ASHINGTON - His party divided and his polls sagging,
President Bush prodded rebellious Senate Republicans Tuesday to help resurrect legislation that could provide eventual citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants.
"It's a highly emotional issue," said Bush after a session in which several lawmakers bluntly told him their constituents do not trust the government to secure the nation's borders or weed out illegal workers at job sites.
To alleviate the concerns, the president said he was receptive to an emergency spending bill as a way to emphasize his administration's commitment to accelerated enforcement. One congressional official put the price tag at up to $15 billion.
Source: News
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
It's Carlton, Your Cyber Doorman
In Manhattan, the modern interpretation of "luxury building" probably just means there's enough living space for a couch and a dining room table. This is not to be confused with a "modern luxury building" like the one being developed by the architects at Flank in the ultra-exclusive Sutton Place neighborhood. ADVERTISEMENT
The plans call for a glistening glass tower composed of eight spacious townhomes--each with conveniences one might expect for a $3 million price tag. Think a personal car and driver at your disposal.
Noticeably absent from the drawings, however, is a well-dressed man stationed in the lobby. Instead, the plans call for a cyber doorman--an interactive service programmed to handle everything from unlocking your apartment door for the dog walker to accepting packages and turning away solicitors. "It is the way new developments are going to be structured," says Jennifer Bell, Flank's director of global marketing. "The clientele tend to seek privacy and anonymity. They don't really like conversation when they come in the door.'At the same time, they want the convenience and safety of knowing someone is there."
Source: News
The plans call for a glistening glass tower composed of eight spacious townhomes--each with conveniences one might expect for a $3 million price tag. Think a personal car and driver at your disposal.
Noticeably absent from the drawings, however, is a well-dressed man stationed in the lobby. Instead, the plans call for a cyber doorman--an interactive service programmed to handle everything from unlocking your apartment door for the dog walker to accepting packages and turning away solicitors. "It is the way new developments are going to be structured," says Jennifer Bell, Flank's director of global marketing. "The clientele tend to seek privacy and anonymity. They don't really like conversation when they come in the door.'At the same time, they want the convenience and safety of knowing someone is there."
Source: News
Iran sending weapons to Taliban
PARIS - A senior U.S. diplomat accused
Iran on Tuesday of transferring weapons to Taliban insurgents in
Afghanistan — the most direct comments yet on the issue by a ranking American official. ADVERTISEMENT
Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, speaking to reporters in Paris, said Iran was funding insurrections across the Middle East — and "Iran is now even transferring arms to the Taliban in Afghanistan."
"It's a country that's trying to flex its muscles, but in a way that's injurious to the interests of just about everybody else in the world," he said. "I think it's a major miscalculation."
In Afghanistan last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Iranian weapons were falling into the hands of Taliban fighters, but stopped short of blaming the government itself.
Source: News
Iran on Tuesday of transferring weapons to Taliban insurgents in
Afghanistan — the most direct comments yet on the issue by a ranking American official. ADVERTISEMENT
Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, speaking to reporters in Paris, said Iran was funding insurrections across the Middle East — and "Iran is now even transferring arms to the Taliban in Afghanistan."
"It's a country that's trying to flex its muscles, but in a way that's injurious to the interests of just about everybody else in the world," he said. "I think it's a major miscalculation."
In Afghanistan last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Iranian weapons were falling into the hands of Taliban fighters, but stopped short of blaming the government itself.
Source: News
Hamas launches new Gaza attacks
Heavy fighting has continued throughout the day in Gaza after militants of the Palestinian group Hamas attacked posts held by their Fatah faction rivals.
Hundreds of Hamas fighters had moved on the positions after giving their occupants two hours to leave.
Fatah leaders say they will no longer participate in the three-month-old unity government they formed with Hamas unless the fighting ends.
At least 34 people have been killed in Gaza over the past two days.
They have killed all hope. They have killed the future
Lt Col Burhan Hamad,
Egyptian mediator
In pictures: Gaza attacks
The residences of both Mahmoud Abbas, Fatah's leader and the Palestinian Authority president, and of Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, of Hamas, have been targeted with gun and shell fire.
