Questioning Begins In The British Scandal Hacking

LONDON - Sir Paul Stephenson, the outgoing head of Scotland Yard, appeared before a panel of lawmakers Tuesday that the scandal involving hacking phone the police, politicians and media elites expanded and some of the most powerful people in British public life including media mogul Rupert Murdoch, ready to be interviewed.

Sir Paul, who has handed in his resignation on Sunday, he appeared in his dark uniform, and the Commissioner quoted from Shakespeare to explain that when he decided to resign: "It 'was the best of it was done quickly."

It was intended to answer questions about his relationship with a new manager Murdoch. Later that day, Mr. Murdoch, his son James and former editor of The New World, Rebecca Brooks, were to testify before another panel.

The scandal has penetrated into the biggest crisis of the Prime Minister, David Cameron, who has cut short-African trade tour to return home, a range of refreshing change to the final showdown before the summer break, work with the opposition Party leader Ed Miliband on the occasion of the special session of the whole House on Wednesday.

Two days of hearings, a certificate of spin and reflect the magnitude of the scandal that repentance can spread in two short, tumultuous weeks because of reports indicate that the tabloid News of the World broke the answering machine and 13 years of school girl kidnapped in 2002.

Tuesday, two committee rooms dull side of the House of Commons, near the Thames at Westminster area of ​​central London, ride in the series, to appear powerful and in particular the first two police officers at Scotland Yard, who all two left Mr Murdoch and his son James, and Ms. Brooks, the former head of operations Murdoch press in Britain.

The Murdoch is to appear before the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, which starts at 2:30 London time, in Wilson Hall of Portcullis House. Ms. Brooks, who was editor of the tabloid News of the World at the time of piracy, and has denied knowledge of it, is to appear in the same room an hour later.

The review began when Sir Paul, the former commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, commonly known as the Met or the garden in Scotland, appeared in the Grimond Room in the building before the Home Affairs Committee. It was followed by John Yates, former deputy commissioner of the force. Sir Paul M. Yates resigned on Sunday and then a day later, both deny any wrongdoing in its dealings with Neil Wallis, former deputy director of the New World that ended up working as media consultant for the police.

Mr. Yates, in particular, will be questioned on why he refused to reopen an earlier case study of telephone hacking The New World after a police investigation in 2009. As the scandal continues to shake up its ranks, Scotland Yard said Tuesday that the police controller, known as the Independent Police Complaints Commission has been asked to investigate the relationship between Fedorcio Dick, the Metropolitan Police director of communications, and Wallis .

At the next hearing, because in a hurry, and interviews with Rupert and James Murdoch and Ms. Brooks, 10 lawmakers in the House of Commons, which are derived from the three political parties in Parliament, is likely to ask questions that have agreed in advance. Process could take place very quickly, because there is little time to cover ground so much tied to what the trio knew as well as hacking attempts and the next nearest to avoid parliamentary scrutiny, the press, the police and the public.

A prominent member of the committee, said the group should focus their questions about the office culture Murdoch's newspaper when the phone started piracy was involved, who tried to cover up the scandal, and why James Murdoch settlement payments authorized before the scandal of the well-known people, including voice messages are known to have been hacked.

Senior Member of the Committee said that the group will focus on issues of culture Murdoch's newspapers, newsrooms, when I started hacking the phone, who was involved, who were trying to cover up a scandal, and because James Murdoch, the report entitled scandal known of people whose voice was known to have been violated.

Invoice Gateway can accommodate only 50 spectators, but the procedure has created a huge public interest and will be broadcast live. The British Parliament during the hearings, witnesses do not testify under oath. Instead, they must respond to the "glory". The committees have no power to punish them in the questions, but nothing has been proved misbehavior could deepen the shame associated with those related to the scandal.

