The ACN Morning Report -- Monday April 8, 2013

WikiLeaks Publishes 1.7 Million Records -- Palestinian Leader Warns Of Slipping Opportunity -- North Korea May Be Preparing Nuclear Test...Or Not -- US Diplomat To Afghanistan Killed -- A Deal On Immigration? One Senator Thinks So -- White House Asks GOP For Compromise -- Clinton Hints Clinton May Run in '16 -- China's Bird Flu Outbreak -- Gas Prices Are Dropping

WIKILEAKS PUBLISHES 1.7M DIPLOMATIC RECORDS

Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters

WikiLeaks has published more than 1.7m US records covering diplomatic or intelligence reports on every country in the world.

The data, which has not been leaked, comprises diplomatic records from the beginning of 1973 to the end of 1976, covering a variety of diplomatic traffic including cables, intelligence reports and congressional correspondence.

PALESTINIAN LEADER WARNS WINDOW CLOSING FOR LASTING TWO-STATE SOLUTION 

Majdi Mohammed/AP

Time is running out on the two-state solution for Middle East peace and the current push to relaunch peace talks may be “the last opportunity,” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas warns.

In an interview with The Globe and Mail at his presidential compound in Ramallah, the Palestinian leader, in the midst of an intense round of international diplomacy aimed at reviving the moribund peace process, insisted he can make a deal, but time is slipping away. “I think there was some opportunities in the past, but unfortunately we missed these opportunities,” he said.

NORTH KOREA TESTS NOT IMMINENT SAYS SOUTH

Image Credit: GeoEye

A defence ministry spokesman said while activity had been detected at the Punggye-ri underground test site, it appeared to be routine.

South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae had earlier said there were indications a test was being prepared.

Meanwhile the North has said it is withdrawing all its workers from the shared Kaesong industrial complex.

FATHER: YOUNG US DIPLOMAT KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN DIED DOING WHAT SHE LOVED

(AP Photo/Courtesy of Tom Smedinghoff) (The Associated Press)

CHICAGO –  The family of an American diplomat who was among those killed in a terrorist attack in southern Afghanistan is taking solace in knowing she died doing what she loved.

Anne Smedinghoff, who was killed Saturday, was the first American diplomat to die on the job since last year's attack in Benghazi, Libya.

KEY US SENATOR SEES DEAL THIS WEEK ON IMMIGRATION

WASHINGTON (AP) — A noisy debate over the flawed U.S. immigration system begins in earnest this week as senators finalize a bipartisan bill to secure the border, allow tens of thousands of foreign workers into the country and grant eventual citizenship to the estimated 11 million people living here illegally.

Negotiators warned of struggles ahead, but all involved are optimistic that it's time to make the biggest changes to the nation's immigration laws in more than a quarter-century.

WHITE HOUSE ASKS GOP FOR COMPROMISE ON BUDGET DEAL

Associated Press

The Obama administration said Sunday that it is searching for rank-and-file Republicans willing to work with the president on a budget deal who “don’t think compromise is a dirty word.”

The outreach was made just days before President Obama plans to formally unveil his proposed 2014 federal budget, but details of the blueprint that leaked early have Republican leaders and Mr. Obama’s liberal base fuming.

HILLARY MAY RUN FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN 2016 HINTS BILL CLINTON

REUTERS

Washington: Hillary Clinton, the former Secretary of State, could run for the 2016 presidential elections, her husband Bill Clinton has hinted.

Bill Clinton, one of the most popular American presidents in recent past, added fuel to the speculation when at an event on Saturday night he said that the country would have some good choices in the 2016 presidential elections.

CHINA'S BIRD FLU OUTBREAK NOT CAUSE FOR PANIC: WHO

REUTERS

(Reuters) - A strain of bird flu that has been found in humans for the first time in eastern China is not a cause for panic, the World Health Organization said on Monday, as the number of people infected rose to 21, with six deaths.

The WHO praised China for mobilizing resources nationwide to combat the H7N9 flu strain by culling tens of thousands of birds and monitoring hundreds of people close to those infected.

