Obama calls for restraint, reform in Egypt

Obama calls for restraint, reform in Egypt

A crowd chants in front of the White House in Washington Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011, demanding that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak step down. In Egypt thousands of protesters have thrown the country's 30-year-old regime into tumult, and top diplomatic, security and intelligence officials gathered at the White House for two hours to review the situation in Egypt.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama issued a plea for restraint in Egypt after meeting with national security aides Saturday to assess the Cairo government's response to widespread protests threatening the stability of the country.

A White House statement said Obama "reiterated our focus on opposing violence and calling for restraint, supporting universal rights, and supporting concrete steps that advance political reform within Egypt."

But Obama offered no reaction to President Hosni Mubarak's decision earlier Saturday to name a vice president for the first time since coming to power nearly 30 years ago. Mubarak appointed his intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, who's well respected by American officials. The president also fired his Cabinet.

Five days of protests have left at more than 70 dead.

Before Suleiman's appointment, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the U.S. wanted to see Mubarak fulfill his pledges of reform as protests swept the country.

"The Egyptian government can't reshuffle the deck and then stand pat," Crowley said on his Twitter account. "President Mubarak's words pledging reform must be followed by action."

Crowley said Egyptians "no longer accept the status quo. They are looking to their government for a meaningful process to foster real reform."

After speaking to Mubarak by telephone late Friday, Obama delivered a four minute statement calling on the Egyptian leader to take steps to democratize his government and refrain from using violence against his people.

As events unfolded Saturday, Obama and his advisers kept a low profile.

The president spent part of the morning watching one of his daughter's basketball games at a community center in the Maryland suburbs.

At the White House, top diplomatic, security and intelligence officials gathered for two hours for review the situation in Egypt. The meeting was led by national security adviser Tom Donilon and included White House chief of staff William Daley and CIA Director Leon Panetta. Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Margaret Scobey, the U.S. ambassador to Egypt, participated by teleconference, the White House said.

Obama did not attend that session.

His afternoon meeting with many of the same officials also included press secretary Robert Gibbs and adviser David Plouffe.

Suleiman has played an active role in the peace process, particularly in trying to arrange compromise between rival Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas. He has been at the forefront of the Egyptian effort to crackdown on arms smuggling from Egypt into Gaza.

Suleiman has been "the point person on both the U.S. relationship and the Israel Egyptian relationship," said Jon Alterman, Mideast director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "He's very reassuring both ways."

Diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks help illustrate that point. One reports on an April 2009 meeting between Suleiman and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Suleiman, the cable says, "explained that his overarching regional goal was combating radicalism, especially in Gaza, Iran, and Sudan."

The cable reports that Suleiman said Egypt must "confront" Iranian attempts to smuggle arms to Gaza and quotes him saying "a Gaza in the hands of radicals will never be calm."

A 2007 cable discusses scenarios for presidential succession and reports the view of an Egyptian official that Mubarak's son Gamal viewed Suleiman as a potential threat.

A second cable from 2007 describes Suleiman as Mubarak's "consigliore," a term more typically associates with mobsters. Even then, Suleiman was mentioned as likely to assume the role of vice president. It says Suleiman himself "adamantly denies any personal ambitions, but his interest and dedication to national service is obvious."

"He could be attractive to the ruling apparatus and the public at large as a reliable figure unlikely to harbor ambitions for another multi-decade presidency," the cable states. It also says Mubarak had promised to name Suleiman vice president "several years ago" but then reneged.

The cables were sent by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.

Alterman said Suleiman's elevation to vice president is designed by Mubarak to signal resolve.

"It is intended to send a message that if Hosni Mubarak leaves, the system remains," he said. "It is not reassuring to the protestors, but it is reassuring to people who fear that Egypt might be slipping into chaos."

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Saturday that Mubarak should schedule elections in order to allow the Egyptian people to express their right to choose their leaders.

Ros-Lehtinen also cautioned against the involvement of extremist elements which could seek to use the current turmoil as an opportunity to advance their agendas.

"The Egyptian people need to be afforded a peaceful venue to express their will," she said.

In New York, Cambridge, Mass., and Washington, protesters took to the streets demanding that Mubarak step down.

Outside the Egyptian Embassy a few miles from the White House, demonstrators also criticized the Obama administration's response to the tumult in Egypt. They waved Egyptian flags and held signs that read "Obama: Democracy or Hypocrisy?" and "Victory to the Egyptian People!"

Chaos engulfs Cairo as Mubarak points to successor

Chaos engulfs Cairo as Mubarak points to successor

An Egyptian hits a photograph of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak with a shoe, and Arab insult, in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011. Hundreds of anti-government protesters have returned to Cairo's central Tahrir Square, chanting slogans against Hosni Mubarak just hours after the Egyptian president fired his Cabinet but refused to step down.

CAIRO (AP) -- With protests raging, Egypt's president named his intelligence chief as his first-ever vice president on Saturday, setting the stage for a successor as chaos engulfed the capital. Soldiers stood by - a few even joining the demonstrators - and the death toll from five days of anti-government fury rose sharply to 74.

Saturday's fast-moving developments across the north African nation marked a sharp turning point in President Hosni Mubarak's three-decade rule of Egypt.

Residents and shopkeepers in affluent neighborhoods boarded up their houses and stores against looters, who roamed the streets with knives and sticks, stealing what they could and destroying cars, windows and street signs. Gunfire rang out in some neighborhoods.

Tanks and armored personnel carriers fanned out across the city of 18 million, guarding key government buildings, and major tourist and archaeological sites. Among those singled out for special protection was the Egyptian Museum, home to some of the country's most treasured antiquities, and the Cabinet building. The military closed the pyramids on the outskirts of Cairo - Egypt's premier tourist site.

But soldiers made no moves against protesters, even after a curfew came and went and the crowds swelled in the streets, demanding an end to Mubarak's rule and no handoff to the son he had been grooming to succeed him.

"This is the revolution of people of all walks of life," read black graffiti scrolled on one army tank in Tahrir Square. "Mubarak, take your son and leave," it said.

Thousands of protesters defied the curfew for the second night, standing their ground in the main Tahrir Square in a resounding rejection of Mubarak's attempt to hang onto power with promises of reform and a new government.

Police protecting the Interior Ministry near the site opened fire at a funeral procession for a dead protester, possibly because it came too close to the force. Clashes broke out and at least two people were killed.

A 43-year-old teacher, Rafaat Mubarak, said the appointment of the president's intelligence chief and longtime confidant, Omar Suleiman, as vice president did not satisfy the protesters.

"This is all nonsense. They will not fool us anymore. We want the head of the snake," he said in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria. "If he is appointed by Mubarak, then he is just one more member of the gang. We are not speaking about a branch in a tree, we are talking about the roots."

The crackdown on protesters has drawn harsh criticism from the Obama administration and even a threat Friday to reduce a $1.5 billion foreign aid program if Washington's most important Arab ally escalates the use of force.

Thousands of passengers were stranded at Cairo's airport as flights were canceled or delayed, leaving them unable to leave because of a government-imposed curfew. Several Arab nations, meanwhile, moved to evacuate their citizens.

The cancelations of flights and the arrival of several largely empty aircraft appeared to herald an ominous erosion of key tourism revenue.

The protesters united in one overarching demand - Mubarak and his family must go. The movement is a culmination of years of simmering frustration over a government they see as corrupt, heavy-handed and neglectful of poverty.

Egyptians were emboldened by the uprising in Tunisia - another North African Arab nation, and further buoyed by their success in defying the ban on gatherings.

At the end of a long day of rioting and mass demonstrations Friday, Mubarak fired his Cabinet and promised reforms. But the demonstrators returned in force again Saturday to demand a complete change of regime.