At the political level, the focus of the hearings of the opportunity they offer to the Parliament to assert authority weakened in recent years by a scandal over the expense accounts of legislators. " It could push the balance of power to the legislators. Cookies can choose not to answer - in American terms, the fifth claim - if they find their comments could be self-incriminating.

All three are likely to appear with their lawyers, who can seek advice quietly. Committee members to see - Members of Parliament more aggressively denounced piracy in the past - including Labour members Paul Farrelly and Tom Watson and President, John Whittingdale, a Conservative.

Employees Committee has been a series of specific questions - are members of the first green leaves - but most combative interlocutors are likely to go off script.

"The trick of this committee becomes a comment on the record," said Brian Cathcart, a former journalist who worked as an advisor to the committee in the past. "They do not expect to convict and lock up your man, but to make people say things to expect."

Hearing of Ms. Brooks will probably be limited by the fact that it is a subject of police investigation of piracy. But she is sure to face questions about a comment she told the committee in 2003 that his newspaper had paid police for information - a comment she later retracted. Ms. Brooks has been invited to appear before the committee at the hearing in 2009, but refused to do so in person and instead submitted written testimony.

source
Read More...

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS WE ALWAYS SEE AREN'T THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

First Amendment battles continue to rage across the US over the posting of the Ten Command-ments in public places — courthouses, schools, parks, and pretty much anywhere else you can imagine. Christians argue that they're a part of our Western heritage that should be displayed as ubiquitously as traffic signs. Congressman Bob Barr hilariously suggested that the Columbine massacre wouldn't have happened if the Ten Commandments (also called the Decalogue) had been posted in the high school, and some government officials have directly, purposely disobeyed court rulings against the display of these ten directives supposedly handed down from on high.

Too bad they're all talking about the wrong rules.

Every Decalogue you see — from the 5,000-pound granite behemoth inside the Alabama State Judicial Building to the little wallet-cards sold at Christian bookstores — is bogus. Simply reading the Bible will prove this. Getting out your King James version, turn to Exodus 20:2-17. You'll see the familiar list of rules about having no other gods, honoring your parents, not killing or coveting, and so on. At this point, though, Moses is just repeating to the people what God told him on Mount Si'nai. These are not written down in any form.

Later, Moses goes back to the Mount, where God gives him two "tables of stone" with rules written on them (Exodus 31:18). But when Moses comes down the mountain lugging his load, he sees the people worshipping a statue of a calf, causing him to throw a tantrum and smash the tablets on the ground (Exodus 32:19).

In neither of these cases does the Bible refer to "commandments." In the first instance, they are "words" which "God spake," while the tablets contain "testimony." It is only when Moses goes back for new tablets that we see the phrase "ten commandments" (Exodus 34:28). In an interesting turn of events, the commandments on these tablets are significantly different than the ten rules Moses recited for the people, meaning that either Moses' memory is faulty or God changed his mind.

Thus, without further ado, we present to you the real "Ten Commandments" as handed down by the LORD unto Moses (and plainly listed in Exodus 34:13-28). We eagerly await all the new Decalogues, which will undoubtedly contain this correct version:

I. Thou shalt worship no other god.
II. Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
III.. The feast of unleavened bread thou shalt keep
IV. Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest.
V. Thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end.
VI. Thrice In the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord God.
VII. Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven.
VIII. Neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.
IX. The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God.
X. Thou shalt not seethe a kid [ie, a young goat] in his mother's milk.

Read More...

FBI Opens Investigation Into Mobile Piracy Victims 11.09

In response to requests from members of Congress and at least one press report, the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York has opened a preliminary investigation Thursday into allegations that journalists from News Corporation has sought access to records telephone victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, according to several people briefed on the matter.

This research is in its early stages, two people said, and its scope is unclear. It is also unclear whether the FBI has identified potential targets of the investigation or any specific crimes.

The office is "taking a hard look at a couple points of view," said one of the people. Person said that the evaluation was managed well, the term of office uses to characterize the early stages of an investigation into possible adoption of the first challenges, or using other research tools such as wiretapping.

