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

The Morning Report -- Monday February 18, 2013

Egyptian Sheikh Says Rape Is 'Halal' -- NASA's New ATLAS Program -- BofA Get's Bailed Out...Quietly -- At Facebook: Make $1BN Profit, Get $429m Refund -- "VatiLeaks" Reveals Fractured Vatican -- 'Maker's Mark' Learns Painful Lesson -- Mississippi Ratifies 13th Amendment...149 Years Later -- Tiger Woods Joins Obama

DETAINED EGYPTIAN SHEIKH SAYS IT IS 'HALAL' TO RAPE WOMEN

Reuters

Egypt has issued an arrest warrant on Sunday against the Salafi preacher, who recently said it was “halal” (permissible) to rape female protestors, charging him with the defamation of religion, an Al Arabiya correspondent reported. 

Ahmad Mahmoud Abdullah, known as “Abu Islam” owner of the private television channel of “al-Ummah,” sparked further controversy after he attacked women and Christianity. 

POPE BENEDICT XVI 'LEAKED' DOCUMENTS SHOW FRACTURED VATICAN

New  York  Times

VATICAN CITY — Guests at the going-away party for Carlo Maria Viganò couldn’t understand why the archbishop looked so forlorn. Pope Benedict XVI had appointed Viganò ambassador to the United States, a plum post where he would settle into a stately mansion on Massachusetts Avenue, across the street from the vice president’s residence.

“He went through the ordeal making it very clear he was unhappy with it,” said one former ambassador to the Vatican, who attended the Vatican Gardens ceremony in the late summer of 2011. “And we just couldn’t figure out, us outsiders and non-Italians, what was going on.”

AN ASTEROID ALERT SYSTEM

PopSci

In the realm of potential planetary disasters, asteroids are among the ones to fear -- like the meteorite that hit Russia, they can inflict serious damage on Earth. 

With the aid of a $5-million grant from NASA, a University of Hawaii team of astronomers is developing ATLAS, a system to identify dangerous asteroids before their final plunge to Earth. 

The team is on track to build and operate an asteroid detection system that will patrol the visible sky twice a night looking for faint objects moving through space. 

BLINK AND MISS THE NEXT BANK BAILOUT

MANY people became rightfully upset about bailouts given to big banks during the mortgage crisis. But it turns out that they are still going on, if more quietly, through the back door.

The existence of one such secret deal, struck in July between the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Bank of America, came to light just last week in court filings.

That the New York Fed would shower favors on a big financial institution may not surprise. It has long shielded large banks from assertive regulation and increased capital requirements.

FACEBOOK PAYS NO TAX FOR 2012

Bloomberg News

Facebook will not pay any tax for 2012 despite making $1.1 billion in pre-tax profits from U.S. operations, according to a report released on Thursday.

But Mark Zuckerberg's company will also get a multimillion dollar tax refund of around $429 million according to Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ).

The refunds reportedly come from tax deductions on executive stock options and share awards.

MAKER'S MARK LEARNS A PAINFUL SOCIAL LESSON

Associated Press

The reversal speaks to how brands often misjudge their relationship with customers, who can now vote more powerfully with their Twitter accounts than with their wallets. “What we’ve learned is that this is the customer’s brand,” Maker’s Mark COO Rob Samuels, grandson of the bourbon’s creator, said today in an interview. “It was an overwhelming response, we listened all week, and tomorrow morning we’ll immediately return Maker’s Mark to 90 proof.”

The company had emailed loyal customers on Feb. 9 to say it was lowering its proof to 84, or 42% alcohol, in order to address a supply shortage driven by bourbon’s surging popularity in the United States and certain other markets like Australia, Germany, and Japan. The announcement, first reported by Quartz, spread quickly in social media, rising from a small firestorm to an all-out backlash. The companydefended itself in interviews, saying the taste wouldn’t change, but it didn’t help.

HISTORIC OVERSIGHT CORRECTED: 'LINCOLN' INSPIRES LOOK INTO SLAVERY VOTE

Oscar-nominated “Lincoln,” which depicts the political fight to pass the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery, played a role in Mississippi officially ratifying the amendment this month — a century and a half later.

The story opens, not surprisingly, in a movie theater.

Last November, Dr. Ranjan Batra, associate professor of neurobiology and anatomical sciences at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, saw the Steven Spielberg film and wondered afterward what happened when the states voted on ratification.

TIGER WOODS JOINS VACATIONING OBAMA

PALM CITY, Fla. (AP) - President Barack Obama played golf Sunday with Tiger Woods, the White House said.

