Democrats Propose $3 Trillion Cut to Budget Deficit

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Democrats are proposing to slash huge U.S. budget deficits by up to $3 trillion, aiming high to repair the country's fiscal mess even as Republicans show early signs of resisting the proposals.

The broad package of measures calls for long-term spending cuts, including to the government-run Medicare health program for the elderly that threatens to explode the U.S. national debt. The other half of the package would come from tax increases, four congressional aides told Reuters on Wednesday.

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The Democratic plan was presented on Tuesday behind closed doors to the special congressional panel tasked with finding ways of cutting the budget deficit by at least $1.2 trillion, the sources said.

It was a rare leak from the so-called "super committee," whose secretive deliberations have sparked intense speculation about how much progress the 12 Republican and Democratic members have made since they first began meeting on September 8. They face a November 23 deadline to report to Congress.

The aides spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.

The Democratic plan proposes cutting the deficit by $2.5 trillion to $3 trillion and calls for between $200 billion and $300 billion in new stimulus spending to boost an ailing U.S. economy. It would be paid for with lower interest payments from reducing deficits.

It also seeks around $400 billion in Medicare savings, with half coming in benefit cuts and the other half in cuts to healthcare providers. Details of that proposal were scant but tackling the popular Medicare program is always politically risky for politicians in Washington.

Many Democrats oppose cuts to Medicare, while Republicans have consistently fought tooth-and-nail against any tax hikes. The congressional aides were not immediately able to say how the Democrat plan would achieve the revenue increases.

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The aides did not say why Democrats were proposing such a big deal, but Democratic congressional leaders have repeatedly called on the super committee to go beyond its mandate to fix the country's fiscal mess.

Republicans refused to comment publicly on their political opponents' plan. But one congressional aide told Reuters that Senator Jon Kyl, a super committee Republican, interrupted the Democrats' presentation on Tuesday to complain that it contained "too much revenues."

"We haven't signed off on any revenues, and we certainly aren't doing anything that high," the aide quoted Kyl as saying.

There is a deep ideological divide between the two parties over taxes, which is likely to be a key issue in the 2012 elections. A Republican member of the super committee, Representative Dave Camp, on Wednesday proposed slashing the top tax rates for individuals and corporations.

Camp, chairman of the tax-writing House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee, also called for a "territorial system" that would exempt 95 percent of offshore corporations' profits from the U.S. corporate income tax.

CLYBURN'S MISGIVINGS

With U.S. budget deficits topping $1 trillion annually, ratings agencies are watching closely to see how the super committee advances toward a credible long-term solution to restore the U.S. fiscal health.

If the committee fails to reach a deal, automatic spending cuts, evenly divided between military and domestic programs, would be triggered, starting in 2013, under a budget deal struck between Republicans and Democrats this summer.

[See a collection of political cartoons on the budget and deficit.]

The Democratic plan proposes deeper cuts to Medicare than those envisaged by the summer budget deal. The automatic spending triggers would limit cuts to Medicare to 2 percent a year. Analysts say that would amount to about $123 billion in spending cuts for the program through 2021.

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Australia calls for tougher anti-piracy action in Indian Ocean

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PERTH, Australia | Fri Oct 28, 2011 5:13am EDT

PERTH, Australia (Reuters) - Australia called on Friday for tougher action against piracy in the Indian Ocean and announced it would host an international conference next year to help tackle the growing problem.

Pirates attacked a record number of ships worldwide in the first nine months of 2011, but are making off with fewer vessels due to better policing by international naval forces.

"Piracy off the Horn of Africa has seen murders and hundreds of seafarers taken hostage," Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd told an Indian Ocean Piracy Forum on the sidelines of a Commonwealth summit in the west Australian city of Perth.

"Piracy has also increased the costs of international trade, and done enormous harm to regional countries' fishing and tourist industries. More must be done to prosecute, convict and imprison pirates," he said.

Cooperation between Somalia's al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants and pirate gangs is growing as they become more desperate for funding, said the head of the U.N.'s counter-piracy unit, John Steed.

Rudd said next year's conference in Perth would seek to assist Somalia and other states tackle the drivers of piracy and compare counter-piracy cooperation in other regions, such as Southeast Asia where the number of attacks has been on the decline.

(Reporting by Michael Perry, Editing by Jonathan Thatcher)

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Italy's Berlusconi says government solid, no early election

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Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi talks to the media as he leaves a euro zone leaders summit in Brussels October 27, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Francois Lenoir

ROME | Fri Oct 28, 2011 4:05am EDT

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi repeated Friday that his center-right coalition, which has come close to falling apart over policy differences, would see out its term until 2013 and that his alliance with the Northern League party was solid.

Speaking on his own Canale 5 television station, he ruled out any broad-based government of national unity, which he said would create paralysis for Italy and said an election campaign in the middle of the crisis would be seriously damaging.

"The important thing is to maintain a cohesive majority and government to pass reforms," he said.

The comments came days after Northern League leader Umberto Bossi said there was a serious risk the government could fall over proposals to raise the pension age as part of reforms demanded by the European Union.

(Reporting by James Mackenzie)

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Texas executes man convicted of killing police officer

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By Jim Forsyth

SAN ANTONIO | Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:54pm EDT

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - Texas on Thursday executed by lethal injection a man who shot dead his wife on the day she tried to leave him, and killed a police officer who came to the home to check out a domestic disturbance call.

Texas officials said Frank Garcia, 39, gunned down Jessica Garcia in 2001 after she tried to leave her abusive husband. He killed police officer Hector Garza, 49, when he arrived at the home to check out a disturbance.

Garcia told police he aimed for Garza's head because he knew officers wear bullet-proof vests, detectives told reporters shortly after Garcia's arrest.

The Garcias' 5-year-old daughter witnessed both murders, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Frank Garcia shot Garza first, three times, and then shot his wife six times. He also shot and wounded his wife's uncle, according to the Department.

Shots he fired outside the house damaged a nearby elementary school, according to the Texas Attorney General's office. Garcia gave a formal statement in which he admitted intentionally killing his wife and Garza, the attorney general's office said.

Evidence presented in the trial showed that Jessica Garcia had once sought help from a battered women's shelter, according to the attorney general's office.

Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed, who prosecuted the case, attended the execution in Huntsville, Texas, according to a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Earlier in the week, she called the murders "a huge tragedy."

"If there was ever a poster child for the death penalty, this is the case," Reed told Reuters. "Hector Garza, a fine officer; Jessica Garcia, a woman who is trying to leave an abusive situation, and this huge tragedy happens to all of them."

Several dozen San Antonio police officers traveled to Huntsville and were present outside the prison unit during the execution, said Jason Clark, a Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman.

The San Antonio Police Department said in a statement on behalf of Garza's family that the officer was a devoted husband and father committed to protecting his community.

"Though the execution does not bring complete closure to Hector's family, as we all miss him dearly, it comforts us to know that Frank Garcia will never destroy another family," the statement said.

Garcia prayed aloud at length in his final moments alive, Clark said.

"Thank you, Yahweh, thank you, Jesus Christ, hallelujah, amen, and thank you, warden," were his final words, Clark said.

Garcia's execution was the 12th this year in Texas, which has executed more than four times as many people as any other state since the United States reinstated the death penalty in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

As of Wednesday there had been 38 executions this year in the United States, according to the Center.

Texas last month abolished the long-held tradition of allowing condemned inmates to order what they want for their last meal. Instead, they receive what other prisoners are served.

(Writing by Corrie MacLaggan; Editing by Greg McCune and Jerry Norton)

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Activists occupy Belo Monte dam

27 October 2011 booth 23: 22 GMT indigenous groups have hundreds of activists protesting against the project for years of the Belo Monte dam project in the Brazilian Amazon site have.

Challenge, that the work on the multi billion dollar dam be stopped, because it would displace thousands of indigenous people and the environment damage.

The protesters, many of them members of indigenous groups, said that she would remain indefinitely at the site.

The Government says that the project for the energy needs of vital importance.

Indian missionary Council, an organization supported by the Catholic Church, said that more than 600 Indians, fishermen and indigenous had occupied it the site, and the road.

A spokesman for the Council said the news agency AFP, the occupation was peaceful and there were no cases.

The indigenous groups to negotiate with representatives, which they say, the Council requested that send Government, would suffer from the building of the dam.

"In view of the intransigence of the Government and its insistence on ignoring us, we now occupy the Belo Monte construction website and block access to the motorway Transamazon" Council stated on his website.

The BBC's Paulo Cabral in São Paulo says local judge said to leave the protesters or a $300 (£ 185) daily fine himself.

Lawsuit

Construction of the dam was halted last month after a judge ruled, however, for reasons of environmental protection, but the construction of accommodation blocks for the project could workers continue to.

Judge Carlos Castro Martins ruled out any work that would interfere with the natural flow of the Xingu River.

He opted for a fisheries group, which argues that the Belo Monte dam would affect local fish stocks and local families who could damage fishing life.

Judge Martin's excluded the Norte Energia company behind the project of "a port to build explosives, installation of dikes, canals and other infrastructure work that would interfere with the natural flow of the Xingu River, thus the local fish stocks".

