Obama’s own politically motivated delays contribute to bumpy road to immigration orders
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama’s sweeping immigration executive orders cap a turbulent, six-year quest to make headway on a thorny issue that has at times put the White House at odds with some of its fiercest supporters.
To those who argue the actions are long overdue or don’t go far enough, Obama pins the blame solely on Republicans who oppose broader legislation. But Obama himself has contributed to the delays, making political calculations that left legislative efforts languishing throughout his first term and paused the promise of executive action in his second.
In recent months, the protracted process has been aimed in part at finding more favorable political terrain to unveil measures that spare as many as 5 million people in the U.S. illegally from deportation. However, Obama’s decision to ultimately wait until after the midterm elections to exert his presidential powers has only heightened the anger from victorious Republicans, who have suggested responding with everything from lawsuits to impeachment.
“The action he’s proposed would ignore the law, would reject the voice of the voters and would impose new unfairness on law-abiding immigrants - all without solving the problem,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican who is soon to become Senate majority leader.
Obama announced the executive actions Thursday after a fitful year of stops and starts. While the measures were widely welcomed by advocates, many said they had come far too late.
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Emotions rise as people hear President Barack Obama’s announcement on immigration reform plan
Thousands of immigrant-rights activists, families and elected officials cheered across the country as President Barack Obama announced on television his plan for relief from deportations for about 5 million people.
But after the initial burst of emotion Thursday evening at hastily organized watch parties and in living rooms, many said Obama’s plan was just the first step in the fight for comprehensive immigration reform. Immigrant families pointed out the plan would only cover about 5 million of the 11 million without legal status, leaving many families and individuals in limbo.
Republicans slammed the president’s action as an overreach, while advocates - including Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber and California Gov. Jerry Brown - praised Obama’s plan.
Not everyone was happy with Obama’s action. A couple of protesters held “no amnesty” signs outside a New York union office where advocates of the president’s plan watched the speech.
A snapshot of reactions across the country:
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It’s Biden’s turn to try to get US and Turkey in sync over what to do about Syria
ISTANBUL (AP) - Vice President Joe Biden on Friday will become the latest in a parade of U.S. officials trying to push Turkey to step up its role in the international coalition’s fight against Islamic State extremists.
His visit comes after weeks of public bickering between the two NATO allies. The Turkish president insists that if the U.S. wants his help, it must focus less on fighting IS and more on toppling Syrian President Bashar Assad. Erdogan wants the U.S.-led coalition to set up a security zone in northern Syria to give moderate fighters a place to recoup and launch attacks.
The U.S. has no appetite to go to war against Assad and has said a no-fly zone against Syria’s air force is a no-go.
Turkey has pledged to train and equip moderate Syrian forces on its soil, but no details have been announced by either side. U.S. and Turkish officials have discussed the coalition’s desire to use Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base for U.S.-led operations against IS militants, but Turkey has made no public decision about Incirlik.
“From the no-fly zone to the safety zone and training and equipping - all these steps have to be taken now,” Erdogan said on Wednesday. Then he echoed the same line he’s been saying all along: “The coalition forces have not taken those steps we asked them for. … Turkey’s position will be the same as it is now.”
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Florida woman becomes 4th to publicly allege Bill Cosby drugged, then sexually assaulted her
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) - A Florida woman who came forward Thursday became the fourth in recent weeks to say Bill Cosby gave her pills that made her feel groggy then forced himself on her sexually.
Therese Serignese, now 57 and a nurse in Boca Raton, said the television icon raped her in 1976 when she was 19 years old following a show in Las Vegas. She said she went backstage and when the two were alone, Cosby gave her two pills and a glass of water, saying, “Take these.”
“My next memory is clearly feeling drugged, being without my clothes, standing up,” she said. “Bill Cosby was behind me, having sex with me.”
Cosby spokesman David Brokaw did not respond to a request for comment. Cosby’s lawyer, in a statement released Sunday, criticized previous “decades-old, discredited allegations,” stating that “the fact that they are being repeated does not make them true.”
Cosby made no mention of the allegations Thursday during a benefit performance in the Bahamas for a women’s service organization. He stuck to his routine, including stories about his childhood growing up in the projects of Philadelphia. There were few empty seats in the house and a few people gave him an ovation when he finished his set.
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Chinese professors worry about state paper’s criticism of classroom comments, fear crackdown
BEIJING (AP) - Over two weeks, the Communist Party-run Liaoning Daily newspaper sent reporters to sit in on dozens of university lectures all over the country looking for what the paper said were professors “being scornful of China.”
During visits to more than 20 schools, the regional paper wrote last week, it found exactly what it said it was looking for: Some professors compared Mao Zedong, first leader of China’s communist government, to ancient emperors, a blasphemy to party ideology upholding Mao as a break from the country’s feudal past. Other scholars were caught pointing out the party’s failures after taking power in 1949. Some repeatedly praised “Western” ideas such as a separation of powers in government.
“Dear teachers, because your profession demands something higher of you, and because of the solemnity and particularity of the university classroom, please do not speak this way about China!” implored the article, since widely distributed on social media throughout China.
Chinese professors have long endured monitoring and some degree of political interference, but this kind of public shaming was unprecedented in China’s recent history, said Zhang Wen, a journalism professor at the University of Science and Technology Beijing. For some, it evokes memories of the bloody political purges of the Cultural Revolution 40 years ago.