The president appeared to have been preparing his son Gamal to succeed him, possibly as soon as presidential elections planned for later this year. However, there was significant public opposition to the hereditary succession.

The appointment of Suleiman, 74, answers one of the most intriguing and enduring political questions in Egypt: Who will succeed 82-year-old Mubarak?

Another question is whether his appointment will calm Egypt's seething cities.

Mubarak appointed Suleiman shortly after the U.S. said he needed to take concrete action to achieve "real reform." Suleiman is well known and respected by American officials and has traveled to Washington many times.

Before word that Mubarak had picked his first vice president, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the U.S. wanted to see Mubarak fulfill his pledges of reform.

"The Egyptian government can't reshuffle the deck and then stand pat," Crowley said on his Twitter account. "President Mubarak's words pledging reform must be followed by action."

As the army presence expanded in Cairo Saturday, police largely disappeared from the streets - possibly because their presence seemed only to fuel protesters' anger. Egyptian police are hated for their brutality.

On Friday, 17 police stations throughout Cairo were torched, with protesters stealing firearms and ammunition and freeing some jailed suspects. They also burned dozens of police trucks in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez. On Saturday, protesters besieged a police station in the Giza neighborhood of Cairo, looted and pulled down Egyptian flags, then burned the building to the ground.

There were no clashes reported between protesters and the military at all, and many in the crowds showered soldiers with affection.

One army captain joined the demonstrators in Tahrir Square, who hoisted him on their shoulders while chanting slogans against Mubarak. The officer ripped apart a picture of the president.

"We don't want him! We will go after him!" demonstrators shouted. They decried looting and sabotage, saying: "Those who love Egypt should not sabotage Egypt!"

Some 200 inmates escaped a jail on the outskirts of the city, starting a fire first to cover their breakout. Eight inmates were killed during the escape.

On Saturday, feelings of joy over the sustained protest mingled with frustration over the looting and Mubarak's refusal to step down.

"To hell with Mubarak; We don't serve individuals. We serve this country that we love, just like you," yelled another soldier to protesters from atop a tank scrawled with graffiti that said: "Down with Mubarak!"

Like Mubarak, Suleiman has a military background. The powerful military has provided Egypt with its four presidents since the monarchy was toppled nearly 60 years ago. He has been in charge of some of Egypt's most sensitive foreign policy issues, including the Palestinian-Israeli peace process.

Suleiman, additionally, is widely seen as a central regime figure, a position that protesters were likely to view with suspicion.

Mubarak also named his new prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, the outgoing civil aviation minister and fellow former air force officer.

Both appointments perpetuate the military's overriding role in Egyptian politics.

Suleiman's frequent trips to Israel could be held against him by a population that continues to view the Jewish state as a sworn enemy more than 30 years after the two neighbors signed a peace treaty.

With the two occupying the country's most important jobs after the president from the military, Gamal, a banker-turned-politician, appears out of the running for his father's job.

A leaked U.S. diplomatic memo said Gamal and his clique of ruling party stalwarts and businessmen were gaining confidence in 2007 about controlling power in Egypt and that they believed that Mubarak would eventually dump Suleiman, who was seen as a threat by Gamal and his coterie of aides.

Gamal launched his political career within the ranks of the ruling National Democratic Party, climbed over the past 10 years to become its de facto leader, dictating economic policies and bolstering his own political standing.

Gamal's close aide and confidant, steel tycoon Ahmed Ezz, resigned from the party on Saturday, according to state television. Gamal and Ezz are suspected of orchestrating the rigging of the last parliamentary election in November, making sure the ruling party won all but a small fraction of the chamber's 518 seats.

"There is nothing short of Mubarak leaving power that will satisfy the people," Mohamed ElBaradei, the country's leading pro-reform activist told The Associated Press on Saturday. "I think what Mubarak said yesterday was an insult to the intelligence of the Egyptian people."

Buildings, statues and even armored security vehicles were covered in anti-Mubarak graffiti, including the words "Mubarak must fall," which by morning had been written over to say "Mubarak fell."

The military extended the hours of the night curfew imposed Friday in the three major cities where the worst violence has been seen - Cairo, Alexandria and Suez. State television said it would begin at 4 p.m. and last until 8 a.m., longer than the 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. ban Friday night that appeared to not have been enforced.

The Internet appeared blocked for a second day to hamper protesters who use social networking sites to organize. And after cell phone service was cut for a day Friday, two of the country's major providers were up and running Saturday.

In the capital on Friday night, hundreds of young men carted away televisions, fans and stereo equipment looted from the ruling National Democratic Party, near the Egyptian Museum.

Others around the city looted banks, smashed cars, tore down street signs and pelted armored riot police vehicles with paving stones torn from roadways.

Banks and the stock market will be closed on Sunday, the first day of the week, because of the turmoil.

Michael Vick Gets First Paid Endorsement Deal Since Arrest

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Michael Vick is back pitching products. Vick has signed his first paid endorsement contract since his release from prison.

The Philadelphia Eagles’ Pro Bowl quarterback inked a two-year contract with Unequal Technologies, a provider of the football pads Vick wore most of last season.

The deal will be announced on Thursday.

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NJ Man Says He Killed UK Tourist In Self-Defense

MAYS LANDING, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey man has admitted that he killed one of Britain’s most eligible bachelors more than three years ago but claims it was in self-defense.

Robert Davies said Wednesday that he mistook Lavern Paul Ritch of Penarth, Wales for part of a gang of Mexicans bent on harming or killing him when he lashed out with a pocket knife, piercing Ritch’s heart.

Prosecutors say Ritch was actually intervening in a fight between Davies and a man who had punched him in the face moments earlier, thinking he was helping Davies.

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Round 2: More Snow On The Way

Snow in Cherry Hill, NJ

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – With round one of Mother Nature’s wrath out of the way, round two of the winter storm was on its way expected to wreak havoc in the region later in the day on Wednesday.

The storm started in many areas early Wednesday and created a morning rush-hour nightmare.

High winds are also expected, and a winter storm warning is in effect for many areas.

Right around the evening rush-hour, the second wave of the storm is expected to move in and intensify.

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Doctors: Rep. Giffords ready to start full rehab

Doctors: Rep. Giffords ready to start full rehab

Astronaut Mark Kelly sits in the passenger seat of the ambulance as it carries his wife, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, to TIRR Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011, in Houston. Giffords was transferred Wednesday to begin the next phase of her recovery from a gunshot wound at TIRR Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital.

HOUSTON (AP) -- Doctors treating Rep. Gabrielle Giffords say they plan to put a speaking valve in her breathing tube to help her speak.

In a news conference Wednesday afternoon, doctors said they removed a tube draining excess fluid from her brain on Monday and that she was ready to begin full rehabilitation.

The Arizona congresswoman was transferred Wednesday morning to TIRR Memorial Hermann, a rehabilitation center near the hospital where she has been in intensive care since her arrival in Houston on Friday.

Egypt protesters clash for 2nd day with police

Egypt protesters clash for 2nd day with police

Angery Egyptian activist shouts at anti-riot policemen who block the way leading to journalists syndicate in downtown Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011. A small gathering of Egyptian anti-government activists tried to stage a second day of protests in Cairo Wednesday in defiance of a ban on any gatherings, but police quickly moved in and used force to disperse the group.

CAIRO (AP) -- Egyptian anti-government activists pelted police with firebombs and rocks in a second day of clashes Wednesday that left two dead. Beefed up police forces on the streets quickly moved in and used tear gas, beatings and live ammunition fired in the air to disperse any demonstrations.