The study was prompted in part by a letter from Representative Peter T. King, a Republican from Long Island, Robert S. Mueller III, FBI director, asking the agency to quickly launch an investigation into the new society, citing news reports that journalists working for its subsidiary, New World, had tried to obtain phone records of nine / 11 victims through corruption and illegal wiretapping, the people said.

The decision to open a case in New York came the scandal spread of piracy that has ravaged England for several days, since the News of the World revelations had illegally exploited the voicemail Milly Dowler, a 13-year kidnapped and murdered in 2002. It also follows a decision by News Corporation Chairman Rupert Murdoch, to withdraw from the takeover of the biggest media in British history.

The survey was intended to be jointly managed by two squadrons of the FBI office in New York, which examines cyber crime, which focuses on public corruption and white collar crime, two people said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.

It is unclear whether federal prosecutors in Manhattan had been involved in the case, you probably have jurisdiction over any criminal prosecution, since the 9 / 11 victims and their mobile phones were in Manhattan, where they died.

Ellen Davis, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan, also declined comment.

Laura Sweeney, a spokeswoman for the Department of Justice in Washington, said: "The department does not comment specifically on the investigation, but every time we see evidence of wrongdoing, we will take appropriate action the department has received letters several members of Congress about allegations of News Corporation. and we review. "

Jack Horner, a spokesman, declined comment.

Mr. King said in his letter on Wednesday that he had asked to investigate not only the chairman of Parliament's Subcommittee on National Security, but also the member of Congress whose district has lost more than 150 people in 9 / 11 attacks. "And 'my duty to distinguish the reality behind each of these allegations," he wrote.

He cited recent press reports, apparently referring to an article published Monday in the Daily Mirror, the main competitor for the New World, which closed Sunday after the scandal. The article said the journalists working for the newspaper contacted a private investigator, a former New York police, and offered to pay to retrieve the phone numbers of victims of 9 / 11 and call information that "they have made and received in the days before the attacks.

"If these allegations are true," Mr. King wrote, "the conduct deserves charges of attempting to violate various federal statutes relating to bribery of public officials and a ban on bugging Any person found guilty of the alleged conduct should receive. severest penalties provided by law. "

It is not clear whether the person listed in the Daily Mirror had a policeman at the time of the attacks.

At least five Democrats, who had been critical of the News Corporation, spoke on the subject this week. Mr. King was the first Republican to call for an investigation into the activities of the company, whose CEO, Mr. Murdoch is a supporter of conservative causes and Republican politicians.

Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, Democrat of West Virginia, was the first to submit a declaration on the matter said on Tuesday that the U.S. government should continue the investigation to "ensure that Americans have had their privacy violated."

On Wednesday, he was joined by two senators from New Jersey, Robert Menendez and Frank R. Lautenberg. Sen. Menendez asked the Justice Department to investigate allegations involving 09.11 victims, saying in his letter that the "great importance" of piracy in Britain was "imperative to examine whether the victims in the United States have also been affected ".

Senator Lautenberg has proposed that the Ministry of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission should investigate the case and consider opening a formal investigation. He said news reports that the journalists were "paying the London police information, including your private information by phone, the British royal family and other persons for use in newspaper articles."

source

Read More...

Mumbai Explosions Shake The Financial Center Of India

Twenty people were killed and 113 wounded, said the chief minister of Maharashtra state, Prithviraj Chavan.

He called the overnight explosions in Mumbai busy during peak hours, "a coordinated attack by terrorists."

An explosion was reported in the Zaveri Bazaar, a second opera in the business district and third in the Dadar district in the city center.

Police sources have reportedly said the explosions were caused by homemade bombs.

