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Hillary Clinton at Tuesday night's event
Hillary Clinton accepted the Elton John AIDS Foundation's first-ever Founder's Award at the organization's annual benefit in New York on Tuesday night.
Although she was honored by the accolade, Clinton echoed a theme expressed by many of the stars in attendance: that there's much more work to be done to combat the disease.
PHOTOS: Hillary Clinton, Ron Perelman Honored at 2013 Elton John AIDS Foundation Benefit
"We still have so far to go," the former secretary of state said in her acceptance speech. "There are so many challenges that confront us. If we are to continue to build on the progress, and yes, there has been progress, then we have to continue to advocate and demand for governments, international organizations, foundations, all of us, to be persistent…and ensure that we don't falter."
"If we're going to beat AIDS, we have to reach out to everyone," she added.
Elton John also received an award at Tuesday's gala, from the Harvard AIDS Initiative.
"I really hope that all of you will join me in being equally stubborn when it comes to ending AIDS because that is what will be required to end this epidemic," he told the well-heeled crowd at Cipriani Wall Street in lower Manhattan. "We're going to have to stubbornly insist on full funding for all proven methods of preventing HIV infection…Treatment for everyone. Treatment for all…We're going to have to keep yelling and screaming about the way our country treats racial and sexual minorities and, of course, the poor. We're going to have to be downright stubborn, not just this year, not next year, not the next, but for many years to come."
Indeed, John vowed to be stubborn about AIDS for the next 20 years if necessary, but he said he doesn't think it will take that long to achieve an AIDS-free generation and world.
Nevertheless, John added, "We have so much more work to do and we'll be there until the bitter end."
STORY: Hillary Clinton to Get Elton John Foundation Honor
Other honorees at the event, which raised $3.45 million, included Food Network star Sandra Lee, John's longtime agent Howard Rose and mogul Ron Perelman, who prompted cheers from the crowd when he referred to Clinton as "the next president of the United States." Clinton looked nonchalant when the camera cut to her, but after Perelman continued to sing her praises and said the highly rumored candidate has his vote, Clinton could be seen mouthing "Oh my God," as if she couldn't believe all of the attention.
Matt Lauer was a last-minute substitute host at the event after Anderson Cooper had to go to Washington to cover the debt-ceiling crisis, which Lauer joked "sounded like a lame-ass excuse."
Earlier, The Hollywood Reporter asked Lauer what the entertainment industry could do to continue to raise awareness of AIDS and combat the disease.
"Talk, talk, talk, spread the word, get out there, come to events like this and raise money," Lauer said. "I mean, when you stop and think about what Elton has done in 20 years…a lot of it is something you can't put a price tag on, it's just a discussion and getting out there and putting his reputation on line and spreading the word that way."
STORY: Elton John to Pen Book on AIDS Epidemic
Tony-winning actress Judith Light echoed Lauer's call for a continued dialogue on the issue.
"We did and we do so much in terms of the awareness, and I don't think it's just the entertainment industry that has to do something, I think it's about those of us who are committed to this issue and have been committed to this issue for a long time, talking to other people and finding ways, just like Elton has, to make it a prominent issue again, to say to people, 'This is not over,' " she said.
The former Who's the Boss star, who's performed on Broadway for the past few years, told us that she recently starred in a pilot for Amazon, making her just the latest actor to join the Internet revolution.
Meanwhile, fellow Broadway alum Jeremy Jordan, who left his starring role in Newsies after he joined the second-season cast of NBC's now-canceled Smash, said he misses the stage and hopes to "come back as soon as possible." In fact, he's doing a weeklong Stephen Sondheim show in November called A Bed and a Chair.
"It's only a week, and it's not Broadway, but it will be nice to come back to New York for a hot sec," he said.
Other celebs in attendance included Billy Joel, Alec Baldwin, Allison Williams, Courtney Love, Lisa Marie Presley and rock band Heart, who performed at the end of the night.
Taylor Hargis, the wife of the wounded Army Ranger photographed in his hospital bed struggling to salute as he's awarded the Purple Heart, speaks about her husband calling him a "bad ass" and "the epitome of what a man and an American and a soldier is." WBBH's Clifton French reports.
By Jeff Black, Staff Writer, NBC News
A salute by an Army Ranger — hospitalized with serious wounds after a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan — is warming hearts after being posted online, moving his wife to declare him a "badass" and "the epitome of what a man and an American and a soldier is."
Cpl. Josh Hargis’ commander was at a military hospital in Afghanistan right after doctors stabilized his injuries awarding the seemingly unconscious soldier a Purple Heart, pinning the medal to the blanket covering him.
And that's when Hargis surprisingly raised his bandaged arm to salute — struggling with his doctors and medical tubes to do so.