There were signs that the crackdown on protesters was taking a toll on Egypt's international standing. In Washington, White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs would not say whether President Hosni Mubarak, the target of demonstrators' anger and a close U.S. ally, still has the Obama administration's support. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the government should allow peaceful protests instead of cracking down.

"We are particularly hopeful that the Egyptian government will take this opportunity to implement political, economic and social reforms that will answer the legitimate interests of the Egyptian people," Clinton said. She appealed to Egypt's leaders to heed calls to open political space for dissent and improve conditions that have led to widespread poverty and unemployment.

The latest deaths brought to six the number of people killed in two days of protests.

Security officials said a total of 860 protesters have been rounded up nationwide since Tuesday, when tens of thousands turned out for the largest protests in Egypt in years - inspired by the uprising in Tunisia. They demanded Mubarak's ouster and a solution to grinding poverty, rising prices and high unemployment.

"What happened yesterday was a red light to the regime. This is a warning," businessman Said Abdel- Motalib said on Wednesday.

After nightfall Wednesday, more than 2,000 demonstrators were marching on a major downtown boulevard along the Nile when dozens of riot police with helmets and shields charged the crowd. Other smaller clashes carried on late into the night around the capital. In one of them, protesters stoned police, who fired back with tear gas from one of the main bridges over the Nile.

Though Wednesday's demonstrations were much smaller, it was significant that protesters were able to sustain the movement over two days given the heavy handedness police have shown and the Interior Ministry's warning that there would be zero tolerance for any more unrest.

They were the latest in outbursts of political discontent in Egypt that have been growing more frequent and more intense over the past year. Protests have erupted sporadically over police brutality, poverty and food prices, government corruption and mismanagement, and more recently sectarian strife between Christians and Muslims. Parliamentary elections in November were widely decried as fraudulent.

Many in Egypt see these events as signs of the authoritarian president's vulnerability in an election year. There is speculation that 82-year-old Mubarak, who has been in power for nearly 30 years and recently experienced serious health problems, may be setting his son Gamal up for hereditary succession. But there is considerable public opposition and, according to leaked U.S. diplomatic memos, it does not meet with the approval of the powerful military. And the regime's tight hold on power has made it virtually impossible for any serious alternative to Mubarak to emerge.

European leaders had harsh words for Egypt and expressed concern, saying the events underlined the need for democratization and respect for human and civil rights.

Activists used social networking sites to call for fresh demonstrations Wednesday. But Facebook, a key tool used to organize protests, appeared to be at least partially blocked in the afternoon. On Tuesday, Twitter and cell phones appeared to be sporadically blocked as well.

The Interior Ministry warned Wednesday that police would not tolerate any gatherings, and thousands were out on the streets poised to crack down quickly on any new signs of unrest after clashes on Tuesday that killed three demonstrators and one police officer.

Early Wednesday, thousands of policemen in riot gear and backed by armored vehicles took up posts in Cairo on bridges across the Nile, at major intersections and squares as well as outside key installations such as the state TV building and the headquarters of Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party.

Police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd of several hundred activists on a main commercial thoroughfare in central Cairo, chasing them through side streets as both sides pelted each other with rocks with hundreds of onlookers watching anxiously. Plainclothes officers shoved some into waiting vans, slapping them in the face. Protesters hurled rocks at police trucks and set tires and trash on fire as they marched.

Protesters also attacked a military vehicle, smashing its windows and hurling rocks at a couple of green police trucks.

The day's demonstrations began when dozens gathered outside the Journalists' Union in downtown Cairo and renewed the chants heard against Mubarak throughout Tuesday's much larger protests. "Mubarak is leaving, leaving. O Egyptian people, be brave and join us," they chanted. As police charged the crowd, beating them with sticks, they chanted "peaceful, peaceful."

At some of the trouble spots, plainclothes policemen have been ordering passengers on Cairo's ubiquitous minibuses to clear out and then quickly filling them up with detained protesters.

In the city of Suez east of Cairo, an angry crowd of about 1,000 people gathered outside the city's morgue demanding to take possession and bury the body of one of three protesters who died in clashes on Tuesday. The crowd later clashed with riot police and the two sides pelted each other with rocks. Protesters also threw firebombs at police, who responded with rubber bullets and tear gas.

Later, about 300 protesters laid siege to a police station in the city's downtown, throwing rocks. Police responded by firing live ammunition in the air.

"We don't have jobs and now we don't have peace," lamented Zeinab Abdullah, a 45-year-old government employee, who left work early to watch protests in Suez. "There is no way people will be quieted after this. The people of Suez will get angrier and angrier. That is a guarantee."

In the southern city of Assiut, eyewitnesses said riot police set upon some 100 activists staging an anti-government protest Wednesday, beating them up with batons and arresting nearly half of them.

"Down, down Hosni Mubarak," chanted the crowd. "Oh, people, join us or you will be next."

There were protests in at least three other locations across Egypt.

At least eight journalists have been arrested in the troubles. Police arrested an Associated Press Television News cameraman and his assistant early Wednesday while they were filming clashes in Cairo. An AP photographer was beaten by a policeman and had his cheekbone fractured while shooting demonstrations late Tuesday.

Wednesday's two deaths - one policeman and one protester hit by rocks during a protest in a poor central Cairo neighborhood - take to six the number of people who died so far in the clashes. Earlier, three protesters in Suez and one policeman in Cairo died.

Many protesters say they have been inspired by the uprising in Tunisia - even invoking some of the identical slogans heard in the other north African nation.

On Tuesday, protesters clashed with police, who used rubber bullets, water cannons, tear gas and truncheons to disperse them.

Security officials said up to 200 protesters were detained early Wednesday in this Arab nation of some 80 million people. More were likely to be detained as authorities review police video tapes of the protests, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

European reaction to the crackdown was critical. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said he was "very concerned" and called on all concerned to show restraint.

"The situation in Egypt must not escalate," he said. "The current situation in Egypt ... underlines the necessity of democratization, of respect for human and civil rights," Westerwelle told reporters in Berlin, pointing to the need for freedom of opinion, assembly and the press to be respected.

"We are seeing in the last few weeks that a country's stability is not endangered by granting civil rights - it is through the refusal of civil and human rights that societies become unstable," he said in a reference to Tunisia.

The European Union said Egyptian authorities should listen to their people, deal with their problems and respect their right to demonstrate. The office of EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton urged "Egyptian authorities to respect and to protect the right of Egyptian citizen to manifest their political aspirations."

Protesters have vented anger over a host of ills in Egyptian society.

Nearly half of all Egyptians live under or just above the poverty line, set by the World Bank at $2 a day. The widespread poverty, high unemployment and rising food prices pose a threat to Mubarak's regime at a time when tensions between Muslims and Christians are adding to the nation's woes.

A parliamentary election marred by allegations of widespread fraud that saw Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party win all but a small number of the chamber's 518 seats.

In recent weeks, Mubarak and his son have repeatedly vowed to ensure that ambitious economic reforms engineered by the younger Mubarak over the past decade filter down to the poor. But that has not happened and there has been a marked increase in the frequency of street protests over the economy.

Egypt's benchmark stock index tumbled more than 6 percent by close Wednesday, the lowest level in about eight months and the first concrete sign that the demonstrations have impacted the country's economy.

Obama calls for new era of competitiveness

Obama calls for new era of competitiveness

President Barack Obama gestures while speaking at Orion Energy Systems, Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011, in Manitowoc, Wis.

MANITOWOC, Wis. (AP) -- President Barack Obama campaigned vigorously for his revamped economic message Wednesday, warning that other countries have been grasping for first place in the global marketplace as the U.S. fell down on the job.