The attacks were the deadliest in Mumbai since November 2008 when gunmen fired on October 1, three days coordinated raid in which 166 people died.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the attacks in Mumbai and urged residents to stay calm 'and show a united face. "

U.S. President Barack Obama has condemned the "outrageous" attacks, and offered "to support India's efforts to end impunity the fate of the perpetrators to justice"

High Alert

The last explosion hit the city as workers were on their way home.

The first hit the Zaveri Bazaar in 1854 (1324 GMT), fighting in the famous market of jewelry, police said. A minute later a second explosion hit the bustling business district of the Opera, in the south of the city. In 1905, the third bomb exploded in central Mumbai Dadar.

Given that the explosions occurred within minutes of each other, "we conclude that this was a coordinated attack by terrorists," said Interior Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram told reporters.

Mumbai has been on high alert and a team of commandos stood, he said. Delhi, the capital, Calcutta and several other cities have also been alerted.

Forensic teams are sent to Delhi and Hyderabad to explore the sites of explosion.

Authorities have not said who they believe may be behind the explosions and no group has said it carried them out.

In Zaveri Bazaar, witnesses described a motorcycle exploded near a jewelry store. The Bombay police commissioner Arup Patnaik said a bomb had been left in an abandoned umbrella.

Photographer Rutavi Mehta told the BBC that he was shopping nearby and heard the explosion. He grabbed his camera and ran to the scene.

"I took a couple of photos. I think it might be too graphic to be broadcast," he said.

"Body and the members were scattered everywhere. People were crying and screaming. The area was crowded with buyers at the time of the explosion. A couple who offered assistance to the bloody sacrifice, while others watched in shock "he said.

"It was total chaos. There were pools of blood everywhere."

The second and more powerful explosion was near the Opera House. Local media said they had been planted inside the two plans, Prasad Chamber.

In the central area of ​​Dadar, the bomb ripped a taxi that was parked next to a bus stop, witnesses told the BBC. It is unclear whether the explosives were planted inside the vehicle or in a box near the electric meter.

"I heard a loud explosion. And then I saw people with serious injuries in pools of blood," another person said the Times of India.

An unexploded bomb was also found in Dadar.

Choice of locations makes it clear that the explosions were intended to cause maximum casualties, says the BBC Soutik Biswas in Delhi.

But the images of one of the blast sites - Roof ripped from bus stop and a car with broken glass - points to an average crude explosion and, possibly, our correspondent says.

According to reports explosions occurring on the anniversary of Mohammad Ajmal Amir Qasab, the shooter only survivor from the 2008 attack. But court records show his birth to be in September.

These attacks, aimed at two luxury hotels, a busy station, a Jewish center and other places frequented by foreigners, have been blamed on Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant group.

Pakistan was quick to condemn the recent explosions in a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Peace talks between Pakistan and India have recently taken over when they were abandoned after the 2008 attacks.

Mumbai has been targeted several times in recent years.

Just as the attacks in 2008, coordinated blasts on seven trains from the city, July 11, 2006, caused massive loss of lives. More than 180 people were killed and hundreds wounded in attacks that were blamed on Islamic militants.

The city experienced four bombings in 2003, two explosions on August 25, 2003 that killed 52 people.

In 1993, 257 people were killed and 700 injured in a series of 12 bombings in the city. The attacks were allegedly ordered by the Muslim-dominated underworld in retaliation for Hindu-Muslim riots.

Are you in? Did you witness the explosion? Send your comments using the form post.

Adapted from BBCnews

Read More...

The Suspect In The Mutilation Of An Afghan Woman Is Released

 

Aisha, a young Afghan woman, whose nose and ears were cut off under orders of the Taliban for running away from a  forced marriage.

Kabul, Afghanistan - suspect arrested only if the mutilated woman leaving her husband is released, local Afghan officials and the woman's father said Monday that the move has angered human rights activists and the woman's family.

The suspect, Sulaiman, who like many Afghans have a name, was released to the knowledge of the governor of the province in south-central Oruzgan, said the provincial prosecutor, Ghulam Faruq. Police said the wife of Mr. Suleiman, the father of the law, confessed to having participated in the mutilation in 2009, although Mr. Farouk said he recently insisted he was innocent.