Witnesses said it was the worst fighting they had experienced in Gaza during 18 months of internal strife.
Source: BBC
Hundreds of Hamas fighters had moved on the positions after giving their occupants two hours to leave.
Fatah leaders say they will no longer participate in the three-month-old unity government they formed with Hamas unless the fighting ends.
At least 34 people have been killed in Gaza over the past two days.
They have killed all hope. They have killed the future
Lt Col Burhan Hamad,
Egyptian mediator
In pictures: Gaza attacks
The residences of both Mahmoud Abbas, Fatah's leader and the Palestinian Authority president, and of Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, of Hamas, have been targeted with gun and shell fire.
Witnesses said it was the worst fighting they had experienced in Gaza during 18 months of internal strife.
Source: BBC
U.S. House education chair wants college lender cuts
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The Democratic chairman of the House Education Committee Tuesday introduced a bill to slash subsidies to student loan firms such as Sallie Mae and boost student grants.
The proposals come as Congress is considering numerous reforms to college student financial aid, and as federal and state investigators probe kickback schemes and conflicts of interest across the $85 billion student loan business.
California Rep. George Miller's bill represents a measured step toward compromise with Republicans over an issue that Democratic leaders want to wrap up soon, said Jaret Seiberg, a student loan industry analyst at Stanford Group Company.
"There has been a lot of pressure to get student loan reform done," Seiberg said, adding that if Miller gets his bill through committee, the outcome will be decided in the Senate.
Miller calls for a cut in a lender subsidy, known as the special allowance payment, of 0.55 percentage point. President Bush has proposed a cut of 0.50 percentage point.
Miller also proposed cutting lender insurance rates to 95 percent from 97 percent, in line with a previously passed House measure and Bush's fiscal 2008 budget proposal.
Source: CNN
The proposals come as Congress is considering numerous reforms to college student financial aid, and as federal and state investigators probe kickback schemes and conflicts of interest across the $85 billion student loan business.
California Rep. George Miller's bill represents a measured step toward compromise with Republicans over an issue that Democratic leaders want to wrap up soon, said Jaret Seiberg, a student loan industry analyst at Stanford Group Company.
"There has been a lot of pressure to get student loan reform done," Seiberg said, adding that if Miller gets his bill through committee, the outcome will be decided in the Senate.
Miller calls for a cut in a lender subsidy, known as the special allowance payment, of 0.55 percentage point. President Bush has proposed a cut of 0.50 percentage point.
Miller also proposed cutting lender insurance rates to 95 percent from 97 percent, in line with a previously passed House measure and Bush's fiscal 2008 budget proposal.
Source: CNN
Dream wedding can be nightmare trip for guests
It wasn't long ago that attending a friend's wedding meant spending a Saturday night eating prime rib and dancing to cover versions of "Louie Louie" and "Brown Eyed Girl."
Now, it might involve three days in Mexico or a long weekend in Maine. There could be scuba diving, cruises, square dancing or a marshmallow roast at a national park.
With a growing number of couples opting to exchange vows far from where they and most of their guests live, saying "yes" to an invite has taken on a whole new meaning.
"Destination weddings" can be fun. And time-consuming. And terribly expensive. Those most likely to be invited to a lot of weddings - people in their 20s, say - also tend to have the least seniority at work and the least disposable income.
Some guests, of course, are happy to pack their bags.
"I love the opportunity to travel and go somewhere I wouldn't have gone, or just to have an excuse to go somewhere that I like," says Tamar Kummel, a massage therapist from New York City. She plans to attend a friend's wedding in California and another on Cape Cod later this year.
Source: Cnn
Now, it might involve three days in Mexico or a long weekend in Maine. There could be scuba diving, cruises, square dancing or a marshmallow roast at a national park.
With a growing number of couples opting to exchange vows far from where they and most of their guests live, saying "yes" to an invite has taken on a whole new meaning.
"Destination weddings" can be fun. And time-consuming. And terribly expensive. Those most likely to be invited to a lot of weddings - people in their 20s, say - also tend to have the least seniority at work and the least disposable income.
Some guests, of course, are happy to pack their bags.