The president delivered the argument in Wisconsin, a state that will be critical to his re-election prospects, a day after a State of the Union address where he contended that the U.S. has to step up its spending on innovation and infrastructure in order to compete globally and create jobs at home.

The president said Wednesday that while China invested in clean energy technologies, "we fell down on the job. We weren't moving as fast as we should have."

"We're going to need to go all in. We're going to need to get serious about winning the future," Obama said during a stop at Orion Energy Systems, a power technology company in the small town of Manitowoc. Obama showcased Orion as a leader in solar power and energy efficient technology, the kind of technologies the president argues are key for America's future competitiveness.

The president is calling for a new Sputnik moment, like the one in the 1950s when the Soviet Union beat the U.S. by sending a satellite into space - spurring the U.S. to pour money into science and technology programs and eventually make it to the moon.

The challenge resonated in Manitowoc, a small city on the shores of Lake Michigan known best as the place where a 20-pound chunk of the Sputnik satellite crashed in 1962, an event marked by an annual "Sputnikfest." Obama insisted he hadn't known of the Sputnik connection when he picked Manitowoc as the first audience for the themes of competitiveness and innovation he will push through his 2012 re-election campaign. But it gave him a fitting backdrop.

"It was part of a satellite called Sputnik that landed right here and that set the Space Race in motion," Obama said. "So I want to say to you today that it's here, more than 50 years later, that the race for the 21st Century will be won."

The stop at Orion was the first of three factory visits Obama made in Manitowoc. He also touted his small business initiatives at Skana Aluminum Company, which took out a $5 billion Small Business Administration loan in December, and at Tower Tech Systems, where he traded his suit coat for a black company fleece and was shown a plate roller where steel is shaped into wind tower and turbine structures. The stops were quick as the White House shortened Obama's Wisconsin visit so that Air Force One could beat a gathering storm back to Washington.

In his remarks Obama looked to highlight ways businesses like those would benefit from the proposals he outlined in Tuesday's address, including fresh downpayments in clean energy, research and technology. In his State of the Union Obama set a new goal of ensuring that by 2035, 80 percent of America's electricity comes from clean energy sources, though he defined those sources to include clean coal and nuclear, a definition not embraced by many environmentalists.

Still seeking to convince Americans that some of the unpopular economic decisions he made during the first two years of his administration were necessary, Obama also argued that those policies were responsible for the recovery that's begun to take hold.

"New manufacturing plants, and new hopes, are taking root," Obama said.

Obama's stop in Wisconsin, likely a key battleground state in 2012, underscored just how quickly the White House is refocusing on the president's fast-approaching reelection campaign. Though Obama won Wisconsin in 2008, the state turned sharply to the right during the November midterm elections, when the entire legislature and governor's office flipped from Democratic to Republican. Some blamed Obama and the national party for losing focus on jobs and the economy, although there are signs the Wisconsin economy is improving. Unemployment statewide was 7.5 percent in December, down from 8.3 percent in December 2009.

Obama's visit to Wisconsin also let him in for some inevitable ribbing over the Green Bay Packers' victory over the president's beloved hometown Chicago Bears this past weekend, which sent the Packers to the Super Bowl and the Bears home. On Wednesday Obama flew into the airport at Green Bay, where Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Green Bay Mayor James J. Schmitt greeted him with two Green Bay Packers' jerseys, one with Obama's name on the back and the other bearing the number 21, and name of Packer's cornerback Charles Woodson.

"They're rubbing it in!" Obama jokingly complained to reporters accompanying him on the trip.

Sixers Success At Home Continues With Win Over Jazz

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Three nights ago, a pair of crushing four-point plays hurt the Philadelphia 76ers. On Saturday, it was an unusual five-point play which made the difference for the Sixers.

Andre Iguodala scored 22 points, Lou Williams added 20 and the Sixers defeated the slumping Utah Jazz 96-85 on Saturday.

Elton Brand added 19 for the Sixers, who snapped a two-game losing streak and won for the 12th time in the past 15 games at home. Spencer Hawes grabbed 11 rebounds.

For full story go to: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Blackhawks Down

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CHICAGO (AP) — Jeff Carter had two goals and an assist, and rookie Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves in the Philadelphia Flyers’ 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.

Nikolay Zherdev and Scott Hartnell added goals, and Claude Giroux had four assists for the Flyers in the only regular-season rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup Finals.

The 22-year-old Bobrovsky lost a bid for his first career shutout at 6:49 of the third period when Marian Hossa scored on a penalty shot. Philadelphia improved to a league-leading 69 points and is 9-2-0 in its last 11.

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City Council President Anna Verna Calling It Quits

City Council president Anna Verna — surrounded by fellow councilmembers Jannie Blackwell, Bill Greenlee (hidden), and James Kenney — reacts to applause in City Council chambers as she makes her retirement announcement. Photo by Mike Dunn

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Longtime Philadelphia City Council president Anna Verna announced today she will not return after her current term expires next January.

Verna, 79, made the announcement today that she will not return after her current term expires next January.
“I am the longest serving city employee; I’m the longest serving councilmember; I’m the longest serving president of City Council,” she said today. “I really think have done what I wanted to accomplish in life. I just feel that it’s time.”

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Gloucester County Teen Charged For Sending Violent Threats Through Facebook

MULLICA HILL, N.J. (CBS) – Gloucester County prosecutors announced Monday afternoon they found the person responsible for sending violent threats through Facebook, back in October, to several students from Clearview Regional High School in Mullica Hill.

“A 16-year-old Clearview student was charged yesterday arising out of a joint investigation,” said Prosecutor Sean Dalton.

“Thank God because in this day and age, we should be able to find out who these people are,” said parent Dana Minore.
Investigators say the juvenile created a Facebook profile page using a fake name and began threatening students.

For full story go to:

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Oprah Winfrey finds sister she didn't know she had

Oprah Winfrey finds sister she didn't know she had

This photo taken Jan. 19, 2011 and provided by Harpo Productions Inc., shows talk-show host Oprah Winfrey greeting her half-sister Patricia on an episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" taped at Harpo Studios in Chicago. On the show that aired Monday, Jan. 24, 2011, a sometimes-emotional Winfrey introduced Patricia, explaining how the woman's years-long search for her family culminated in a meeting with Winfrey on Thanksgiving Day of last year.

CHICAGO (AP) -- Oprah Winfrey has discovered she has a half-sister - a Milwaukee woman who was given up for adoption by Winfrey's mother nearly 50 years ago, when the talk show host was eight years old.

An emotional Winfrey introduced her newly found sibling to viewers Monday and explained the woman's persistent quest to find her birth mother.

"This, my friends, is the miracle of all miracles," Winfrey said before bringing out the 48-year-old woman, who throughout the program was identified only as Patricia, with no mention of her occupation or any other details.

After years of searching for blood relatives, the woman met Winfrey on Thanksgiving Day of last year.

When Patricia was born in Milwaukee in 1963, the young Winfrey was living with her father and did not even know her mother was pregnant, she said.

Patricia, who Winfrey said bounced from foster home to foster home until she was adopted at age 7, had given up after previous searches for her mother. But she decided to resume looking several years ago at the insistence of her grown children.

The effort seemed to hit a dead end when a woman from the Wisconsin adoption agency called to respond to her inquiries.

"She was telling me that my birth mother had called her back, and she had made the decision at that particular time that she did not want to see me," Patricia said.

Coincidentally, on the local news that day was a story about Winfrey' mother, Vernita Lee, who revealed details about two of her children who had since died. Those details, Patricia said, matched information she had seen in papers about her own adoption.

Winfrey's mother also said that one of the deceased children had been named Patricia.

