The Morning Report -- Tuesday January 29, 2013

Immigration: A Bipartisan Endeavor -- Obama Pleads With Law -- Sandy Aid Approved -- Super Bowl Costs Going Up -- Apple Releases iOS 6.1; Jailbreak Pending -- Twitter Snitches On Government -- Google Reveals North Korea -- Canada Proposes Requiring Unlocked Phones -- America's Economy -- No More Star Wars...3D That Is

IMMIGRATION PROPOSAL A "MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH" SENATORS SAY

Associated Press

A group of bipartisan senators formally unveiled their framework for comprehensive immigration reform today, saying they are more optimistic than they have been in years for the chance of passing such legislation.

"We have come together on a set of bipartisan principles for comprehensive immigration reforms that we hope can pass the Senate in an overwhelming and bipartisan fashion," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said today in a press conference. "We still have a long way to go, [but] this bipartisan blueprint is a major breakthrough."

OBAMA ASKS LAW ENFORCEMENT TO PUSH GUN PROPOSALS

Associated Press

WASHINGTON – President Obama on Monday met with police chiefs from around the country -- including three from communities affected by mass shootings -- as part of his effort to build support for the gun control measures he wants to push through Congress.

At a morning meeting at the White House, Obama asked the law enforcement officials to put pressure on lawmakers to act on the measures he endorsed in the wake of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

“If law enforcement officials who are dealing with this stuff every single day can come to some basic consensus in terms of steps that we need to take, Congress is going to be paying attention to them and we’ll be able to make progress,” Obama said.

SENATE APPROVES $50.5 BILLION IN SANDY AID 

Getty Images

WASHINGTON – The Senate voted Monday to approve a $50.5 billion emergency aid bill for victims of Superstorm Sandy, three months after the storm began pounding the Northeast.

"We're thrilled that, finally, relief is on its way," Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey said moments after the vote.

Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey said the next step will be making sure funds are disbursed quickly to his state.

"Fate dealt us a bad hand," he said. "The damage was beyond belief."

The vote was 62-36, barely over the 60 votes needed for passage.

SUPER BOWL ALERT: CHICKEN WINGS WILL COST YOU

www.eatlivegrowpaleo.com

When it comes to the Super Bowl, there's lots of chatter about the millions of dollars spent on ads and the sky-high price of tickets.

But what will really hurt your wallet come game day? Chicken wings.

Every year, the cost of the beloved game-time grub shoots up at the end of January as restaurants gear up to feed the masses for the NFL's big showdown.

Prices usually go down soon after. But that drop never happened last year, because sweeping droughts in the Midwest drove up feed prices, agricultural experts say. As a result, the price of chicken farming, and therefore wings, has been gradually increasing.

APPLE RELEASES iOS 6.1, AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD TODAY

(Credit: CNET)

In a statement, the Cupertino, California-based technology giant said the new software will bring 4G long-term evolution (LTE) capabilities to 36 additional iPhone carriers and 23 additional iPad carriers around the world.

New LTE markets have been updated on Apple's Web site to include Denmark, Finland, Italy, Switzerland, and some Middle Eastern states.

TWITTER'S TRANSPARENCY REPORT SHOWS INCREASE IN GOVERNMENT DATA REQUESTS

Photograph: Iain Masterton/Alamy

Government requests for Twitter users' data rose by 20% in the second half of 2012, the social network said on Monday.

The requests came from 30 countries around the world, but the vast majority were from the US and were usually linked to criminal investigations.

Updated figures on what government and rights holders have been asking of the social network were revealed in the second of its transparency reports and posted on a new site, transparency.twitter.com

GOOGLE UNVEILS DETAILED MAP OF NORTH KOREA

Associated Press

The map is a culmination of years of data collected from "citizen cartographers" via the Map Maker feature of the company's Google Maps software. Read related story

WIRELESS FEE, CONTRACT GUIDELINES PROPOSED BY CRTC - CARRIERS WOULD BE REQUIRED TO UNLOCK PHONES, CAP MONTHLY BILLS

Wireless providers would face limits on early termination fees and must unlock phones under "reasonable terms" under new draft guidelines released Monday by Canada's telecommunications regulator.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is asking the public for feedback on its draft "wireless code" via an online discussion that will remain open until 5 p.m. Feb. 15, the last day of a public hearing in Gatineau, Que., on the code. The hearing begins on Feb. 11.

AMERICA'S ECONOMY: LOOKING BETTER

WHEN Barack Obama was sworn in four years ago, the economic figures were terrifying. A financial crisis and a savage recession were in full swing, and house foreclosures were soaring. The day of his inauguration, panic about the banks sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average down more than 300 points. At the start of his second term, by contrast, the Dow hit a five-year high, while a widely followed index of investor fear called the VIX reached a near-six-year low (see table).

NO MORE STAR WARS 3D PREQUELS TO BE RELEASED

Disney has announced that there will be no more releases of the 3D versions of Star Wars prequels. The decision doesn't come as a shock to movie viewers as Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 3D never recovered it's production costs. The prequels to the Star Wars films have long been degraded by fans as being "not true" to the originals. Disney has also scrapped plans for a 3D reincarnation of The Little Mermaid citing revenue outlooks.