"I love the opportunity to travel and go somewhere I wouldn't have gone, or just to have an excuse to go somewhere that I like," says Tamar Kummel, a massage therapist from New York City. She plans to attend a friend's wedding in California and another on Cape Cod later this year.
Source: Cnn
'Blade Runner' actor on 'strange profession'
Hauer wasn't an unknown at the time. He was a leading Dutch film star, having appeared in the country's first smash TV show, "Floris," and two big European movies, "Turkish Delight" and Paul Verhoeven's "Soldier of Orange."
He had even made an impression on American audiences with his performance as a German terrorist in the Sylvester Stallone action film "Nighthawks."
But had he taken "Das Boot," he writes in his new memoir, "All Those Moments" (HarperCollins; co-written with Patrick Quinlan), he "would have been committed to a long shoot" -- 14 months, as "Das Boot" was released as a miniseries in Europe -- and yet another role as a German. He didn't want to be typecast, and he didn't want to devote more than a year of his life to a project, so he passed.
Source: Cnn
He had even made an impression on American audiences with his performance as a German terrorist in the Sylvester Stallone action film "Nighthawks."
But had he taken "Das Boot," he writes in his new memoir, "All Those Moments" (HarperCollins; co-written with Patrick Quinlan), he "would have been committed to a long shoot" -- 14 months, as "Das Boot" was released as a miniseries in Europe -- and yet another role as a German. He didn't want to be typecast, and he didn't want to devote more than a year of his life to a project, so he passed.
Source: Cnn
Scientists hope baby dolphin picks up 'chat line'
KEY LARGO, Florida (AP) -- A stranded, deaf dolphin delivered her calf Monday at a marine mammal rehabilitation center, and officials hope a dolphin "chat line" they've installed will teach the baby dolphin to vocalize normally.
The Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, named Castaway, has been vocalizing to her unnamed calf, but officials at the Marine Mammal Conservancy say that's not enough for it to learn proper dolphin-speak.
"Castaway's vocalizations are not normal," conservancy president Robert Lingenfelser said. "She speaks in a monotone, similar to the way that people who cannot hear speak."
So officials have electronically linked Castaway's habitat with a lagoon at Dolphins Plus, a research and interactive educational facility a few miles away. Underwater speakers and microphones have been installed at both locations so the calf can communicate with hearing dolphins.
Source: Cnn
The Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, named Castaway, has been vocalizing to her unnamed calf, but officials at the Marine Mammal Conservancy say that's not enough for it to learn proper dolphin-speak.
"Castaway's vocalizations are not normal," conservancy president Robert Lingenfelser said. "She speaks in a monotone, similar to the way that people who cannot hear speak."
So officials have electronically linked Castaway's habitat with a lagoon at Dolphins Plus, a research and interactive educational facility a few miles away. Underwater speakers and microphones have been installed at both locations so the calf can communicate with hearing dolphins.
Source: Cnn
Kennedy: 'The center is holding'
Before the luncheon, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, who worked with the White House and Republicans on writing the bill, issued a statement saying, "Like the president, many of us are very determined to get the job done and get it done now.
"The center is holding together: Last night we met to discuss the options for moving it forward, and today we'll continue that work. We share the sense of urgency that this important issue deserves."
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Arizona, chief Republican architect of the immigration measure, said on "American Morning" that this is the last chance to pass legislation addressing the nation's 12 million illegal immigrants, about half of whom he said crossed into Arizona from Mexico.
Source : Cnn
"The center is holding together: Last night we met to discuss the options for moving it forward, and today we'll continue that work. We share the sense of urgency that this important issue deserves."
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Arizona, chief Republican architect of the immigration measure, said on "American Morning" that this is the last chance to pass legislation addressing the nation's 12 million illegal immigrants, about half of whom he said crossed into Arizona from Mexico.
Source : Cnn
Palestinian street battles intensify
Fighting between Palestinian factions is worse than ever and can produce no winner, a senior Palestinian official said Tuesday. Fierce battles in Gaza between Fatah and Hamas gunmen saw attacks on key figures from both sides. Fighting also spilled into the West Bank, where the Palestinian government is based.
Source : Cnn
Source : Cnn
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