NEWS,10.2.2013

Obama to devote state address to jobs

President Barack Obama will build his annual state of the union address on Tuesday around a push for job creation as the fragile economy, which dogged his first term, threatens to hamper his second.Obama will lay out a governing program that he hopes to squeeze through a divided US Congress, so as to complement the soaring progressive vision he sketched for history in his inaugural address last month.Aides said Obama will seek to build support for new laws to curb gun violence, as the horror of December's massacre of 20 school kids begins to fade, at least outside the town of Newtown, Connecticut that it blighted.The president also told Democratic lawmakers last week he would focus on job creation, new forms of energy and education reform in his ceremonial annual address delivered from the House of Representatives.And he will make a pitch for immigration reform, the centerpiece of his second-term agenda, amid signs that Republicans keen to ease the distrust they suffer from among Hispanic voters may be ready for some rare cross-party compromise.With political capital renewed by his re-election triumph in November, Obama will retool some old suggestions for jobs programs that never made it past Republicans in Congress and add some new ideas, advisers said.After a sluggish economic recovery, there are new signs of alarm in the flat economy, after GDP contracted at an annual rate of 0.1% in the last quarter of 2012 and the unemployment rate has ticked up to 7.9%.Obama will not shun conflict with Republicans over taxes and spending, a spat currently being waged over huge budget cuts due to come into force on March 1, with potential to hammer the economy."We're going to talk about, yes, deficits and taxes and sequesters and potential government shutdowns and (the) debt ceiling," Obama told the Democrats."But all from the perspective of how are we making sure that somebody who works hard in this country a cop, or a teacher, or a construction worker, or a receptionist - that they can make it if they work hard?"Obama has fashioned his crusade for a more equitable economy for the middle class around higher taxes for the rich a stance which Republicans oppose, arguing unsustainable public spending should be issue number one.The president barely mentioned foreign policy in the inaugural address which enshrined his second White House term on January 21.But the watching world may get a window into his thinking on Tuesday night.Aides expect Obama to note the impending return home of the remaining 60 000 US troops in Afghanistan in 2014, but it is unclear if he will offer more details on the pace of their withdrawal.Vice President Joe Biden gave a few hints on the State of the Union address on a recent trip to Munich, Germany.He said Obama would mention his bid to reduce global nuclear stockpiles and halt the proliferation of the components of weapons of mass destruction.Biden also previewed initiatives on climate change, global poverty and a new effort to reduce trade barriers, including with Europe, plus a commitment to Middle East peace and the US pivot to Asia.Obama's speech will also be watched for any response to Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who just rejected a US offer for direct nuclear talks.The US president is required by the Constitution to report to the Congress on the State of the Union "from time to time."In the 20th century, the event evolved into today's ceremonial address, punctuated by multiple standing ovations.Obama sees this speech as part two of a dialogue with the American people."I think that Obama's second inaugural address will go down in history as the last speech of his election campaign," William Galston, a former advisor to president Bill Clinton, now with the Brookings Institution, told AFPTV."I think the 2013 State of the Union address will be regarded as the framing speech for his second term."Obama has a thorny challenge in getting an ambitious second term agenda through the gridlocked Congress."If President Obama wants to be a transformational president and be regarded in history in that way, he's going to have to build on this new vision of government that he's advancing," Galston said. Republicans have nominated rising star Senator Marco Rubio, a possible 2016 presidential candidate, for the tricky assignment of responding to the president's address.Response speeches, robbed of the euphoric power of the State of the Union, can come across as flat and are a risk for the person delivering them.The stakes for Rubio are particularly high, given his rising prospects, epitomized by a Time magazine cover dubbing him the "Republican Savior."

UK rejects Argentina bullying

Foreign Secretary William Hague said Britain could never be bullied by Argentina into giving up the Falkland Islands, in an interview published on Sunday. Hague told The Sun newspaper that Argentina's "intimidatory" behaviour only fortified the 2 500-odd Falkland Islanders in their determination to remain a self-governing British overseas territory.He also branded his Argentine counterpart Hector Timerman's claims that the South Atlantic archipelago would be under the control of Buenos Aires within 20 years as "fantasy"."There should never be a reward for bullying or threatening behaviour in international affairs," Hague said."This is a community that is nearly 200 years old. They seem very determined to remain British."If there's any chance they would change their minds, the approach by Argentina is completely counter-productive."It only fortifies the islanders' determination to stay British. It is only going to add to the decades and centuries that the Falklands will remain British."Britain has held the barren, windswept islands since 1833, but Argentine forces invaded in 1982, prompting London to send a naval task force to reclaim control in a brief but bloody conflict. Buenos Aires claims the islands are occupied Argentinian territory. Timerman visited London last week but refused to meet Hague as the British minister insisted on Falklands government representatives being present.On his visit, Timerman shook hands with a strangerwho gave him a letter, only to learn it was one of the Falklands representatives."You would think the poor minister had suffered an electric shock judging by the way he recoiled," Hague said."These are people who have rights just like those in the UK and Argentina. "There are families in the Falklands who are in their ninth generation."The Falklands have been there longer than Argentina has had its current boundaries or existed in its current form."He hinted that Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner was using the Falklands as a way to divert from domestic problems.Buenos Aires has rejected the dialogue of the 1990s in favour of "a pattern of bullying and intimidatory behaviour", he said."It would be better to talk to the islanders rather than deny their existence or claim Argentina will have the islands within 20 years. These things are fantasy."It would be far better for their country to be realistic."Hague accused Kirchner and Timerman of "misreading the character" of British and Falklands people."Everything we have seen and heard in the last week is the last thing that would ever work."A referendum is to be held on the Falklands on 10 and 11 March, asking the islanders whether they wish to retain their current status.

