Key U.S. general backs keeping Afghan forces at peak strength


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. general nominated to oversee a vast region that includes Afghanistan on Thursday backed keeping Afghan forces at a peak strength of 352,000, contrary to current plans to shrink them after NATO declares the war over next year.


General Lloyd Austin, nominated to lead the U.S. military's Central Command, said at his Senate confirmation hearing that a more robust Afghan force, while more costly, would "hedge against any Taliban mischief" following America's longest war.


"Keeping the larger-size force would certainly reassure the Afghans, it would also reassure our NATO allies that we remain committed," Austin said.


The comments came two days after President Barack Obama announced in his State of the Union address that 34,000 U.S. troops - roughly half of the current U.S. force in Afghanistan - would be withdrawn by early 2014.


Obama reassured Americans that the costly, unpopular war was coming to an end, but he left unanswered bigger questions about America's exit strategy, including how many U.S. troops would stay in the country beyond 2014 to help train and advise the Afghans and to battle remnants of al Qaeda.


Obama also did not discuss the future size of the Afghan forces, although a White House fact sheet sent out after his address noted they would remain at 352,000 until "at least" early 2015.


Austin warned the Taliban would be waiting to test them.


"You could reasonably expect that an enemy that's been that determined, that agile, will very soon after we transition begin to try to test the Afghan security forces," Austin said.


Under current plans, the United States and its NATO allies will help build up the Afghan armed forces to 352,000 personnel, a number they are approaching, but the size of the force - which the allies will continue to fund - will be trimmed to 230,000 after 2015.


ECHOES OF IRAQ


The hearing frequently moved away from questions about the Afghan war and other current events to questions about Austin's past role as commander in Iraq, when a failure to strike an immunity deal for U.S. troops led to their total withdrawal in 2011.


Obama administration officials have warned that failure to strike an immunity deal with Afghanistan would also result in a pullout, but Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. officials have expressed confidence a deal can be reached.


Republicans, who have criticized Obama's drawdown strategy in Afghanistan, noted that the president would have left a much smaller force in Iraq than Austin recommended, even if a deal had been struck.


Senator John McCain of Arizona lamented the lack of a U.S. presence in Iraq.


Pressed by Republicans, Austin acknowledged that the situation in Iraq was trending in a "problematic" direction, and agreed that a continued U.S. role would have helped bolster Iraqi forces.


When it came to Afghanistan, Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina warned Austin that if Obama sought an insufficient force for the post-2014 mission, he would refuse to vote for funding the war effort.


"It can be as low as 9 or 10,000, that I will stand with them," Graham said.


"If they overrule the commanders and create a force that cannot in my view be successful, I cannot in good conscience vote to continue this operation."


Graham said he would vote for Austin's confirmation once Austin spoke with the former commander of the Afghan mission, General John Allen, about his recommendations to Obama and reported back to the committee about his opinion.


(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by David Brunnstrom)



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Papal 'cohabitation' poses unique Vatican challenge






VATICAN CITY: The Roman Catholic Church faces a unique challenge starting next month when a living former pope begins a "cohabitation" with his successor, both residing in the world's tiniest sovereign state, Vatican City.

The Vatican insists that the German pope, who stunned the world by announcing that he will retire on February 28, wants to keep a low profile in retirement.

"He will live at the Vatican in total discretion," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said Wednesday. "His presence will in no way be an impediment, interference or a problem."

Nevertheless, Lombardi said the octogenarian's presence would be felt and "appreciated", and did not rule out an advisory role for the future pensioner, whose title has yet to be determined but may be Bishop of Rome Emeritus.

"If his successor wants advice from him he will be totally free to provide it... (but) this would in no way be required" of the former pope, Lombardi said.

Others in the Vatican are more nervous about the unprecedented situation.

Rino Fisichella, head of the Vatican department for the new evangelisation, said the former pope may eventually have to live elsewhere.

The Vatican on Wednesday denied an Internet rumour that the pope would take up permanent residence in the Abbey of Monte Cassino -- a famous monastery that was destroyed in World War II and rebuilt.

The cerebral former theology professor, who will turn 86 in April, is a prolific writer. He is currently completing a work on faith that started out as an encyclical but will have to be published as a book given Benedict's imminent abdication.

He is also expected to spend more time with his beloved cats and playing Beethoven and Mozart compositions on his piano.

An early signal of Benedict's intention to go quietly is his plan to leave the Vatican the day he steps aside, slipping away to the summer papal residence of Castel Gondolfo outside Rome.

The Vatican has been unable to say how long he will stay there, but has stressed he will not have any role in the Conclave of Cardinals that is to elect his successor in the third week of March -- in time for Easter at the end of the month.

His absence will allow workers to prepare the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace for the new pontiff -- and complete renovations of the living quarters for the soon-to-be ex-pope in a former nunnery at the Vatican.

Benedict's choice not to return to his native Bavaria should surprise no one given that he has now lived in Rome for nearly four decades.

The little-known Mater Ecclesiae convent where he will reside was established by the pope's predecessor John Paul II to house cloistered nuns.

Their departure last November, two years earlier than expected, raised few eyebrows at the time but is now cited as one of a series of clues that presaged the pope's shock announcement, according to astute Vatican watchers.

