Founder Jerry Wang resigns from Yahoo after 17 years of service. Will Microsoft attempt another takeover talk, or will Y! continue solo? Source: http://twitter.com/mintelnews/statuses/159578355740573696
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YORK, Pa. ? A six-term Pennsylvania congressman said Tuesday he would not seek a seventh term, calling himself a believer in term limits.
Republican U.S. Rep. Todd Platts said he planned to "remain an engaged servant of the people" through the end of the year.
Platts, 49, said he has sponsored bills that would have capped terms at 12 years since he arrived in Congress in 2001.
His south-central Pennsylvania district is reliably Republican, and Platts, a York native, was a formidable campaigner, thanks to a dedicated cadre of family, friends and other longtime supporters.
Platts' district includes York and Adams counties and extends to a large swath of Cumberland County near Harrisburg,
Platts, married with two school-age sons, has regularly commuted the 100 or so miles between his home and Washington, D.C. He said in a phone interview he estimated he has stayed overnight in Washington only about a dozen times while serving in Congress.
Platts said hoped for a more family-friendly schedule, and did not have a job lined up for next year.
"I'm not foreclosing any avenue," he said, when asked if he wanted to remain in politics and government. "I'm going to look at public and private sector opportunities."
He serves on the Education and the Workforce, Armed Services and Oversight and Governmental Reform committees.
A lawyer, he was elected to succeed longtime U.S. Rep. Bill Goodling in 2000. Before that, Platts had been a state House member representing a York County district.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. ? The Republican Party is beefing up its minority outreach nationwide and preparing to put its rising Latino stars on the campaign trail amid concerns that tough immigration rhetoric in the presidential primary is taking on an increasingly anti-Hispanic tone.
But immigrant-rights groups and some political watchers say the damage may be irreversible. They argue that the GOP has severely hampered itself as it looks to woo the critical Latino voting bloc that could decide who wins key states like New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado and Florida next fall.
Mitt Romney "is done," said DeeDee Blase, founder of Somos Republicans in Arizona. "He'll be lucky to get 8 percent of the Hispanic vote" after saying he would veto legislation that would create a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants and accepting the endorsement of anti-immigration activist Kris Kobach, architect of two of the strongest immigration crackdown laws in the country.
The GOP front-runner, Romney has referred to the legislation ? called the DREAM Act ? as a handout. The measure would allow some young illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to earn legal status if they went to college or joined the military. Challengers, including Texas Gov. Perry, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Ron Paul, have also taken tough anti-immigration stances in the campaign.
Language from them has been so sharp that even New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, has warned the candidates to watch their tongues.
"What we have to do is this: We have to tone down the rhetoric, and we have to have a sincere, honest conversation with the voters," Martinez said Wednesday, shortly after the Republican National Committee announced that it had hired a director of Hispanic outreach and was expanding its Latino-focused efforts. She's among the popular Hispanic politicians Republicans will deploy to battleground states in the coming months.
There's a reason for the urgent tone coming from Republican leaders on this matter.
The government projects Hispanics will account for roughly 30 percent of the population by 2050, doubling in size and boosting their political power. Overall, Hispanics traditionally tilt Democrat, meaning the Republican Party is looking at a threat to their future power if they don't work to make inroads with this politically pivotal group now.
Democrats have strengthened their standing with Hispanics in the most recent presidential election years. While much was made during the Democratic primary of 2008 of President Barack Obama's perceived weakness among Hispanics, he won 67 percent of their vote in the general election to 31 percent for Republican John McCain. It was a huge jump from 2004 when Democratic nominee John Kerry won Hispanics by 53 percent to 44 percent for Bush, a Texan who focused heavily on Hispanics.
Some worry that this year's eventual GOP nominee won't fare much better than McCain four years ago ? and may fare worse ? if candidates don't soften the way they talk about immigration.
