Obama unveils plans to avert budget cuts

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama Tuesday called for a balanced program of stop gap spending reductions and tax reforms to avert punishing multi-billion dollar automatic budget cuts due to kick in on March 1.

Obama said the fragile US economy could not afford the hit from huge cuts to defense and other government programs, known as the sequester, and the jobs of Americans should not be held hostage to partisan wrangling in Washington.

The president said if Congress could not act on a bigger deficit cutting package by March 1, lawmakers should pass a smaller plan of spending cuts and tax reforms to delay the economically damaging impact of the sequester.

"There is no reason that the jobs of thousands of Americans who work in national security or education or clean energy, not to mention the growth of the entire economy, should be put in jeopardy," Obama told reporters.

"Let me repeat, our economy right now is headed in the right direction. It will stay that way as long as there aren't any more self-inflicted wounds coming out of Washington."

The Congressional Budget Office reported Tuesday that if the sequester is put through, the US budget deficit will shrink sharply this year but that also economic growth will be crunched from 2012's 1.9 percent to just 1.4 percent.

"If all of the fiscal tightening still embodied in current law for 2013 was removed, growth in real GDP would be about 1.5 percentage points higher this year than CBO currently projects," the study said.

Obama said his short-term spending would allow the White House and Congress more time to come up with a plan to cut the deficit, which he insists, despite Republican opposition, must include new revenue from higher taxes.

The sequester was agreed by the president and Congress last year to be so punishing that it would force Washington's warring political factions to forge an agreement on deficit cuts.

But no agreement is in sight, and the cuts have already been put off once, by a short-term deal agreed between Obama and Republicans late last year.

House Republican Speaker John Boehner Tuesday blamed Obama for the sequester, which many observers now believe will come into force, despite its punitive impact on defense and social programs and the fragile US economy.

"We believe there is a better way to reduce the deficit, but Americans do not support sacrificing real spending cuts for more tax hikes," Boehner said in a statement.

"The president's sequester should be replaced with spending cuts and reforms that will start us on the path to balancing the budget in 10 years."

Cuts due to come into force in March will slash defense spending by $55 billion and non defense discretionary spending by $27 billion this year, and will have a painful impact on the economy.

The Bipartisan Policy Center has warned that a million jobs will be lost by the end of next year caused by a slowdown brought on by the cuts.

-AFP/ac

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President to visit Bangladesh next month

NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee will travel to Bangladesh next month in what is going to be his first visit abroad after taking over as president last year. Confirming the visit by Mukherjee, government sources said that foreign minister Salman Khurshid will visit Dhaka for the second joint consultative commission meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart Dipu Moni later this month.

During his visit to Dhaka on February 16 and 17, Khushid will also complete the groundwork for the president's tour. It is not a surprise that Mukherjee, who wants to cut down on his foreign travel otherwise, has chosen Bangladesh for his first visit abroad. He is not just the most well respected Indian leader in Bangladesh but also a close family friend of Bangladeshi PM and Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina. Dhaka will also honour Mukherjee for his support in the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war.

Hasina had invited Mukherjee to visit Bangladesh after he took over as the president. Mukherjee's trip will also be the culmination of heightened diplomatic activities and exchanges between the two countries, including a visit to Dhaka by the Union home minister Sushil Shinde last month. India and Bangladesh finally signed the much-awaited extradition treaty and a liberalized visa agreement during his visit.

The first joint consultative commission meeting between the two countries was held last May. Sources said that the second meeting later this month will see Khurshid and Moni discussing all bilateral issues. They will also review implementation of projects which are being financed by India's $1 billion line of credit to Bangladesh. Mukherjee's last visit to Bangladesh was as finance minister in May, 2012, on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Nobel laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore. During this visit, he had announced conversion of $200 million of the $1 billion line of credit into a grant for projects high on Bangladesh's priority list. These projects include improvement of railway infrastructure, dredging and supply of locomotives, passenger coaches and buses.

