of both aircraft have since filed complaints in federal court in Nevada seeking to have the Starwood policies nullified, in part, because they say Esquino lied in the application process when he noted he had never been indicted on drug-related criminal charges. Both companies said they would not have issued the policies had he been truthful.


Another attorney for Starwood has not responded to phone and email messages seeking comment, and no one was at the address listed at its Las Vegas headquarters. The address is a post office box in a shipping and mailing store located between a tuxedo rental shop and a supermarket in a shopping center several miles west of the Las Vegas Strip.


___


Associated Press writers Elliot Spagat in San Diego and Ken Ritter in Las Vegas contributed to this report.


Entertainment News Headlines – Yahoo! News


Read More..