"It's an emotional issue, and I think if the candidate can realize that and talk about it, you can still be conservative on immigration and talk about it in a way that doesn't turn off Hispanics," said Jennifer Korn, executive director of the Hispanic Leadership Network. She agreed that "some of the rhetoric could be pared back a bit" but disagreed that presidential candidates are shutting out huge blocs of Latino voters.
The issue is about to push to the forefront as the race for the GOP presidential nomination moves to Florida after South Carolina votes Jan. 21.
Korn's group is sponsoring its third conference in February in Miami, one day before it sponsors a debate with CNN.
Newt Gingrich, who supports a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, is the only presidential candidate scheduled to speak at the event.
Mindful of the challenges, the Republican National Committee unveiled expanded efforts to woo Hispanics last week.
Party Chairman Reince Priebus said the national party had hired Bettina Inclan as director of Hispanic outreach and was implementing a "multifaceted approach to connect with the Hispanic community" that will include digital outreach, traditional voter identification and get-out-the-vote efforts. It is also putting teams on the ground in key states, he said, and will tap popular GOP Hispanics like Martinez, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
Yet even as they announced boosted efforts, Priebus and Inclan downplayed the impact the immigration issue will have come November, emphasizing the unemployment rate among Hispanics is at 11 percent, almost two points higher than the national average.
"We need to address it," Inclan said. "We need to talk about it. But poll after poll shows the No. 1 issue for Latinos in this country is going to be how they are going to feed their family."
Democrats, meanwhile, are making the GOP's task harder. Obama's campaign is way ahead in its grassroots outreach to Hispanics thanks to the fact that he doesn't have a primary opponent. His re-election campaign has had teams long in place on the ground in states like Florida, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada. And volunteers already are knocking on doors and conducting voter registration drives and weekly phone banks to shore up the Latino base.
But immigration is also a weak spot for Obama ahead of the November election. His campaign pledge to overhaul the immigration system remains unfulfilled ? which he blames on lack of cooperation from Republicans in Congress ? and he's been criticized for a record number of deportations last year ? 400,000.
As Obama gears up for a re-election contest, his administration has modified some immigration regulations. The Department of Homeland Security announced in August would focus deportation efforts on criminal illegal immigrants. Earlier this month the Obama administration proposed new rules to cut down on the time Americans are separated from their illegal immigrant spouses and children waiting outside the country for a visa to enter the U.S. About 75 percent of the hardship applications to waive the wait were filed by Mexicans, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
___
Associated Press writer Russell Contreras in Albuquerque contributed to this report
___
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STRASBOURG/BUDAPEST (Reuters) ? The European Union raised the stakes in a showdown with Hungary on Tuesday, with the European Commission saying it would take legal action against the Hungarian government for failing to make authoritarian new laws comply with EU legislation.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban's conservative Fidesz party has been condemned by the international community for introducing measures that threaten the independence of the media, the judiciary and the central bank since sweeping to power in 2010.
The Commission, the EU's executive, said the laws governing the central bank, the retirement age of judges and the country's data protection authority violated EU rules and needed to be changed within one month if Hungary wanted to avoid being taken to the European Court of Justice, the EU's highest court.
Failure to comply with the EU means that Hungary is also stalled in its efforts to negotiate financial assistance from international lenders as it tackles the threat of insolvency.
Talks with the International Monetary Fund on aid collapsed last year in a row with lenders over the new legislation. The IMF said Hungary must first get the EU's blessing before talks on a new financial package can start.
"The Commission is determined to take any legal steps necessary to ensure that the compatibility with European Union legislation is maintained," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a statement.
"We hoped the Hungarian authorities would make the changes necessary to respect European law. This has not happened so far, so we have decided to launch the infringement proceedings."
Hungary said it wanted to address the Commission's concerns fully, without going through the entire legal process.
"Our goal is to give complete and substantial answers to the concerns raised, and that we find a solution to the problematic questions as soon as possible, preferably without going through the entire infringement procedure," the government spokesman's office said in a statement.
EU officials, who are also struggling to contain a debt crisis in the euro zone, have led criticism of Orban's policies. Legal proceedings against a member country's laws are rare and reflect growing fears about Hungary in European capitals.