The disused convent is an oasis of calm with its own gardens producing rare roses -- one of them named after John Paul II -- as well as vegetables and citrus fruit.

The peppers, tomatoes, courgettes and cabbages grown in the vegetable garden traditionally supply the papal kitchen.

Spread over three floors, the modern complex has 12 monastic cells upstairs, while the ground floor houses a kitchen, living room, library and chapel.

The cells are sparsely furnished: the only decorations to be seen are wooden crosses and a few paintings depicting scenes from religious life, according to the Vatican.

In retirement, Benedict is to revert to his birth name Joseph Ratzinger -- but canon law experts are looking into whether he can reclaim his status as a cardinal, or whether the new pope can make him a cardinal once again.

Asked if the pope would receive a pension, Lombardi hesitated but said the pope would not go hungry.

"We will ensure he can live a dignified existence," Lombardi said.

Some traditions usually observed at the death of a pope will be observed, notably the destruction of the Fisherman's Ring used to place the papal seal on official Church documents.

"It's an unprecedented situation, we'll see how it goes," Lombardi said.

-AFP/gn



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Hyderabad is the world’s second most affordable office market: Survey

BANGALORE: Hyderabad is the world's second most affordable office market after Surabaya in Indonesia, according to a survey, while Chennai and Pune are at fifth and sixth positions, reinforcing India's reputation as among the cheapest destinations for foreign firms to set up operations.

"Tier II cities in China and India continue to dominate the list of top-10 most affordable markets globally," said a survey by consultancy firm DTZ, which measured occupancy costs per workstation in 126 business districts across 49 countries in 2012.

"2012 has seen office space absorption rates across Indian cities drop by a fifth. We expect the office space absorption to be stable in the current year, driven by signs of overall improvement in global and domestic economies. Rentals are also expected to appreciate across the country," said Rohit Kumar, head of research at DTZ India.

According to the survey, it costs companies between $2,620 (about Rs 1.41 lakh) and $9,810 (Rs 5.27 lakh) per annum per employee in the top six Indian cities to set up operations, compared with $23,500 (Rs 12.63 lakh) per workstation in London West End.

China's Chongqing and Nanjing, followed by Cancun in Mexico, also figure among the ten most affordable markets. As per the report, a majority of markets in North Asia and India saw a 2-10 per cent rise in occupancy costs. This has forced occupiers in many markets to increasingly consider secondary space, particularly where prime space is limited to cut cost.

The total commercial office space absorption for the quarter ended December 2012 was 6.8 million sq ft, a decrease of 19 per cent compared with the previous year. Vacancies across cities are expected to rise in 2013, except Bangalore, a recent report by DTZ India said.

"Companies continue to consolidate and relocate to less premium locations. Many firms are now looking to cut real estate costs, which comprises 22-27 per cent of the total operational expenditure, the second biggest component after human resource," said Sridhar Raghavendra, founder of FM Zone India, a real estate and facility management firm.

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Clues to why most survived China melamine scandal


WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists wondering why some children and not others survived one of China's worst food safety scandals have uncovered a suspect: germs that live in the gut.


In 2008, at least six babies died and 300,000 became sick after being fed infant formula that had been deliberately and illegally tainted with the industrial chemical melamine. There were some lingering puzzles: How did it cause kidney failure, and why wasn't everyone equally at risk?


A team of researchers from the U.S. and China re-examined those questions in a series of studies in rats. In findings released Wednesday, they reported that certain intestinal bacteria play a crucial role in how the body handles melamine.


The intestines of all mammals teem with different species of bacteria that perform different jobs. To see if one of those activities involves processing melamine, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Shanghai Jiao Tong University gave lab rats antibiotics to kill off some of the germs — and then fed them melamine.


The antibiotic-treated rats excreted twice as much of the melamine as rats that didn't get antibiotics, and they experienced fewer kidney stones and other damage.


A closer look identified why: A particular intestinal germ — named Klebsiella terrigena — was metabolizing melamine to create a more toxic byproduct, the team reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine.


Previous studies have estimated that fewer than 1 percent of healthy people harbor that bacteria species. A similar fraction of melamine-exposed children in China got sick, the researchers wrote. But proving that link would require studying stool samples preserved from affected children, they cautioned.


Still, the research is pretty strong, said microbiologist Jack Gilbert of the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory, who wasn't involved in the new study.


More importantly, "this paper adds to a growing body of evidence which suggests that microbes in the body play a significant role in our response to toxicity and in our health in general," Gilbert said.


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Dorner Not IDed, But Manhunt Considered Over













Though they have not yet identified burned remains found at the scene of Tuesday's fiery, armed standoff, San Bernardino, Calif., officials consider the manhunt over for Christopher Dorner, the fugitive ex-cop accused of going on a killing spree.


"The events that occurred yesterday in the Big Bear area brought to close an extensive manhunt," San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon told reporters this evening.


"I cannot absolutely, positively confirm it was him," he added.


However, he noted the physical description of the suspect authorities pursued to a cabin at the standoff scene, as well as the suspect's behavior during the chase and standoff, matched Dorner, 33.