"The hairs on the back of my neck stood up," Patricia said. "Because I knew one of my siblings and I shared the same name."

Later, she found more matching details, including the fact that Winfrey was born in 1954, the same year as the woman Patricia knew was her surviving sibling.

Patricia found the daughter of Winfrey's dead sister in Milwaukee, and they took a DNA test that confirmed their relationship.

Lee, who recently suffered a minor stroke, said she never told Winfrey about her half-sister, "because I thought it was a terrible thing for me to do, that I had done, gave up my daughter when she was born."

Winfrey said documents from the girl's birth reveal that Lee gave up the baby for adoption because she did not think she could get off welfare if she kept the child.

"I made the decision to give her up because I wasn't able to take care of her," Lee said during a recorded interview that aired Monday. "So when I left the hospital, I told the nurse I wasn't going to keep the baby."

Winfrey said she was particularly stunned by the news because of the way it came out.

She said Patricia had known since 2007 that the two were related, but never attempted to profit off her discovery or contact the press, even as she tried unsuccessfully to contact Winfrey, her mother or others in Winfrey's family.

"She never once thought to sell the story," Winfrey said, recalling how she felt betrayed by others who have sought to take advantage of their relationship with one of the largest figures in the entertainment world and one of the wealthiest women in the United States.

Winfrey, for example, recalled how her other sister revealed to the press years ago that Winfrey had had a baby when she was a teenager. The baby, Winfrey has said, died shortly after birth. And she talked about putting her sister in rehab twice for drug addiction, but that her sister ultimately died.

Patricia said she didn't consider revealing that she and Winfrey were half-sisters to anyone but Winfrey, explaining that she did not want to hurt Winfrey.

"Family business should be handled by family," Patricia said. "It couldn't be handled by anyone else. That's not fair. It wouldn't be fair to you."

Winfrey said she was heartened by learning that she had a half-sister, saying it "feels like closure" for the sister who died.

"It feels to me like you are Pat on her very best day," Winfrey told the woman. "You are what she wanted to be without the drugs."

Suspect in '87 baby snatching held without bail

Suspect in '87 baby snatching held without bail

FILE - In this May 24, 2010 file photo provided by the Wake County (N.C.) Bureau of Identification, Ann Pettway is shown. Pettway, who raised a child kidnapped from a New York hospital two decades ago, surrendered to authorities on a parole violation charge Sunday, Jan. 23, 2011, days after a widely publicized reunion between the biological mother and the daughter taken from her as a baby.

NEW YORK (AP) -- A North Carolina woman accused of snatching an infant from a New York hospital more than two decades ago after failing in her own attempts to have children was ordered held without bail on kidnapping charges Monday in federal court in Manhattan.

Ann Pettway, 49, folded her hands, stared straight ahead and was silent during the five-minute court appearance. She surrendered Sunday, days after a widely publicized reunion between the child she raised - now 23-year-old Carlina White - and her biological mother.

Pettway's lawyer, Robert Baum, said beforehand: "She feels badly. She's very upset. She's expressed concern about her family. But she understands the gravity of the charges."

Pettway, of Raleigh, N.C., earlier confessed to taking the baby in early August 1987 from Harlem Hospital during an interview after she surrendered to the FBI and Bridgeport, Conn., police, FBI agent Maria Johnson said in a criminal complaint.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein ordered Pettway detained Monday after Baum said no bail application would immediately be made. Because there is no indictment, no plea was necessary. She could face a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison or as much as life if she is convicted.

Pettway said she had had difficulty having her own children in the 1980s, was dealing with the stress of trying to be a mother and had suffered several miscarriages, when she went to the hospital and saw the baby, the FBI said.

"Pettway took the victim from the victim's family and this was totally unacceptable. Pettway is truly sorry," Johnson said Pettway told her in a written statement.

After taking the baby, Pettway brought her outside the hospital and, when no one stopped her, proceeded to a train and on to her home in Bridgeport, Conn., where she told friends and family members that the baby was her child, the agent said.

"Pettway is sorry and knows that she has caused a lot of pain," Johnson wrote.

Asked about the FBI confession, Baum said: "Obviously it's alleged she made statements. We need to take a good look at the circumstances surrounding those statements."

Brian Pettway, a 38-year-old cousin of Pettway who lives in New Haven, Conn., said his cousin appeared pregnant in 1987 and disappeared, only to return with a baby the family assumed was hers. He said Pettway was a reliable, loving and trustworthy cousin, one of his favorites.

"This is so uncharacteristic," Brian Pettway said. "We're all left with our mouths opened. It's kind of like a double loss. We accepted her (White) as family. Unbeknownst to us, she was not our family."

Brian Pettway said his cousin raised White "as best she could" in a crime-ridden neighborhood. He said White seemed happy and pleasant.

"She just raised that baby like it was her daughter, like she sat in that delivery room and gave birth to her," Pettway said. "She never showed any signs of deceit."

White was 19 days old when her parents took her to Harlem Hospital late on Aug. 4, 1987, with a high fever. Joy White and Carl Tyson said a woman who looked like a nurse had comforted them. The couple left the hospital to rest, but their baby was missing when they went back on Aug. 5, 1987. A police investigation failed to locate the baby.

Carlina White has been living under the name Nejdra Nance in Connecticut and in the Atlanta area. She said she had long suspected Pettway wasn't her biological mother because she could never provide her with a birth certificate and because she didn't look like anyone else in Pettway's family.

Johnson said in the complaint that a detective who interviewed the victim recounted that Pettway was quoted as saying she did not have identification for her because she had been given to Pettway by a woman who used drugs.

As the child grew up, she lived with Pettway in Pettway's home at times and with Pettway's mother, who also lived in Bridgeport, Johnson said.

Pettway's surrender initially came on a warrant from North Carolina, where she's on probation because of a conviction for attempted embezzlement, FBI supervisory special agent William Reiner said.

Carlina White periodically checked the website of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and while looking through New York photos early this month found one that looked nearly identical to her own baby picture. She contacted Joy White through the center.

White and Nance met in New York before DNA tests were complete, confident they were mother and daughter. After the test results confirmed it Wednesday, Nance returned from Atlanta to be with White again.

Johnson said Pettway during her FBI interview referred to the victim as Nejdra Nance but also sometimes referred to her as Carlina.

Pettway received two years of probation last June after she took items from a store where she worked, which is considered embezzlement under North Carolina law, state correction spokeswoman Pamela Walker said. Under terms of her probation, she wasn't allowed to leave the state.

Department of Correction officials there tried repeatedly to contact her after finding out investigators wanted to question her in Carlina's 1987 abduction.

North Carolina officials said Friday they believed Pettway was on the run from authorities.

Ill. court throws Emanuel off Chicago ballot

Ill. court throws Emanuel off Chicago ballot

Rahm Emanuel speaks at a news conference in Chicago Monday, Jan. 24, 2011. An Illinois appeals court threw the former White House chief of staff off the ballot for Chicago mayor because he didn't live in the city in the year before the election. The court voted 2-1 to overturn a lower-court ruling that would have kept Emanuel's name on the Feb. 22 ballot.

CHICAGO (AP) -- An Illinois appeals court threw former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel off the ballot for Chicago mayor Tuesday because he didn't live in the city in the year before the election.

The decision cast doubt over Emanuel's candidacy just a month before the election. He had been considered the front-runner and had raised more money than any other candidate.

The court voted 2-1 to overturn a lower-court ruling that would have kept his name on the Feb. 22 ballot.

Emanuel plans to appeal the matter to the Illinois Supreme Court. Early voting was set to begin on Jan. 31.