The key problems are with a batch of new laws that came into force at the start of the year. The EU's fundamental treaty requires independence of central banks, but Hungary's new law allows a government minister to participate in key meetings, the Commission said.
On the judiciary, the EU said that Hungary's decision to lower the retirement age for judges and certain types of lawyer to 62 from 70 went against EU laws prohibiting workplace discrimination based on age.
Thirdly, a restructuring of Hungary's data protection authority infringed an EU rule requiring the independence of data protection supervisors.
Hungary's government has said it may rework its policies and its ambassador to the EU, Peter Gyorkos, played down the disagreement.
"Even the most impartial and most correct partners can get into dispute," he told Reuters TV. "But please let's not exclude that in certain cases we will say 'Sorry European Commission, we don't agree'."
LAST DITCH EFFORT
Hungarian diplomats in Brussels made last-ditch efforts to explain their government's position.
The start of the infringement proceeding would mean that Hungary must modify the disputed laws or face a potential lengthy legal battle that could end up in the European Court of Justice. This may hold up talks on financial assistance.
With its economy headed into stagnation and investor confidence ruined by ad hoc measures that included Europe's highest financial sector tax, and hefty debt payments due this year, Hungary needs a new funding deal to prevent a market crisis.
"The most negative reaction would be if the government starts disputing the procedure which in turn could seriously delay the start of the official talks regarding external financial assistance," Unicredit, an Italian bank, said in a note on Tuesday.
Hungary sold more debt than planned at an auction last week, but at yields above 9 percent, widely seen as unsustainable, while the forint is stuck on the weak side of 300 per euro after
record lows hit this month on a string of ratings downgrades to "junk" debt status.
With parts of a $13 billion private pension transfer, which produced a one-off 2011 fiscal surplus, and some cash reserves still in government coffers, Hungary is under no immediate pressure to clinch a deal.
But given high borrowing costs muddling through without a backstop is not an option, analysts say.
"Failure to reach an agreement would mean very serious trouble for Hungary," said analyst Zoltan Torok at Raiffeisen.
"In the short run, the government could probably continue to repay debt, but this is the short term, half a year, or a year, give or take. It can't afford to go it alone for the long haul."
Orban's point man with the IMF, Tamas Fellegi, returned from Washington to Europe empty-handed last week and was told "tangible steps" on policies to stabilize the economy were needed before talks could even start about a financing agreement.
(Writing by Anna Willard and Sebastian Moffett; editing by Giles Elgood)
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In this undated photo provided by the Sidney, Mt., Police Dept. shows Sidney High School math teacher Sherry Arnold, 43, who has been missing since Saturday, Jan. 7. Hundreds of people are assisting in the search for the Sidney teacher who did not return home after going for a jog on Saturday Jan. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Sidney Montana Police Dept.)
In this undated photo provided by the Sidney, Mt., Police Dept. shows Sidney High School math teacher Sherry Arnold, 43, who has been missing since Saturday, Jan. 7. Hundreds of people are assisting in the search for the Sidney teacher who did not return home after going for a jog on Saturday Jan. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Sidney Montana Police Dept.)
Gary Arnold talks about his missing wife at a search and rescue operations center based at the Richland County Fairgrounds in Sidney, Mont. on Monday, Jan. 9, 2012 as family, friends, law enforcement and volunteers search the area around Sidney for high school teacher Sherry Arnold, 43, who went missing Saturday morning. Authorities say no solid evidence has emerged to indicate Arnold was kidnapped. But an FBI spokeswoman said the possibility of abduction was under investigation. (AP Photo/The Billings Gazette, Larry Mayer)
The Chamber of Commerce sign in Sidney, Mont. offers prayers as friends, law enforcement and volunteers search the area around Sidney for high school teacher Sherry Arnold, 43, who went missing Saturday morning., Monday, Jan. 9, 2012. Authorities say no solid evidence has emerged to indicate Arnold was kidnapped. But an FBI spokeswoman said the possibility of abduction was under investigation. (AP Photo/The Billings Gazette, Larry Mayer)
New details about the mysterious disappearance and reported death of a small-town Montana math teacher emerged Sunday, as authorities asked property owners in parts of North Dakota and Montana to look for signs of her buried body and released the names of two men being held in the case.