Sources here said Khurshid will look at speedy implementation of the 2011 joint statement signed on the occasion of PM Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka. During the visit, the two sides had concluded a Framework Agreement on Cooperation for Development which outlined the ``shared vision for durable and long-term cooperation to achieve mutual peace, prosperity and stability''. The visit also saw conclusion of the protocol to the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement paving the way for settlement of the long pending land boundary issues, including areas not demarcated, territories under adverse possession and exchange of enclaves. This is still awaiting ratification from Indian Parliament since it requires a constitutional amendment.

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Critics seek to delay NYC sugary drinks size limit

NEW YORK (AP) — Opponents are pressing to delay enforcement of the city's novel plan to crack down on supersized, sugary drinks, saying businesses shouldn't have to spend millions of dollars to comply until a court rules on whether the measure is legal.

With the rule set to take effect March 12, beverage industry, restaurant and other business groups have asked a judge to put it on hold at least until there's a ruling on their lawsuit seeking to block it altogether. The measure would bar many eateries from selling high-sugar drinks in cups or containers bigger than 16 ounces.

"It would be a tremendous waste of expense, time, and effort for our members to incur all of the harm and costs associated with the ban if this court decides that the ban is illegal," Chong Sik Le, president of the New York Korean-American Grocers Association, said in court papers filed Friday.

City lawyers are fighting the lawsuit and oppose postponing the restriction, which the city Board of Health approved in September. They said Tuesday they expect to prevail.

"The obesity epidemic kills nearly 6,000 New Yorkers each year. We see no reason to delay the Board of Health's reasonable and legal actions to combat this major, growing problem," Mark Muschenheim, a city attorney, said in a statement.

Another city lawyer, Thomas Merrill, has said officials believe businesses have had enough time to get ready for the new rule. He has noted that the city doesn't plan to seek fines until June.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other city officials see the first-of-its-kind limit as a coup for public health. The city's obesity rate is rising, and studies have linked sugary drinks to weight gain, they note.

"This is the biggest step a city has taken to curb obesity," Bloomberg said when the measure passed.

Soda makers and other critics view the rule as an unwarranted intrusion into people's dietary choices and an unfair, uneven burden on business. The restriction won't apply at supermarkets and many convenience stores because the city doesn't regulate them.

While the dispute plays out in court, "the impacted businesses would like some more certainty on when and how they might need to adjust operations," American Beverage Industry spokesman Christopher Gindlesperger said Tuesday.

Those adjustments are expected to cost the association's members about $600,000 in labeling and other expenses for bottles, Vice President Mike Redman said in court papers. Reconfiguring "16-ounce" cups that are actually made slightly bigger, to leave room at the top, is expected to take cup manufacturers three months to a year and cost them anywhere from more than $100,000 to several millions of dollars, Foodservice Packaging Institute President Lynn Dyer said in court documents.

Movie theaters, meanwhile, are concerned because beverages account for more than 20 percent of their overall profits and about 98 percent of soda sales are in containers greater than 16 ounces, according to Robert Sunshine, executive director of the National Association of Theatre Owners of New York State.

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Rescued Ala. Boy Watching Cartoons in Hospital

The 5-year-old held hostage in a nearly week-long standoff in Alabama is cheerfully watching Spongebob and posting sticky notes on everyone around him at the hospital as organizers plan a birthday party for him so big it may take place at a high school football stadium.

The boy, identified only as Ethan, is apparently unharmed but is at the hospital for numerous evaluations, authorities said today.

Ethan was rescued by the FBI Monday after they rushed the underground bunker where suspect Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, was holding him. Dykes was killed in the raid and the boy was taken away from the bunker in an ambulance.

Ethan's thrilled relatives told "Good Morning America" today that he seemed "normal as a child could be" after what he went through and has been happily playing with his toy dinosaur.