GAS PRICES ARE GOING DOWN, AND THE TREND COULD CONTINUE

Photo Credit: Yakima Herald

The extra weekly cash incentive that Brad Hurd receives as a courier is tied to gas prices.

When gas prices were going up, his boss would have to cut those incentives to make up for the higher fuels costs for company vehicles, leading to a smaller paycheck for the Yakima resident.

But as gas prices in Yakima have dropped over the year, Hurd saw that incentive increase from $25 a week to $100.

The ACN Morning Report -- Thursday, April 4, 2013

North Korea Moves Missiles Towards U.S. -- Carnival Cruise Lines, The US Military, and Senator Jay Rockefeller -- Disney Shutters Lucas Arts -- Anonymous Threatens North Korea -- The IRS Could Do Your Taxes -- Triumph In Trouble -- Obama To Give 5% For Sequester -- U.S. Sends Missile Defenses To Guam -- Fort Knox Temporarily Locked Down

NORTH KOREA SEEN MOVING MID-RANGE MISSILE TO EAST COAST

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has moved what appears to be a mid-range Musudan missile to its east coast, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said on Thursday, quoting multiple government sources privy to intelligence from U.S. and South Korean authorities.

It was not clear if the missile was mounted with a warhead or whether the North was planning to fire it or was just putting it on display as a show of force, one South Korean government source was quoted as saying.

CARNIVAL RESPONDS TO SENATOR: NO WAY WE'RE PAYING FOR TRIUMPH

Carnival Corp. indicated in a couple of letters to Senator Jay Rockefeller that it has no intent to reimburse the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy for assistance in the recent Carnival Triumphaccident, the 2010 Carnival Splendor incidents, or any future problem where they require help from the U.S. government to aid a distressed vessel.

The senator from West Virginia penned a letter March 14 to Carnival CEO Micky Arison alleging that the U.S. Coast Guard responded to 90 “serious events” involving Carnival ships over five years, and that the Coast Guard and Navy had shelled out $4.2 million to cover the Carnival Triumph and Carnival Splendorincidents. The senator asked whether Carnival, since it pays “little or nothing in federal taxes,” will reimburse the Coast Guard and Navy.

DISNEY SHUTS DOWN LUCAS ARTS, CANCELS STAR WARS 1313 AND STAR WARS: FIRST ASSAULT 

Staff were informed of the shutdown this morning, according to a reliable Kotaku source. Some 150 people were laid off, and both of the studio's current projects—Star Wars: First Assault and Star Wars 1313—were cancelled. Disney will still use the LucasArts name to license games, but the studio is no more.

Publicly, Disney is saying their current games could be licensed out to a different publisher or developer, but according to our source, that's unlikely. Our source says Lucas has pursued the option for "one or both games," but nothing happened. "With the teams now basically being dispersed I think both games are effectively dead forever," our source said.

ANONYMOUS  THREATENS CYBERWAR ON NORTH KOREA, STEALS 15,000 PASSWORDS

Notorious hacking group Anonymous has targeted pedophiles, corrupt governmentsand financial institutions, however its latest target may be its most audacious yet. The group says that it has begun a new initiative called “Operation Free Korea” and is demanding controversial leader Kim Jong-un resign and install free democracy in the Asian country. Other demands include having North Korea abandon its nuclear ambitions and for the government to give universal and uncensored Internet access to its citizens. Anonymous hackers claim to have access to the country’s local intranets, mail servers and Web servers and are threatening to wage war if their demands are not met.

“We got all over 15k membership records of Uriminzokkiri.com and many more,” the group wrote. “First we gonna wipe your data, then we gonna wipe your badass dictatorship ‘government.’”

FILING TAXES: IT SHOULDN'T BE SO HARD

IN 2010 a panel created by the White House estimated that American taxpayers spend 7.6 billion hours and some $140 billion a year keeping the IRS off their backs. According to theWashington Post over 80% of taxpayers use software or pay someone to file their taxes. The national taxpayer advocate, a sort-of in-house IRS watchdog, once said, "If tax compliance were an industry, it would be one of the largest in the United States." But of course, it is an industry.