The charred remains of the body believed to be Dorner were removed from the cabin high in the San Bernardino Mountains near Big Bear, Calif., the apparent site of Dorner's last stand. Cornered inside the mountain cabin Tuesday, the suspect shot at cops, killing one deputy and wounding another, before the building was consumed by flames.


"We did not intentionally burn down that cabin to get Mr. Dorner out," McMahon said tonight, though he noted pyrotechnic canisters known as "burners" were fired into the cabin during a tear gas assault in an effort to flush out Dorner. The canisters generate high temperatures, he added.


The deputies wounded in the firefight were airlifted to a nearby hospital, where one died, police said.








Christopher Dorner Believed Dead After Shootout with Police Watch Video









Carjacking Victim Says Christopher Dorner Was Dressed for Damage Watch Video









Christopher Dorner Manhunt: Inside the Shootout Watch Video





The deceased deputy was identified tonight as Det. Jeremiah MacKay, 35, a 15-year veteran and the father of two children -- a daughter, 7, and son, 4 months old.


"Our department is grieving from this event," McMahon said. "It is a terrible deal for all of us."


The Associated Press quoted MacKay on the Dorner dragnet Tuesday, noting that he had been on patrol since 5 a.m. Saturday.


"This one you just never know if the guy's going to pop out, or where he's going to pop out," MacKay said. "We're hoping this comes to a close without more casualties. The best thing would be for him to give up."


The wounded deputy, identified as Alex Collins, was undergoing multiple surgeries for his wounds at a hospital, McMahon said, but was expected to make a full recovery.


Before the final standoff, Dorner was apparently holed up in a snow-covered cabin in the California mountains just steps from where police had set up a command post and held press conferences during a five-day manhunt.


The manhunt for Dorner, one of the biggest in recent memory, led police to follow clues across the West and into Mexico, but it ended just miles from where Dorner's trail went cold last week.


Residents of the area were relieved today that after a week of heightened police presence and fear that Dorner was likely dead.


"I'm glad no one else can get hurt and they caught him. I'm happy they caught the bad guy," said Ashley King, a waitress in the nearby town of Angelus Oaks, Calif.


Hundreds of cops scoured the mountains near Big Bear, a resort area in Southern California, since last Thursday using bloodhounds and thermal-imaging technology mounted to helicopters, in the search for Dorner. The former police officer and Navy marksman was suspected to be the person who killed a cop and cop's daughter and issued a "manifesto" declaring he was bent on revenge and pledging to kill dozens of LAPD cops and their family members.


But it now appears that Dorner never left the area, and may have hid out in an unoccupied cabin just steps from where cops had set up a command center.






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Iran suggests progress, but no deal, in U.N. atom talks


DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran indicated that some progress was made in talks with the U.N. nuclear watchdog on Wednesday, but that the two sides again failed to finalize an elusive framework deal over the Islamic state's disputed atomic activity.


Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Ali Asghar Soltanieh, said a new meeting would be held, without giving a date. There was no immediate comment from the IAEA about the one-day meeting in Tehran.


The IAEA had hoped to bridge persistent differences with Iran preventing the U.N. agency from restarting a long-stalled investigation into suspected nuclear weapons research by Tehran. Iran says the allegations are forged and baseless.


The apparent absence of a breakthrough deal in Wednesday's discussions in the Iranian capital will come as no surprise for Western diplomats, who have accused Iran of stonewalling the IAEA for years, a charge Tehran rejects.


World powers were watching the IAEA-Iran talks for signs that Tehran may finally be ready to start addressing their concerns over its nuclear program, which Tehran says is peaceful but the West fears is aimed at developing weapons.


Soltanieh said Iran and the IAEA had agreed on "some points" in the text of a planned framework agreement on how the IAEA should carry out its investigation, without giving details.


There was no immediate comment from the IAEA, which has been trying for more than a year to nail down such an accord giving it access to officials, documents and sites it says it needs for its inquiry in Iran.


"In addition to removing some differences and agreeing on some points in the text ... the two sides decided to review and exchange views about the new proposals that were given in this meeting, in the next meeting," Soltanieh said, according to Fars news agency.


AGREEMENT "NEAR" - STATE TV


Press TV, Iran's English-language state broadcaster, cited Soltanieh as saying that the remaining differences would be discussed in the next Iran-IAEA meeting. "Iran, IAEA near agreement on structured framework," it said in a headline.


The IAEA's immediate priority is to visit the Parchin military base southeast of Tehran, where it suspects explosives tests relevant to nuclear weapons may have taken place, perhaps a decade ago, an accusation Tehran denies.


The United States late last year set a March deadline for Iran to start cooperating in substance with the IAEA's investigation, warning Tehran that it might otherwise be referred to the U.N. Security Council.


Iran was first reported to the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear program by the IAEA's 35-nation board in 2006, and was then punished with U.N. sanctions.


The Islamic Republic denies Western allegations that its nuclear energy program is geared to developing the capability to produce atomic bombs. Iran says it is stockpiling enriched uranium only for civilian energy purposes.


On February 26, Iran and the six world powers are due, after a break of eight months to resume separate, broader negotiations in Kazakhstan aimed at finding a diplomatic settlement to the decade-old dispute and avert the threat of a new war in the Middle East.


The stakes are high: Israel, assumed to be the Middle East's only nuclear-armed power, has strongly hinted that it might take military action to prevent its foe acquiring weapons of mass destruction.