"He's happy to be home," Ethan's great uncle Berlin Enfinger told "GMA." "He's very excited and he looks good."

Click here for a psychological look at what's next for Ethan.

Ethan is "running around the hospital room, putting sticky notes on everyone that was in there, eating a turkey sandwich and watching Spongebob," Dale County Schools Superintendent Donny Bynum said at a news conference today.

Ala. Hostage Standoff Over: Kidnapper Dead, Child Safe Watch Video

Alabama Hostage Standoff: Jimmy Lee Dykes Dead Watch Video

Ethan is expected to be released from the hospital later today and head home where he will be greeted by birthday cards from his friends at school. Ethan will celebrate his 6th birthday Wednesday.

When asked about a birthday party for Ethan, Bynum said, "We are still in the planning stages. Our time frame is that we are waiting for Ethan, waiting on that process, but we are going to have it at a school facility, most likely the football stadium at Dale County High School."

He said many "tears of celebration" were shed Monday night when Ethan was reunited with his family.

"If I could, I would do cartwheels all the way down the road," Ethan's aunt Debra Cook told "GMA." "I was ecstatic. Everything just seemed like it was so much clearer. You know, we had all been walking around in a fog and everyone was just excited. There's no words to put how we felt and how relieved we were."

Cook said that Ethan has not yet told them anything about what happened in the bunker and they know very little about Dykes.

What the family does know is that they are overjoyed to have their "little buddy" back.

"He's a special child, 90 miles per hour all the time," Cook said. "[He's] a very, very loving child. When he walks in the room, he just lights it up."

Dykes allegedly shot and killed bus driver Albert Poland Jr., 66, before taking Ethan hostage.

Authorities said today they have not yet spoken to Poland's family since Ethan's rescue, but were planning on visiting them today.

"We know that Ms. Poland is aware and she is celebrating today with us and we did talk to Mr. Poland's son who lives in Hickory, North Carolina," Bynum said. "He called last night and made the comment, 'My dad's last child is home.' So it goes to show what kind of people they are."

A new school bus and new driver were back today on the route where Poland was killed and Ethan was kidnapped.

Officials have remained tight-lipped about the raid, citing the ongoing investigation.

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North Korea nuclear test would face "firm" U.N. action: South Korea

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council is united on North Korea's nuclear arms program and will undoubtedly approve tough measures against Pyongyang if it carries out a new atomic test as expected, South Korean U.N. Ambassador Kim Sook said on Monday.

"The North Korean nuclear test seems to be imminent," Kim, who is president of the Security Council this month, told reporters. "Obviously there are very busy activities going on at the (North Korean) nuclear test site, and everybody's watching."

"Everybody is unified and they are firm and resolute," he said. "I would expect very firm and strong measures to be taken ... once they go ahead with such provocation."

(Reporting By Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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Afghan, Pakistani leaders eye peace deal in six months

LONDON: The leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan said on Monday they would work to reach a peace deal within six months, while throwing their weight behind moves for the Taliban to open an office in Doha.

Following talks hosted by British Prime Minister David Cameron, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari also urged the Islamists to join the reconciliation process in Afghanistan.

But with neither the Taliban nor the United States at the talks, and the militants still refusing to talk to Kabul, analysts said the commitment by the three leaders risked being one-sided.

They had a private dinner on Sunday and then full talks on Monday at Cameron's Chequers country retreat near London, amid growing fears that a civil war could erupt when international troops leave Afghanistan in 2014.

"All sides agreed on the urgency of this work and committed themselves to take all necessary measures to achieve the goal of a peace settlement over the next six months," they said in a joint statement issued by Cameron's office.

"They supported the opening of an office in Doha for the purpose of negotiations between the Taliban and the High Peace Council of Afghanistan as part of an Afghan-led peace process," the statement said.

Karzai had previously shunned the idea of a Taliban office in the Qatari capital because of fears that it would lead to the Kabul government being frozen out of talks between the United States and the Taliban.