He said the construction of canals and levees would have negative effects for River communities of small-scale fishing life.

The Consortium behind the project is expected to appeal against the decision.

In June, the Brazilian environment agency supported the construction of the dismissal of concerns by environmentalists and indigenous groups, who claim that damage and tens of thousands of people replacing it the world's largest tropical rainforest.

The Agency, Ibama, said that the dam had exposed "robust analysis" of the impact on the environment.

Dam would 11,000 megawatts the third largest in the world - after the three gorges in China and Itaipu, executed jointly by Brazil and Paraguay.

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Picasso sketch thief admits guilt

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28 October 2011 Last updated at 07:14 GMT The 1965 pencil sketch was recovered without its frame A man who walked out of a San Francisco art gallery with a Picasso sketch under his arm after snatching it from the wall has pleaded guilty to grand theft.

Wine sommelier Mark Lugo, 30, took Tete de Femme from the Weinstein Gallery on 5 July before getting into a cab with the $275,000 (£170,000) 1965 work.

He will be released from prison under supervision on 21 November after getting credit for time already served.

He will then be extradited to New York to face similar art theft charges.

Lugo was arrested within 24 hours after co-operation from the taxi driver and security camera footage from a nearby restaurant that captured Lugo walking away with the artwork.

When officers searched Lugo's apartment, in New Jersey, they found Tete de Femme and other stolen works including a further Picasso, valued at $30,000 (£19,000), and a sketch by French Cubist Fernand Leger, valued at $350,000 (£218,000).

"This is a person who definitely had a taste for the finer things and he didn't like to pay for them," San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon said.

Under a plea deal, other charges, including burglary, were dropped.

Lugo's lawyer Douglas Horngrad said his client had been accused of a series of crimes.

"All these things that Mark is alleged to have taken were all taken within a 30-day period with no behaviour like that before and that suggests that there was some psychiatric episode," the lawyer said.

Gallery president Rowland Weinstein praised "really extraordinary police work".

"This piece is a love affair of mine," he added.

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Samsung beats Apple smartphones

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28. Oktober 2011 08:23 GMT Stand Samsung hatte 24 % der globalen Smartphone-Markt im dritten Quartal des Jahres Samsung überholte Apple zu den weltweit größten Verkäufer von Smartphones zwischen Juli und September.

Forschung von Strategy Analytics hat gezeigt, dass Samsung 27,8 Mio. Smartphones in den drei Monaten gegenüber 17,1 Mio. von Apple und 16,8 Millionen von Nokia verkauft.

Die Beratung sagte, dass Apples Wachstum durch Kunden warten auf den Start der neuen iPhone-4S behindert wurde.

Apples Nummer vier Steckplatz insgesamt Mobilteil Umsatz wurde von Chinas genommen ZTE.

Nokia war der Top-Handy-Verkäufer mit einem 27,3 % Marktanteil, gefolgt von Samsung mit 22,6 % und LG mit 5,4 %.

ZTE nahm 4,7 %, pushen von Apple in den fünften Platz mit 4,4 %.

Der Bericht kam kurz nach der Veröffentlichung der Ergebnisse des dritten Quartals von Samsung, die Gewinne um 23 %, als starkes Wachstum im Geschäftsfeld Handy durch eine schlechte Leistung in der Speicher-Chip-Arm überschattet wurde.

Marktanteil von Unternehmen Sendungen (Millionen)

Mobilteil Gewinne mehr als verdoppelt, 2.52tn gewann (2,3 Mrd.$, £ 1 Mrd.) auf hohe Umsätze von seiner Galaxy-Smartphones.

"Samsung Aufstieg durch eine Mischung aus eleganten Hardware-Designs, beliebte Android-Dienste, unvergesslichen Untermarken und umfangreiche globale Verteilung, getrieben hat", sagte Alex Spektor von Strategy Analytics.

"Samsung hat gezeigt, dass es möglich, zumindest kurzfristig, zu unterscheiden und zu wachsen mit das androide Ökosystem."

Insgesamt 117 Millionen Smartphones wurden im dritten Quartal um 44 % gegenüber dem gleichen Zeitraum im Vorjahr verkauft.

Nokia-Marktanteil für Smartphones fiel von 33 % im dritten Quartal 2010 auf 14 % dieser Zeit ab.

"Der Übergang von Symbian an Microsoft als Nokia wichtigsten Smartphone-Plattform war eindeutig ein sehr schwierigen Prozess in diesem Jahr", sagte Tom Kang von Strategy Analytics.

"Die neue Produkteinführung des neuen Microsoft Lumia-Portfolios hat dazu beigetragen, Nokias Profil."

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Investors and Economists Say Deflation Risk Is Real

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Risks are rising that a moribund job market and potentially steep drop in inflation could push the United States into a downward spiral of falling wages and prices.

That nightmare scenario of deflation might seem remote considering a recent rebound in growth, and the Federal Reserve would almost certainly try to head it off, probably well before prices started to fall.

But some investors and economists say the risk is real.

Inflation is expected to more than halve over the next year as a spike in prices for goods like oil and grains unwinds. Unemployment, meanwhile, will likely hold at nearly double its pre-recession level well into next year, keeping incomes under pressure.

If forecasts are correct, that could present a dangerous combination the Fed might not allow to brew for very long.

"You run the models and that all points to deflation," said Joshua Dennerlein, an economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York. "Without some kind of monetary policy help you would definitely get deflation."

[See a collection of political cartoons on the economy.]

Already, many forecasts for price increases are lower than they were a year ago when the Fed announced it would pump $600 billion into the banking system to boost growth and counter fears of deflation, which were growing at the time.

The inflation rate, which hit a three-year high of 3.9 percent in September, could fall to 1.3 percent by October 2012, according to a measure of expectations calculated by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

That would leave the rate below the U.S. central bank's 1.7 percent to 2 percent comfort zone.

FOUNDATION FOR ACTION

With this year's inflation surge as a backdrop, the Fed is not expected to make any move at its policy meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday.

But looking to mid-2012, when the central bank's current stimulus program known as "Operation Twist" is due to expire, a high jobless rate and slowing inflation could look worrisome, especially if inflation expectations decline further.

"That would provide more of a foundation for action both to try to reduce the probability of slipping into deflation and to try to provide some more support for economic growth," said Randall Kroszner, an economist at the University of Chicago who served on the Fed's board until 2009.

When Kroszner was a policymaker, deflation fears were perhaps their highest since the Great Depression, the last time U.S. prices and incomes sank in a vicious, self-feeding cycle.

To counter inflation, central banks can always raise interest rates. But the Fed's normal tool kit for countering falling prices is limited since it has already cut short-term borrowing costs nearly to zero.

The key would be to find a way to ensure a deflationary psychology does not take hold. If consumers and businesses put off purchases because they could be cheaper down the road, that could undercut the economy and push prices down further.

[See an opinion slide show of 10 wasteful stimulus projects.]

While growth likely accelerated to around a 2.5 percent annual pace in the third quarter, nearly double the second-quarter rate, several Fed officials have continued to talk about steps they could take to spur a stronger recovery.

Some of the third quarter's relative strength reflects a one-time bounceback from shocks caused by a spike in oil prices and an earthquake in Japan that disrupted manufacturing.

And dark clouds remain. Economists say a worsening of Europe's debt crisis could easily send the United States back into recession, further increasing deflation risks.

MONEY PRINTING

Already, nearly one fifth of Americans believe their family incomes will fall during the next six months, the highest level of wage pessimism since October 2009, according to data released on Tuesday by the Conference Board.

At the same time, consumer expectations for long-term inflation, as measured by a Thomson-Reuters/University of Michigan survey, fell this month to the lowest level since the Fed was readying a $600 billion bond-buying plan a year ago.

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Wounded Iraq vet awake after Oakland protest injury

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1 of 3. Occupy Oakland protester Scott Olsen, a former U.S. Marine and Iraq war veteran, is carried away after being injured during a demonstration in Oakland, California October 25, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Jay Finneburgh

By Peter Henderson

OAKLAND, Calif | Fri Oct 28, 2011 12:30am EDT

OAKLAND, Calif (Reuters) - An Iraq war veteran badly wounded in clashes between protesters and police on the streets of Oakland was awake and lucid, hospital officials and family members said on Thursday.

Scott Olsen, a 24-year-old former U.S. Marine struck in the head during Wall Street protests on Tuesday night, had been upgraded from critical to fair condition overnight.

Olsen's injury has become a rallying cry for the Occupy Wall Street movement nationwide, and Oakland organizers said they would stage a general strike over what a spokeswoman called the "brutal and vicious" treatment of protesters, including the young Iraq war veteran.

At the downtown plaza where he was hurt, several hundred supporters turned out Thursday night for a candlelight vigil in which fellow activists from a group called Iraq War Veterans for Peace addressed the crowd. One drew loud cheers when he said the police chief or mayor should resign.

Olsen "responded with a very large smile" to a visit from his parents, Highland General Hospital spokesman Warren Lyons said at a late-afternoon press conference on Thursday.

