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.

ACN Investigates: House Speaker John Boehner Claims Demcorats Have No Plan To Replace The Sequester

With no last-minute deal to avoid sequestration, the sweeping federal spending cuts have begun to take effect, and politicians have taken to the airwaves to explain where they stand.

House Speaker John Boehner appeared on Meet the Press on March 3, 2013, and told host David Gregory he and his fellow Republicans have done all they can to break the stalemate over deficit reduction. It’s now up to President Barack Obama and the Democrats, Boehner said.

"We've known about this for 16 months. And yet even today, there's no plan from Senate Democrats or the White House to replace the sequester," he said. "And over the last 10 months, House Republicans have acted twice to replace the sequester."

No plan? That didn’t sound quite right.

THE WHITE HOUSE PLAN

http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/sequester/the-presidents-plan

SENATE DEMOCRATS' PLAN

From PolitiFact:

On Feb. 26, Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski introduced the American Family Economic Protection Act of 2013, which would cancel the $85.3 billion sequester and replace it over several years with a mix of spending cuts and tax increases.

The bill proposes to cut $27.5 billion from the defense budget and another $27.5 billion from agriculture funding. It would raise $55 billion in new revenue by implementing the "Buffett Rule" (which sets a minimum 30 percent tax rate on income above $1 million) and ending tax deductions for oil companies.

On Feb. 28, the Senate voted on a motion to cut off debate, which would have brought the bill up for a full vote, but the motion failed 51-49 on a largely partisan vote (60 votes were needed to end debate).

The Morning Report -- Tuesday March 5, 2013

Vote Counting Begins In Kenya -- Queen Elizabeth Leaves Hospital -- Cardinals Meet Today, Conclave Due -- U.S. Cardinals Express Concerns -- Venezuela's Chavez Health Worsens -- CA GOP Looks To Rebuild -- House Republicans Propose Shutdown Fix -- Vegas Strip Shooting Fights Extradition -- Menendez Accuser Backs Off Claims -- US Ambassador Asks UN Colleagues To Remain Sober - White House Favors Unlocking Cellphones - Comet Aims For Mars

KENYA ELECTION: VOTE COUNTING BEGINS IN CRUCIAL ELECTION 

Polls were due to close at 17:00 (14:00 GMT) but officials said those in queues at that time would be allowed to vote.

Earlier attacks by machete-wielding gangs around the port city of Mombasa killed at least 15 people.

With more than 10% of votes counted, the two presidential front-runners were well ahead of the other candidates.

The partial preliminary results, from areas where polling ended on time, gave Uhuru Kenyatta a lead over Prime Minister Raila Odinga, although analysts cautioned that these results came from Kenyatta strongholds.

QUEEN ELIZABETH II LEAVES HOSPITAL AFTER STOMACH FLU

Queen Elizabeth II left the London hospital where she'd been treated for the symptoms of a stomach infection Monday, following a brief and rare hospitalization for the 86-year-old head of state.

A smiling Elizabeth walked unassisted out of King Edward VII Hospital Monday afternoon before saying goodbye to staff. She was then driven away in a motorcade.

CARDINALS MEET TODAY, COULD SET CONCLAVE DATE

Cardinals will meet again in secret today at the Vatican, where they may target a date for the formal conclave to select a new pope and hash out the agenda they’d like to see the next pontiff address, including the clergy sex scandals and Vatican management that continue to dominate pre-conclave headlines.

The process is playing out behind closed doors and under an oath of secrecy, though some of the princes of the Church are still making themselves available to the media hordes on hand.

US CARDINALS SEEK ANSWERS ON ABUSE, CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS BEFORE CONCLAVE

VATICAN CITY — Cardinals said Monday they want to talk to Vatican managers about allegations of corruption and cronyism within the top levels of the Catholic Church before they elect the next pope, evidence that a scandal over leaked papal documents is casting a shadow over the conclave and setting up one of the most unpredictable papal elections in recent times.

The Vatican said 107 of the 115 voting-age cardinals attended the first day of pre-conclave meetings, at which cardinals organize the election, discuss the problems of the church and get to know one another before voting.

CHAVEZ'S BREATHING PROBLEMS WORSEN, HAS SEVERE NEW INFECTION

(Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's breathing problems have worsened and he is suffering from a "severe" new respiratory infection as he struggles to recover from cancer surgery, the government said in a somber medical update on Monday.

The 58-year-old socialist leader has not been seen in public nor heard from in almost three months since undergoing the operation in Cuba. It was his fourth surgery since the disease was detected in mid-2011.