The joint statement also said that the Afghan and Pakistani leaders had agreed arrangements to "strengthen coordination" of the release of Taliban detainees from Pakistani custody.

Afghan peace negotiators have welcomed Pakistan's release of dozens of Taliban prisoners in recent months, a move they believe could help bring militants to the negotiating table.

There was no immediate reaction from the Taliban.

The summit was the third trilateral meeting in a year following meetings in Kabul last July and New York in September -- but the first in which Pakistani and Afghan army and intelligence chiefs took part.

Cameron, whose country is the second biggest contributor of troops to Afghanistan with 9,000 still based there, appealed directly to the Taliban to join the reconciliation process.

"Now is the time for everyone to participate in a peaceful political process in Afghanistan," he told a press conference after the talks.

Karzai told the press conference he hoped in future to have "very close, brotherly and good neighbourly" relations with Pakistan, which has been regularly accused by both Kabul and Washington of helping to destabilise Afghanistan.

Support from Pakistan, which backed Afghanistan's 1996-2001 Taliban regime, is seen as crucial to peace after NATO troops depart -- but relations between the neighbours remain uneasy despite some recent improvements.

Zardari said it was in Islamabad's interests to support the initiative.

"Peace in Afghanistan is peace in Pakistan. We feel that we can only survive together," he said. "We cannot change our neighbourhood or our neighbours."

Pakistani political and security analyst Hasan Askari dismissed as "too ambitious" the prospect of securing in six months a settlement to end more than 11 years of war.

The lack of Taliban involvement in the talks was a particular problem, he said.

The Taliban in March 2012 suspended contacts with US representatives in Qatar over a potential prisoner exchange and opening of a liaison office in the Gulf state, and publicly refused to negotiate with Kabul.

Asked whether a peace deal was possible in six months, Askari told AFP: "I don't expect that, it would be a major upset of the calculation."

Thomas Ruttig of the Afghanistan Analysts Network said the timescale was "a bit optimistic", although it was encouraging that both countries accepted the urgency of the situation.

"I don't see a basis that could guarantee that it happens so quickly," he said. "Taliban have always refused to discuss with the Afghan government. There's a lot of groundwork to be done before reaching an agreement."

Meanwhile Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot in the head by local Taliban militants last year, said in a video message on Monday that she was "getting better day by day".

The 15-year-old, who underwent surgery at a British hospital at the weekend, said that "God has given me this new life, a second life" and vowed to continue campaigning for girls' education.

- AFP/jc

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3-year-old nails dad for killing his mother in Mumbai

MUMBAI: Bandra police on Monday arrested a former BPO employee who killed his wife at Bandra Reclamation on Sunday with the help of two friends, and tried to pass it off as a 'revenge attack'. The man was arrested after his three-year-old son's statement, who, along with his nine-month-old brother saw their mother being strangled.

The toddler's version exposed loopholes in his father 'revenge killing' story and helped police to crack the case within 12 hours of the incident.

Salman Shaikh, 28, initially told police that he and his wife Ayesha, 24, and their kids went to Bandra Reclamation when robbers on a bike stopped them. He claimed he struggled with them but the two men strangulated him and his wife, which left him unconscious. But the toddler told police that his 'father had no fight in the car' which raised suspicions about Salman's role, strengthened by the absence of any marks of struggle on Salman's body.

Police then checked Salman's call records, which led them to his two associates Sadiq Khan and Shakir Shaikh. Additional commissioner of police (west region) Vishwas Nangre-Patil said, "We found several missing links in Salman's story and uncovered his role during investigations. We arrested the three for murder and are probing other details."

Salman reportedly continued his relationship with his long-time girlfriend even after marriage to Ayesha and secretly married her a few months ago. Salman wanted to live with his new wife and hence hired his friends to kill his first wife and tried to pass it off as a robbery attempt.