Monday ', Mr. Farouq gave two different reasons for the release of Mr. Suleiman, that there was no one in Afghanistan to press the case against him - because the victim is now in the U.S. - and that he broke my nose the girl herself.

"If someone commits a crime, then no one should be punished or detained" said Farouq. "The crime was committed by his son, an innocent boy Quadratullah this was jailed for 11 months."

The governor of Oruzgan province could not be reached for comment Monday.

The woman, Bibi Aisha, drew national attention when Time magazine used a photo of her on its cover in August 2010, with the suggestion that this was what would happen if she left the West Afghanistan. A young wife Aisha (Bibi is an honorific title, Aisha asked that his name be withheld) had fled his arranged marriage to a Taliban fighter, but was captured and returned to the village where her husband, the father-in-law and two brothers-in-law cut the nose and ears, after obtaining the approval of the local Taliban Mullah, said the father of Aisha, Mohammedzai, who was interviewed by telephone on Monday.

He added that Mr Sulaiman was one of the people who had her daughter while her husband short. The mutilation was carried out in Chora, a remote area of ​​Oruzgan province. Left for dead, Aisha fled to the safety of a shelter for women in Kabul by the Afghan women defending women's group, which announced its position a year later.

"The man let them out, he was the father of Aisha-in-law," said Mohammedzai, his voice cracking as he spoke. "He was there when they cut his nose and the cruelty of him. It was one of the guilty and must be punished, but the government has released. "

"We do not know who he was released," he said. "We do not know at all. It is the government's weakness and our weakness. We have no money to pay the government and we do not have someone in government to support us."

The other authors were not arrested because the area is controlled by the Taliban, and the police can not get it, police said. Aisha Quadratullah man, a Taliban commander, fled to Pakistan or going back and forth, according to advocates for women who have followed the case.

With the help of women non-profit and the U.S. Embassy, ​​Aisha later went to the United States, where a foundation has offered to fund reconstructive surgery. However, operations have occurred because doctors felt it was too annoying to handle multiple surgeries are necessary and the long recovery period, said Manizha Naderi, director of Women for Afghan women, who also helped organize the care Aisha in the United States. He now lives in New York to learn English, Aisha was in emotional distress, although it is stabilizing, Ms. Naderi said.

"When someone goes through the trauma of violence there, so afterwards," he said. "For a long time, he had nightmares that were after him again and cut his nose again."

"It is very bad, it came out," Ms. Naderi said Mr. Sulaiman statement. "It sends a message that it does not matter violent or cruelty of the crime is if you have connections or the money you can get out on the street. It simply shows that the judiciary is weak and corrupt. "

Afghan attorney Aisha Niamatullah Sarabi said he was not informed of Mr. Sulaiman release after the fact, and the action he had brought against Mr. Sulaiman had gone nowhere.

Human Rights Defenders said the statement showed how many problems in the country's legal system.

"Impunity was always intended" in the justice system, said Nader Naderi, deputy director of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. "The launch is a betrayal of women seeking justice and police tried to stop them."

Province of the lawyer, Mr. Farouq, who said it was a new Oruzgan Province, said that since he arrived a few months ago, Mr. Suleiman had insisted that he was not guilty. "It was a great cruelty to keep him to 11 months in prison," he said.

"I asked colleagues if he was innocent, and colleagues said that was not present when he was outside the country at that time and was arrested when he returned to help the police and the arrest of his son's lawyer ".

Separately, at least four men who were working to remove land mines in western Afghanistan, was found beheaded on Sunday and Monday. They had been kidnapped and 24 of their colleagues, who were released on Monday, according to the opinions of the Afghan authorities, UN Mine Action Coordination Center in Afghanistan.

Source

Read More...

