Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/53399
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 – Daily News WORLD BRIEFING Obama to underline differences with Republicans WASHINGTON (AP) — Eager to command center stage in a year dominated by Republican infighting, President Barack Obama is polish- ing a State of the Union address that will go to the heart of Americans' eco- nomic anxiety and try to sway voters to give him four more years. He will speak Tuesday to a nation worried about daily strug- gles and unhappy with his handling of the economy. Obama's 9 p.m. EST address before a political- ly divided Congress will be built around ideas meant to appeal to a squeezed middle class. He is expected to urge higher taxes on the wealthy, pro- pose ways to make col- lege more affordable, offer new steps to tackle a debilitating housing crisis and try to help U.S. man- ufacturers expand hiring. Designed as a way for a president to update the nation and recommend ideas to Congress, the State of the Union address has become more than that, especially during that one window when the address falls during the re-election year of an incumbent. It is televised theater — and Obama's biggest, best chance so far to offer a vision for a sec- ond term. He will frame the cam- paign to come as a fight for fairness for those who are struggling to keep a job, a home or college savings and losing faith in how the county works. The speech will be principally about the economy, featuring the themes of manufacturing, clean energy, education and American values. Giffords says farewell to Tucson constituents TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — On a bittersweet day for Rep. Gabrielle Gif- fords, the outgoing con- gresswoman spent her final hours in Tucson as the city's U.S. representa- tive, finishing the meeting she started on the morn- ing she was shot and bid- ding farewell to con- stituents who supported her through a long recov- ery. It may not be the end, though. The woman whose improbable recov- ery captivated the nation promised, ''I will return.'' Giffords spent time Monday at her office with other survivors of the shooting rampage that killed six people and injured 13. She hugged and talked with survivors, including Suzi Hileman, who was shot three times while trying to save her young friend and neigh- bor, 9-year-old Christina- Taylor Green. The little girl died from a gunshot wound to the chest. ''The last time I did this I had Christina's hand,'' Hileman said. ''It was something that was raised the possibility of new hurdles down the road for police who want to use high-tech surveil- lance of suspects, includ- ing various types of GPS technology. ''The Supreme Court's decision is an important one because it sends a message that technologi- cal advances cannot out- pace the American Con- stitution,'' said Donald Tibbs, a professor at the Earle Mack School of Law at Drexel University. ''The people will retain certain rights even when technology changes how the police are able to con- duct their investigations.'' A GPS device installed by police on Washington, D.C., nightclub owner Antoine Jones' Jeep and tracked for four weeks helped link him to a sub- urban house used to stash money and drugs. He was sentenced to life in prison before an appeals court overturned his conviction. hanging out there, and now it's not.'' Others who met with Giffords included Pat Maisch, who was hailed as a hero for wrestling a gun magazine from the shooter that day, and Daniel Hernandez, Gif- fords' intern at the time who helped save her life by trying to stop her bleeding until an ambu- lance arrived. Iran officials step up oil blockade threats after EU sanctions TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Senior Iranian law- makers stepped up threats Monday that Islamic Republic warships could block the Persian Gulf's oil tanker traffic after the latest blow by Western leaders seeking to rein in Tehran's nuclear pro- gram: A punishing oil embargo by the European Union that sharply raises the economic stakes for Iran's defiance. The EU decision in Brussels — following the U.S. lead to target Iran's critical oil exports — opened a new front against Iran's leadership. Pressure is bearing down on the clerical regime from many directions, including intense U.S. lobbying to urge Asian powers to shun Iranian crude, a nose-diving national currency and a recent slaying in what Iran calls a clandestine campaign against its nuclear establishment. In response, Iranian officials have turned to one of their most power- ful cards: The narrow Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf and the route for a fifth of the world's oil. Iran has rat- tled world markets with repeated warnings it could block the hook- shaped waterway, which could spark a conflict in the Gulf. Military experts have questioned whether Iran has the naval capabilities to attempt a blockade. But the U.S. and allies have already said they would take swift action against any Iranian moves to choke off the 30-mile (50- kilometer) wide strait — where the American air- craft carrier USS Abra- ham Lincoln, along with British and French war- ships, entered the Gulf on Sunday without incident. The British Ministry of Defense said the three nations sought to ''under- line the unwavering inter- national commitment to maintaining rights of pas- sage under international law.'' Police can't put GPS on your fender without warrant WASHINGTON (AP) — In a rare defeat for law enforcement, the Supreme Court unanimously agreed on Monday to bar police from installing GPS technology to track suspects without first get- ting a judge's approval. The justices made clear it wouldn't be their final word on increasingly advanced high-tech sur- veillance of Americans. Indicating they will be monitoring the growing use of such