It is an industry made up of accountants and companies like H&R Block and Intuit, which makes the TurboTax software used by many Americans. And it is an industry that,according to ProPublica, has worked hard to keep the IRS from preparing your tax returns for you for free. Intuit, for example, has spent millions lobbying the federal government, opposing bills that would allow the IRS to send you pre-filled-in returns (the agency already has most of your relevant information) and supporting bills that would ban the practice.

CARNIVAL TRIUMPH BREAKS FROM DOCK

(CNN) -- The Coast Guard is searching for a man knocked into the Mobile River after high winds hit the area Wednesday, blowing the man's security guard hut into the water and causing the Carnival Triumph cruise ship to break loose from its repair dock.

The call to the Coast Guard came in at 1:45 p.m. CT as near hurricane-force winds smacked the Gulf Coast city of Mobile, Alabama.

OBAMA WILL RETURN 5% OF SALARY FOR BUDGET

President Obama plans to return 5 percent of his salary to the Treasury in solidarity with federal workers who are going to be furloughed as part of the automatic budget cuts known as the sequester, an administration official said Wednesday.

The voluntary move would be retroactive to March 1, the official said, and apply through the rest of the fiscal year, which ends in September. The White House came up with the 5 percent figure to approximate the level of spending cuts to nondefense federal agencies that took effect that day.

U.S. TO SEND MISSILE DEFENSES TO GUAM OVER NORTH KOREA THREATS

(Reuters) - The United States said it would soon send a missile defense system to Guam to defend it fromNorth Korea, as the U.S. military adjusts to what Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called a "real and clear danger" from Pyongyang.

Hours later, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said North Korea had moved what appeared to be a mid-range Musudan missile to its east coast. It was not clear if the North planned to fire the rocket or was just putting it on display as a show of force, one South Korean government source was quoted as saying.

ARMY EMPLOYEE SHOT, KILLED AT FORT KNOX IN KY

Army officials are investigating a fatal shooting that caused a temporary lockdown at Fort Knox on Wednesday evening.

A male victim was shot in a parking lot on the base about 5:40 p.m. The victim was transported to the Ireland Army Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The ACN Morning Report -- Wednesday March 27 2013

SCOTUS Reconvenes For Second Gay Marriage Case -- Group Balks At Paying $1.3 Million Reward -- Obama Appoints First Female Director Of Secret Service -- C.R. Keeps Washington At Work, More Work Needed -- Patraeus Apologizes For Affair -- Earthquake Hits Taiwan -- T-Mobile Gets iPhone 5

Supreme Court Reconvenes For Second Gay Marriage Case

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court today again will confront the issue of gay marriage, hearing arguments on a U.S. law that denies federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples.

Almost two hours of oral argument before the court will focus on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), just a day after the nine justices considered the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage.

The Obama administration's lawyers agree that DOMA is unconstitutional, and U.S. Solicitor Gen. Donald B. Verrilli Jr. will urge justices to invalidate it.

Group Balks At Paying $1.3 Million Reward For Chris Dorner

LAPD/AP

When ex-cop Christopher Dorner was hunting down Los Angeles police and their families, more than$1 million in reward money was raised for help in his capture and conviction.

Now that there are two sets of claims to the reward money, the groups that pledged the money are balking at paying because Dorner wasn’t captured or convicted. He died Feb. 12 when he shot himself in the head after being cornered by police and the subsequent gunbattle set fire to the house where he was barricaded.

The $1 million reward was offered by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa after Dorner had killed two officers, the daughter of an officer and her fiance, and wounded two other cops. It is unclear how many groups and individuals pledged the $1 million, however, the Peace Officers Research Association of California along with police unions, civil organizations and private citizens all contributed to the reward.

President Obama Appoints First Female Director Of Secret Service

New Continuing Resolution Keeps Government Funded, White House Says GOP Must Compromise

President Barack Obama signed the new continuing resolution on Tuesday to keep the government running through the end of the fiscal year. The new CR doesn't eliminate sequestration but does provide some spending flexibility in various departments.