CALIFORNIA GOP TO REBUILD STEP-BY-STEP

Borrowing a theme from Democrat Jerry Brown's first term as governor, California Republicans are embracing a "small is beautiful" philosophy as they seek to rebuild their party from its nadir.

The California GOP has entered an era of diminished expectations.

As the emaciated party wrapped up its three-day statewide convention Sunday, there is little buzz about a 2014 challenge to unseat Brown. There's little hope of picking up more than a seat or two in the Legislature. There's no rush behind a ballot measure.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS PROPOSE MEASURE TO AVERT SHUTDOWN

WASHINGTON -- House Republicans on Monday introduced a bill that would avoid a government shutdown at the end of March, but that also could mitigate some of the most striking effects of the across-the-board federal spending cuts enacted last week.

Although the proposed shifts would make the sequester slightly less indiscriminate -- particularly for the military -- the measure would leave in place the $85 billion spending reduction, locking in the cuts through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.

SUSPECT IN VEGAS STRIP SHOOTING FIGHTS EXTRADITION FROM CALIFORNIA

(Reuters) - A man accused of fatally shooting an aspiring rapper as he drove a Maserati along the Las Vegas Strip, touching off a fiery car crash that killed two other people, challenged his extradition back to Nevada from California on Monday.

The man insisted through his defense lawyer that police or other authorities from Nevada be summoned to Los Angeles to identify him in court as the fugitive they seek in the February 21 shooting, 26-year-old Ammar Harris.

ESCORT SAYS MENENDEZ PROSTITUTION CLAIMS WERE MADE UP

A woman who said on tape that Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) paid her for sex is now backing off those claims, telling police in the Dominican Republican that she was paid to make them, according to documents and two people familiar with the case.

The woman, one of two women who claimed Menendez hired them as prostitutes, now says she has never met the senator.

US AMBASSADOR POLITELY ASKS UN COLLEAGUES TO STOP SHOWING UP DRUNK TO MEETINGS

The United Nations is a pretty fun place. The headquarters hosts all kinds of cultural events. Everyone's open-minded about the dress code. Delegates can even show up hammered to budget negotiations. Or at least they used to be able to.

At a General Assembly budget committee meeting on Monday, the United States ambassador for management and reform at the UN stood up to scold his colleagues for always showing up drunk to negotiations. "There has always been a good and responsible tradition of a bit of alcohol improving a negotiation, but we're not talking about a delegate having a nip at the bar," said Joseph "The Fun Police" Torsella. "We make the modest proposal that the negotiating rooms should in future be an inebriation-free zone."

WHITE HOUSE: IT'S TIME TO LEGALIZE CELL PHONE UNLOCKING 

The White House on Monday came out in support of the rights of consumers to unlock their cellphones once they have fulfilled the terms of the contract.

Responding to a petition on WhiteHouse.gov, the executive branch stated, “The White House agrees with the 114,000+ of you who believe that consumers should be able to unlock their cell phones without risking criminal or other penalties.”

They went further, saying that the same right should also extend to other mobile devices, namely tablets.

COMET SETS AIM FOR MARS

A PAIR of middle-aged tourists (see previous post) are not the only thing headed for Mars. Comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) is also on its way. Discovered on January 3rd, some calculations of its orbit, according to Phil Plait, the rather good “Bad Astronomer”, have it passing 37,000km above the surface of the planet in October 2014—roughly the height at which communication satellites orbit Earth, and a remarkably close shave by cosmic standards. An official NASA website puts the most likely “close-approach” distance between the comet and Mars at something more like 100,000km.

But the minimum close-approach distance is zero. Comets do not move smoothly on their tracks like ball bearings or planets. The gases that blow off their surfaces as the sun warms them up push them hither and yon, changing their trajectories. So, though the odds are strongly against it (how strongly no one can yet say) the comet has a real if small chance of actually hitting the planet.