David Beckham Takes Her Three To A Celebratory Dinner After The Baby Is Born To Harper

The boy-heavy household Beckham has become a little more even with the birth on Sunday, the girl Sept. Harper

So perhaps not so surprising that David Beckham was lucky to catch a night with her three-one day after the baby is born.

According to People, 36 year old football player took over in Brooklyn, 12, Romeo, six and eight years, Cruz, out to dinner Fig & Olive Restaurant in West Hollywood expensive.

"Everything was very good mood, and left happy," a source told the site.

David and her three sitting with members of Victoria's family who were in the city of Great Britain, and they said they liked the dishes, including filet mignon and mashed potatoes olive oil.

"The children seemed happy, but they are like boys," a source close to the family said. "It will be interesting to see how they take care of their little sister."

After the birth of his daughter on Sunday morning, David made an announcement on her Facebook page.

"I feel very proud and happy to announce the birth of our daughter in September Beckham Harper wrote.

"She weighed 10 ounces healthy 7 pounds and arrived at 7.55 this morning here in Los Angeles. Victoria is really good and his brothers are delighted to have a little sister."

The child was born by caesarean section, in the same way that children of older Beckham.

Sources told The Sun that David was so happy with the new arrival, he was literally crying with joy.

Insider said: "David is crying with joy are all so happy.."

The decision of the "Beckham name their newborn daughter after Harper is reported to be a character of your child's favorite television Wizards of Waverly Place, which features a character named Harper Finkle.

"The whole family had input - Victoria and David love the name, but it was the guys who actually had her," a source said.

"Victoria is liked because it's Olde English name, and even though Harper is an American by birth, has always been rooted in England."

Mail has been told that the former England captain Beckham, used to read books based on Wizards of Waverly Place series of three children, when they were younger.




source

Read More...

Obama Focuses On GOP Agreement On The Maximum Debt

WASHINGTON - President Obama on Sunday tried to revive the potential of sweeping budget agreement to reduce the deficit and fix dangerous for the economy, but Republicans in Congress have continued to balk, emphasizing the most modest to avoid default, the national debt.

Obama met with leaders of both parties at the White House Republicans bluntly challenged one day after President John A. Boehner pulled back from a far-reaching agreement to save as much as U.S. $ 4 trillion over 10 years, officials informed the negotiations said. The meeting ended after an hour and 15 minutes with little progress, but both sides agreed to speak again on Monday and every day after that until a deal is done.

White House officials said Mr. Obama was still determined to pursue the most aggressive package possible - one that would require new revenues and cuts in Medicare and other benefit programs - but he stands firm opposition of Republicans and growing concern among Democrats.

"Congress must act," Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said on the CBS News program "Face the Nation". "If they do not act, then we face catastrophic damage the U.S. economy, and leadership, to their credit, and I think Republicans and Democrats understand that. "

Geithner, noting that the Treasury issues 80 million checks per month, including social services to 55 million Americans, warned that failure to reach an agreement within the next two weeks could be disastrous. Produced a version of the lecture he gave to lawmakers at the White House last week, Geithner said a standard would derail financial markets, raising interest rates, and derail economic recovery.

Obama, who arrived at Camp David, shortly before the session Sunday night, seems to have increased by at least one respect: the legislators from both parties pledged not to leave the U.S. debt default. This is what the Treasury Department said would happen after August 2, when the government loses its power to borrow.

"No one is talking about raising the debt ceiling, I have not heard that discussed by anyone," Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky Senate, said on "Fox News Sunday" and added that it had an "emergency plan" unspecified increase limit if the negotiations collapsed.

Like Obama, sitting with Mr McConnell and other leaders, shortly after 6:00 p.m. on Sunday with the men wearing open-necked shirts and blazers, she was asked if he could get a done deal in 10 days, leaving sufficient time to prepare and pass legislation before August 2.

"We need," he said.