The six powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - want Iran to curb uranium enrichment and cooperate fully with the IAEA investigation.


Iran wants them to recognize what it sees as its right to refine uranium for peaceful purposes, and an easing of sanctions, which are hurting its oil-dependent economy.


(Additional reporting by Zahra Hosseinian in Zurich and Fredrik Dahl in Vienna; Editing by Michael Roddy)



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Obama vows 'firm' action against N.Korea






WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama on Tuesday vowed to take "firm action" alongside US allies against the "provocations" of North Korea after the communist state carried out its third nuclear test.

"The regime in North Korea must know that they will only achieve security and prosperity by meeting their international obligations," Obama told Congress in his annual State of the Union address.

"Provocations of the sort we saw last night will only isolate them further, as we stand by our allies, strengthen our own missile defense and lead the world in taking firm action in response to these threats," he said.

Obama in his first term had largely given up hope of changing the behavior of North Korea and instead pursued a series of "strategic patience" of waiting for Pyongyang to make the first move.

But North Korea worked its way back into the headlines less than a day before Obama's speech when it carried out its third nuclear test. Obama spoke earlier Tuesday with South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak.

- AFP/sf



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Haryana Roadways staff stir may hit 3500 govt buses too

CHANDIGARH: The call for the roadways employees' strike may hit the government transport services in Haryana on Wednesday.

All Haryana Roadways Workers Joint Action Committee, an umbrella body of two trade unions, has given the call for the strike to press the workers' demand of regularization of contractual staff and stop the process of giving 3519 permits to private bus operators in Haryana.

A senior leader of the committee, Dalbir Kirmara told the TOI that the committee has appealed to roadways employees, including drivers and conductors of 3500 government buses to remain off the road on Wednesday.

However, the state government has urged the employees not to resort to strike claiming that government has already accepted most of their demands and the remaining were being examined.

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Study questions kidney cancer treatment in elderly


In a stunning example of when treatment might be worse than the disease, a large review of Medicare records finds that older people with small kidney tumors were much less likely to die over the next five years if doctors monitored them instead of operating right away.


Even though nearly all of these tumors turned out to be cancer, they rarely proved fatal. And surgery roughly doubled patients' risk of developing heart problems or dying of other causes, doctors found.


After five years, 24 percent of those who had surgery had died, compared to only 13 percent of those who chose monitoring. Just 3 percent of people in each group died of kidney cancer.


The study only involved people 66 and older, but half of all kidney cancers occur in this age group. Younger people with longer life expectancies should still be offered surgery, doctors stressed.


The study also was observational — not an experiment where some people were given surgery and others were monitored, so it cannot prove which approach is best. Yet it offers a real-world look at how more than 7,000 Medicare patients with kidney tumors fared. Surgery is the standard treatment now.


"I think it should change care" and that older patients should be told "that they don't necessarily need to have the kidney tumor removed," said Dr. William Huang of New York University Langone Medical Center. "If the treatment doesn't improve cancer outcomes, then we should consider leaving them alone."


He led the study and will give results at a medical meeting in Orlando, Fla., later this week. The research was discussed Tuesday in a telephone news conference sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology and two other cancer groups.


In the United States, about 65,000 new cases of kidney cancer and 13,700 deaths from the disease are expected this year. Two-thirds of cases are diagnosed at the local stage, when five-year survival is more than 90 percent.


However, most kidney tumors these days are found not because they cause symptoms, but are spotted by accident when people are having an X-ray or other imaging test for something else, like back trouble or chest pain.


Cancer experts increasingly question the need to treat certain slow-growing cancers that are not causing symptoms — prostate cancer in particular. Researchers wanted to know how life-threatening small kidney tumors were, especially in older people most likely to suffer complications from surgery.


They used federal cancer registries and Medicare records from 2000 to 2007 to find 8,317 people 66 and older with kidney tumors less than 1.5 inches wide.


Cancer was confirmed in 7,148 of them. About three-quarters of them had surgery and the rest chose to be monitored with periodic imaging tests.


After five years, 1,536 had died, including 191 of kidney cancer. For every 100 patients who chose monitoring, 11 more were alive at the five-year mark compared to the surgery group. Only 6 percent of those who chose monitoring eventually had surgery.


Furthermore, 27 percent of the surgery group but only 13 percent of the monitoring group developed a cardiovascular problem such as a heart attack, heart disease or stroke. These problems were more likely if doctors removed the entire kidney instead of just a part of it.


The results may help doctors persuade more patients to give monitoring a chance, said a cancer specialist with no role in the research, Dr. Bruce Roth of Washington University in St. Louis.


Some patients with any abnormality "can't sleep at night until something's done about it," he said. Doctors need to say, "We're not sticking our head in the sand, we're going to follow this" and can operate if it gets worse.


One of Huang's patients — 81-year-old Rhona Landorf, who lives in New York City — needed little persuasion.


"I was very happy not to have to be operated on," she said. "He said it's very slow growing and that having an operation would be worse for me than the cancer."


Landorf said her father had been a doctor, and she trusts her doctors' advice. Does she think about her tumor? "Not at all," she said.