"I have no doubt that we will in the end prevail at this effort. This is just one turn in the road," Emanuel said, adding that the "people of the city of Chicago deserve the right to make the decision on who they want to be their next mayor."

Those challenging Emanuel's candidacy have argued that the Democrat does not meet the one-year residency requirement because he rented out his Chicago home and moved his family to Washington to work for President Barack Obama for nearly two years.

Emanuel has said he always intended to return to Chicago and was only living in Washington at the request of the president.

Emanuel is one of several candidates vying to replace Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, who did not seek a seventh term. Emanuel moved back to Chicago in October after he quit working for Obama to campaign full-time.

Before Monday's ruling, attorney Burt Odelson, who represents two voters objecting to Emanuel's candidacy, had little luck trying to keep Emanuel off the ballot.

The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners and a Cook County judge have both ruled in favor of Emanuel, a former congressman, saying he didn't abandon his Chicago residency when he went to work at the White House.

Odelson had said he planned to take the challenge to the state Supreme Court, if necessary.

"Have I stood down at all? No, I've been confident all along because that's the law. That's the way you read the law," Odelson told reporters Monday.

The three main other candidates running - former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, former schools President Gery Chico and City Clerk Miguel del Valle - have been critical of Emanuel during the race, calling him an outsider who doesn't know Chicago.

Emanuel appeared to have gotten a big boost last week when his campaign announced he raised more than $10 million and was endorsed by former President Bill Clinton during an event in Chicago.

A Chicago Tribune/WGN poll also released last week showed Emanuel with the support of 44 percent of those surveyed. The same poll found 21 percent of registered voters questioned prefer Braun, while 16 percent favor Chico and 7 percent support del Valle.

Del Valle said the appeal court's decision bodes well for the other candidates and voters who may have thought the race was a foregone conclusion because the amount of money Emanuel has raised.

"Now voters see there's an opportunity to look at the field and give candidates either a second look or in some cases a first look. People are going to pay more attention to the other candidates," del Valle said.

In its ruling the court said while Emanuel met the requirements to vote in Chicago, he did not meet the requirements to run for mayor because he didn't actually reside in the city for a year before Feb. 22.

"A candidate must meet not only the Election Code's voter residency standard, but also must have actually resided within the municipality for one year prior to the election, a qualification that the candidate unquestionably does not satisfy," according to the ruling.

The residency questions have dogged Emanuel ever since he announced his candidacy last fall. Emanuel tried to move back into his house when he returned to Chicago but the family renting it wanted $100,000 to break the lease and move out early. The tenant, businessman Rob Halpin, later filed paperwork to run for mayor against Emanuel, only to withdraw from the race a short time later.

More than two dozen people testified on the residency issue at a Chicago Board of Elections hearing in December. The three-day hearing got progressively stranger as attorneys gave way to Chicago residents who filed objections to his candidacy, including one man who asked Emanuel if he caused the 1993 siege at Waco, Texas.

Emanuel's lawyer said he is hopeful the state Supreme Court will take up the case, especially since the appeals court decision was not unanimous.

"I think the fact that there's a dispute within the appellate court certainly makes the case more enticing to the Supreme Court, but I don't speak for them," lawyer Mike Kasper said.

Suspect pleads not guilty in deadly Ariz. shooting

Suspect pleads not guilty in deadly Ariz. shooting

This Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011 photo released by the Pima County Sheriff's Office shows shooting suspect Jared Loughner. Loughner, accused of carrying out a mass shooting in Tucson, pleaded not guilty Monday, Jan. 24, 2011 to charges he tried to kill Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and two of her aides.

PHOENIX (AP) -- The man accused of carrying out a mass shooting in Tucson pleaded not guilty Monday to charges he tried to kill Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and two of her aides.

The plea by Jared Lee Loughner marked his second court appearance since he allegedly shot the congresswoman and 18 others at Giffords' meet-and-greet event on Jan. 8 outside a grocery store in Tucson. Six people died, including U.S. District Judge John Roll and a 9-year-old girl. Thirteen others were wounded.

Loughner, 22, faces federal charges of trying to assassinate Giffords and attempting to murder two of her aides. He will later face state charges dealing with other victims.

At least eight U.S. Marshals were present at the hearing in the Phoenix courthouse, where Loughner entered Monday afternoon smiling and wearing an orange prison suit and glasses. His hair, shaved in the mug shot that's become an enduring image of the tragedy, has grown out slightly.

Investigators have said Loughner was mentally disturbed and acting increasingly erratic in the weeks leading up to the shooting. If his attorney uses mental competency questions as a defense and is successful, Loughner could be sent to a mental health facility instead of being sentenced to prison or death.

U.S. District Judge Larry Burns of San Diego asked Loughner attorney Judy Clarke whether there was any question about her client's ability to understand the case against him.

"We are not raising any issues at this time," Clarke said.

Giffords was shot in the forehead and spent two weeks in a Tucson hospital before she was flown to Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center Hospital on Friday. Shortly after her arrival, doctors said she had been given a tube to drain a buildup of brain fluid that has kept the Arizona congresswoman in intensive care.

The Houston hospital treating Giffords gave no update Monday, and spokesman James Campbell said the next update would come when they are ready to move Giffords to the rehab hospital.

A hospital statement said Giffords would continue to receive therapy "until her physicians determine she is ready for transfer" to a nearby center where she would begin a full rehabilitation program.

Prosecutor Wallace Kleindienst estimated that he would know within the next 30 days whether additional federal charges would be filed against Loughner. Kleindienst said prosecutors provided defense lawyers with records taken from Loughner's computer and documents of about 250 interviews made in the case.

The judge did not rule on prosecutors' request to move the federal case back to Tucson so that victims and witnesses do not have to make the four-hour round trip drive to Phoenix to attend court hearings. The case was moved because one of those killed, Roll, was a federal judge.

Clarke said she didn't oppose the request, but questioned where Loughner would be jailed in Tucson if the case were moved.

Clarke has not responded to requests seeking comment. She is one of the top lawyers in the country for defendants facing prominent death penalty cases, having represented clients such "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski and Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph. She has a reputation for working out plea deals that spare defendants the death penalty, as was the case for Rudolph and Kaczynski.

The judge set a March 9 hearing to consider motions in Loughner's case.

Bombing at Moscow airport called terrorist attack

Bombing at Moscow airport called terrorist attack

Investigators work near the lifeless body of a man killed in an explosion at Domodedovo airport in Moscow, Monday, Jan. 24, 2011. An explosion ripped through the arrivals hall at Moscow's busiest airport on Monday, killing many people. The Russian president called it a terror attack.

MOSCOW (AP) -- Terrorists struck again in the heart of Russia, with a suicide bomber blowing himself up Monday in Moscow's busiest airport and turning its international arrivals terminal into a smoky, blood-spattered hall of dismembered bodies, screaming survivors and abandoned suitcases. At least 35 people were killed, including two British travelers.

No one claimed responsibility for the blast at Domodedovo Airport that also wounded 180 people, although Islamic militants in the southern Russian region of Chechnya have been blamed for previous attacks in Moscow, including a double suicide bombing on the capital's subway system in March 2010 that resulted in 40 deaths.

President Dmitry Medvedev called it a terrorist attack and immediately tightened security at Moscow's two other commercial airports and other key transportation facilities.

It was the second time in seven years that Domodedovo was involved in a terrorist attack: In 2004, two female suicide bombers penetrated the lax security there, illegally bought tickets from airport personnel and boarded planes that exploded in flight and killed 90 people.

Medvedev canceled plans to travel Tuesday to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he aimed to promote Russia as a profitable investment haven to world business leaders.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered the health minister to send her deputies to hospitals to make sure the injured were getting the medical care they needed.