The measure sets spending at $984 billion and keeps sequestration's $85 billion cuts in place. The previous CR expires today. The new one freezes federal worker civilian pay and Congressional salaries for a third consecutive year but breaks out separate appropriation bills dealing with Agriculture; Commerce; Justice and Science; Defense; Homeland Security; and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs.

Patraeus Apologizes For Extramarital Affair

AP

Former CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) director David Petraeus has publicly apologized for the extramarital affair that led to his resignation and damaged his once-sterling reputation.

Petraeus offered the apology during a speech Tuesday night in Los Angeles before a group of military veterans and students in the Reserve Officer Training Corps . He said he was "keenly aware that the reason for my recent journey" were caused by his affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell.

6.1 Magnitude Earthquake Injures 20 In Taiwan

BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhuanet) -- A strong earthquake has struck rural central Taiwan. Transport was suspended and at least 20 people have been injured. The island’s earthquake authority says the magnitude-6.1 tremor jolted Nantou County just after 10 A-M, at a depth of 15 kilometers. At least 20 people were injured, mostly by falling ceilings. The quake was felt 250 kilometers away in the capital Taipei. Does T-Mobile Have The Cheaper iPhone-5 Now that the iPhone 5 is finally available on T-Mobile, it's time to figure out where you can get it the cheapest. We've compared prices in the chart below to help you figure out which carrier is right for you. Note that the prices listed here are for the iPhone 5, but should apply to just about any smartphone on each of these carriers. It turns out that, even though T-Mobile is charging you for the full price of your phone, you're still paying the least amount of money in the long run (the amount you see in the chart includes your monthly $20 phone payment). Additionally, now that T-Mobile is contract-free, you're able to leave at any point you please. You'll either need to give up your phone or pay for the remainder, but you're not tethered to the carrier in any other way. Of course, you can still get out of your contract on AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon, but it's going to cost you.

The ACN Morning Report Friday March 22 2013

GOOD MORNING! TODAY IS FRIDAY MARCH 22, 2013. HERE ARE TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES AND MOST INTERESTING STORIES FROM ACN: 

Colorado Shooting Suspect Shot -- U.S. Pediatricians And Gay Marriage -- New York Budget Deal Could Set Mold For Nation -- Pro Assad Preacher Killed -- Shooting At Virginia Base -- NRA Joins Lawsuit Challenging NY Gun Law -- Colorado Legalizes Civil Unions

COLORADO SHOOTING SUSPECT SHOT AND KILLED IN TEXAS

Associated Press

DENVER — A paroled Colorado inmate grievously wounded after a gun battle and high-speed chase with Texas law-enforcement officers on Thursday is suspected of being tied to the killing of the head of Colorado’s prison system.

Sheriff David Walker of Wise County, Tex., said the authorities had tentatively identified the suspect as Evan Spencer Ebel, 28. Court records in Colorado show that Mr. Ebel has a criminal history dating to 2003, including convictions for robbery, weapons charges and assault. He was on parole in the Denver area.

U.S. Pediatricians Back Gay Marriage, Adoption Rights

Reuters

(Reuters) - Gay and lesbian couples should be able to get married for the health and well-being of their children and families, the nation's leading group for pediatricians said on Thursday in a policy statement that also backs adoption rights.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, in calling on the legal right for same-sex couples to marry, said children's well-being is affected far more by other factors such as their parents' health and economic security than their sexual orientation.

NEW YORK BUDGET DEAL INCLUDES MINIMUM WAGE HIKE, TAX BREAKS

Reuters

(Reuters) - New York state's leaders have agreed to a tentative $135 billion budget deal that raises the minimum wage, gives tax breaks to middle-class families and businesses, and extends a tax on high earners.

The deal for fiscal year 2013-14 was announced in Albany, the state capital, late Wednesday after days of closed-door wrangling as lawmakers sought to reconcile three separate proposals.