Continue reading

Once the sport's dominant player before his career was sidetracked by scandal, Woods joined Obama at the Floridian, a secluded and exclusive yacht and golf club on Florida's Treasure Coast where Obama is spending the long Presidents Day weekend. The two had met before, but Sunday was the first time they played together.

The White House, which has promised to be the most open and transparent in history, has prohibited any media coverage of Obama's golf outing.

The Morning Report -- Sunday February 17, 2013

Pope Nears Retirement -- Dorner Hid In Unoccupied Condo -- Mother Presses Congress -- Obama Gets Golf Lessons -- Draft Bill For Illegal Legal Immigrants -- Russian Meteor Largest Since 1908 -- Apple/Samsung Plans 'Smartwatch' -- Google To Open Retail Stores -- Rubio Beats Obama To Israel

POPE NEARS RETIREMENT, SAYS "PRAY FOR ME AND NEXT POPE"

Reuters

(Reuters) - Pope Benedict asked the faithful to pray for him and for the next pope, addressing a crowded St. Peter's Square in his penultimate Sunday address before becoming the first pontiff in centuries to resign.

The crowd chanted "Long live the pope!," waved banners and broke into sustained applause as he spoke from his window. The 85-year-old Benedict, who will resign on February 28, thanked them in several languages.

DORNER WAS HIDING IN UNOCCUPIED CONDO DURING MANHUNT

Associated Press

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. -- It didn't take ingenuity for Christopher Dorner to elude authorities for six days. He simply opened an unlocked door.

As law enforcement swarmed a mountain neighborhood searching for the fugitive ex-cop, Dorner hid in a condo 100 feet across the street from a command post and a short distance from where he left his burned-out truck.

SLAIN TEEN'S MOM PRESSES CONGRESS

Associated Press

The mother of a 15-year-old Chicago girl slain a week after performing at President Barack Obama’s inauguration is appearing in a new gun control public service announcement that calls on Congress to enact “common-sense reforms.”

“When my daughter Hadiya performed at the President’s inauguration, it was the happiest day of her life,” Cleopatra Cowley-Pendelton says in the commercial, paid for by Mayors Against Illegal Guns. “A week later, she was murdered. Gunned down near her school. A piece of my heart is gone. Congress is debating how to fix our gun laws. They can start with background checks for all gun sales. Tell Congress to support common-sense reforms so no more innocent children are killed. And no parent has to go through this heartbreak.”

PRESIDENT OBAMA GETS GOLF LESSONS FROM TIGER WOODS' OLD COACH

PALM CITY, Fla. — President Obama is spending his President’s Day weekend in this upscale coastal community for a golf getaway with friends. But he isn’t spending his three days in the Sunshine State idly teeing off: The president received golf lessons today from the former coach of none other than Tiger Woods himself: Butch Harmon.

A veteran of the PGA Tour, Harmon is renowned today for his series of “Ultimate Golf” training videos. He flew to the area with his son, Claude III, to give the president personal tips.

OBAMA DRAFT BILL WOULD CLEAR PATH TO CITIZENSHIP

Reuters

(Reuters) - A draft of a White House immigration proposal would allow illegal immigrants to become legal permanent residents within eight years, USA Today reported on Saturday.

The plan, obtained by the newspaper, also would provide for more security funding and require businesses to check the immigration status of new hires within four years. Illegal immigrants could also apply for a newly created "Lawful Prospective Immigrant" visa, under the draft bill, it said.

RUSSIAN METEOR IS LARGEST SINCE 1908

A meteor that exploded in the skies above Russia’s Ural Mountains was the largest since the Tunguska blast in Siberia in 1908 and released about 33 times the energy of the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.

Before hitting the Earth’s atmosphere yesterday, the object was about 17 meters (55 feet) and had a mass of about 10,000 tons, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration said in a statement.

SAMSUNG PLANS SMARTWATCH

Above: Apple's Potential iWatch

Apple and Samsung may extend their smartphone and tablet battle to the wrist. New images have appeared online that are believed to be screenshots of the Samsung Altius, a smartwatch that will arrive later this year. The Altius could go head-to-head with Apple's own iWatch. Have the smartwatch wars begun?

The Altius screenshots leaked less than a week after both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal ran articles suggesting that Apple -- Samsung's main competitor in a variety of markets -- is working on a wearable product, probably a watch.

APPLE'S NEW iAD CAMPAIGN PROMOTES 300,000 APPS

Apple's initial ad campaign for the new iPad mini simply presented it next to the full size iPad both playing a duet in GarageBand, or alone in a user's hand to highlight its smaller size. 