The problem for Obama is that Republicans are not budge on their demands that any agreement does not include any tax increases. The administration also needs to Democratic lawmakers, many of them will not vote for a package composed entirely of cuts, especially for popular programs.

In a statement after the meeting, said McConnell spokesman Don Stewart, "It is curious that the president and his party continue to insist on massive tax increases in the middle of a job crisis ".

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, said she favored a lot, but he "should not affect the middle class or economic growth. It must also protect the beneficiaries of Medicare and Social Security. "

It was not clear that the president would be able to reconcile these positions, especially after Mr. Boehner put a bottom bar of an agreement that both sides can find acceptable. In a statement issued after the meeting, Mr. Boehner said leaders should strive to offer a mid-range would be based on spending cuts identified in the interviews conducted by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. This agreement could produce savings of 2 billion to $ 3 billion trillion over a decade.

Mr. Boehner appeared weak at the meeting, officials said, leaving the House majority leader, Eric Cantor of Virginia, most of the conversation. Mr. Cantor reiterated their opposition to a larger operation.

Privately, some members of Congress expressed regret at the decision of Mr. Boehner, Saturday, at the foot of an agreement they said was a rare opportunity for Republicans and Democrats for a radical restructuring of the Finance State, to rewrite the tax code and resolve longstanding problems with Medicare and Medicaid.

In the end, officials have said that the report on the negotiations, the ideological differences on tax reform locked in a contract greater. Mr. Boehner, said, was open to leave the Bush-era tax cuts expire for wealthy people, while keeping the cuts to middle-income wage earners. But Democrats informed about the discussions, said that a condition for rewriting the tax laws by the end of this year, so the loss would be offset by cuts in the standard rate.

White House officials said, was willing to set a deadline of a tax reform. But she rejected Mr. Boehner formal grounds that it would impose too heavy a burden on the middle class while protecting the rich.

A first ranking Republican in the negotiations, Boehner said "just talk about new revenues if it were economic growth and tax reform rather than raising taxes." And he insisted on a "trigger" that started spending cuts and other measures if the tax changes do not apply before the end of 2011.

Mr. Boehner and the White House, said Democratic officials also disagree on the extent of reductions in benefit programs, with the speaker calling for deeper cuts in Medicare and Medicaid programs that the government was willing to accept.

Obama is pushing for a larger operation on the argument that, paradoxically, easier for Democrats and Republicans to sell to their bases, as it might stand as a historic effort to begin to undo years of budget deficits.

As Mr. Geithner said "Face the Nation", "It is clear that it is easier to try to do less."

Even the $ 2 trillion to face several significant obstacles, officials briefed on the negotiations said. During several rounds of negotiations led by Mr. Biden, identified spending cuts and lower interest payments that could result from a reduction of debt, which would have saved about $ 1.8 trillion over 10 years. But officials warned that there is never treated.

Republicans, led by Mr. Cantor, rejected proposals to fill gaps or other tax breaks for owners of business jets, the oil and gas companies, and hedge funds. He said these measures, which would have raised about $ 130 billion, amount to tax increases.

The Administration has also proposed to limit the reductions in high wages, which the White House says would raise $ 290 billion. But there is little support for the Congress. And if you do not have a lot of fiscal measures, say the leaders are not able to fence enough Democratic votes to pass them.

Geithner warnings about the main issues were echoed by Christine Lagarde, the newly appointed CEO of the International Monetary Fund. Speech on "This Week" on ABC, Ms. Lagarde said that the failure by the United States would cause interest hikes ", stock markets take a huge hit, and the ugly real consequences, not just the United States, but throughout the global economy. "

source

Read More...

Labour Party Vows To Fight Against Murdoch's Offer To Take Over The Cable Company

LONDON - The offer of $ 12 million by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation to take over Britain's most lucrative satellite radio company, British Sky Broadcasting, has experienced new challenges on Sunday when the Labor Party Opposition has agreed to take the battle against the purchase of a vote in the House of Commons - a step that, if successful, could be fatal to the nomination.