___


Online:


Kidney cancer info: http://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/kidney-cancer


and http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/kidney


Study: http://gucasym.org


___


Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP


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State of the Union: Obama Pushes Job Creation


Feb 12, 2013 5:40pm


Tonight President Obama will gives his annual assessment to the nation of the State of the Union at 9 p.m., followed by a Republican response from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Tea Party response from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. The president has said he will focus on the economy, and there are seven things we’re pretty certain he will say.


Refresh here for updates and fact checks throughout the night.


Tune in to ABCNews.com for livestreaming coverage of the 2013 State of the Union Address. ABC State of the Union coverage starts at 8:50 p.m.


All times are in Eastern Standard Time.


9:55 p.m. – American Troops in Afghanistan


President Obama announced tonight that he will withdraw another 34,000 troops from Afghanistan.


Yesterday, ABC’s Jon Karl predicted that announcement and reported a U.S. official had confirmed that the White House discussion centered on leaving fewer than 10,000 troops behind in Afghanistan after 2014 and then phasing them down gradually the next few years.


Read more from Jon Karl here.


Back to the top


9:53 p.m. – What Would It Mean to Increase the Minimum Wage?


ABC’s Shushannah Walshe and Sarah Parnass report:


President Obama called for an increase of the federal minimum wage in his address tonight from $7.25 an hour to $9.00 an hour by 2015. It’s the first time as president Obama has proposed raising the minimum wage, but as a candidate in 2008 he promised to raise it to $9.50 by 2011. The last time it was raised was in 2009 when it increased from $6.55 to $7.25 an hour where it has stayed since.


It was the last step of a three part increase approved by Congress in 2007 and it translates to $15,080 a year for a full time worker. Before 2007, the minimum wage remained at $5.15 per hour for ten years. There have been calls consistently for the minimum wage to be raised and currently there are campaigns in New York, Maryland, Connecticut, New Mexico amongst others to lobby at the state level for an increase in the state minimum wage.


Washington is the only state with a minimum wage of $9 or more. Seven other states and the District of Columbia have a minimum wage of $8 or more. So for most states it would mean at least a $1 increase per hour for all workers at the lowest level of the pay scale.


Back to the top


9:49 p.m. – Obama Urges House to Pass Violence Against Women Act


In his address, President Obama praised Vice President Joe Biden for his role in putting together the original Violence Against Woman Act and urged the House to pass the bill.


That legislation was approved in the Senate earlier today.


Univision’s Emily DeRuy reports on why this act – once considered relatively uncontroversial – is by no means guaranteed to pass. Read more from DeRuy here.


9:45 p.m. – Obama Wants Pre-K for All


ABC’s Shushannah Walshe reports:


Obama called for a new program to support state efforts to increase access for all four-year-olds to quality preschool education. The National Institute for Early Education Research’s most recent report in 2011 on the State of Preschool said funding for pre-K “decreased by almost $60 million in 2010-2011 when adjusted for inflation, despite the use of $127 million in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).”


The report said it was the “second year of decline” and “in some states, the declines in 2010-2011 have been compounded by cuts in 2011-2012—and further cuts loom for 2012-2013. This threatens to undo much of the progress some states have made.”


The report says these cuts compounded with demand for high-quality pre-K means “the nation is experiencing a crisis in quality.”


While 28 percent of 4-year-olds were enrolled in early childhood education programs in 2011, up from 27 percent in 2010 average state spending per child enrolled was $4,151 in 2011, a more than $700 drop from 2002, the report states.


Opponents of universal pre-K see it as just another example of wasteful government spending while the national deficit continues to swell.


Back to the top


9:40 p.m. – Obama Repeats Infrastructure Pitch


ABC’s Sarah Parnass reports:


If it feels like you’ve heard Obama’s call for infrastructure jobs before, that’s probably because you have.


Tonight, President Obama proposed a program he called “Fix-It-First” “to put people to work as soon as possible on our most urgent repairs, like the nearly 70,000 structurally deficient bridges across the country.”


“And to make sure taxpayers don’t shoulder the whole burden, I’m also proposing a Partnership to Rebuild America that attracts private capital to upgrade what our businesses need most: modern ports to move our goods; modern pipelines to withstand a storm; modern schools worthy of our children,” Obama said. “Let’s prove that there is no better place to do business than the United States of America. And let’s start right away.”


In September of 2011, Obama told a crowd in Detroit, Mich. there were roads and bridges in the U.S. “that need rebuilding.”


“We’ve got private companies with the equipment and the manpower to do the building,” Obama said that Labor Day. “We’ve got more than 1 million unemployed construction workers ready to get dirty right now.”


Even then it was a tired refrain.


At that time ABC’s Devin Dwyer reported the president first presented a similar plan for jobs in infrastructure in 2010.


Read more on that $50-billion proposal here.


Back to the top


9:36 p.m. – Palin Punts


While President Obama discussed his plans for wind energy and slowing climate change, former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin asked his supporters if they had “#OBuyersRemorse?”




Back to the top


9:33 p.m. – A Lack of Enthusiasm for SOTU


ABC’s Chris Good reports:


Not everyone likes State of the Union addresses. Count newly minted GOP Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., among the less enthused.


“I don’t like them when Republicans give them,” the former congressman told ABC on his way into the chamber.