"He's able to understand what's going on. He's able to write and hear, but has a little difficulty with his speech," Lyons said.

He said doctors had not operated on Olsen yet and were waiting to see if swelling in his brain eased.

Olsen's aunt, Kathy Pacconi, told Reuters in an email that her nephew was showing signs of improvement.

"I believe he knew his mom and dad were there, and tomorrow he'll be really happy to see his sister, Melissa, because they are really close. Hopefully, he'll start to improve with her visit," Pacconi said.

Occupy Oakland organizers said their strike, scheduled for next Wednesday, was intended to shut down the city.

'SHUT THE CITY DOWN'

"We mean nobody goes to work, nobody goes to school, we shut the city down," organizer Cat Brooks said. "The only thing they seem to care about is money and they don't understand that it's our money they need. We don't need them, they need us."

Spokeswomen for the city of Oakland and Mayor Jean Quan could not be reached for comment.

Brooks said a general strike was a "natural progression" following a crackdown by the city of Oakland early on Tuesday morning in which protesters were evicted from a plaza near city hall and 85 people were arrested.

Protesters sought to retake that plaza on Tuesday night and were repeatedly driven back by police using stun grenades and tear gas. It was during one of those clashes that protesters say Olsen was struck in the head by a tear gas canister fired by police.

The hospital has confirmed Olsen was hurt during the protest, but could not say how he was wounded. Acting Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan had told a news conference his department was investigating the incident.

He said police had fired tear gas and bean-bag projectiles when protesters defied orders to disperse. He also said that some demonstrators had pelted police with rocks and bottles.

Olsen is believed to be the most seriously wounded person yet in confrontations between police and activists since Occupy Wall Street protests began last month in New York.

News of his injury ignited a furor among supporters of the protests. Activists in Oakland and elsewhere took to Twitter and other social media urging demonstrators back into the streets en masse.

More than 1,000 protesters moved onto the streets of Oakland again on Wednesday night as police largely kept their distance.

At Thursday's vigil, Emily Yates, an Army veteran of two tours in Iraq, urged restraint by police and protesters.

"The police claim they were just doing their job. It's all of our job to think before we throw anything at each other," she said.

Steve Morse, 65, a Vietnam War veteran, drew a hearty cheer when he called for the resignation of either Police Chief Jordan or Mayor Quan, both widely criticized as having bungled the city's response to the Occupy Oakland movement.

The crowd roared back with gusto when a woman from the crowd later yelled out, "Where's our mayor?"

Organizers said Quan had been invited in an open letter to address the vigil, but she was not present.

Friends say Olsen had been active in several anti-war veterans groups and had joined Oakland protesters in a gesture of solidarity after learning of the police crackdown there.

Keith Shannon, 24, who said he served with Olsen in Iraq, told Reuters his friend suffered a two-inch skull fracture.

Olsen served two tours in Iraq from 2006 to 2010 with the 3rd battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, Shannon said, adding that he and Olsen deployed together and were assigned to a tactical communications unit.

(Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb, Mary Slosson and Emmett Berg; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Jerry Norton)

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After Greek Debt Deal, U.S. Futures Jump

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Home > Politics & Policy > After Greek Debt Deal, U.S. Futures Jump

October 27, 2011 Print

NEW YORK — U.S. stock futures are jumping after European leaders agreed on a deal to slash Greece's debt.

Banks agreed to take 50 percent losses on the Greek bonds that they hold, and European leaders agreed to strengthen a rescue fund to protect Italy and other large European economies. Worries that a European country could default had dragged down global stocks.

Reports later Thursday will show how strongly the U.S. economy grew between July and September, as well as how many Americans joined the unemployment line last week.

Two hours ahead of the opening of trading, Dow Jones industrial average futures are up 206, or 1.7 percent, to 12,008. S&P 500 index futures are up 25.80, or 2.1 percent, to 1,263.20. Nasdaq 100 futures are up 47.50, or 2 percent, to 2,374.

Tags:Greece, debt, Europe, Associated Press

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Mandatory Halloween meeting to occupy some Alabama sex offenders

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By Kelli Dugan

MOBILE, Ala | Thu Oct 27, 2011 7:08pm EDT

MOBILE, Ala (Reuters) - Authorities in one southeast Alabama county have special Halloween plans for certain sex offenders, designed to keep trick-or-treaters safer and parents more at ease.

The Russell County Sheriff's Department has ordered nearly a quarter of the county's registered sex offenders -- those either on parole or probation -- to spend three hours of All Hallows' Eve at their own little party in the county commission chambers.

There won't be any party favors, but those in attendance will receive a timely, and mandatory, update on the latest registration requirements, said Russell County Sheriff Heath Taylor.

"My thought process in this was that to protect our kids. If we save one somebody from becoming a (sex offender's) victim, then it's done its job," he said.

The program is a joint venture between the sheriff's office and the Alabama Department of Pardons and Paroles. About 35 of the county's 150 registered sex offenders are either on parole or probation, but Taylor said his office can only encourage the remaining 115 offenders to attend the meeting voluntarily.

"We can't make them do it, but for the ones that it's voluntary, we're hoping they'll come on in and get some help with their next registration," Taylor said, noting about one dozen offenders had already volunteered to attend the program by late Thursday afternoon.

Alabama law requires sex offenders to register four times per year at a cost of $10 per registration. Any offender who voluntarily attends the Halloween meeting will have the fee for their next registration period waived, Taylor said.

"This is just something we felt we needed to do for the safety of our community, and I really think it's going to be a good thing," he said.

Russell County is not alone in its quest to contain any holiday-induced threats to its littlest residents, but laws governing the activities of convicted sex offenders on Halloween vary widely from city to city and state to state.

Although no statewide law bars sex offenders from handing out candy to Alabama trick-or-treaters, neighboring Florida enacted a law in 2010 that not only bans that but also bars offenders from wearing costumes children might find appealing.

In California's Riverside County, two separate cities passed ordinances within the past week barring sex offenders from passing out candy, and sheriff's deputies in Virginia's Loudon County will visit residences of sex offenders Monday night to ensure all parole or probation requirements are being met.

A spokesman with the Loudon County Sheriff's Office said "Operation Porch Lights Out" also prohibits violators on probation or parole from turning on their porch lights, answering their doors for trick-or-treaters or displaying "inviting" decorations on Halloween.

(Editing by Jerry Norton)

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'Super-committee' Republicans Seek $2.2 Trillion in Deficit Cuts

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Republicans in Congress are calling for $2.2 trillion in deficit-reduction, including significant cuts to healthcare programs for the elderly and poor along with tax changes that they argue would boost the economy, congressional aides said on Thursday.

The plan offered by Republicans who serve on a congressional "super committee" tasked with slashing deficits calls for cuts to the Medicare and Medicaid health programs for the poor and elderly and other health and welfare programs.

The panel of six Republicans and six Democrats have been negotiating behind closed doors, but the details of the Republican plan that have emerged show the two sides far apart over the issue of tax increases to reduce the deficit.

[See the month's best political cartoons.]

Aides said the Republican plan claims hundreds of billions of dollars in savings by lowering corporate and individual tax rates. They say that would increase economic activity and bring in more revenue. Democrats have argued that position is a non-starter for them.

In contrast to a Democratic plan that has an almost even balance between spending cuts and tax increases, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said the focus of deficit reduction efforts should be almost exclusively on cutting benefit programs.

He rejected the idea of additional defense spending cuts.

"When you look at what is yet to be done by the super committee, almost all of that is going to fall in the area, I think, of mandatory spending, which is more than two thirds of the budget. It is time for us to do our work there," Boehner told reporters.

PLAN DRAWS FIRE

Mandatory programs range from Medicare and Medicaid to the Social Security retirement plan and food stamp program for the poor. It also includes federal workers' pension plans.

Congressional aides, who asked not to be identified, said the Republican proposal has $785 billion in mandatory spending cuts, including $500 billion for Medicare, $185 billion for Medicaid and $100 billion for other health programs.

[See a collection of political cartoons on the economy.]

The Medicare cuts include premium increases for beneficiaries, according to a congressional aide.

There are an additional $400 billion in spending cuts for other mandatory spending programs that include government retirement programs and food stamps, according to other aides.

The proposal also includes a controversial plan to change the way annual benefit increases are calculated for Social Security and other government programs to reflect a lower rate of inflation than the current formula.

The Republican plan calls for tax changes, but would dedicate any revenues generated by closing tax loopholes and other breaks to reducing overall income tax rates, the aides said.

The Republican plan immediately drew fire from Democrats. They complained it was designed more to please Grover Norquist, who heads the conservative Americans Tax Reform, which opposes tax increases to reduce the deficit.

"Their offer is a joke," said a Democratic aide who declined to be identified.

The Republican offer came after Democrats on the panel proposed on Tuesday about $3 trillion in savings over 10 years through an equal mix of spending cuts, which also include cuts for Medicare and Medicaid.

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The super committee has been asked to develop a plan for at least $1.2 trillion in deficit cuts over 10 years. If it fails to reach a deal an equivalent amount in automatic spending cuts would be triggered.