The Morning Report -- Saturday February 23, 2012

White House Expands Access To Research Findings -- Top UK Cardinal: Let Priests Marry -- Obama Drug Czar Targets CO and WA -- United States To Air-Drop Toxic Mice On Guam -- More Rumors Surface About Pope -- Manhunt Underway After Las Vegas Shooting -- NV Legalizes Online Gambling 

WHITE HOUSE EXPANDS PUBLIC ACCESS TO FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH

From the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

The Obama Administration is committed to the proposition that citizens deserve easy access to the results of scientific research their tax dollars have paid for. That’s why, in a policy memorandum released today, OSTP Director John Holdren has directed Federal agencies with more than $100M in R&D expenditures to develop plans to make the published results of federally funded research freely available to the public within one year of publication and requiring researchers to better account for and manage the digital data resulting from federally funded scientific research. OSTP has been looking into this issue for some time, soliciting broad public input on multiple occasions and convening an interagency working group to develop a policy. The final policy reflects substantial inputs from scientists and scientific organizations, publishers, members of Congress, and other members of the public—over 65 thousand of whom recently signed a We the People petition asking for expanded public access to the results of taxpayer-funded research.

TOP UK CARDINAL PUSHES TO ALLOW PRIESTS TO MARRY, HAVE CHILDREN

Britain's most senior Roman Catholic has said he believes priests should be able to marry if they wish to do so.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien said it was clear many priests struggled to cope with celibacy, and should be able to marry and have children.

The cardinal will be part of the conclave that chooses the next Pope.

He spoke of his surprise at the resignation of Benedict XVI, and said he was open to the new Pope coming from outside of Europe.

OBAMA DRUG CZAR: WE WILL GO AFTER MARIJUANA DISTRIBUTORS IN COLORADO AND WASHINGTON

In an interview with Canadian news magazineMaclean’s last week, Gil Kerlikowske, President Obama’s Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, stated that despite recreational legalization in Washington and Colorado, they would still go after distributors and growers in both states.

"You’ll continue to see enforcement against distributors and large-scale growers as the Justice Department has outlined. They will use their limited resources on those groups and not on going after individual users," said Kerlikowske, who is also a former Seattle Police Chief.

US GOVERNMENT TO AIR DROP TOXIC MICE ON GUAM SNAKES

ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam (AP) — Dead mice laced with painkillers are about to rain down on Guam's jungle canopy. They are scientists' prescription for a headache that has caused the tiny U.S. territory misery for more than 60 years: the brown tree snake.

Most of Guam's native bird species are extinct because of the snake, which reached the island's thick jungles by hitching rides from the South Pacific on U.S. military ships shortly after World War II. There may be 2 million of the reptiles on Guam now, decimating wildlife, biting residents and even knocking out electricity by slithering onto power lines.

WHY IS THE POPE LEAVING SO SOON?

The Pope cited his “incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me” in “today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes.” This was the same week the producers of Maker’s Mark announced they were lowering the alcohol content of their bourbon: Here was the leader of the Catholic church bemoaning his inability to adapt to a changing world. Has everyone forgotten their brand?

MANHUNT UNDERWAY FOR SUSPECTS IN LAS VEGAS STRIP SHOOTING

Reuters

(Reuters) - A multi-state manhunt was under way on Friday for the men who shot dead an aspiring rapper as he drove on the Las Vegas Strip in a Maserati, touching off a fiery crash that killed a cab driver and his passenger.

Las Vegas police have not named any suspects in the dramatic pre-dawn shooting in the heart of the desert resort city on Thursday, but said they were still hunting for a black Range Rover used in the incident.

One or more gunmen in the apparently brand-new luxury sport utility vehicle opened fire on a silver Maserati being driven by 27-year-old Kenneth Wayne Cherry Jr. at the busy intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road.

NEVADA SEEKS JACKPOT WITH ACCEPTANCE OF ONLINE GAMBLING

Already home to a major gaming industry, Nevada is preparing to take its expertise online after officials rapidly approved a law to become the first state in the nation to authorize what could become one of the most lucrative gambling markets still to be tapped.

At the bill signing held in the same Capitol room where lawmakers legalized gambling some 80 years ago, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval formally put his signature to the law Thursday. By quickly moving the bill through the Legislature, Nevada gets ahead of rival New Jersey in the race to win the first slot in the online poker business, where billions of dollars are being wagered domestically and tens of billions of dollars are bet from around the world.

The Morning Report -- Saturday February 9, 2013

Boeing To Get Flight Test -- Stocks Soar On Optimism -- Mass. Nuclear Power Plant Loses Power -- Panetta Retires, Hagel Waits -- White House Warns Of Sequestration -- Asteroid Approaches Earth -- Hunt For LAPD Cop Hindered By Snow --  Nemo Strikes Northeast United States

BOEING 787 DREAMLINER  FLIGHT TEST TODAY

Boeing will begin flight tests of its 787 Dreamliner on Saturday morning to gather data on the battery system that has caused the in-service 787 fleet to be grounded, according to an inside source.