Russians still look to the tough-talking Putin as the leader they trust to guarantee their security, and Monday's attack was likely to strengthen the position of the security forces that form part of his base.

Large-scale battles in Chechnya ended years ago, following two devastating wars that Russia waged with the republic's separatists, but Islamic militants have continued to carry out suicide bombings and other attacks. Most have been in Chechnya and other predominantly Muslim provinces in the southern Caucasus region, but some have targeted Moscow, including its subways, trains and even a theater.

In Washington, President Barack Obama condemned the "outrageous act of terrorism" and offered any assistance. Those comments were echoed by British Prime Minister David Cameron, who spoke with Medvedev and assured him of his complete support.

Monday's attack was most likely carried out by a suicide bomber and "attempts were being made to identify him," Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said, adding that the attacker appeared to have been wearing the explosives on a belt.

The blast came at 4:32 p.m., when hundreds of passengers and workers were in a loosely guarded part of the terminal. They were sprayed with shrapnel of screws and ball bearings, intended to cause as many casualties as possible.

The terminal filled with thick smoke as witnesses described a scene of horror.

"There was lots of blood, severed legs flying around," said Yelena Zatserkovnaya, a Lufthansa official.

Airport workers turned baggage carts into makeshift stretchers to wheel the wounded to ambulances outside, she said.

Amateur video showed a pile of bodies on the floor, with other dead scattered around. Luggage also was strewn around the terminal and several small fires burned. A dazed man in a suit pushed a baggage cart through the haze.

Driver Artyom Zhilenkov said he was standing just a few yards (meters) away from a man who may have been the suicide bomber. He saw an explosion on or near the man, whose suitcase was on fire.

Zhilenkov said he initially thought he himself had been injured, but doctors said he was just coated in the blood of others.

"The guy standing next to me was torn to pieces," he said.

Car rental agent Alexei Spiridonov, 25, was at his desk when the blast struck about 100 yards (meters) away and "threw me against the wall," he said.

"People were panicking, rushing out of the hall or looking for their relatives. There were people just lying in blood," Spiridonov said.

Sergei Lavochkin, who was waiting for a friend to arrive from Cuba, told Rossiya 24 television: "I heard a loud bang, saw plastic panels falling down from the ceiling and heard people screaming. Then people started running away."

The Emergencies Ministry said 35 people were killed, 86 hospitalized with injuries and 94 were given medical treatment. Among the dead were two British travelers, Markin said.

Domodedovo was briefly closed to air traffic immediately after the blast, but soon reopened. Hours later, passengers arriving for their flights lined up outside waiting to pass through metal detectors that had been installed at the entrances.

Aviation security experts have been warning since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that the crowds at many airports present tempting targets to suicide bombers. Arrivals halls are usually open to anyone.

"Airports are by their nature crowded places, with meeters, greeters, commercial businesses, and so on," said Philip Baum, the editor of Aviation Security International, a London-based publication.

The attack also called into question Russia's ability to safely host major international events like the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and the 2018 World Cup.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter was in St. Petersburg over the weekend to formally award Russia the 2018 World Cup. Prior to the signing, Blatter told Putin that he was certain FIFA had made the right choice.

Built in 1964, Domodedovo is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) southeast of Moscow and is the largest of the three major airports that serve the capital, handling more than 22 million people last year. It is generally regarded as Moscow's most modern airport, but its security has been called into question.

The airport insists security is one of its top priorities, saying on its website that its "cutting-edge operations technology guarantees the safety of passengers' and guests' lives."

It says 77 airlines offer regular flights to Domodedovo, serving 241 international and national routes.

Boondocks At Phila. Front Page News

Boondocks At Phila. Front Page News

Exhibit At Cape May Gallery Focuses On Role Of Black Church In History

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A new exhibit examines the historic role played by the church in the growth of the African American community in Cape May County, New Jersey.

Can I Get a Witness! is just what part of it’s title says, a testament to the church in Cape May County, which was integral to the development of a number of black communities there since the 19th century.

Bernadette Matthews, executive director of the Center for Community Arts, says the exhibit was to concentrate on three churches but, “What we found in our initial research was that while Cape May is the end of the line and, in some perspectives, the beginning, African Americans migrated to these other locations and formed communities and churches as well.”

For full story go to: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Temple Researcher Finds Many Schools Lack Cyber-Bullying Policies

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – As cyber-bullying becomes an ever increasing problem, many school social workers say they don’t have the tools needed for the fight.

A survey of nearly 400 social workers shows that half agree cyber-bullying is a problem in the schools but fewer than 20 percent say their school has an effective policy in place to tackle the issue.

Jonathan Singer, assistant professor of social work at Temple University and study co-author says one of the problems is the attacks often occur after school hours.

For full story go to: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Schiavone wins longest women's major match

Schiavone wins longest women's major match

Italy's Francesca Schiavone serves to Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 23, 2011.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- One of the players was so exhausted she forgot who was serving. The other kept checking the ticking clock on center court and thinking to herself, "Brava, Francesca!"

The clock finally stopped at 4 hours, 44 minutes, when French Open champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 1-6, 16-14 in the fourth round at the Australian Open and set a record for the longest women's Grand Slam match in the Open era.

An exhausted but elated Schiavone described the match as "fantastic!"

Though the 30-year-old Schiavone is at an age when many players are considering retirement, she's playing the best tennis of her career and making history as goes.

She won the French Open last year at 29, becoming the first Italian to win a major and the oldest woman in four decades to win her first Grand Slam. She also became the oldest woman in 12 years to crack the top 10 for the first time.

With Sunday's win she set a new personal best, reaching her first Australian Open quarterfinal in 11 tries. She has played in 42 consecutive Grand Slams. She also is expected to rise from her current career-high ranking of No. 6.

"When you're in a situation like this, I think every point is the most important. It's like every point is match point. You have to keep going," she said.

Schiavone saved six match points and closed the final set on her third match point.

"Physically you are tired," she said. "Mentally it's the same."

Schiavone kept fresh by dousing herself with bottled water at game changeovers, pouring it over her head, arms and legs. Both players sought rubdowns from their trainers to ease tight muscles.

The third set was a three-hour marathon, with incredible shots and saves by both players, going more-or-less game for game until Schiavone edged ahead and ended it at a staggering 16-14.

The longest previous women's match in a Grand Slam tournament was here last year when Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova beat Regina Kulikova 7-6 (5), 6-7 (10), 6-3 in a contest lasting 4:19.

At Roland Garros last year, Schiavone gained a reputation for dropping to the court and kissing the clay, a ritual that started in the quarterfinals and continued through the final.

There was no kissing the ground Sunday night at Melbourne Park.

Schiavone raised both arms to the sky and then walked to the net to hug Kuznetsova, the 2009 French Open champion.

"At some stage, I was like, 'What's the score? Who's serving?'" Kuznetsova said. "I had no clue sometimes. It was so hard to count."

The 25-year-old Russian beat seven-time Grand Slam winner Justine Henin in straight sets in the third round, which she described as "definitely hard."

But Sunday's record-setting match was almost spiritual.

"What doesn't kill you will make you stronger. I'm still alive and sitting here," said the No. 26-ranked Russian.

"I am a religious person and I believe in God. If he makes me go through this, I will go through this and keep my head high and work even harder. I'm proud of the work I've done," she said.

Schiavone said her focus never strayed, thanks to the on-court clock.

"I was watching the clock. I say, 'Brava, Francesca! You are tough!" she said.

The Italian expects another challenge when she faces No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals.

Asked if she'll have the energy for the next round, she smiled, "If you ask me now, I say, 'No.'"

"But I am young. I can run," she said. "I can do anything."