Boehner said he wanted to avoid the automatic spending cuts, which would fall heavily on the defense sector, traditionally favored by Republicans.

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Tunisia protests following poll win

28 October 2011 booth 04: 22 GMT Rachid Ghannouchi said his party still who have violent protests in Central Tunisia goals of the Tunisian revolution, broke out after the results of the first democratic elections in the country, were announced in decades.

Police used tear gas had protested against hundreds of people in Sidi Bouzid, which seats won by either party against the cancellation.

The city is the birthplace of the unrest, which broke that raise Arab spring riots earlier this year.

The Ennahda of the Islamic party won elections last Sunday.

Official results show that Ennahda more than 41% of the vote, that there is 90 seats in the 217-member Parliament.

Party leader, Rachid Ghannouchi said his Government with the objectives of the revolution, continues to say that Tunisia was "for all".

Sunday poll found nine months after President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali was deposed.

Burning tires

On Thursday evening, hundreds of people by Sidi Bouzid marched, seats to protest the cancellation which won popular list party in six constituencies.

The electoral authorities said the candidates that had become invalid "Financial irregularities" party lists for.

The list of popular party, led by London merchant Hachemi Hamdi, had won a number of places in Sidi Bouzid.

Reports say the protesters smashed doors and Windows of the Central Ennahda in the town and also burned tyres on the roads.

Police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds.

Ennahda promise

Earlier on Thursday, the Election Commission of Ennahda proclaimed elections as the winner on Sunday.

At a press conference in Tunis, election Chief said Kamel Jandoubi, that the party would have 90 seats in the Parliament.

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, that this revolution, to realize the development of free, independent, and prosperity its goals of a Tunisia remains we... "Tunisia is for all"

End quote Rachid Ghannouchi Ennahda leader Ennahda said that it wants a new Government to make, within one month.

Mr Jandoubi said the Congress for the Republic (CPR) - the country's largest secular parties - finalist in the elections with almost 14%, winning 30 seats in the Parliament.

The leftist Ettakatol party comes with almost 10%, you 21 seats.

Ennahda, which was prohibited under the previous regime, says, that it is on the ruling AK party in Turkey, one other Muslim majority country has modeled, which has remained a secular State.

After results were announced, Mr. Ghannouchi promised every Tunisian rights would be protected by the new authorities.

"We'll continue this revolution, their goals of Tunisia, which is free, independent, development and prosperity, to realize the rights of God, the Prophet, women, men, religious and non-religious are, because Tunisia is for all" Mr. Ghannouchi said a crowd of supporters, Reuters reported.

Ennahda has sought to calm the secularists and to impose investors who carry tourists views of the Islamists, who nervously stop holding power in one of the most liberal countries of the Arab world, by saying that it would not prohibit alcohol, bikinis on the beaches or Islamic Bank.

Foreign tourism is an important source of revenue for Tunisia.

Tunisian Islamists promise, there will be no bans on bikinis and alcohol

But despite the assurances, the Ennahda victory concern caused in some parts of Tunisia, who fear that their policies could change later in the party, reported the BBC's Chloe Arnold.

Ennahda presented two, General Secretary of Hamadi Jebali, the number as the next Prime Minister. Coalition talks with the CPR and Ettakatol parties have already begun.

Mr Jebali, 62, is a former journalist. He was a co-founder of the Ennahda.

The polls were the first democratic elections, Tunisia and followed by the case of President Ben Ali, who was overthrown in January after mass demonstrations. He had in 23 years makes.

In contrast to its eastern neighbour Libya, Tunisia's transition from authoritarian was largely peaceful.

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GDP Up: Will Recession Fear Fade as Economy Shows Signs of Life?

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With just two months until the first primary contests officially kick off the race for the White House, politicians have unleashed a flurry of proposals designed to fix the ailing economy, encompassing everything from tax-code reform to student loan relief to a large-scale mortgage refinancing initiative.

And it sure seems like we need it, right? A string of bad economic data and policy failures in the first half of 2011 have severely weakened consumer and business confidence—more than three in four Americans now believe the country is on the "wrong track" according to a recent Rasmussen Reports poll. That attitude has made virtually everyone clam up and become super-cautious when it comes to spending, a persistent obstacle in this non-recovery.

Not only do Americans feel uncertainty about the U.S. economy in general, plenty of doubts exist when it comes to their own financial situations as well. Even with a weak "recovery" taking place, personal income growth has receded to levels not seen since 2010, making Americans feel less wealthy and increasingly pessimistic about the future.

But while no one is arguing the economy is in tip-top shape, a slew of recent data shows encouraging progress and support for the argument that although weak growth might be in the future, a double-dip recession most likely isn't. Here are a few reasons why things might be looking up for the U.S. economy:

[Read: Recession Fears Fade But Euro Debt Crisis Still Looms.]

Gross domestic product. After a series of gloomy forecasts for the U.S. economy, real gross domestic product—a measure of the output of goods and services—increased at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in the third quarter of 2011 according to the advance estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis Thursday. In the second quarter, real GDP increased 1.3 percent and first-quarter numbers came in at a measly 0.4 percent. While economists emphasize that 2.5 percent isn't exactly robust growth, it is a huge improvement from first- and second-quarter estimates and a sign that the much-anticipated economic recovery could be finally finding its footing. But, other economists warn that growth above 2 percent doesn't appear to be sustainable. "Business investment, inventory, and exporting hold the key to how much growth can be anticipated through the first half of 2012," Kathy Bostjancic, director for macroeconomic analysis at the Conference Board, said in a press release Thursday.

In any case, simply the perception that things are getting slightly better could generate a rebound in consumer and business confidence, which could ultimately help steer the economy further away from the cusp of another recession.

Housing. Pretty much any way you slice it, the housing market is in the dumps. And while 2011 is shaping up to be one of the worst years on record for the single-family housing market, green shoots might be growing elsewhere. It seems counterintuitive given the constant talk of overbuilding contributing to the massive housing bubble, but a rebound in multifamily unit construction—think townhomes or apartments—has given the housing market a shred of hope to cling to.

Thanks to building activity in that sector, housing starts jumped 15 percent—the best reading in 17 months, according to IHS Global insight—to a 658,000 annual rate. Single-family starts were up 1.7 percent, according to IHS, a modest but encouraging change.

According to IHS forecasts, a housing market recovery initially driven by an uptick in multi-family unit construction through 2013 will eventually make way for improvement in the decimated single-family home space as pent-up demand builds.

In some ways, that demand may be reappearing already. On the heels of strong gains in August, existing home sales—while down 3 percent in September—clocked in at more than 11 percent above figures from September 2010, according to the National Association of Realtors.

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Democratic Strategists Worry President Is Too Close to Hollywood

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President Obama is working hard to rebuild his support among Hollywood celebrities and leaders of the entertainment industry, who strongly backed his 2008 campaign with their endorsements and their money. And it looks like he's having considerable success, judging by his trip to donor-rich California this week.

But some Democratic strategists wonder how close the president should get to Hollywood elites at a time when millions of Americans are suffering economic hardship and have little tolerance for the self-important dabbling of movie and TV stars in politics and policy. The Hollywood crowd brings excitement and stirs public interest, but getting too close could make Obama seem to be a showhorse when a workhorse is what people really want. [See photos of the Obamas behind the scenes.]

There had been some concern among Democrats that entertainment industry leaders might not open their wallets for the 2012 campaign after celebrities, including actors Matt Damon and Robert Redford and director Michael Moore, expressed disappointment in Obama because he hasn't delivered on more of his promises.

But in Los Angeles this week, there was no dearth of stars at Obama's fund-raisers. He attended one event Monday hosted by actors Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith that included 200 guests, who each paid at least $5,000. Obama also spoke at a separate fund-raising dinner attended by 40 persons, including actor Will Smith and former basketball player Magic Johnson, at a cost of $35,800 each. On Tuesday, Obama attended a private meeting in Los Angeles of entertainment-industry insiders including studio executive Harvey Weinstein and record company executives Livia Tortella and Craig Kallman. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said, "It was not a fundraiser. It was just a discussion — brief, very brief, like 10 minutes — with some supporters." Of course, the checks will probably arrive later. It won't be clear how much money Obama has raised from Hollywood until official fundraising reports are released at year's end. But the receipts should be impressive. [See editorial cartoons about President Obama.]

Obama told his Hollywood guests that, even though he has had his share of setbacks, he remains committed to a sweeping agenda of change. At one point, Obama referred to a checklist of his top priorities and said, "We've got about 60 percent done. I'm pretty confident we can get the next 40 percent done in the next five years."

This is what the Hollywood crowd wanted to hear. The question for Obama is how closely he wants to be associated with the stars when his target audience should be more down to earth, in Middle America.

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Bernie Madoff and Wife Ruth Attempted Suicide In 'Impulsive' Move

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Justin Lane / EPA / Corbis

"I don't know whose idea it was, but we decided to kill ourselves because it was so horrendous what was happening."