technology, five justices said they could see constitutional and privacy problems with police using many kinds of electronic sur- veillance for long-term tracking of citizens' movements without war- rants. While the justices dif- fered on legal rationales, their unanimous outcome was an unusual setback for government and police agencies grown accus- tomed to being given lee- way in investigations in post-Sept. 11 America, including by the Supreme Court. The views of at least the five justices Rand Paul stopped by airport security WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, the son of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul and a frequent critic of the Transportation Security Administration, was stopped by security at the Nashville airport Monday when a scanner set off an alarm and Paul declined to allow a security officer to subsequently pat him down. The White House said airport security acted appropriately. Police escorted Paul away, but he was allowed to board a later flight. The security scanner identi- fied an issue with the sen- ator's knee, although Paul said he has no screws or medical hardware around the joint. Paul, who frequently uses the airport about an hour from his home in Bowling Green, Ky., told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that he asked for another scan but refused to submit to a pat down by airport secu- rity. Paul said he was ''detained'' at a small cubicle and couldn't make his flight to Washington for a Senate vote sched- uled later in the day. White House spokesman Jay Carney did not confirm that the incident involved Paul, but said the passenger in question was never detained. He defended the TSA. Leak crackdown snares ex-CIA ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — An ex-CIA offi- cer who helped track down and capture a top al- Qaida figure was charged Monday with disclosing to reporters classified secrets, including the covert identities of his associates on the mission, in the latest of a series of prosecutions by the Obama administration against suspected leakers. John Kiriakou, 47, of Arlington, is charged with violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act and the Espionage Act. A judge at a federal court hearing ordered Kiriakou to be released on a $250,000 unsecured bond. According to authori- ties, Kiriakou divulged to three journalists, includ- ing a New York Times reporter, the identity of ''Officer B,'' who worked with Kiriakou on the cap- ture of suspected al-Qaida financier Abu Zubaydah in the months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Zubaydah was water- boarded 83 times, and his case has been made an example by those who believe the interrogation technique should be out- lawed. Kiriakou also is accused of disclosing the identity of another covert operator to an unidentified journalist. Authorities say that journalist then gave the officer's name to a team of defense lawyers representing a suspect the U.S. held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. When the lawyers included informa- tion about the officer in a sealed legal brief in 2009, the CIA became suspi- cious and the government began to investigate. According to an affi- davit, FBI agents inter- viewed Kiriakou last week, and he denied leak- ing the names. When specifically asked whether he had provided the Zubaydah interrogator's name to the Times for a 2008 article, he replied ''Heavens, no.'' A New York Times spokeswoman declined to comment. Freshman senator a big get in race MIAMI (AP) — He's young, telegenic and charis- matic. He's Hispanic, Catholic and the son of Cuban immigrants. He's a tea party favorite, a GOP star and, many say, the future of the Republican Party. Sen. Marco Rubio's endorsement would be a big get for any of the presiden- tial contenders ahead of the Jan. 31 Florida primary — if only he were the giving kind. The freshman senator, who has ties to GOP presi- dential front-runners Mitt Romney and Newt Gin- grich, has pledged to stay neutral as Republicans pick a challenger to President Barack Obama. But Rubio's refusal to pick sides hasn't squelched intense specula- tion about whether Rubio might make a surprise endorsement — and whether he'll end up as the vice presidential nominee. Rubio publicly insists that he's not interested in either, recently telling Fox News Channel: ''I've had a lot of people running with whom I've had relation- ships and that have been helpful to me, so I'm really not inclined to endorse in the primary.'' Aides to Romney and Gingrich say neither candi- date has asked Rubio for his endorsement out of respect for the senator's decision to stay out of the race. Even so, their backers are privately hoping Rubio changes his mind, given how wide open the race is only a week before Florida's Republi- cans weigh in on what has been a volatile nomination fight. Radiation from solar flare already bombarding Earth WASHINGTON (AP) — The sun is bombarding Earth with radiation from the biggest solar storm in more than six years with more to come from the fast- moving eruption. The solar flare occurred at about 11 p.m. EST Sun- day and will hit Earth with three different effects at three different times. The biggest issue is radiation, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center in Colorado. The radiation is mostly a concern for satellite disrup- tions and astronauts in space. It can cause commu- nication problems for polar- traveling airplanes, said space weather center physi- cist Doug Biesecker. Radiation from Sunday's flare arrived at Earth an hour later and will likely continue through Wednes- day. Levels are considered strong but other storms have been more severe. There are two higher levels of radia- tion on NOAA's storm scale — severe and extreme — Biesecker said. 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