Storm hammers US

A blizzard packing hurricane-force winds hammered the northeastern United States on Saturday, cutting power to 700 000 homes and businesses, shutting down travel and leaving at least nine people dead.The mammoth storm that stretched from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic dumped more than 90cm of snow across the Northeast, the National Weather Service said.Coastal blizzard and flood warnings were in effect, but Massachusetts and Connecticut lifted vehicle travel bans as the storm slowly moved eastward on Saturday evening.Stratford, Connecticut, Mayor John Harkins said he had never seen such a heavy snowfall, with rates reaching 15cm an hour."Even the ploughs are getting stuck," Harkins told local WTNH television.The storm centred its fury on Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, with the highest snowfall total, 102cm in Hamden, Connecticut.About 2 200 flights were cancelled on Saturday, for a total of more than 5 800 over the past two days, according to FlightAware, which tracks airline delays. A few hundred additional cancellations are possible for Sunday, it said.Boston's Logan International Airport and Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, were shut down. Logan, hit by nearly 56cm of snow, was expected to reopen at least partly later on Saturday.The storm dumped 74cm of snow on Portland, Maine, breaking a 1979 record, the weather service said. Winds gusted to 134km/h at Cuttyhunk, New York, and brought down trees across the region.The storm contributed to at least five deaths in Connecticut, according to Governor Dannel Malloy and police.An 80-year-old woman was killed by a hit-and-run driver while clearing her driveway, and a 40-year-old man collapsed while shovelling snow. One man, 73, slipped outside his home and was found dead on Saturday, Malloy said.A 53-year-old Bridgeport man was found dead in the snow on Saturday morning outside his home, and a 49-year-old man died while shovelling snow in Shelton, police said.Two people died of carbon monoxide poisoning in separate incidents in Boston. One of the victims was an 11-year-old boy who was overcome by fumes as he sat in an idling car to keep warm, a fire official said. The other victim was a man in his early 20s who was found unresponsive in his car, police said. In Poughkeepsie, New York, a man in his 70s was struck and killed on a snowy roadway, local media reported. A 23-year-old man was killed in Germantown, New York, when the tractor he was using to plough his driveway rolled down an embankment, according to local media. A 30-year-old motorist in New Hampshire died when his car went off the road, but the man's health might have been a factor in the accident, state authorities said.Police in New York's Suffolk County, some using snowmobiles, rescued hundreds of motorists stuck overnight on the Long Island Expressway, said police spokesperson Rich Glanzer.Emergency medical services personnel in Worcester, Massachusetts, delivered a baby girl at her mother's home at about 03:00 on Saturday with the aid of National Guard soldiers.Even as the big storm's force was slackening, the National Weather Service warned of blizzard conditions developing in the Great Plains on Saturday and continuing into Monday.Utility companies reported about 700 000 customers without electricity across nine states as the wet, heavy snow brought down tree branches and power lines.

700 000 without power in US

A record-breaking blizzard packing hurricane-force winds pummeled the northeastern United States on Saturday, causing at least two storm-related deaths, cutting power to 700 000 homes and businesses and shutting down travel.The mammoth storm that stretched from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic coast dumped more than 90 cm of snow across the Northeast, the National Weather Service said. Blizzard and flood warnings were in effect for the coast.In Stratford, Connecticut, Mayor John Harkins said he had never seen such a heavy snowfall, with rates of 12.5 cm an hour at times overnight, he told local WTNH television."Even the plows are getting stuck," Harkins said.The storm concentrated its fury on Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, with the top snowfall 95 cm in Milford, Connecticut.Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee banned all travel on roads in order to aid snow plow crews. He told CNN that National Guard troops were rescuing stranded motorists, especially at uncleared on-ramps.The mammoth storm dumped 73.2 cm of snow on Portland, Maine, breaking a 1979 record, and the weather service said there is more on the way.Police in New York's Suffolk County turned to snowmobiles in some cases to rescue hundreds of motorists stuck overnight on the Long Island Expressway, said police spokesperson Rich Glanzer. Some spent the night in their cars.In Poughkeepsie, New York, a man in his 70s was killed when a driver lost control of her car and hit him, media reported. An 80-year-old woman clearing her driveway in Prospect, Rhode Island, died on Friday when she was struck by a hit-and-run driver, a spokesperson for state emergency services said.A 30-year-old motorist in Auburn, New Hampshire, died when his car went off the road, but the man's health, and not the weather, might have been a factor in the accident, state authorities said.Utility companies reported about 700 000 customers without electricity across Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut as the wet, heavy snow brought down tree branches and power lines.The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth, Massachusetts, lost power and shut down automatically late on Friday, but there was no threat to the public, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said. Almost 2 000 flights were canceled on Saturday, according to FlightAware, which tracks airline delays. Boston's Logan International Airport and Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, were shut down.The National Weather Service said the storm was expected to taper off from West to East into the afternoon. Snowfall is forecast to total from 60 to 90 cm in eastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Chavez still absent after 2 months

Two months have passed since Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez climbed the stairs of the presidential jet, blew kisses to supporters and flew to Cuba to undergo cancer surgery.Chavez hasn't been seen or spoken publicly since that departure to Havana on 10 December, and the mystery surrounding his condition has deepened even as the government's updates have remained optimistic but have lately offered few specifics.Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said on Saturday that Chavez is recovering slowly but that he is convinced he "is also going to win this battle".Some analysts say they expect that sooner or later, Chavez's delicate health could make necessary a new presidential election. Chavez's allies, however, insist the 58-year-old president remains in charge and they express optimism he will be able to return home.