Ayesha's brother Ibrahim Katgaonkar said they recently learnt that Salman was in a relationship with a girl and told his sister about it. Ayesha and her mother-in-law went to the girl's house but she denied her relationship with Salman. "Even when we asked Salman about his marriage to her, he denied it. We were aware that my sister was facing torture in his house but she never complained to us," said Ibrahim.

However, Salman wanted to get rid of his wife and he recently discussed the plan with his two childhood friends. Sadiq and Shakir initially opposed the plan, reasoning with him that Ayesha was a good woman. But they finally accepted Salman's offer of Rs 10,000 each for helping to kill her. Salman also asked one of his friends to call up Ayesha's father regularly for a few days leading up to the incident, saying he wanted to kill his daughter and Salman for 'revenge'.

On Sunday night, Salman and his family went to Bandra and as planned, Sadiq joined him on the way. He went to Carter Road, Bandstand and then Bandra Reclamation, where Shakir was waiting for them. Sadiq strangulated Ayesha inside the car and Salman smothered her, while Shakir entered the car to divert the kids' attention. After killing Ayesha, Shakir and Sadiq tied her up and Salman as well, to make it look like an 'attack'. They then called up Ayesha's father, informing him that they had killed his daughter and son-in-law for 'revenge'.

Ayesha father and Salman's brother rushed to the spot and informed the police. The families took the kids home. "My father tried to revive Ayesha but found she was dead. However, Salman became conscious and we took him to hospital along with Ayesha," Ibrahim said.

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Bullying study: It does get better for gay teens

CHICAGO (AP) — It really does get better for gay and bisexual teens when it comes to being bullied, although young gay men have it worse than their lesbian peers, according to the first long-term scientific evidence on how the problem changes over time.

The seven-year study involved more than 4,000 teens in England who were questioned yearly through 2010, until they were 19 and 20 years old. At the start, just over half of the 187 gay, lesbian and bisexual teens said they had been bullied; by 2010 that dropped to 9 percent of gay and bisexual boys and 6 percent of lesbian and bisexual girls.

The researchers said the same results likely would be found in the United States.

In both countries, a "sea change" in cultural acceptance of gays and growing intolerance for bullying occurred during the study years, which partly explains the results, said study co-author Ian Rivers, a psychologist and professor of human development at Brunel University in London.

That includes a government mandate in England that schools work to prevent bullying, and changes in the United States permitting same-sex marriage in several states.

In 2010, syndicated columnist Dan Savage launched the "It Gets Better" video project to encourage bullied gay teens. It was prompted by widely publicized suicides of young gays, and includes videos from politicians and celebrities.

"Bullying tends to decline with age regardless of sexual orientation and gender," and the study confirms that, said co-author Joseph Robinson, a researcher and assistant professor of educational psychology at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. "In absolute terms, this would suggest that yes, it gets better."

The study appears online Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

Eliza Byard, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, said the results mirror surveys by her anti-bullying advocacy group that show bullying is more common in U.S. middle schools than in high schools.

But the researchers said their results show the situation is more nuanced for young gay men.

In the first years of the study, gay boys and girls were almost twice as likely to be bullied as their straight peers. By the last year, bullying dropped overall and was at about the same level for lesbians and straight girls. But the difference between men got worse by ages 19 and 20, with gay young men almost four times more likely than their straight peers to be bullied.

The mixed results for young gay men may reflect the fact that masculine tendencies in girls and women are more culturally acceptable than femininity in boys and men, Robinson said.

Savage, who was not involved in the study, agreed.

"A lot of the disgust that people feel when you bring up homosexuality ... centers around gay male sexuality," Savage said. "There's more of a comfort level" around gay women, he said.

Kendall Johnson, 21, a junior theater major at the University of Illinois, said he was bullied for being gay in high school, mostly when he brought boyfriends to school dances or football games.

"One year at prom, I had a guy tell us that we were disgusting and he didn't want to see us dancing anymore," Johnson said. A football player and the president of the drama club intervened on his behalf, he recalled.