— RUTH MADOFF, telling 60 Minutes' Morley Safer that she and her husband, convicted Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, attempted suicide in an "impulsive" response to hate mail and harassment (via CBS)

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As Europe Moves Forward, America Drifts Downward

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Maybe the United States really is the world's most dysfunctional democracy.

For the last 18 months, Americans dismayed by the follies in Washington have been able to console themselves with this thought: At least it's worse in Europe. But now, it seems to be better in Europe, and it's getting hard to find any other country that makes America look good.

[See 11 things wrong with Congress.]

The recent deal to forgive some of Greece's debt and move toward an ultimate resolution of Europe's wider financial problems came after numerous incremental moves that everybody knew fell far short of what was needed. It defies the expectations of many professional investors, who girded for the worst. The euro zone, after all, is comprised of 17 nations, each with its own convoluted politics and egomaniacal leaders. There's no centralized fiscal authority, and the European Central Bank has had feet of clay compared to the aggressive moves of our own Federal Reserve. There were farcical moments when demands from tiny nations like Finland and Slovakia seemed likely to scotch a deal. In Italy, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been dealing with his nation's debt crisis one day and his own personal sex scandals the next. Wringing tough decisions out of this quarrelsome crowd seemed a task beyond the most gifted statesman.

Yet European leaders have managed to subordinate their parochial concerns to a deeper common interest. The Greek deal is far from perfect and it could still unravel. It doesn't do anything, for example, to stoke growth in big, stagnant economies like those in Italy or Spain, a perennial problem that still hamstrings the overall European economy. And there remains a huge disparity between the rich nations of northern Europe and poorer ones to the south, which will continue to cause political friction over who should bear the cost of painful reforms.

But the deal pushes Europe over a critical threshold because it will finally require banks holding Greek debt—mostly in France and Germany—to accept significant losses on their troubled investments. The 50 percent "haircut" borne by Greek bondholders will reduce Greece's overall debt to a more manageable level and give some breathing room to a besieged government that's been forcing harsh austerity measures on its citizens. Europe will also beef up a bailout fund—similar to the U.S. TARP program in 2008—that will help to recapitalize troubled banks and prevent a widespread bank run. While imperfect, the deal shows new political resolve that should boost confidence in Europe's ability to solve problems.

[See why America's credit rating could fall again.]

Americans can only look on this with envy. Washington's debt problems aren't as severe as those in Europe—yet—but members of Congress, so far, seem more inclined to dither and parry than to put their nation on sounder financial footing. President Obama, for his part, has treated debt reduction as an afterthought, with his own plan for addressing the problem coming way too late to count as leadership.

The debt deal reached over the summer fell far short of the $4 trillion in debt reduction budget watchers--and the markets--felt was necessary. The last-second brinksmanship also showed a willingness among some prominent politicians to risk damage to the nation's economy in pursuit of their own political goals. Washington's reckless behavior alarmed investors, caused the first-ever cut in the nation's credit rating, depressed the stock markets, and pushed consumer confidence down to levels last seen during the worst moments of the 2009 recession.

As a consolation prize, the summer debt deal also created a 12-person congressional "supercommittee" that's now trying to come up with another $1.5 trillion in debt reduction by the end of November. Not surprisingly, its proceedings so far have been rancorous. Bloomberg reports that the supercommittee "remains at an impasse," with the odds of failure rising.

[See how the debt fiasco damaged the economy.]

That may be premature, since deals on highly contentious issues tend to coalesce toward the very end of negotiations, when maneuvering room runs out. Yet there's good reason to expect failure. All six Republicans on the panel have signed tax activist Grover Norquist's pledge to oppose any increase in business or personal income taxes. And the six Democrats on the panel are unlikely to agree to big spending cuts if tax hikes are off the table. So negotiations began with seemingly intractable positions that will prevent compromise, and the amount of debt reduction needed is far too large for marginal maneuvers or accounting gimmicks to do the trick.

Business leaders are more disgusted with Washington than ever, with many of them now viewing political ineptitude as the biggest risk to the economy. Merrill Lynch recently told its clients that the supercommittee will probably fail, which will trigger a fresh shock to the economy, including further downgrades of the U.S. credit rating. Meanwhile, just 13 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, an all-time low.

[See how Greece has outperformed Washington.]

If the supercommittee fulfills the nation's low expectations and produces a hollow outcome, automatic spending cuts will kick in, a pathetic scenario that would promptly reduce GDP growth and kill any hope of political solutions from Washington. Within six months, the United States would probably have a lower credit rating that France, Germany, the U.K., Canada, Singapore, and a dozen other top-rated nations. At some point, investors may decide to park their cash in newly resurgent euros instead of dollars, which would drive up U.S. interest rates and Uncle Sam's borrowing costs. Those kinds of developments would make a new recession more likely and prolong a period of stagnation that's already forcing down American living standards.

Maybe then, American politicians will ask their European counterparts for advice on how to get something done. And for once, listen.

Twitter: @rickjnewman

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Reading While Eating for October 27: Three Little Words

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Brian Crane (L) and Mark Rozanski prepare for the annual High Heel Drag Race in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington on October 25, 2011

Molly Riley / Reuters

Thursday's links get all lovey-dovey.

You, Me, Us: According to one study, romantic compatibility all comes down to the pronouns you use. (New York Times)

Cover Story: Hillary Clinton talked to TIME's managing editor, Richard Stengel, about Libya, China and the limits of American power. (Swampland)

For Better or Worse: Rain on your wedding day? Easy. This couple endured a massive dust storm in Arizona and still got through their vows. (The Daily What)

Celebrity Carvings: Forget carving ghoulish faces onto gourds. These pop-culture pumpkins feature A.C. Slater and other notables instead. (Flavorwire)

Delicious Photos: Foodies, put down the Hipstamatic. Learn how to take high-quality, yummy-looking food photos. (LIFE)

Viral Video: Put on your Seinfeld hat and ask yourself, "What's the deal with Daylight Saving Time?" Then watch to find the answer. (SISFTI)

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Why do Americans keep dangerous pets?

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27 October 2011 Last updated at 23:01 GMT There are more tigers in captivity in the US than in the wild in the whole of Asia, according to some estimates. But the trade in exotic pets has dangerous consequences for man and beast alike, writes Louis Theroux.

I was in the back garden of an elegant home in rural Missouri with a ticklish question hanging in the air. Should we let the big chimpanzee out of his cage?

For several weeks I'd been on a kind of suburban safari, on the trail of America's large and growing population of exotic wild animals that are kept as pets.

In Indiana, I'd had a close encounter with a baboon called Tatiana. I'd also spent several days getting to know a few of the more than 150 tigers at an "Exotic Animal Sanctuary" in Oklahoma, though mostly through the bars.

But this chimpanzee, called Cooper, was a step up on the exotic animal danger-scale. He belonged to a couple called Jill and Brad James.

The owners of a funeral home, they'd raised two daughters when they decided to take on Cooper. Later, to give Cooper some company, they added a second, younger chimp called Tucancary into the mix.

Even in the world of exotic animals, chimps are considered somewhat controversial.

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Watch Louis Theroux: America's Most Dangerous Pets on BBC Two at 2100 on Sunday 30 October, or find out more by clicking the link below

Fully grown men who would think nothing of rolling around on the ground with a lion would politely decline the opportunity to get in a cage with an adult chimpanzee. Many are mindful of the infamous "Travis incident".

Travis, a 14-year-old, 200lb (91kg) chimpanzee, had once been the star of several TV commercials. He lived in suburban Connecticut with his owner Sandra Herold, sipping wine from a stemmed glass and occasionally popping a Xanax. One day in 2009, he viciously attacked a human neighbour, ripping off her face and chewing off several of her fingers.

Chimp owners have been fighting an uphill publicity battle ever since.

Earlier in the afternoon, with a little trepidation, I'd spent some one-on-one time with the James' smaller chimp, Tucancary. He is only five years old and the size of a human toddler, though much hairier and with long, powerful arms.

Tormented by visions of him biting off my nose or chewing off my testicles, I was relieved when he clambered up onto me to offer nothing more menacing than a hug.

But Cooper is two years older and close to sexual maturity. This makes him much more potentially dangerous, notwithstanding that his testicles are in a jar in Brad and Jill's garage.

In Oklahoma, Louis met tiger Sarg and owner Joe Exotic

Exotic animal ownership is rampant in the US. According to one oft-repeated factoid, there are more tigers in Texas than in India.

Only last week in Ohio a man with a menagerie of more than 50 animals, including tigers, giraffes and bears, decided to open up his cages and then shoot himself in the head - after being convicted of animal cruelty.

Local schools were closed down while authorities tried to track down the animals. Police shot some of the tigers as they stood rather pathetically (the tigers, not the police) outside their cages.

Quite why anyone would enjoy having an animal that could easily kill him is not easy to say. Why not own a creature you can stroke and cuddle and tease with a piece of string?

Of course, you can stroke and cuddle a baby lion, tiger or chimp, and therein lies part of the problem. Animals that are cute and huggable in infancy later grow into potential man-killers.