The plane that will fly Saturday is Dreamliner No. 5, one of six planes filled with measuring equipment that was used in the flight tests for the 787’s original Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification.

Ground tests were successfully completed on the jet Friday.

On Thursday, the FAA granted Boeing’s request to do test flights specifically to gather data on the battery performance in flight.

The FAA has imposed strict operating conditions on the test flights, requiring preflight inspections and in-flight monitoring of the battery system.

STOCKS END HIGH FOR SIXTH STRAIGHT WEEK

Reuters

(Reuters) - The Nasdaq composite stock index closed at a 12-year high and the S&P 500 index at a five-year high, boosted by gains in technology shares and stronger overseas trade figures.

The S&P 500 also posted a sixth straight week of gains for the first time since August.

The technology sector led the day's gains, with the S&P 500 technology index .SPLRCT up 1.0 percent. Gains in professional network platform LinkedIn Corp (LNKD.N) and AOL Inc (AOL.N) after they reported quarterly results helped the sector.

MASSACHUSETTS NUCLEAR POWER PLANT LOSES POWER

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says a power plant in Massachusetts has lost power and shut down during a massive snowstorm.

The NRC says the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth experienced an automatic shutdown at around 9:15 p.m. Friday after losing off-site power. Spokesman Neil Sheehan says the plant has declared an unusual event, which is the lowest level of emergency classification.

Sheehan says that the reactor shut down without any problems and that backup generators are powering plant equipment.

The NRC says there’s no threat to public safety.

The shutdown came as a major snowstorm began clobbering the New York-to-Boston corridor, knocking out power to more than 300,000 customers in Massachusetts.

PANETTA RETIRES WHILE SUCCESSOR AWAITS VOTE

Reuters

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama bade a fond farewell to retiring Defense Secretary Leon Panetta at a ceremony on Friday and voiced strong support for his nominated successor, Chuck Hagel, who was attacked by Republicans at a contentious Senate confirmation hearing last week.

Panetta, in his 19 months as Pentagon chief, ended the ban on women serving in front-line combat roles and oversaw the integration of gays and lesbians serving openly in the military. The Iraq war ended and the lastAfghanistan "surge" troops came home on his watch.

But he may be remembered most for his work before he came to the Pentagon in July 2011, as the CIA director who helped oversee the raid earlier that year that killed Osama bin Laden.

WHITE HOUSE WARNS OF "DAMAGING" SEQUESTRATION SPENDING CUTS

Reuters

(Reuters) - The White House said on Friday that government spending cuts due to take effect March 1 would have harsh consequences for ordinary Americans and the U.S. economy, seeking to turn up pressure on Congress to come up with a plan to avoid what Washington calls "sequestration."

President Barack Obama said the spending cuts could weaken U.S. military preparedness.

"There is no reason, no reason for that to happen," Obama said at a farewell ceremony for Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

"Putting our fiscal house in order calls for a balanced approach, not massive, indiscriminate cuts that could have a severe impact on our military preparedness," he said.

ASTEROID TO NARROWLY MISS EARTH

NASA

Astronomers are keeping a wary eye on a large asteroid expected to narrowly miss hitting Earth next Friday in the closest known approach of a dangerous cosmic object since NASA started tracking such debris.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration experts who plotted its trajectory are confident that the primordial rock, weighing an estimated 130,000 metric tons, will pass within "a remarkably close distance" of Earth, nearer than many orbiting communications satellites but far enough away to safely speed past the planet.

HUNT FOR LA COP LEADS TO SNOWY MOUNTAINS

BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. –  The hunt for Christopher Dorner in the snow-covered San Bernardino Mountains is expected to resume at daybreak Saturday, when authorities hope clearer skies will allow airplanes to help them in their search.

Relentless snowfall on Friday grounded helicopters with heat-sensing technology and hampered their effort to find the former Los Angeles police officer suspected of going on a deadly rampage to get back at those he blamed for ending his career.

NORTHEAST SNOWED IN AS 'NEMO' HITS

BuzzFeed

BOSTON — A massive storm packing hurricane-force winds and blizzard conditions is sweeping through the Northeast, dumping nearly 2 feet of snow on New England and knocking out power to more than a half a million customers.

More than 23 inches of snow had fallen in parts of central Connecticut by early Saturday, and more than 21 inches covered Randolph in southeastern Massachusetts.

The National Weather Service says up to 3 feet of snow is expected in Boston, threatening the city's 2003 record of 27.6 inches.