The new ads present both a full size iPad and iPad mini, depicting both running one of a series of creative applications. Each ad has a simple headline that highlights a particular category or type of apps, such as "Ear Opening" for music related titles, "Elementary" for educational titles, "Well Versed" for music notation and ebooks and "Mind watering" for visually graphic apps.

RUMOR: GOOGLE PLANNING TO OPEN RETAIL STORES

Google opening up a retail store or two? That's this weekend's big rumor, with a few unknown sources letting slip that the search giant might be looking to open up stand-alone shops around the U.S. in a bid to get more Google products — tablets, phones, and all the other fun things cooking at Google HQ (glasses, anyone?) — into consumer hands.

It's a move that makes complete sense, given that competitors Microsoft and Apple both have retail stores of their own for pushing out product. And while Google's tested the retail waters a bit with some "store-within-a-store" setups at various Best Buy locations across the United States, the company has yet to go the full nine yards and establish broader retails presences that could focus more on selling instead of showing, as9to5google's Seth Weintraub suggests.

AHEAD OF OBAMA, MARCO RUBIO HEADS TO ISRAEL

As President Obama prepares for his first trip to Israel since assuming office, the man some hope will succeed him leaves Saturday for his own visit to the Jewish state.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and an oft-mentioned potential 2016 presidential candidate, departed for Israel and Jordan.

Former SC GOP head on Twitter: "This Super Bowl sucks more dick than adult Trayvon Martin would have for drug money."

Todd Kincannon @ToddKincannon

This Super Bowl sucks more dick than adult Trayvon Martin would have for drug money.

2:09 AM - 04 Feb 13

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Todd Kincannon @ToddKincannon

.@DAWNCATHERINE I appreciate you! I agree that Trayvon Martin was a dangerous thug who needed to be put down like a rabid dog.

7:57 AM - 04 Feb 13

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The Morning Report -- Monday February 4, 2013

Ravens Hold 49ers -- Netflix's House of Cards -- O'Reilly Lied -- Sniper Chris Kyle Killed -- Kerry Gets To Work -- Democrats Demand Additional 'Revenue' -- Obama: Tax Loopholes Next -- S. Korea/US Begin Naval Exercises

BALTIMORE STOPS 49ERS 3RD QUARTER COMEBACK

Image: Bleacher Report

NEW ORLEANS -- From blowout to blackout to shootout, Joe Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens had just enough power to survive one of the most electric Super Bowls ever.

The outage flipped the momentum to the San Francisco 49ers, but the Ravens used a last-gasp defensive stand to hold on Sunday night, 34-31.

America's biggest sporting event came to a half-hour standstill in the third quarter when most of the Superdome lights and the scoreboards went dark. By then, the Ravens had a 22-point lead.

Everything changed after that, though, and the 49ers staged a sensational rally before Ray Lewis and Co. shut it down. But there were plenty of white-knuckle moments and the Ravens (14-6) had to make four stops inside their 7 at the end.

NETFLIX'S HOUSE OF CARDS OFFERS BRIGHT FUTURE

Netflix

It’s hard to imagine the happiness at Netflix when they realized that House of Cards — the company’s much-heralded premiere of self-produced original programming – would debut its complete 13-episode run on the same week that the U.S. Senate held a hearing to confirm John Kerry as Secretary of State. After all, the updated American version of the 1990s BBC political drama launches with Kevin Spacey’s character, Congressman Frank Underwood, learning he won’t be nominated for that very position, a devastating insult that inspires his secret campaign to undermine the newly elected administration he pretends to serve. The show, it seemed, couldn’t be any more topical.

The problem for this new House of Cards is that despite this timely coincidence, the content of the show often feels curiously old-fashioned, especially in the context of its innovative format. That’s squarely the fault of the writing; for every smart move that writer Beau Willimon (The Ides of March)makes in updating the basic setup and plot of the BBC original for a modern American audience, he undermines his good work with clumsy dialogue and scenes that are too on-the-nose and out-of-step with the kind of sophisticated, layered writing we’ve come to expect from shows like Mad Men, Breaking Bad or even Game of Thrones.

O'REILLY'S JFK ASSASSINATION FIB

USA Today

Bill O’Reilly’s bestselling book on the JFK assassination, “Killing Kennedy,” partly follows the travails of O’Reilly himself as a young reporter trying to uncover the truth behind the president’s death. As author and former Salon politics editor Jefferson Morley highlighted this week, however, O’Reilly’s firsthand accounts appear lacking in the truth department.

In an incident detailed in the book (and flagged by media outlets including USA Today) O’Reilly claims he was tracking down an interview with George de Mohrenschildt, a Russian expat with possible CIA connections who was friends with Lee Harvey Oswald. Investigators looking into the JFK assassination were seeking information for de Mohnrenschildt when he reportedly committed suicide in 1977. According to “Killing Kennedy,” O’Reilly was on the Russian’s doorstep when he heard “the shotgun blast that marked the suicide.”