Effort News Corporation to buy 61 percent of the company, which does not already own in danger because of the phone hacking scandal that led to the arrest this weekend in the New World tabloid which was one of the leading newspapers Murdoch. Many commentators in the United Kingdom has seen the closure of the leaf as a movement to cauterize the phone-piracy crisis and registration of the candidacy of the more profitable company, known as BSkyB.

Labour Party another step towards recovery from 80 years, Mr. Murdoch has landed at an airport outside London to take direct control of the crisis that enveloped his company for the management of News International, News Corporation, based London subsidiary.

Apparently, he wanted to underscore his support for his management team in Britain, the leaders of organized international media later in the day of the new images taken with a smile of Murdoch and his son, James New International President, and Rebecca Brooks, a former editor of World News, which is the executive director of the subsidiary. Both have been a lot of public outrage that has been done to Murdoch empire in Britain since the scandal of calling long burning hacking erupted again last week.

Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, announced his intention to force a vote on the takeover of the Commons in a morning talk to the BBC on Sunday, saying he regretted having to take the plunge, but that the new Prime Minister David Cameron was left with no option to bid on his opponents with his refusal to take measures to stop the recovery. Cameron said his coalition government of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are bound by law not to interfere with the regulatory review of the supply of British Sky Broadcasting, which has displaced nearly a compensation case.

Interviewed by Andrew Marr, the host of the BBC, Mr Miliband denied he had "declared war against the Rupert Murdoch" - which is already the British media tycoon the most powerful, with political influence through intimidating the decades that have led the governments of Britain, Labour and Conservatives, to search for it.

The reluctance of politicians to alienate the media barons powerful communication has been acknowledged with unusual frankness on Friday by Mr Cameron, who said in a press conference that the news of the scandal in the world have demonstrated the importance to stop what he called the "cozy" relationship between the media in the UK, politicians and police. In a press conference, announced plans for new regulatory controls to eliminate a pattern of unhealthy and potentially illegal collaboration of them.

Miliband did not mince his words when asking Mr Cameron to reverse the course of British Sky Broadcasting repurchase and instruct the responsible minister, Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, referring to the attempt by the Competition Commission in the UK which has the power to kill the application, a decision that would lead to an excessive concentration of ownership of the British media.

In the spring hunting of Mr. issued a preliminary ruling that would save the offer of control of the Commission, but delayed a final decision until there is a delay required to allow public submissions. Friday, Mr. Hunt said he had received 156,000 claims and collective protest with another 100,000 signatures.

Mr Cameron, Mr Miliband said: "We must understand that when the public saw the disgusting revelations we've seen this week, the idea that this organization who participated in these horrible practices, should be allowed to take on BSkyB, to reach 100 percent of the shares without the criminal investigation is complete, and based on assurances from the same organization -. frankly, it just will not wash with the public "

Cameron, the government, where the majority of municipalities and the power to set the agenda of the House, to try to prevent Miliband moves to vote on the proposed transaction. But a phone-hacking scandal turbulent political landscape of Britain than any other event over the years, prevents the sound would be a risky move. Indicating an acute sense of public outrage price phone-hacking policy not to engage, Mr Cameron has announced plans for two public research scandal: between hacking itself, and what the Prime Minister has called the "abysmal failure" and Scotland Yard investigate effectively for more than five years until this year, and the second is "the culture, practices and ethics," and British newspapers.

Estimates of the Prime Minister can be influenced by their coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats, who have declared their own opposition to the takeover, at least until the criminal cases initiated following the phone of piracy have been completed .

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrats' leader, Deputy Prime Minister and Vince Cable, Liberal Democrat, as are the secretary of the firm's business in Cameron, said to have made their opposition to the offer known to M . Cameron in strong terms, and can move likely add to severe strains between the coalition partners on other issues that have raised doubts about how long the coalition can not survive.

source

Read More...