Asked how many times he expected to clap tonight, Flake wouldn’t say.


“The first time I attended one with President Bush, [former GOP congressman and current Indiana Gov.] Mike Pence and I were sitting next to each other, and [Bush] was talking about No Child Left Behind or something, and he leaned over and said, ‘Just cause I’m a-clappin for it doesn’t mean I’m a-votin for it,’” Flake recounted.


Back to the top


9:29 p.m. – Obama Fights Back on Budget


“Deficit reduction alone is not an economic plan,” President Obama said tonight shortly before 9:30 p.m.


In the past few weeks, conservatives have been urging the president to put forward a plan for a balanced budget.




Back to the top


9:28 p.m. – Secretary of State ‘Having a Great Time’


ABC’s Chris Good reports:


John Kerry seems to be having a grand old time at the State Department.


“It’s great–I’m having a great time,” Kerry said of his new job, pausing _very_ briefly on his way into an ante-room outside the House chamber before President Obama’s State of the Union address.


“I’m having fun,” he said.


Kerry quickly disappeared into the room with his wife.


Back to the top


9:09 p.m. – Vice President Four-Eyes>


ABC’s Arlette Saenz reports:


Did you notice the new look on VP Joe Biden tonight? The vice president is wearing glasses because he scratched his eye with a contact lens, a White House aide says.


He wore the glasses yesterday at the roundtable on gun safety in Philadelphia. Biden does not wear his glasses at major events very often.


9:05 p.m. – State of the Union: Who’s On the Sidelines?


Back to the top


8:38 p.m. – Scalia Calls SOTU a ‘Rather Silly Affair’


ABC’s Ariane de Vogue reports Justice Scalia didn’t hold back tonight when asked during a speaking engagement why he hasn’t attended a State of the Union address for some 16 years.


“It has turned into a childish spectacle,” he said. “I do not want to be there to lend dignity to it.”


Scalia said the event “has become a very political event” that is filled with applause lines. He said it’s a “rather silly affair”.


It is not the first time Scalia has expressed his doubts about the State of the Union.


He added he was unaware when he agreed to speak that tonight’s event would conflict with President Obama’s speech.


“I didn’t set this up just to upstage the president,” he joked.


Scalia spoke to an audience at George Washington University in an event sponsored by The Smithsonian Associates. He was interviewed by NPR’s Nina Totenberg.


Back to the top


8:27 p.m. – 45 Gun Violence Victims to Attend


ABC’s John Parkinson reports Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer is bringing two guests, pushing the total to 45 guests who are victims or related to victims of gun violence.


Congressman Hoyer invited Patricia Bell and Sabrina Worthington, the mother and sister of Maryland State Trooper Wesley Brown, a young officer who was tragically shot and killed while working an off-duty security detail at a restaurant in Forestville, Md., in 2010.


Back to the top


8:20 p.m. – Sec. Chu to Be Designated Survivor


ABC’s Devin Dwyer reports Energy Secretary Steven Chu has been designated to not attend the State of the Union address at the Capitol this evening, per the White House.


He is the “designated survivor” in the event of a catastrophic occurrence tonight. He will watch the speech from an undisclosed location.


Earlier this month Chu announced that he would step down from his cabinet post and return to California.


He then proved that politicians can take a joke, ABC’s Zach Wolf reports, when he responded to an Onion parody in which he was portrayed as waking up hung over, next to a solar panel.


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7:50 p.m. – What to Watch Tonight


ABC’s Rick Klein ticks off the five things to look out for during Obama’s address tonight.


From gun violence to Obama’s bread and butter; and from marching orders for members of Congress to a sneak-peek of 2016.


Read the rest from Rick here.


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7:37 p.m. – Americans for Prosperity Prez Gives SOTU Pre-buttal


Tim Phillips, president of the Koch Brothers-funded conservative group, Americans For Prosperity, went after Obama this evening for excerpts of his remarks released ahead of the State of the Union address that promised not to increase the deficit.


“Much has changed in the last four years; the President has apparently abandoned his original promise of cutting the deficit in half, and is now promising to not raise the deficit. This is hardly reassuring given the past four years of trillion dollar deficits, and certainly doesn’t even hint at actually reducing runaway government spending,” Phillips said in a statement e-mailed to ABC News. “If we ever hope to get the economy going again, we need serious spending cuts to end these job-killing deficits. Promises to not make the problem worse just aren’t going to cut it.”


A popular Tea Party tweeter also wasn’t buying it.




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7:11 p.m.: – Ted Nugent: ‘Gun Control is What Every Murderer Loves’


gty ted nugent dm 120418 wblog LIVE UPDATES: 2013 State of the Union Address

(Image Credit: Randy Snyder/Getty Images)


ABC Radio’s Steve Portnoy reports:


Donning a camouflage cowboy hat and jeans, Nugent comes to the Capitol tonight at the invitation of Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas.


“[Stockman] knew that the State of the Union would be stacked with pawns, with friends of the president, and a lot of props to further the president’s anti-American agenda,” Nugent told ABC News in Stockman’s office Tuesday, explaining he accepted the invitation “to counter the stacked deck.”