Most tiger owners let them roam the house for the first year or so of their lives. After that they are locked up for the rest of their lives, which can be as much as 20 years. There is no minimum size mandated for a tiger cage if the tiger is privately owned.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) registered facilities are required to provide "sufficient space to allow each animal to make normal postural and social adjustments with adequate freedom of movement".

In practice, an animal that roams hundreds of miles in the wild can find itself contained in a space no bigger than a living room.

As for chimps, they get to enjoy their first eight to 10 years with direct human interaction. But after that they too tend to be locked away. Given that they can live to be as many as 60 or 65 years old, that's a pretty long stretch behind bars.

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An animal that roams hundreds of miles in the wild can find itself contained in a space no bigger than a living room”

End Quote Some owners tire of their animals as they get older and become too unpredictable to play with. Others run out of money or pre-decease their pets.

The prices tell the story. A baby chimpanzee can go for as much as $50,000 (£31,195) or $60,000 (£37434). An adult chimpanzee has no market value.

Abandoned adult animals end up in sanctuaries. But in one of the paradoxes of the exotics world, some of the sanctuaries that rescue animals also breed animals to defray their expenses - thereby, arguably, making the problem of surplus adults even worse.

As chimp owners, Jill and Brad are in many respects paragons. They have built their hairy friends a large-ish enclosure at the bottom of the garden where they have ropes to swing on, toys and TV to watch.

They say they still spend plenty of time with them. I watched Tucancary luxuriating in a warm shower, he seemed especially keen on the shampoo (drinking it more than washing with it).

Jill and Brad say they are committed to Cooper and Tucanary for the long term. But even they admit that as the chimps get older, they may have to play with them "through the bars".

As for my alone time with Cooper, when the time came, though he did come out of the cage, after some soul-searching I decided to "enjoy" him from afar. From the safety of inside the James' house, with the doors locked.

I watched him as he frolicked in the garden. He rode the sit-down mower, got a coke from the pool-side cabana, then relaxed in the hot tub.

No, I didn't get to grapple with him.

But on the plus side, I've still got my face.

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Alaska boat captain arrested for drunken driving

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska | Thu Oct 27, 2011 9:37pm EDT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - The captain of a supply boat was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after his vessel ran aground early on Thursday in Anchorage's small-craft harbor, police said.

It appears to be the first case of an alcohol-related marine accident at the port of Anchorage in recent memory, said Lieutenant Dave Parker of the Anchorage Police Department.

The vessel, a 53-foot cargo craft, was steered up onto the harbor's concrete boat ramp, where it was left "high and dry," Parker said. On its way into port, boat also appeared to have struck and damaged an offshore piling, he said.

A blood-alcohol test of the captain, Albert Anderson, 57, revealed he was at least one-and-a-half times the legal limit for operating a motor vehicle or water craft, Parker said.

Police are treating the case as a routine drunken-driving incident, albeit one that does not involve a car, he said.

No oil spilled and there were no injuries from the accident, Parker said.

(Reporting by Yereth Rosen; Editing by Steve Gorman and Jerry Norton)

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Census Bureau: More Americans Staying Put

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WASHINGTON — Americans are staying put more than at any time since World War II, as the housing bust and unemployment keep young adults at home and thwart older Americans' plans for a beachfront or lakeside retirement.

New information from the Census Bureau is the latest indicator of economic trouble, after earlier signs that mobility was back on the upswing. It's also a shift from America's long-standing cultural image of ever-changing frontiers, dating to the westward migration of the 1800s and more recently in the spreading out of whites, blacks and Hispanics in the Sun Belt's housing boom.

Rather than housing magnets such as Arizona, Florida and Nevada, it is now more traditional, densely populated states — California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey — that are showing some of the biggest population gains in the recent economic slump, according to the data released Thursday.

[See a collection of political cartoons on the economy.]

Residents have been largely locked in place; families are stuck in devalued homes and young adults are living with parents or staying put in the towns where they went to college.

"The fact that mobility is crashing is something that I think is quite devastating," said Richard Florida, an urban theorist and professor at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. He described America's residential movement as a key element of its economic resilience and history, from development of the nation's farmland in the Midwest to its coastal ports and homesteading in the West.

"The latest decline shows we are in a long-run economic reset and that we never really recovered — we've just been stagnating along," Florida said.

Roughly 11.6 percent of the nation's population, or 35.1 million, moved to a new home in the past year, down from 12.5 percent in the previous year. The current level of low mobility comes after the recession technically ended in mid-2009, beating a previous low of 11.9 percent in 2008.

It is the lowest in the 60-plus years that the Census Bureau has tracked information on moves, dating back to 1948.

The shares of people moving have been declining for decades, due in part to increases in two-income families that are more tied down by jobs and to an aging population that is less mobile. The peak for U.S. mobility came in 1951, when it hit 21.2 percent. The rate had leveled off at around 13 percent before falling off notably in 2008 during the recession.

Among young adults 25 to 29 — the most mobile age group — moves fell to 24.1 percent from 25.9 percent in the previous year. Longer-distance moves, typically for those seeking new careers in other regions of the country, remained largely flat at 3.4 percent. The biggest drop-off occurred in local moves, down to 15.4 percent from 17.7 percent in 2010, a sign that young adults in the prolonged slump weren't even willing to venture outside their counties, continuing instead to live with relatives or on college campuses.

[See the top 10 cities to find a job.]

Americans most often cite a desire to live in a new home as the main reason for moving, as well as reasons of family or economy such as marriage or a new job. But analysts say with many young adults delaying marriage while struggling to find employment and aging baby boomers expressing financial worries about retirement, the current mobility freeze could continue for several more years.

An Associated Press-LifeGoesStrong.com poll this month found that more than half of baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964 say they are unlikely to move someplace new in retirement; about 4 in 10 say they are very likely to stay in their current home throughout all of their retirement.

The annual growth of retirement-destination counties — typically in Sun Belt states such as Florida, Arizona and New Mexico — has fallen sharply since the recession that began in late 2007. It's down nearly half compared with the period 2000-2007, according to recent census data.

In all, the mid-decade housing boom and subsequent bust took a toll on virtually all age and race groups. Homeownership declined in 47 states and the District of Columbia while the national ownership rate fell by its largest amount since the 1930s. Hispanics who moved and purchased homes in new destinations in the Southeast were hit especially hard, sustaining bigger drops in average income and increases in poverty after low-wage construction jobs dried up in states such as South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee.

In contrast, middle-class blacks from the North who migrated to Southern states such as Georgia, Florida and Texas fared better, maintaining higher incomes than African-Americans who remained in declining industrial centers such as Michigan and Ohio.

Other bright spots in the housing bust included urban, high-tech college meccas that are proving to be a draw for young, college-educated adults of all races and ethnicities. The data covering 2008-2010 show that Raleigh, N.C.; Austin, San Antonio and Houston, Texas; Denver; Pittsburgh; and Baltimore and Washington, D.C., all of which tend to promise specialized tech jobs and hip lifestyles, had some of the biggest gains in residents.

William H. Frey, a Brookings Institution demographer who reviewed the education and race data, said many of these cities will continue to attract new residents after the economy fully recovers. He said other cities must seek ways to diversify their industries, draw new investment and build partnerships with local universities to attract young talent, much like Pittsburgh has been striving to do after the collapse of its steel industry.

"Right now, the 'cool' cities are serving as way stations for the small number of adventurous young people who are willing to move in a down economy. But when the broader economy picks up, a much larger group of people will move to wherever the jobs spring up," Frey said, noting that people are staying put for now because they have to, not because they want to.

"We are now just in a lull, albeit a hyperextended one," he said.

Other findings:

—Texas posted increases in average income across all race groups even after the housing bust. Washington, D.C., had the biggest overall gain in average income between 2005-2007 and 2008-2010 time periods — increasing 9 percent to nearly $60,000; 36 states had declines.

—Washington, D.C., New York, Connecticut, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Alabama and California have levels of income inequality that rise above the national average. Broken down by large metropolitan areas, New York City, Miami, Los Angeles, Houston, Memphis, Tenn., New Orleans, San Francisco, and Birmingham, Ala., each had wider-than-average gaps between rich and poor.

—Across smaller areas of geography, Fountainhead-Orchard Hills, Md., just north of Hagerstown, had the greatest measured income inequality; Country Knolls, N.Y., near Albany, registered the least.

—Suburban and rural homeowners were more likely to stay put than others. Some 93.5 percent of the suburban and 93.7 percent of the rural population in owner-occupied units are residing in the same house as one year ago, up from the 2005-2007 time period, according to Kenneth Johnson, senior demographer at the University of New Hampshire.

—Renters were more mobile: Overall, 68.8 percent lived in the same rental unit one year ago.

The findings were based on the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey as of March 2011, as well as comparisons of the 2005-2007 and the 2008-2010 American Community Survey to provide a snapshot of every U.S. community with at least 20,000 residents. Figures on income inequality come from a census analysis of survey data from 2005-2009.

