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 Morning Report -- Friday March 1, 2013

Sequester Arrives To Cold Welcome -- Sinkhole Swallows Florida Man -- Congressional Democrats Urge Supreme Court On DOMA -- Woodward, Axelrod Clash -- Bradley Manning Pleads Guilty -- Cardinals Summoned For Conclave -- Congress Skips Town -- A $2,500 iPad Bill

GOVERNMENT STARES DOWN START OF STEEP CUTS

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government hurtled on Friday toward deep spending cuts that threaten to hinder the nation's economic recovery, after Republicans and Democrats failed to agree on an alternative deficit-reduction plan.

Locked in during a bout of deficit-reduction fever in 2011, the time-released “automatic” cuts can only be halted by agreement between Republican lawmakers and the White House. 

FLORIDA MAN SWALLOWED BY MASSIVE SINKHOLE IN BEDROOM

www.myfoxtampabay.com

A large sinkhole opened under the bedroom of a house near Tampa, trapping a 36-year-old man in the rubble.

The home collapsed late Thursday in a Seffner neighborhood. By early Friday, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue officials determined the home had become too unstable to continue rescue efforts.

"Right now, the potential for a collapse is very, very high," Jessica Damico, a Hillsborough Fire and Rescue spokeswoman told MyFoxTampaBay.com. 

CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS URGE SCOTUS TO STRIKE DOWN DOMA

WASHINGTON — More than 200 congressional Democrats are urging the Supreme Court to overturn a key provision of the federal law against gay marriage.

The lawmakers are filing a friend-of-the-court brief with the justices Friday, asking them to strike down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA. The provision denies all federal benefits to same-sex couples.

The Democratic brief is meant as a counterweight to House Republicans, who have been defending DOMA in court ever since President Barack Obama ordered the Justice Department to stop doing so. The president believes the measure is unconstitutional, but it will remain federal law unless it is repealed by Congress or overturned by the court.

BOB WOODWARD, DAVID AXELROD CLASH ON TV

David Axelrod and Bob Woodward clashed Friday over The Washington Post reporter’s claim that a top White House official had sent him an inappropriate email.

Axelrod and Woodward argued over the same two topics the White House has been disputing for the past week — whether President Barack Obama had “moved the goalposts” on the sequester and whether economic aide Gene Sperling had warned Woodward in an email.

BRADLEY MANNING SAYS HE LEAKED WIKILEAKS TO SPARK PUBLIC DEBATE

FORT MEADE, Md. -- After almost three years in custody, the Army private accused in the biggest leak of classified material in U.S. history said he did it because he wanted the public to know how the American military was fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with little regard for human life.

Bradley Manning, 25, pleaded guilty Thursday at a military hearing at Fort Meade, Md., to 10 charges that could carry a maximum sentence of 20 years. Prosecutors plan to pursue 12 more charges against him at court-martial, including a charge of aiding the enemy that carries a potential life sentence.

VATICAN SUMMONS CARDINALS FOR CONCLAVE

ROME -- The Vatican is moving quickly to start the process of selecting the next pope, announcing Friday that the official invitation had gone out to the 115 eligible cardinals who will take part in selecting the next pope.

The Vatican said that "congregations" leading up to the actual conclave will start Monday.

CONGRESS HEADS OUT AS SEQUESTER BLOWS IN

One day before automatic spending cuts were due to hit the Pentagon and other federal agencies, Congress on Thursday abandoned efforts to avert the reductions and left town for the weekend. The sequester is here, and policymakers have no plans to end it.

President Obama is scheduled to meet Friday at the White House with congressional leaders, but expectations for the meeting are low. House Republicans are already turning their attention to the next deadline on March 27, drafting a measure that would avoid a government shutdown while leaving the sequester in place through the end of September.

FIVE YEAR OLD RUNS UP $2,500 BILL ON iPAD IN TEN MINUTES

Danny Kitchen had asked for the passcode for the device so that he could download a game, Zombie v Ninja, from the Apple store.

Greg and Sharon Kitchen eventually agreed and left their son alone with the tablet computer as they entertained friends at their home in Warmley, near Bristol.

But after downloading the free app Danny found his way into the game's online store and innocently ordered dozens of costly add-ons - totalling £1,710.43.