Nugent said he sympathizes with the victims of gun violence who he’ll be joining in the House visitor’s gallery, some of whom earlier Tuesday tearfully urged congress to act.


“Our hearts are broken every time there’s a victim of violent crime in this country,” Nugent said. But, he argues, the overwhelming majority of violent crimes in the US “are committed by violent criminals let out of their cages.”


He excoriated the president and other administration officials for suggesting that they have a solution to the country’s gun violence problem, accusing them of incompetence.


“Somehow the gun-running attorney general and the Chicago ACORN community organizer come from an area where it’s the murder capital. Their dream of a ‘gun-free zone’ already exists, and there’s more murders in those gun-free zones than in any of the gun-infested territories that I hang out in.”


Nugent says further measures to curb the sale of certain types of guns, or high capacity magazines, simply won’t work.


“It is a lie, it is a scam, it is counterproductive. Gun control is what every murderer loves, because then he can murder without anyone shooting back. How dare you want more Chicagoes when you can have more Wacos?”


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6:58 p.m.: – Rubio Records Spanish State of the Union Rebuttal




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6:40 p.m. – The Right Thing to Do


Back in June, ABC’s Jilian Fama took a look at one of President Obama’s favorite phrases: “Do the right thing.”


Doing the right thing seems to be hard for everyone, except President Obama. He always seems to know the “right thing to do.” Indeed, he uses his presidential remarks to instruct the American people on the right thing to do over and over again.


At the NALEO conference June 22, Obama touted that passing health care legislation was the “right thing to do.” He issued a statement claiming “after a century of trying, we finally passed reform that will make health care affordable and available for every American. “Then, as if once weren’t enough,  he joyously declared three times, “That was the right thing to do. That was the right thing to do. That was the right thing to do.”


Read more from Fama here.


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6:30 p.m. – 8 State of the Union Promises Obama Made 


ABC’s Chris Good takes a look at past State of the Union speeches and makes note of whether Obama kept the vows he made to the nation.


1. Cut the Deficit in Half. Obama in 2009: “Yesterday, I held a fiscal summit where I pledged to cut the deficit in half by the end of my first term in office.”


Did it happen? 


No. In 2009, the Office of Management and Budget estimated a deficit of $1.4 trillion. In 2013, it projects a deficit of $900 billion.


Read the rest from Good here.


6:01 p.m. – Rand Paul to Tell Dems and GOP to Stop ‘Protecting Their Sacred Cows’


Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., previewed his response to the president’s speech hours before Obama was scheduled to take the podium with two excerpts on Facebook.


His first focused on immigration reform:


“We are the party that embraces hard work and ingenuity, therefore we must be the party that embraces the immigrant who wants to come to America for a better future. We must be the party who sees immigrants as assets, not liabilities. We must be the party that says, ‘If you want to work, if you want to become an American, we welcome you.”


His second attacked his colleagues’ spending habits:


“Both parties have been guilty of spending too much, of protecting their sacred cows, of backroom deals in which everyone up here wins, but every taxpayer loses. It is time for a new bipartisan consensus. It is time Democrats admit that not every dollar spent on domestic programs is sacred. And it is time Republicans realize that military spending is not immune to waste and fraud.”


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5:08 p.m. – Victims of Gun Violence Wear Ribbon with Newtown Colors


ht green ribbon kb 130212 wblog LIVE UPDATES: 2013 State of the Union Address

(Image Credit: John Parkinson/ABC News)


ABC’s John Parkinson reports at least 40 victims of gun violence plan to attend tonight’s speech in Washington. They won’t likely be sitting together, but they will be distinguishable by the green and silver ribbons handed out to them by Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., staff. Green and silver are the colors of Newtown High School.


Read more about Rep. Langevin’s SOTU plan here.


At 5:45 p.m. Parkinson reports there are three more victims of gun violence now expected to attend, bringing the total number to 43.


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5:01 p.m. - Tune in to ABCNews.com/live at 9 p.m. for the 2013 State of the Union Address.


And in the meantime, brush up on what to watch for below:


Obama Will Hasten Afghanistan Drawdown – Halve American Troops in One Year -


A faster pace than expected –  http://abcn.ws/VdqQTW (Karl and Martinez)


7 Things Obama Always Says at #SOTU -
1.      Education: Let’s improve it!
2.     ’Clean Energy.’
3.     Some Kind of Tax Credit.
4.     Shrink Our ‘Deficit of Trust.’
5.     America, and Specific Americans, Are the Best.
6.     Investment.
7.      China, India, and Germany.