At Obama's midpoint, an altered State of the Union

At Obama's midpoint, an altered State of the Union

FILE - In this Jan. 27, 2010, file photo President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington. When Obama first addressed the joint session about two years ago he had big plans, and a Democratic majority in Congress to help him carry them out. At Tuesday's State of the Union he will speak to a radically reshaped Congress, its Democratic ranks slashed by voters last November, and Republicans sworn to slash spending by as much as $100 billion.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nearly two years ago on a cold February day, President Barack Obama stood for the first time before a joint session of Congress and spoke of a national day of reckoning.

It was time not just to stabilize the shaken economy, he declared, but to reach for lasting prosperity.

His goals were expansive: overhauling health care, cutting the deficit, improving schools, finding a way out of Iraq and a way ahead in Afghanistan. Most of all, creating jobs. Jobs by the millions.

He had big plans and a Democratic majority in Congress to help him carry them out.

"We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before," Obama said to rousing applause.

Grim as the economic news was at the time, the nation - and Obama - didn't know how bad it was going to get before things started to turn around. The economy hemorrhaged nearly 4 million jobs in 2009, Obama's first year as president.

Two years in to his term, as Obama prepares to stand before Congress once again on Tuesday, he will size up an altered State of the Union.

The economy undisputedly is on stronger footing, though far from robust. There's a new health care law. U.S. troops have come out of Iraq and gone into Afghanistan.

"The most productive two years that we've had in generations," the president pronounces it.

Yet he will speak to a radically reshaped Congress. His party's ranks have been thinned by voters who delivered a harsh verdict in November on two years of collaboration between Obama and the Democratic-controlled House and Senate.

He faces Republicans who are sworn to slash spending by as much as $100 billion as the government comes off an economic rescue effort that has put the country on track for a third consecutive year of $1 trillion-plus deficits.

Ask people whether Obama has delivered on his broad-brush promise of change, and 42 percent - the biggest share - say it's still too soon to tell, according to an AP-GfK poll. One-third say he's failed to deliver; one-quarter think he's kept his promise.

The public is divided, too, on whether Obama is attempting to change things at the right pace, according to the poll. About one-third think he's moving too fast, and almost equal shares think his pace is just right or too slow.

Where do we stand? "I think I'd use the word transitional," says Rutgers political scientist Ross Baker. "There's a sense of expectation on the part of the public. I think it's tinged with hopefulness."

The nation may have weathered its economic crisis, but the same cannot be said for many people.

The unemployment rate was 8.2 percent in February 2009, when Obama first addressed Congress. It hit double digits by that October and was 9.4 percent at last report. While the administration is quick to point out that 1.1 million jobs were created last year, there are 2.8 million fewer jobs now than when Obama took office.

Housing is a particular sore spot. Foreclosures hit a record 1 million in 2010, and this year's figures are likely to be worse.

"I don't think they ever fully got their arms around the factors that were contributing to such an appalling rate of foreclosures and I don't think they've done it yet," says the Brookings Institution's Bill Galston, a former Clinton administration official who gives the president good marks overall for stabilizing the economy.

In Obama's first address to Congress, the president spoke passionately about the inequities and "crushing costs" of the health care system, of families denied treatment or forced into bankruptcy because of medical bills.

Last March 23, after a long and fierce battle, Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aimed at expanding coverage to virtually all in this country and preventing insurers from denying coverage to those with health problems.

The political repercussions were immediate and intense. Republicans campaigned against "Obamacare" in the fall elections; Democrats mostly tried to avoid the subject.

On Tuesday, Obama will stand before Congress in the same chamber where House Republicans voted just days ago to scrap the law (knowing their repeal effort would founder in the Senate.)

While the economy commanded Obama's attention, the two wars he inherited tested his resolve as commander in chief. Obama sought an exit strategy in Iraq, the war he had opposed from the start, and an escalation in Afghanistan, the war he thought was just.

The U.S. had about 138,000 troops in Iraq when he took office and 36,000 in Afghanistan.

Two years later, the situation has flipped: There are 47,000 in Iraq, 97,000 in Afghanistan.

All in all, Obama made an astonishing array of promises in his campaign and rededicated himself to them in the early days of his presidency. They ranged from small-bore ones such as his pledge to open American cultural centers in Islamic cities abroad (a promise being kept) to his vow to repeal the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy (a promise broken).

To the Heritage Foundation's Brian Darling, Obama has emerged as the "over-promiser in chief."

"Walking into another State of the Union speech," says Darling, "the American people will look at his statements skeptically."

To Galston, Obama's efforts on the economy are the overarching achievement of the first half of his term - and the key to a successful second half.

"The administration's accomplishment in preventing economic disaster has been underestimated and is likely to look better in historical hindsight than it has up to now," Galston says. "The real challenge that he has going forward is to move the patient from stability to recovery. That's the Step Two."

House leader Cantor believes Obama is a US citizen

House leader Cantor believes Obama is a US citizen

In this photo provided by NBC television Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., speaks on NBC's "Meet the Press" in Washington Sunday, Jan. 23, 2011. The new House Majority Leader said he believes Obama is a citizen and that most Americans are beyond that question. He refused to call people who question Obama's citizenship "crazy," saying it's not nice to call anyone crazy.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The new Republican House majority leader says he doesn't think questions about President Barack Obama's citizenship should play a role in the discussion of policy matters.

Two years into the Obama administration, so-called birthers continue to argue that Obama isn't a natural-born citizen and that he hasn't proved he's constitutionally qualified to be president. Birth records in Hawaii haven't dissuaded them.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says he believes Obama is a citizen and that most Americans are beyond that question.

"I don't think it's an issue that we need to address at all. . It is not an issue that even needs to be on the policy-making table right now whatsoever," he said.

Appearing Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," Cantor refused to call people who question Obama's citizenship "crazy."

"I don't think it's nice to call anyone crazy," Cantor said

Cantor says he believes that Obama wants what's best for the country and that there are honest disagreements over how to achieve that.

Birthers say there's no proof he was born in the United States; many of these skeptics question whether he was actually born in Kenya, his father's home country.

Hawaii's health director said in 2008 and 2009 that she had seen and verified Obama's original vital records, and birth notices in two Honolulu newspapers were published within days of Obama's birth at Kapiolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital in Honolulu.

Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo again confirmed on Friday that Obama's name is found in its alphabetical list of names of people born in Hawaii, maintained in bound copies available for public view.

Hawaii's Democratic governor, Neil Abercrombie, who was a friend of Obama's parents and knew him as a child, began an effort last month to find a way to dispel conspiracy theories that the president was born elsewhere. The governor said he was bothered by people who questioned Obama's birthplace for political reasons.

But Abercrombie's office said Friday that he was ending his quest because it's against state law to release private documents. The state's attorney general told the governor he can't disclose an individual's birth documentation without a person's consent.

The Obama campaign issued a certificate of live birth in 2008, an official document from the state showing the president's birth date, city and name, along with his parents' names and races.

Two Local Non-Profits Team Up To Provide Winter Coats For Kids

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Thousands of needy children have received new winter coats thanks to a pair of charitable groups.

Some of the kids could barely contain their excitement after trying on their brand new coats.

“We’ll be nice and warm in our warm, fluffy jackets. We’re lucky to get these jackets.”

For full story go to: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Frigid Temperatures Grip The Delaware Valley

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Philadelphia and neighboring counties have declared a code blue in the face of these frigid temperatures.

The homeless population in Philadelphia is already vulnerable, but when the mercury barely reaches 20 degrees, the line between life and death is razor thin.

Beth Lewis with Project HOME says teams of trained professionals hit the streets to bring people in from the elements.

For full story go to: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/