SEMIAUTOMATIC HANDGUN USED TO KILL 'AMERICAN SNIPER' NAVY SEAL CHRIS KYLE

Associated Press

The former Navy SEAL was found shot dead with a second man, Chad Littlefield, after a gunman opened 

fire and was later taken into custody. Kyle wrote a best-selling autobiography detailing his 150-plus kills of insurgents from 1999 to 2009. The gunman was identified as Eddie Ray Routh, 25, who may have been suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, according to local media.

He lived by the gun, and he died by the gun.

The military’s most famous sniper — Chris Kyle, a Navy SEAL who claimed to have killed more than 150 insurgents from long distances in the Iraq war — was gunned down point-blank by a mentally unstable vet at a Texas shooting range Saturday.

Kyle, 38, was visiting the Rough Creek Lodge range outside Fort Worth with friend Chad Littlefield when deranged vet Eddie Ray Routh, 25, fatally shot both men, police said.

Routh, a former Marine, fled and was later arrested at his home outside Dallas, where cops retrieved the semiautomatic handgun used to kill both men.

Kyle, a highly decorated Iraq veteran, wrote the best-selling book, “American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/american-sniper-author-chris-kyle-fatally-shot-article-1.1254181#ixzz2JuYTxg2M

SECRETARY KERRY HAS BUSY FIRST WEEKEND

Associated Press

It's possible that John Kerry might be too excited about his new job. Rather than kicking back and letting everyone enjoy their weekend, Kerry got right to work, calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli President Shimon Peres, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss his commitment to peace in the Middle East, as well as other issues in the region. He also talked with officials from Japan, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, and Turkey, then spent his lunch break chatting with George Shultz, secretary of state under President Reagan. 

REID SAYS NEW REVENUE VITAL IN A BUDGET DEAL

ABC News

WASHINGTON—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid drew a red line in the budget showdown with Republicans, saying Democrats will demand additional revenue as part of any deal to alter the mandatory spending cuts set to hit at the beginning of next month.

The comments, made in an interview Sunday with ABC's "This Week," come as Senate Democrats weigh options for averting at least some of the March 1 cuts, known in Washington as the sequester. One Democratic proposal would seek to offset some of the roughly $85 billion in cuts this year with a combination of tax increases and spending cuts.

"There are a lot of tax loopholes that should be closed," the Senate's top Democrat said in the interview aired Sunday. He cited tax provisions for oil companies and for companies with operations overseas. The White House has called for similar steps as part of any deal to avert some of the March 1 cuts.

OBAMA SAYS LOOPHOLES MAY BE NEXT

Reuters

WASHINGTON — President Obama said in a televised interview on Sunday that he could foresee a budget deal in Congress that did not include further increases in tax rates but instead focused on eliminating loopholes and deductions.

Mr. Obama has generally insisted that all revenue options, including higher rates, should be considered to slow the rise of federal budgetdeficits. But in the interview with Scott Pelley of CBS News, he said, “I don’t think the issue right now is raising rates.”

Having just raised rates on people earning more than $450,000 a year, Mr. Obama said the focus now should be on targeted spending cuts and changes to the tax code, which he said favored the wealthy.

SOUTH KOREA, US BEGIN NAVAL DRILLS AMID NUCLEAR TENSIONS

The scheduled drills, involving a US nuclear submarine, come after North Korea said it was planning to carry out its third test of a nuclear device.

Associated Press

The US and South Korea have promised "significant consequences" if it goes ahead with the underground explosion.

The North has criticised the naval drills as "war-mongering".

The exercises, taking place off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, involve live fire, naval manoeuvres and submarine detection drills.

Officials have stressed they were planned before the latest rise in tensions.

But South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Jung Seung-Jo said the presence of the nuclear-powered submarine USS San Francisco in the region "would itself serve as a message to North Korea".

Watch Superbowl XLVII

WATCH SUPERBOWL XLVII LIVE FROM CBS SPORTS

Click HERE to watch. 

More Than A Quarter Of Americans Believe God Chooses Winners Of Sporting Events

Reuters

With millions of Americans set to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday, a new survey finds more than a quarter of Americans believe that God "plays a role in determining which team wins" at sports events.

The survey by the Public Religion Research Institute also found that more than half of Americans believe "God rewards athletes who have faith with good health and success."