Johnson hasn't been bullied in college, but he said that's partly because he hangs out with the theater crowd and avoids the fraternity scene. Still, he agreed, that it generally gets better for gays as they mature.

"As you grow older, you become more accepting of yourself," Johnson said.

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Online:

Pediatrics: http://www.pediatrics.org

It Gets Better: http://www.itgetsbetter.org

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AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner

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Iran hedges on nuclear talks with six powers or U.S.

MUNICH (Reuters) - Iran said on Sunday it was open to a U.S. offer of direct talks on its nuclear program and that six world powers had suggested a new round of nuclear negotiations this month, but without committing itself to either proposal.

Diplomatic efforts to resolve a dispute over Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran says is peaceful but the West suspects is intended to give Iran the capability to build a nuclear bomb, have been all but deadlocked for years, while Iran has continued to announce advances in the program.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said a suggestion on Saturday by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden that Washington was ready for direct talks with Iran if Tehran was serious about negotiations was a "step forward".

"We take these statements with positive consideration. I think this is a step forward but ... each time we have come and negotiated it was the other side unfortunately who did not heed ... its commitment," Salehi said at the Munich Security Conference where Biden made his overture a day earlier.

He also complained to Iran's English-language Press TV of "other contradictory signals", pointing to the rhetoric of "keeping all options on the table" used by U.S. officials to indicate they are willing to use force to keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

"This does not go along with this gesture (of talks) so we will have to wait a little bit longer and see if they are really faithful this time," Salehi said.

Iran is under a tightening web of sanctions. Israel has also hinted it may strike if diplomacy and international sanctions fail to curb Iran's nuclear drive.

In Washington, Army General Martin Dempsey, the top U.S. military officer, said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that the United States has the capability to stop any Iranian effort to build nuclear weapons, but Iranian "intentions have to be influenced through other means."

Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made his comments on NBC's program "Meet the Press," speaking alongside outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

Panetta said current U.S. intelligence indicated that Iranian leaders have not made a decision to proceed with the development of a nuclear weapon.

"But every indication is they want to continue to increase their nuclear capability," he said. "And that's a concern. And that's what we're asking them to stop doing."

The new U.S. secretary of state, John Kerry, has said he will give diplomacy every chance of solving the Iran standoff.

THE BEST CHANCE

With six-power talks making little progress, some experts say talks between Tehran and Washington could be the best chance, perhaps after Iran has elected a new president in June.

Negotiations between Iran and the six powers - Russia, China, the United States, Britain, France and Germany - have been deadlocked since a meeting last June.

EU officials have accused Iran of dragging its feet in weeks of haggling over the date and venue for new talks.

Salehi said he had "good news", having heard that the six powers would meet in Kazakhstan on February 25.

A spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who coordinates the efforts of the six powers, confirmed that she had proposed talks in the week of February 25 but noted that Iran had not yet accepted.

Kazakhstan said it was ready to host the talks in either Astana or Almaty.

Salehi said Iran had "never pulled back" from the stuttering negotiations with the six powers. "We still are very hopeful. There are two packages, one package from Iran with five steps and the other package from the (six powers) with three steps."

Iran raised international concern last week by announcing plans to install and operate advanced uranium enrichment machines. The EU said the move, potentially shortening the path to weapons-grade material, could deepen doubts about the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel's mission to stop its arch-enemy from acquiring nuclear weapons was "becoming more complex, since the Iranians are equipping themselves with cutting-edge centrifuges that shorten the time of (uranium) enrichment".

"We must not accept this process," said Netanyahu, who is trying to form a new government after winning an election last month. Israel is generally believed to be the only country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons.

(Additional reporting by Myra MacDonald and Stephen Brown in Munich, Dmitry Solovyov in Almaty, Yeganeh Torbati in Dubai and Jim Wolf in Washington; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Will Dunham)

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