The FBI issued a statement late Sunday saying the body of 43-year-old Sherry Arnold of Sidney, Mont., might be buried in a "shelter belt," or a line of trees that protects soil from the wind.
The agency asked that property owners in three North Dakota counties ? Williams, McKenzie and Mountrail ? and in extreme northeastern Montana check vacant farmsteads for signs of disturbed soil or matted grass. Landowners who discover something unusual should not disturb the area, but call authorities, the FBI said.
"Based on investigative evidence gathered over the last few days, it is believed that Ms. Arnold may be deceased," FBI spokeswoman Debbie Bertram said in a statement. "Her body has not been recovered."
Also Sunday, authorities said 47-year-old Lester Vann Waters Jr. and 22-year-old Michael Keith Spell, both of Parachute, Colo., were in the Williams County Correctional Center in Williston, N.D., awaiting extradition to Montana.
Williams County Sheriff's Deputy Jon Garrison said the two men face aggravated kidnapping charges in Montana.
Officials said Waters and Spell were brought to the Williston jail Friday. They declined to release where or how the men were taken into custody.
The jail is about 46 miles from Sidney, where officials say Arnold disappeared while on an early-morning run along a truck route on the edge of the oil boom town of more than 5,500 residents.
Sidney school officials posted a statement online Friday saying they learned of Arnold's death that day. The statement provided no details.
In the days after Arnold disappeared, hundreds of residents, police, firefighters and others combed the town and surrounding countryside without success.
The only clue that has been publicly released was that one of Arnold's shoes was found along her running route.
Arnold and her husband, Gary Arnold, have five children combined from prior marriages. Two live at home and attend the same school system where Sherry Arnold worked for the past 18 years.
Sherry Arnold's disappearance has taken a toll on the town, and "it's not over," Sidney Mayor Bret Smelser said Sunday.
"We're angry. We're frustrated," Smelser told The Associated Press. "But our concern is with Sherry's family and friends. And whatever support we can give to get them through this, that's what we'll do."
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MINNEAPOLIS?? The two Americans missing in an Italian cruise ship disaster were identified Monday as a retired couple from Minnesota who had been eagerly looking forward to their European vacation.
Family members issued a statement Monday confirming that Jerry Heil, 69, and his wife Barbara, 70, of White Bear Lake, a suburb of St. Paul, are the two Americans missing in the wreck of the Costa Concordia.
The ship capsized Friday night off Tuscany. Six people are confirmed dead and prosecutors are investigating the ship's captain for manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing a shipwreck. The ship's owner says the captain, Francesco Schettino, caused the crash by deviating from the authorized course.
Rescue operations had been put on hold as rough seas buffeted the Costa Concordia, but resumed Monday.
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"We are waiting patiently for the rescuers to safely try to find our parents," the Heil family said in the statement. "Our prayers and thoughts are with our parents; those others that are still missing and their families; and the brave rescuers. We are working closely with the U.S. Embassy in Italy and are confident that everything is being done to find our parents."
Rescue divers resume search inside Italian cruise ship
The statement said the family would have no further comment until they have new information from authorities.
A family spokesman gave the statement to The Associated Press outside the home of Aaron Heil, a son of the couple, in Albertville, a Minneapolis suburb.
Several family members did not respond to phone calls from AP Sunday and Monday. Sarah Heil, a daughter of the couple, told WBBM radio in Chicago that her retired parents had been looking forward to their 16-day vacation.
"They raised four kids and sent them all to private school, elementary to college, so they never had any money," Sarah Heil said. "So when they retired, they went traveling. And this was to be a big deal ? a 16-day trip. They were really excited about it."
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46013950/ns/us_news-life/
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