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SA opposition elects black leader

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27 October 2011 Last updated at 13:40 GMT Ms Mazibuko hopes to appeal to black youth South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party has elected its first black parliamentary leader.

DA spokeswoman Lindiwe Mazibuko, 31, beat incumbent Athol Trollip, a white man, in the race for the job.

Analysts say her election shows the DA is trying to shed its image as a mainly-white party in a country where black people constitute the majority.

South Africa remains heavily polarised along racial lines, nearly 17 years after white minority rule ended.

Ms Mazibuko won the election with the backing of DA national leader Helen Zille, a white woman.

'Window-dressing'

She faced tough competition from Mr Trollip, a white political heavyweight who speaks several African languages and was seen in the party as a safe pair of hands, the BBC's Karen Allen in Johannesburg reports.

But the DA elected Ms Mazibuko because it knows it has to change its image if it is to meet its goal of unseating the governing African National Congress (ANC) party and forming a coalition government within a decade, our correspondent says.

The DA's critics dismiss Ms Mazibuko's election as window-dressing and say the party remains white-dominated.

Ms Mazibuko rejects the allegation.

She says that as a young black person, she has greater resonance with the youth who make up the vast majority of South Africa's unemployed.

The DA obtained 24% of the vote in the 2009 parliamentary elections.

Whites make up about 10% of South Africa's population.

The ANC has ruled South Africa since 1994, after spearheading a decades-long campaign to end apartheid.

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Poland reopens Auschwitz probes

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27 October 2011 Last updated at 19:36 GMT A previous round of investigations ended in the 1980s Polish authorities have reopened an investigation into crimes committed at Auschwitz and its satellite camps during World War II.

It is estimated that one million people - mostly Jews and non-Jewish Poles - were killed at the Nazi death camp.

One aim is to track down any Nazi war criminals still living.

It is being carried out by the Institute of National Remembrance, a state body that investigates Nazi and communist-era crimes.

The new investigation was opened by the institute's branch at Krakow, which is near Auschwitz.

It was not immediately clear if investigations into other death camps operated across German-occupied Poland - such as Treblinka, Sobibor, Chelmno and Belzec - were also planned.

Poland originally launched investigations in the 1960s and 1970s into crimes at Auschwitz, but closed them in the 1980s without any indictments being made.

During the communist era, Poland had difficulty questioning witnesses and perpetrators living abroad because the country was part of the Soviet bloc.

"We do not discount the possibility of finding alive former employees of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, in which case they may be accused of crimes against the Polish nation," said Piotr Piatek, of the Remembrance Institute in Krakow.

'Tremendous implications'

Most camp employees were tried in Poland after World War II, accused of crimes against the country, although these trials were ended by an amnesty in 1956.

The last time Poland prosecuted anyone for Nazi crimes was in 2001, when a Pole, Henryk Mania, was sentenced to eight years in prison for taking parts in acts of genocide in Chelmno.

Leading international Nazi hunter Efraim Zuroff praised Poland's reopening of the investigation.

He said it "could have tremendous implications" in paving the way for new prosecutions, thanks to the precedent set by the conviction earlier this year of Ohio car worker John Demjanjuk, after his extradition from the US for trial in Germany.

Demjanjuk was convicted of 28,060 counts of accessory to murder during the time he was a guard at the Sobibor extermination camp in Poland.

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Launches us drones from Ethiopia

28 October 2011 stand 05: 28 GMT by Steve Kingstone BBC News, Washington tried the remote aircraft can be equipped with missiles and satellite guided bombs of the U.S. drone flying military aircraft from a base in Ethiopia, when the fight against Islamist militants in neighboring Somalia started part.

US officials have confirmed the BBC that the base in the southern city of Arba Minch, is now operational.

But she stressed that that were used drones remote tried only for monitoring and not for air strikes.

It is part of a growing terror presence in the region, such as the United States groups with al-Qaeda links tracked.

The US military has allegedly spent millions of dollars update remotely, civil airport - of which, the Reaper drones now have flown.

The remote piloted aircraft can be equipped with missiles and satellite guided bombs.

But officials have told the BBC that the drones fly unarmed because their use is considered as confidential of Ethiopia.

Its role monitoring the militant group al-Shabab - based in Somalia, and already at the heart of the drone flew missions from other bases in the region.

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Obama Administration Moves Past Solyndra, Updates 'Solar Energy Zones'

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration on Thursday identified 17 sites in six Western states as prime candidates for solar energy projects on public lands, continuing a push for solar power despite the high-profile bankruptcy of a solar panel maker that received a half-billion dollar federal loan.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the latest "Solar Energy Zones" refine and improve on a draft released in December that identified two dozen areas in California, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona.

[Check out or Energy Intelligence blog.]

Five sites in Nevada, four in Colorado, three in Utah, two each in California and Arizona, and one in New Mexico were identified as ideal for solar development.

The sites comprise 285,000 acres, down from about 677,000 acres in December, and reflect the department's judgment that the targeted land has the highest potential for solar development with the fewest environmental conflicts.

The plan is intended to promote development of large, utility-scale solar projects on public lands that will generate thousands of megawatts of electricity. The zones are intended to maximize electrwicity generation while minimizing conflicts with wildlife, cultural and historic resources.

Salazar called the announcement a "giant step forward" as officials step up efforts to promote solar power, particularly in the West.

The administration's push for renewable energy has come under attack since California-based Solyndra Inc. closed its doors two month ago after receiving a $528 million federal loan. The company declared bankruptcy and laid off its 1,100 workers.

The new plan, which is subject to a 90-day public comment period, "establishes for the first time a blueprint for landscape-level planning that will help facilitate smarter siting of solar energy projects," Salazar said in a conference call with reporters.

[Read about the Republican case against Solyndra.]

It also proposes to open an additional 20 million acres of public land to future solar development.

While California has only two projects — both near the Arizona border in the southeastern corner of the state — it has more than half the total acreage, with 153,627 acres. Nevada has the next-highest acreage at 60,395.

Salazar and other officials said the plan aims to reduce conflicts and delays in approving solar projects, by identifying areas that have been "pre-screened" to show they are near transmission sites and have few in any environmental conflicts. The sites are also considered to have strong sunlight, with minimal rain or clouds.

Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes said the new plan "provides more clarity' on how projects can proceed and gives potential developers certainty that they will be working in areas that the government considers suited for solar power.

The new plan is based in part on more than 80,000 comments received after the draft plan was announced in December. The seven sites that were dropped from the draft plan include two each in California, Nevada and New Mexico, and one in Arizona.

None of the seven sites had attracted significant interest from investors and either had looming environmental conflicts or were far away from transmission lines, Hayes said, adding that he is confident the remaining 17 projects will be attractive to utilities and other developers.

The department has 79 applications for solar projects on public lands pending and expects to approve as many as 14 next year, officials said.

Four public meetings on the plan are scheduled in November and December.

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Ohio orders animals kept at zoo

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27 October 2011 Last updated at 20:19 GMT Ohio's governor says he will work on a new law regarding exotic animals The six surviving wild animals from an Ohio farm where the owner opened the cages and killed himself will not be returning to live with his widow.

Ohio's agricultural department ordered that the three leopards, two primates and a young grizzly bear must be quarantined at the Columbus Zoo.

Marian Thompson had told zoo officials earlier she would be reclaiming them.

More than 50 animals - including lions, bears and wolves - were shot after being freed from cages on 18 October.

Officials said the "volatile situation" of animals escaping from Terry Thompson's farm as night fell prompted the shoot-to-kill order.

'Shoot-to-kill'

Columbus Zoo had no legal rights to the animals, and asked state and federal officials to intervene when Mrs Thompson requested that the animals be returned to her custody.

Ordering a quarantine allows the state's agricultural department to keep the animals at the zoo while their health is investigated.

The order is indefinite, but Mrs Thompson is entitled to a appeal hearing within 30 days.

Dale Schmidt, president of the zoo, said officials had not conducted standard medical tests because they did not own the animals.

Marian Thompson had given her permission for the animals to be cared for at the zoo in the immediate aftermath of the incident.

Officials said were not sure if she planned to take the surviving animals back to the farm in Zanesville, Ohio, from where the others were freed.

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Boy, 13, saved after Turkey quake

28 October 2011 rescuers drag the teenager from the collapsed building stand 09: 09 GMT

A 13-year-old boy were removed alive from the rubble in southeastern Turkey, 108 hours after an earthquake of the city devastated.

The injured boy was rescued from a collapsed building in the Ercis.

Just hours earlier a man from a flat building was freed and brought to the hospital.

The Turkish authorities say now 570 people are known, died on Sunday 7.2 magnitude quake have – more than 2,500 were injured.

So far 187 people were rescued, but hundreds are still missing and hopes fade to find more survivors.

The rescue and aid have snow and rain hampered efforts.

The rescued boy, found with the name Ferhat Tokay, late on Thursday in the life and moved from search teams early Friday morning.

"We started digging and initially we saw his hand, then we began to him talk", said Baris Dogan, Member of the rescue team told of Reuters.

He said "my feelings are inexplicable - it was out as my son,".