BOMBING KILLS TOP PRO ASSAD SUNNI PREACHER IN SYRIA

A suicide bomb ripped through a mosque in the heart of the Syrian capital Thursday, killing a top Sunni Muslim preacher and outspoken supporter of President Bashar Assad in one of the most stunning assassinations of Syria's 2-year-old civil war. 

The slaying of Sheikh Mohammad Said Ramadan al-Buti removes one of the few remaining pillars of support for Assad among the majority Sunni sect that has risen up against him.

VIRGINIA MARINE CORPS BASE ON LOCKDOWN AFTER SHOOTING

The Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va., was on lockdown early Friday after an isolated shooting at the Officer Candidate School, the base said. The gunman was at large but surrounded.

Base residents were ordered to stay inside and lock their doors. The threat level was boosted to FPCON Delta, the base said on its website and Facebook page. That threat level can describe an active shooter or a terrorist attack.

The suspect, believed to be a male Marine, had barricaded himself at the base and was surrounded by police, the Marines said. Prince William County and military police had responded.

First Lt. Agustin Solivan told local TV station WUSA9 that the shooting happened about 11 p.m. The victim's condition was not known.

NRA JOINS LAWSUIT CHALLENGING NEW YORK'S GUN CONTROL LAW

AP

ALBANY, N.Y. –  The National Rifle Association on Thursday joined the the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, other sportsmen's groups, firearms businesses and individual gun owners in a lawsuit challenging the state's strict new gun control law.

The federal suit, filed in Buffalo, said the law violates the constitutional rights of "law-abiding citizens to keep commonly possessed firearms in the home for defense of self and family and for other lawful purposes."

COLORADO LAW ALLOWS SAME-SEX CIVIL UNIONS IN "HATE STATE"

Governor John Hickenlooper made same-sex civil unions legal in Colorado, where two decades ago voters passed a constitutional amendment banning local ordinances to protect gay rights.

The Colorado Civil Union Act, which the Democrat-controlled legislature moved to Hickenlooper earlier this month, provides gays with rights similar to those of married couples. Applications for the licenses can be filed starting May 1.

“The gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual community is part of all of us,” Hickenlooper, 61, told scores of cheering same- sex couples after he signed the bill at History Colorado, a museum in Denver. “There’s no excuse that people shouldn’t have the same rights,” the first-term Democrat said.

The Morning Report -- Monday March 4 2013

N. Korea To Obama: Call Me Maybe? -- Queen Elizabeth II Hospitalized -- Iran Open To Direct Talks -- Netanyahu Warns Iran Stalling -- Cuts to Achieve Deficit Goals -- Romney Explains Loss -- Republicans Signal Spending Cuts Are Permanent -- Officials Say Sequester Deal Likely -- Child With HIV Cured -- Senator, Congresswoman Propose Pay-Cut During Standoff

Rodman Says North Korea's Kim Wants Obama To Call Him 

WASHINGTON — Flamboyant ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman Sunday defended his trip to North Korea, saying leader Kim Jong-Un does not seek war but does want one thing -- a call from US President Barack Obama.

Rodman, a colorful Hall of Famer who won NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls and at one time dated Madonna, is now the most high-profile American to have met Kim, with whom he watched a basketball game last week in Pyongyang.

Queen Elizabeth II Hospitalized 

LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II, who is 86, was admitted to a London hospital on Sunday after experiencing symptoms of gastroenteritis, according to a statement issued by Buckingham Palace.

The statement said that all the queen’s engagements for the next week would be postponed or canceled, including a two-day visit to Italy that was scheduled to begin Wednesday. She had already skipped one event, a military parade in the Welsh city of Swansea on Friday, because of the illness.

Iran Open To Direct Talks With U.S. 

Iran would be willing to sit down for direct talks with the United States, the country's ambassador to the United Nations said in an interview broadcast on CNN.

"I can confirm it here with you, and also for your distinguished audience, that Iran will come negotiation and direct talks with the United States provided that we make sure that U.S. is serious and do not act differently," Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee told CNN's Fareed Zakaria in an interview that aired on Fareed Zakaria GPS.