Since taking power last year, President Xi Jinping’s government has tightened controls over a wide range of society, from artists to churches. And while academics have traditionally been held up as respected voices of authority in Chinese society, many view the public investigation as an order to watch what they say in classrooms, Zhang said.
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Snow comes to an end in Buffalo, but rains possible, bringing threat of floods
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - A snowfall that brought huge snowdrifts and closed roads around Buffalo was finally expected to stop, but residents still couldn’t breathe easy, as the looming threat of rain and higher temperatures through the weekend and into the coming week raised the possibility of floods and the specter of roofs collapsing under the heavy loads.
Roofs already were beginning to creak and collapse Thursday as another storm brought the Buffalo area’s three-day snowfall total to an epic 7 feet or more. Little or no snow was expected on Friday, and the forecast called for a chance of rain on Saturday and more on Monday along with temperatures approaching 60 degrees.
Homeowners and store employees around the region climbed onto roofs Thursday to shovel off the snow and reduce the danger.
“It’s getting heavier,” said Cheektowaga resident Thomas Mudd Jr., who with his wife spent several hours shoveling 4 to 5 feet off their roof. “It’s supposed to warm up and we’re supposed to get rain on the weekend, which will make it even heavier. So I didn’t want my roof collapsing.”
The storms were blamed for at least 10 deaths in western New York, mostly from heart attacks and exposure.
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Supermarket chain Sainsbury’s stirs strong passions, outrage with World War I advertisement
LONDON (AP) - Artillery booms. A trench comes into view. Soldiers huddle into their overcoats for warmth.
The scene is the unlikely backdrop for a holiday commercial that has many Britons reaching for hankies - and others demanding it be pulled from the air. The 3-minute, 40-second mini-movie from the Sainsbury’s grocery chain depicts the 1914 Christmas Truce, when soldiers stopped killing each other for a few hours to celebrate the holiday together in no man’s land.
The commercial has sparked debate on whether it is appropriate for corporations to use sensitive national history for commercial use. The issue is all the more delicate as the country marks 100 years since World War I began - a months-long national moment of soul searching highlighted by somber ceremonies, intense media coverage and crowded exhibitions.
“It is a somewhat brave decision on the part of Sainsbury’s,” said Leslie Hallam, the course director of the psychology of advertising program at Lancaster University Management School.
Brave, that is, in the sense of it being risky.
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Mourning stage and screen director Mike Nichols, the enemy of mystery, the searcher of truth
NEW YORK (AP) - The last time he was on Broadway, director Mike Nichols was asked what his secret was to getting the best from his actors.
“If you can get it right, there’s no mystery,” he said in a rehearsal room for the 2013 revival of “Betrayal” starring Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz. “It’s not about mystery. It’s not even mysterious. It’s about our lives.”
Nichols, who died Wednesday at age 83, was the enemy of riddles, of inscrutability, of charades. During a long and illustrious career in the arts that included stage, films and TV, Nichols searched for truth, humor and celebrated real human flaws.
The suave, bespectacled Nichols said he wanted work presented in a way “so that you are part of it and it is part of you.” He wanted to find the connections between people, to prove that whatever was happening onscreen or onstage wasn’t so different from what the audience was going through.
“I’ve seen plays about South Africa where I’ve felt that. We all have. We’re all people and if somebody can find the heart of what they’re doing and why, we can say, ’Oh, yeah, me, too. Me, too,’” he said. “I love that. That’s fun.”
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Afghanistan’s first amusement park, with rides, clowns and games, brings families joy amid war
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Excitement builds in the queue forming behind the barbed-wire security fence outside Afghanistan’s first amusement park as children in bright clothes clutch their parents’ hands and hop from foot to foot in anticipation of the pleasures waiting behind the high concrete blast walls.
For the thousands of families who have visited Kabul’s City Park since it opened during a national religious holiday weekend in October, it is a rare escape from lives blighted by war, death and misery.
Squealing children hardly know where to look as they race through the gates. Inside, they find large friendly characters that look almost, but not quite, like Minnie Mouse and Tom the cat from Tom and Jerry - all dancing together and dispensing hugs.
Traditional fairground rides - including a Ferris wheel and bumper cars - attract the older kids, while a carousel, face painting and games keep younger children happy.
“It’s very nice, everything is very beautiful, the carousel horse ride is nice,” said 6-year-old Sadaf through a gap-toothed grin as she had her face decorated like a mouse.
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Killing of Miss Honduras both family tragedy and national outrage in violence-ridden country
SANTA BARBARA, Honduras (AP) - Maria Jose Alvarado expected some difficult questions about her country at the Miss World pageant in London, so the 19-year-old beauty queen enlisted a teacher to help her prepare.
They reviewed the history of Honduras, including the military-backed coup in 2009 that sent the president into exile. They went through the daily newspapers to discuss politics and the gang and drug violence that makes this small Central American republic one of the most dangerous countries in the world.
The odds of winning the Miss World crown were long, Alvarado knew, but she practiced her English in the weeks ahead of the pageant, just in case she needed an acceptance speech, said Jose Eudaldo Diaz, the philosophy professor who was coaching her.
“She knew that the questions would be about the insecurity and violence because that is what the world knows about Honduras,” Diaz said. “Her goal was to explain that she wanted to contribute to a Honduras in which children could walk the streets without fear of being murdered.”
No one ever got to hear Alvarado’s speech, and she didn’t get to the pageant. She was shot to death along with a sister, their bodies discarded on a riverbank. They were laid to rest in a rain-soaked cemetery Thursday.
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