More on that, with citations and explanations from Chris Good – http://abcn.ws/VSE8lU


Jon Karl’s Preview -


In contrast to his inaugural address, President Obama’s State of the Union speech will focus primarily on jobs and the economy, outlining new initiatives on manufacturing, education, clean energy and infrastructure. http://abcn.ws/XHH1rb


Boehner – Obama Lacks ‘The Guts’ to Make Tough Choices -


A feisty House Speaker John Boehner (who will sit behind President Obama tonight) said this morning that he doesn’t believe President Obama “has the guts” to make the tough choices to address the government’s mounting deficit problem. http://abcn.ws/WiwHGI (Jon Karl)


The Audience – Gun Rights Advocates vs. Ted Nugent -


Keep an eye out for gun control advocates wearing green ribbons and, wearing a goatee and maybe a cowboy hat, gun rights advocate Ted Nugent, who will be in attendance – http://bit.ly/XyWRT9


Marco Rubio SOTU Response: Latin Symbol for GOP -


Delivering the GOP response to the president’s State of the Union address tonight, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., becomes the face of the Republican Party. http://abcn.ws/12JAt0V (Jim Avila)

More on “The Rubio Factor” from Fusion’s Jordan Fabian – http://abcn.ws/X5V5tt


Rubio’s Competition -


Cliff’s Notes on the last 4 Republican respondersBobby Jindal, Bob McDonnell, Mitch Daniels and Paul Ryan – http://abcn.ws/Y77YTm


The Senate Passed the Violence Against Women Act Today -


Will the House follow suit? – From Fusion’s Emily DeRuy – A bill aimed at preventing domestic violence might sound reasonably uncontroversial, but House Republicans have voiced their opposition to some of the provisions, including one that would allow American Indian authorities to prosecute non-American Indians in tribal courts. The original 1994 act expired in 2011 and a divided Congress failed to reauthorize it last year. Republicans, reeling from a poor performance with women and minorities during the November election, have been more receptive this time around. The bill would grant more than $650 million over five years to states and local governments to provide things like transitional housing and legal assistance to victims. The hang-up is in the details of the bill. http://abcn.ws/Wj2CXw


The State of the Union is…
“…second opportunity for the president to … talk to the 48 or 9 percent of the people that didn’t support him.” http://abcn.ws/VdUGaP (Tom Cole)
“…going to have to focus on public education http://abcn.ws/YcNsRL  (Michelle Rhee)
“…in a difficult state for working class families…” – http://abcn.ws/XHcvh3 (Keith Ellison)
“…still pretty bad.” – http://abcn.ws/TKC42w (Paul Krugman)
“mixed.” http://abcn.ws/XHcvh3

How’s the Speech? ‘We’ll Find Out Tonight,’ Obama Says -


Taking a break from speech prep this afternoon, President Obama sounded confident about his State of the Union address but offered reporters little in the way of a preview. http://abcn.ws/VRbAhO  (Mary Bruce)


#SOTU Pulse Check – ABC Poll Shows Americans Unhappy With System Overall, But Obama’s Policies Beat Out GOP’s -


As politicians ponder the state of the union, the union’s looking back at the state of politics. And it’s none too thrilled. http://abcn.ws/WYGW2Y (Greg Holyk poll)



Obama to Announce 34,000 Troop Afghanistan Drawdown This Year -


President Obama will announce at Tuesday night’s State of the Union address that 34,000 troops – more than half of those currently serving in the combat region – will be back from Afghanistan a year from tonight, according to a source familiar with the speech. http://abcn.ws/VdqQTX


Gun Violence Victims Offer Opposing Views on Solutions in Senate Hearing-


Two people who lost family members to gun violence offered a Senate Judiciary subcommittee opposite positions today on the best way to solve the problem, one saying if she’d been able to carry a gun legally she could have stopped the shooter while the other said more restrictions are needed to keep guns out of criminals’ hands.http://abcn.ws/VSSsuJ (Arlette Saenz)


Proposed Constitutional Amendment Claims Money Is Not Speech -


Corporations, like people, have a constitutional right to spend money on U.S. elections. That’s what the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in 2010.http://abcn.ws/WHaTXb (Jilian Fama)


Changes In the Constitution Experts Would Like to Make -


The Constitution has held the United States government together for more than 200 years with remarkably few changes – there have been only 27 ratified amendments in part because it is such a difficult process.  http://abcn.ws/X52BET  (Alisa Wiersema)


State Of The Union: Guns, Jobs, #SOTU (The Note): The State of the Union is…


… all over the map. http://abcn.ws/Y6EwNc (Michael Falcone)



‘The State of the Union is…’ According to Rep. Tom Cole & Nicolle Wallace -


“The state of the union is the second opportunity for the president to do what he didn’t do in the inaugural address – that’s talk to the 48 or 9 percent of the people that didn’t support him.” http://abcn.ws/12b95Jn (Arlette Saenz)


Paralyzed Rep. to Showcase Gun Victims at State of the Union -


Rep. Jim Langevin smiles in his congressional office as he confidently demonstrates the robotics of his wheelchair, popping upright on the front two wheels of his iBOT 4000 to bring himself eye-to-eye with ABC News’ chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl. http://abcn.ws/U9JUmN (John Parkinson)


Anti-’Amnesty’ Activists Prepared for Immigration Fight -


The forces that helped to bring down a proposed sweeping overhaul of the U.S. immigration system in 2007 are quietly mobilizing to do the same again. http://abcn.ws/XFKYg9 (Devin Dwyer)


2013 State of the Union: What Has Changed Since 2012?


In these new circumstances his rhetoric is likely to change but the topics won’t.  http://abcn.ws/11DEN2C (Sarah Parnass)


David Walker SOTU OpEd -


The current state of the union is mixed. While we are a great country, the largest economy, and the world’s leading democracy, we face serious challenges that threaten our collective future.  http://abcn.ws/X5299I (David Walker)


Curated by ABC’s Z. Byron Wolf and Sarah Parnass

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