Netanyahu Says Iran Stalling For Bomb

(Reuters) - Renewed international efforts to negotiate curbs on Iran's disputed nuclear program have backfired by giving it more time to work on building a bomb, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.

His remarks on the inconclusive February 26-27 meeting between Iran and six world powers signaled impatience by Israel, which has threatened to launch preemptive war on its arch-foe, possibly in the coming months, if it deems diplomacy a dead end.

Cuts To Achieve Goal For Deficit But Toll Is High

WASHINGTON — The latest budget impasse ushered in a new round of austerity on Saturday, with the nation facing reduced federal services, canceled contracts, job furloughs and layoffs.

But lost in the talk of Washington’s dysfunction is this fact: on paper at least, President Obama and Congress have reduced projected deficits by nearly $4 trillion over a decade — the widely embraced goal for stabilizing the national debt.

Romney Offers Explanation For Loss

Republican Mitt Romney, in his first television interview since he lost November's presidential election, said a failure to connect with minority voters doomed his bid for the White House.

"We weren't effective in taking my message primarily to minority voters—to Hispanic-Americans, to African-Americans, other minorities," Mr. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, told Fox News in an interview that aired Sunday. "That was a real weakness."

Republicans Call Spending Cuts Modest, Indicate Here To Stay 

WASHINGTON — The spending cuts are here to stay if you believe the public posturing Sunday.

The Senate’s Republican leader Mitch McConnell called them modest. House Speaker John Boehner isn’t sure the cuts will hurt the economy. The White House’s top economic adviser, Gene Sperling, said the pain isn’t that bad right now.

Officials Say Deal To Avert Government Shutdown Likely

Congress returns to work this week with no plan to reverse across-the-board spending cuts that took effect Friday, but with hope on both sides of the aisle of averting an end-of-the-month showdown that could result in a government shutdown.

The House plans to vote Thursday on a spending measure that would keep the government running after its current funding mechanism elapses March 27.

Doctors Cure Child Born With HIV 

Doctors in the US have made medical history by effectively curing a child born with HIV, the first time such a case has been documented.

The infant, who is now two and a half, needs no medication for HIV, has a normal life expectancy and is highly unlikely to be infectious to others, doctors believe.

Though medical staff and scientists are unclear why the treatment was effective, the surprise success has raised hopes that the therapy might ultimately help doctors eradicate the virus among newborns.

McCaskill Introducses Bill To Cut Pay During Sequestration

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Claire McCaskill and Bill Nelson will introduce legislation that would cut pay for members of Congress if federal employees are furloughed due to the sequester. The legislation calls for a reduction in Congressional salaries once federal furloughs begin.

"The federal workforce is looking at furloughs that would result in a sizeable pay cut-and there's absolutely no reason members of Congress should exempt themselves," McCaskill said. "We can and should reach a balanced compromise to replace these damaging across-the-board cuts, but until we do, this is an obvious step to hold Congress accountable for the job we need to get done."

Obama Signs Sequester Bill

Austerity has hit the United States as President Barack Obama signed into law a directive ushering in significant cuts to federal agencies' budgets and triggering the sequester that has been debated in Washington during the last several weeks.

In the White House on Friday, President Obama inked his name to the order, and with it signed off on automatic budget cuts that the country's political class say will save the United States over $1 trillion over the course of the next decade. In doing so, though, $85 billion will be erased from this year’s budget and a number of government departments will see their funding slashed immediately.

Through the sequester deal, roughly half of all cuts will be imposed on the Pentagon, drastically reducing funding for America’s defense. While uniformed personnel are protected from the directive, civilian employees and contractors across the world will be faced with layoffs and furloughs. The Department of Defense has already published a plan explaining who exactly will be impacted, and at its worst it could mean roughly $500 billion dollars cut from the Pentagon during the next decade.