"In an era where professional sports are driven by dollars and statistics," said institute CEO Robert P. Jones, "significant numbers of Americans see a divine hand at play."

http://www.clickorlando.com/Poll-Some-say-God-influences-sporting-events/-/1637238/18326300/-/tracnt/-/index.html

The Morning Report -- Wednesday January 30, 2013

Twinkies Saved? -- Home Prices Surge -- Consumer Confidence Collapses -- No More NFL? -- LaHood Leaves Obama Cabinet -- Senate Confirms Kerry  -- Should The Queen Retire? -- Fox News Crashes -- Man Kidnaps Child, AL 

HOSTESS PICKS APOLLO, METROPOULOS AS LEAD CAKES BID

AP

(Bloomberg) -- Hostess Brands Inc., the bankrupt maker of Wonder bread and Twinkies, picked the team of Apollo Global Management LLC and C. Dean Metropoulos & Co. as the lead bidder for its cake brands, said two people with knowledge of the matter.

The assets include some facilities, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the process is private. The offer becomes the so-called stalking horse for an auction of the cakes business, meaning it sets the standard that other suitors have to beat. Hostess’s cake products include CupCakes, Ding Dongs and Ho Hos.

HOME PRICES SURGE MORE THAN 5%, MOST SINCE 2006

Home prices rose in November, climbing more than 5 percent from a year ago, in the biggest increase since August 2006, when the housing market was just starting to collapse.

s

A separate economic report issued Tuesday, on consumer confidence in the United States, held less encouraging data, with moods falling to their lowest level in more than a year as Americans grew more pessimistic about the economic outlook and their financial prospects. In the latest sign that the housing sector is on the mend, the Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller composite index of home prices in 20 metropolitan areas gained 0.6 percent in November, on a seasonally adjusted basis, in line with economists’ forecasts.

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE COLLAPSES

BERNARD POLLARD: NFL WON'T LAST

NEW ORLEANS - Bernard Pollard is known for hard hits (just ask the New England Patriots), and he leveled one at the NFL this week when he predicted the league wouldn't be around in 30 years, because the crackdown on ferocious hits will turn off fans.

On Tuesday, at Super Bowl XLVII media day, the Baltimore Ravens safety didn't back down.

"There's a car crash every play," he said. "Those helmets are popping, those pads are hitting. This is a grown man's game.

"I stand by what I said. I'm entitled to my own opinion. I play this game. I understand this game. For me, growing up, to see where the game has gone from then to now, it's a very special game, but it's changing."

LAHOOD: IT'S TIME FOR ME TO MOVE ON

AP

Washington — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood — who championed funding for Detroit's M-1 light rail project and oversaw key auto regulations — is stepping down after four years.

"I love this job. It's the best job I've ever had in government, in public service," LaHood said in a Detroit News interview Tuesday, noting he made the tough decision after talking to his wife of 45 years.

"It's time for me to move on," said LaHood, 67. "I do it with some reluctance and a great deal of satisfaction."

SENATE CONFIRMS KERRY

AP

The Senate confirmed President Barack Obama’s nomination of Sen. John Kerry, D- Mass, to be secretary of state Tuesday. The vote was 94 to 3, with three Republicans – Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla. – voting against him.

“Sen. Kerry has a long history of liberal positions that are not consistent with a majority of Texans,” said Cornyn spokesman Drew Brandewie.

Kerry stood on the Senate floor as his colleagues voted on his confirmation. Kerry himself voted "present."

SHOULD THE QUEEN RETIRE AND GIVE THE CROWN TO CHARLES?

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands announced Monday that she would be stepping down in April to allow her son to take the throne, but don't expect Queen Elizabeth do to the same, experts say. 

Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, took to Dutch television to announce her abdication in favour of her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, 45. 

FOX NEWS RATINGS HIT 12 YEAR LOWS

At the end of each month, cable news ratings are released to the public. And, like clockwork, Fox News dominates the top 13 or so programs, far outstripping its competitors.

January was ... a little different. To be sure, everything is relative in cable news: Fox News still had nine out of the top 10 programs. It has spent 11 consecutive years as the top-rated cable news channel. Its 6 a.m. show drew almost double the ratings of CNN's top-ranking prime time show.

MAN FATALLY SHOOTS SCHOOL BUS DRIVER, KIDNAPS SON IN ALABAMA

AP

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. –  Authorities in southeastern Alabama say a man boarded a school bus, fatally shot the driver, then removed a 6-year-old passenger and ran.

The Dale County Sheriff told WBMA-TV that the suspect shot the driver in Midland City several times after he refused to let the child off the bus Tuesday afternoon. The driver later died of his wounds.

It is unclear how many other students were aboard the bus at the time, though WSFA.com reports that several children on the bus witnessed the man shoot the driver take the young boy away.