Ozgur Yildiz, a friend of young told of Reuters: "we do not he would die--he is a strong child believe." "I feel so good now, and I would like him to get well soon say."

Thousands of people live in the open in bitter winter conditions

Rescue workers say Ferhat Tokay was taken to the hospital, but seems to be in good health.

Search crews continue to dig out the rubble of the building after the 13-year-old was rescued, search missing after several other people from the same block, which are intended.

However stopped work at some other sites as reducing the chances of someone alive.

Persons, the on

Pouring rain and in some places by the earthquake brought snow more misery, tens of thousands of people made homeless.

Although the authorities are working on a major flaw on tents, a fifth night in the open spent many people.

Large number of men are reported to stayed have any questions, the streets of Ercis, the worst hit city, with nowhere to go, that their families in what protection was available.

In the provincial capital, van, the humid conditions make too difficult also there for the people.

Many survivors have a fifth night in the open air, try to avoid getting too cold

Nimet, a mother of three, which damaged told of Reuters that she tried, back home was.

"It looks good from the outside, but it looks inside very unstable, with all the cracks in the walls." What choice do we have but to go back to our homes? ", you said"

"Last night it was raining and all our things are still wet." "I know not how many days that we can to stay in a tent."

Relief supplies were sent from several countries.

On Thursday, the aircraft were loaded with tents in Turkey from France, the Ukraine and Israel.

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Obama to Leno: Libya a Recipe for Success

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BURBANK, Calif. (AP) — President Barack Obama defended the U.S. role in bringing down Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi, rejecting assessments that the international coalition he helped assemble amounted to "leading from behind." ''We lead from the front," he told late-night television host Jay Leno on Tuesday.

Laying out an argument for his emerging foreign policy doctrine, Obama distinguished the U.S. steps in Libya from the invasion and nine-year war in Iraq. He argued that by building a broad international alliance of European and Arab nations against Gadhafi, the United States saved American lives and money and achieved its goal.

[See photos of unrest and celebration in Libya.]

"Not a single U.S. troop was on the ground," he said. "Not a single U.S. troop was killed or injured, and that, I think, is a recipe for success in the future."

Nudged by Leno in a notably sober first segment, Obama reflected on the meaning of Gadhafi's death, a gruesome and chaotic demise recorded on cellphone video for all the world to see. The president argued that Gadhafi had had an opportunity to let Libya move on a path toward democracy peacefully.

"He wouldn't do it," Obama said. "And, obviously, you never like to see anybody come to the kind of end that he did, but I think it obviously sends a strong message around the world to dictators that people long to be free, and they need to respect the human rights and the universal aspirations of people."

Still, Obama noted that the Pentagon never released photographs of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden after he was killed by U.S. Navy SEALs.

"That's not something that I think we should relish," the president said. "You know, I think that there's a certain decorum with which you treat the dead even if it's somebody who has done terrible things."

Obama's appearance on the Leno program, taped extra early at NBC studios to satisfy his schedule, is his fourth on the show and his second as president. The appearance came in the middle of a lucrative three-day fundraising tour for the president even as he tries to bring attention to the plight of people suffering in a weak economy.

[Read about why success in Libya is unlikely to aid Obama's re-election chances.]

The interview covered a range of topics, from foreign policy to Obama's jobs bill to television watching. The first segment, free of jokes or chitchat, focused on Libya, Iraq and al-Qaida.

Obama announced last week that U.S. troops would leave Iraq by the end of the year, effectively ending the war that began under the administration of President George W. Bush and that Obama ran against as a candidate in 2008. Asked by Leno what the United States accomplished there, Obama conceded that Saddam Hussein was gone and that Iraqis now have an opportunity to create their own democracy. He said he was "cautiously optimistic" that they would resolve their conflicts with discussion and debate, not violence.

"But I also think that policymakers and future presidents need to understand what it is that we are getting ourselves into when we make some of these decisions," he said. "And there might have been other ways for us to accomplish those same goals."

Obama is the only sitting president to appear on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," a venue that Obama aides believe suits him well and gives him an opportunity to show a friendly face to the world. Indeed, Obama's personal approval ratings rank high even though his job approvals are in the low- to mid-40 percent range. An Associated Press-GfK poll this month found that 78 percent found that the phrase "he is a likable person" described Obama very well or somewhat well.

"He doesn't get enough opportunities to be lighthearted in a way he can be with Jay Leno," presidential spokesman Jay Carney said. Leno averages 3.6 million viewers each night and Carney noted that Americans get their information in a variety of ways. "We're interested in reaching people where they are."

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'New' Velazquez portrait unveiled

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27 October 2011 Last updated at 16:51 GMT The portrait was confirmed to be by Velazquez after x-ray examination A previously unknown portrait by Spanish artist Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velazquez has been unveiled in London.

Portrait of a gentleman, bust-length, in a black tunic and white collar, was previously owned by 19th Century British artist Matthew Shepperson.

It was discovered after a number of artworks by Shepperson were consigned for sale last year.

Further examination and an x-ray confirmed the work to be Velazquez.

The painting first came to attention when the current owner - a descendant of Shepperson - brought the works to Bonhams auction house in Oxford. In-house experts noticed the stylistic similarities to works by the Spanish master Velazquez.

It led to extensive research which was confirmed by Dr Peter Cherry - professor of art history at the University of Dublin and one of the world's foremost authorities on Velazquez - and then by the Prado Museum in Madrid, which carried out the technical analysis.

"The brushwork is very cleverly done and has the full range of experience you'd expect from Velazquez from this period," Dr Cherry told the BBC.

The identity of the sitter is unknown but it is thought that it could be Juan Mateos, Philip IV's Master of the Hunt.

The painting is expected to fetch up to £3 million when it is sold at auction in December.

"This is an extraordinarily beautiful portrait which, after extensive research, we believe to be by the hand of Velazquez," said Bonhams's Andrew Mckenzie.

"We expect there to be great interest from around the globe as works by this master so rarely come to auction."

Georgina Adam, editor-at-large of The Art Newspaper, told the BBC's Arts Correspondent Rebecca Jones that the newly discovered painting was very significant.

"It adds to our known number of pictures by Velazquez. There are 98 known of which only four of them are in private hands," Ms Adams said.

"It's also not in the catalogue raisonne, which is the authoritative list of all the artist's work, but that's presumably because the author just didn't know about this one - it's come out of nowhere."

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Rina weakens to tropical storm

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28 October 2011 Last updated at 03:58 GMT Beaches on Mexico's popular Caribbean coast are virtually deserted now Hurricane Rina has been downgraded to a tropical storm as it is passed near Mexico's Caribbean coast, lashing key tourist resorts with wind and rain.

Despite weakening, Rina brought winds of up to 95km/h (60mph) as it moved north, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

Thousands have been evacuated from Cancun and other resorts on the eastern Yucatan peninsula since Tuesday.

The storm was expected to move inland and weaken further later on Friday.

Rina has caused travel chaos in Cancun. Hundreds of passengers flocked to the airport on Wednesday trying to leave, and 90 flights cancelled on Thursday.

Most schools in the region have closed as a precaution.

More than 4,000 residents and visitors were evacuated from the low-lying islands of Isla Mujeres and Holbox, which are prone to flooding.

The head of Mexico's West Coast National Marine Park, Jaime Gonzalez, said the storm would likely erode Cancun's famous white-sand beaches, which have been rebuilt twice since they were devastated by Hurricane Wilma in 2005.

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Europe Is Looking to the United States for Leadership

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Home > Politics & Policy > Ken Walsh's Washington > Europe Is Looking to the United States for Leadership

October 27, 2011 Print

I just returned from a speaking trip to the United Kingdom and had the opportunity to chat at length with dozens of British citizens. It turns out that many of them still consider the United States the world's indispensable nation. And they are hoping our government can get its act together so America can figure out a way not only to strengthen our own economy but to help Europe weather its current economic crisis.

[See a collection of political cartoons on the economy.]

"We all rely on you," said a wealthy London businessman. "We follow your lead but we don't see much in the way of leadership right now."

Another thing that perplexes our British cousins is the gridlock in Washington. Time and again, people with whom I talked simply couldn't understand why President Obama and Congress can't find compromise. The preferred comparison was to squabbling children who need a parent to intervene and settle them down.

Few blamed anyone in particular. It was more like everyone was at fault, and the gamesmanship in Washington struck most as pervasive, systemic and bizarre. Of particular concern were the recent furor over raising the federal debt ceiling and the ongoing conflict between Obama and the Republicans over how to cut the national debt.

An affluent investor from the outskirts of London said it was strange to him that all sides couldn't find a compromise that involved some tax increases and some cuts in spending. I explained that it's an article of faith among many congressional Republicans that tax increases are off the table, while many Democrats won't agree to big cuts in popular social programs such as Medicare and Social Security. This results in stalemate. The investor could only shake his head in dismay.

One final point: Our British cousins seem to be following American politics quite closely. This goes back to the widespread belief that what happens in the United States deeply affects the U.K, Europe and the rest of the world. And we aren't making a very good impression.

Tags:London, economy, debt, politics, Europe

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