The second half of all cuts triggered by the sequester will be implemented on domestic non-military spending. While crucially important programs like Social Security are exempt from the changes, practically all federal departments and agencies will face some degree of slashed funding. The Departments of Education, Agriculture and dozens of other agencies will see serious changes during the coming days, weeks, months and years. Many have already announced that the order will bring dire consequences. The Department of Transportation, for example, has warned that budget cuts might affect its ability to control air traffic; cuts to the Department of Homeland Security will mean longer lines at international borders and airports due to personnel layoffs. Rollbacks on education are expected to cause as many as 40,000 jobs to disappear nationwide, and more than half of a million women and children across the US will no longer have access to food aid due to reductions in the Women, Infants and Children program.

With the sequester deal essentially effecting each sector and every US resident alike, lawmakers in Washington have hoped to find another solution for solving the country’s ever-increasing economic woes. During an address from the White House Friday morning, though, Obama blamed Congress for not being able to prevent the cuts.

“What I can’t do is force Congress to do the right thing,” said the president. “The American people may have the capacity to do that, but in the absence of a decision on the part of the speaker of the House and others . . . we are going to have these cuts in place.”

The Obama administration has come under fire as of late for blaming the sequester deal on House Republicans. “The sequester is not something that I've proposed. It is something that Congress has proposed,” the president said last year. By some reports, though, the budget cuts were brought to the table by White House officials during the president’s first term in office. A bipartisan commission chaired by former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyoming) and former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles offered a way to cut America’s ever-growing deficit. Under this proposal, Congress and the president would have to both raise taxes and cut spending across the board. Knowing that neither party was willing to agree on these measures, lawmakers and Obama agreed on a law that would trigger automatic cuts beginning March 1, 2013, unless a deal could not otherwise be reached. Back then, it was seen as a sword of Damocles that would prompt action from either party.

“Nobody who ‘agreed’ to sequestration actually wanted it to happen,” reports Molly Ball of The Atlantic. “The supercommittee was supposed to forge the deal that Obama and House Speaker John Boehner could not in their July 2011 debt-ceiling talks. It was this hypothetical future deficit reduction that got Republicans, grudgingly, to agree to raise the debt limit,” she says.

As time passed, though, the lawmakers that agreed to make the sequester an option stopped searching for other solutions. A failure to find a compromise between lawmakers on the Hill left the spending cuts scheduled for March 1 inevitable, and as the clock wound down on Friday the only option left was to slash the budget.

“In the end, nobody could agree, and nobody took the deadline very seriously anyway,” adds Ball.

While the sequester officially starts today following President Obama’s signature on the directive, most government agencies won’t feel the pinch until later in the year. Many departments have already published their plans for handling the crisis, including outlines of how spending will be conducted during the coming months. But with funds drying up quickly and a further deal reversing the sequestering uncertain, the impact of the cuts are likely to only increase over time.

The Morning Report -- Sunday February 24, 2013

Daytona 500 Wreck -- Vatican Denounces Rumors -- Iran Gains Access To More Uranium -- Top UK Cardinal Faces Accusations -- Radioactive Waste Leaking In Washington -- Federal Budget Standoff Continues -- SC Governor Pushes For 'Healthy' Food Stamps -- North Korea Warns Of 'Destruction'

DAYTONA 500 CRASH INJURES DOZENS

At least 33 fans were injured Saturday during a NASCAR race when a car flew into the fence at Daytona International Speedway, hurling a tire and large pieces of debris into the stands.

The accident happened on the last lap of the second-tier Nationwide Series race on the eve of Sunday's Daytona 500, which officials said would go on as scheduled.

The crash began as the field approached the checkered flag and leader Regan Smith attempted to block Brad Keselowski to preserve the win. That triggered a chain reaction, and rookie Kyle Larson hit the cars in front of him and went airborne into the fence.

VATICAN DENOUNCES 'FALSE' GAY PRIEST REPORT

USA Today

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican lashed out at the news media Saturday, addressing for the first time reports that Pope Benedict XVI's resignation was linked to an emerging scandal involving gay priests and high-priced blackmail.

Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, who didn't speak in specific terms about the scandal, said, "It is deplorable that as we draw closer to the time of the beginning of the conclave ... that there be a widespread distribution of often unverified, unverifiable or completely false news stories that cause serious damage to persons and institutions."

IRAN CLAIMS TO FIND URANIUM, ANNOUNCES 16 MORE PLANTS

European Pressphoto Agency

TEHRAN -- On the eve of international talks about its disputed nuclear program, Iran announced Saturday that it had designated 16 sites for new nuclear power plants and also had discovered substantial new uranium deposits in its territory.

The Islamic Republic also confirmed earlier reports that it had installed scores of new centrifuges to enrich uranium at its Natanz site in central Iran.

The timing of Saturday’s announcements from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran suggests that Tehran is trying to bolster its negotiating position in advance of nuclear talks scheduled to begin Tuesday in Kazakhstan.

CARDINAL O'BRIEN ACCUSED OF INAPPROPRIATE ACTS

Britain's senior Roman Catholic cleric has been reported to the Vatican over historical allegations of inappropriate behaviour, a newspaper has said.

The Observer said three priests and one former priest made the complaint against Cardinal Keith O'Brien, 74, leader of the Scottish Catholic Church.

They have also demanded his immediate resignation, the paper said.

A statement from the Scottish Catholic Church said Cardinal O'Brien contested the claims and was taking legal advice.

SIX UNDERGROUND TANKS HOLDING TOXIC WASTE LEAKING IN WASHINGTON STATE

Fox News

YAKIMA, Wash. –  Six underground tanks holding a mix of radioactive and toxic waste are leaking at America’s most contaminated nuclear site in Washington, federal and state officials say, posing an eventual risk to groundwater and rivers.

The leaking materials at Hanford Nuclear Reservation are no immediate threat to public safety or the environment because it would take perhaps years for the chemicals to reach groundwater, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Friday. So far, nearby monitoring wells haven't detected higher radioactivity levels.

NEITHER SIDE BLINKS IN FEDERAL BUDGET STANDOFF, SEQUESTRATION LOOMS

Chicago Tribune

WASHINGTON — The nation's budget solution was never supposed to look like this: Congress and the White Housestaring at across-the-board spending cuts that will begin slashing indiscriminately through the federal government in a matter of days.

Each side had expected cooler heads to prevail, assuming the other would set aside its political preferences and compromise to prevent the economic problems that are widely expected from a sudden reduction in the flow of federal funds.

House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) believed that President Obama was so fearful of deep reductions to domestic programs that the White House would yield to Republican demands. Instead, Obama has stuck to his insistence that wealthier Americans and corporations must contribute more in taxes as part of any solution to the country's long-term debt problems.

HALEY PUSHES TO LIMIT FOOD STAMPS TO HEALTHY ITEMS

COLUMBIA — South Carolina, long at the back of the line in health care, wants to take the lead among states in the battle against obesity by allowing only healthy foods to be purchased with food stamps.

Gov. Nikki Haley on Thursday joined leaders of three state agencies to announce plans to seek a waiver from the federal government to change the food stamp program. Haley noted that South Carolina has the eighth highest rate of obesity among states.

“All of that is about to change, not in what we say but in actions,” Haley said. “We are going to make changes .. so we actually can see results. Then other states will say, ‘What are they doing?’ ”

NORTH KOREA WARNS U.S. FORCES OF 'DESTRUCTION' AHEAD OF DRILLS

Fox News

SEOUL (Reuters) — North Korea on Saturday warned the top U.S. military commander stationed in South Korea that his forces would “meet a miserable destruction” if they go ahead with scheduled military drills with South Korean troops, North Korean state media said.

Pak Rim-su, chief delegate of the North Korean military mission to the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom, gave the message by phone to Gen. James Thurman, the commander of the U.S. Forces Korea, KCNA news agency said.

It came amid escalating tension on the divided Korean peninsula after the North’s third nuclear test earlier this month, in defiance of U.N. resolutions, drew harsh international condemnation.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2013/02/22/2642793/haley-says-sc-will-ask-for-food.html#.USm8BTB4LOU#storylink=cpy