The commander sent a picture along with a letter about the incident to Hargis’ wife, Taylor, writing that "grown men began to weep" at the sight of the salute.
The commander added that it was “the single greatest event I have witnessed in my ten years in the Army.”
Hargis was wounded by shrapnel on Oct. 6 when an Afghan woman detonated a suicide bomb vest, killing four members of his 3rd Army Ranger Battalion and wounding 12 other American soldiers, according to a report on the website of the soldier's hometown newspaper in Ohio, the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The four fallen soldiers became inextricably linked with the government shutdown in the past two weeks, as their families expressed grief and outrage over the fact that the government was withholding a $100,000 "death gratuity" normally paid out to relatives to help them out financially until survivor benefits kick in.
Hargis had a breathing tube inserted and his right arm was wrapped up, according to the Enquirer. He had just come out of surgery when he was presented with the Purple Heart, his wife told the paper.
Taylor Hargis posted the picture along with the note on Facebook Oct. 12, where it has been shared more than 5,500 times. The story and picture were also distributed on the Guardian of Valor website, which called the picture the "the salute seen around the world."
"When I look at that picture, I just think of how proud I am," Taylor Hargis told NBC affiliate WBBH in Florida, near her hometown of Fort Myers.
"He is badass and he is strong, and he is the epitome of what a man and an American and a soldier is."
The letter from the commander, according to Taylor Hargis' Facebook post, read in part:
"Josh, whom everybody in the room (over 50 people) assumed to be unconscious, began to move his right arm under the blanket in a diligent effort to salute the Commander as is customary during these ceremonies. Despite his wounds, wrappings, tubes, and pain, Josh fought the doctor who was trying to restrain his right arm and rendered the most beautiful salute any person in that room had ever seen. I cannot impart on you the level of emotion that poured through the intensive care unit that day.
It was assumed that Army Ranger Josh Hargis was unconscious during his Purple Heart ceremony in the hospital, but then he raised his arm in salute. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
"Grown men began to weep and we were speechless at a gesture that speak volumes about Josh's courage and character. The picture, which we believe belongs on every news channel and every newspaper, is attached. I have it hanging above my desk now and will remember it as the single greatest event I have witnessed in my ten years in the Army."
Hargis, 24, is a 2007 graduate of of Dater High School on the city’s west side and attended the University of Cincinnati, NBC affiliate WLWT in Cincinnati reported. He has since been moved from Afghanistan to Germany and onto San Antonio, Texas, the station said.
A reporter for another local station, WCPO, spoke to Hargis’ mother Laura Heitman, who said that Taylor and Josh Hargis are expecting their first child. Heitman also said she had recently talked to her son.
Her son, she said, “sounded amazing when I talked to him. He was in good spirits.”
Taylor Hargis said she expects a long recovery for her husband, but vowed to be by his side for it.
"Who knows what's next? These are definitely different plans than we had imagined, but we're happy we still get to have one."
Terri Wessel, who said she had taught Hargis in high school, told WCPO that the picture brought tears to her eyes.
“Seeing the picture of him saluting was the first I knew of him being injured,” Wessel told the station.”I teared up when I saw the picture but smiled at the same time as that picture summed up the type of man that Josh is. True American hero in my mind.”
NBC's Elizabeth Chuck contributed to this report.
This story was originally published on Tue Oct 15, 2013 11:25 PM EDT
Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663306/s/3289aa4a/sc/11/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C10A0C150C20A980A6470Ehes0Ea0Ebadass0Ewounded0Esoldier0Eflashes0Esalute0Eseen0Earound0Ethe0Eworld0Dlite/story01.htmThe Supreme Court, shown Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 in Washington, has agreed to consider whether the Environmental Protection Agency overstepped its authority in developing rules aimed at cutting emissions of six heat-trapping gases from factories and power plants. The justices said Tuesday they will review a unanimous federal appeals court ruling that upheld the government's unprecedented regulations aimed at reducing the gases blamed for global warming. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
The Supreme Court, shown Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 in Washington, has agreed to consider whether the Environmental Protection Agency overstepped its authority in developing rules aimed at cutting emissions of six heat-trapping gases from factories and power plants. The justices said Tuesday they will review a unanimous federal appeals court ruling that upheld the government's unprecedented regulations aimed at reducing the gases blamed for global warming. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to decide whether to block key aspects of the Obama administration's plan aimed at cutting power plant and factory emissions of gases blamed for global warming.
The justices said they will review a unanimous federal appeals court ruling that upheld the government's unprecedented regulation of carbon dioxide and five other heat-trapping gases.
The question in the case is whether the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate automobile emissions of greenhouses gases as air pollutants, which stemmed from a 2007 Supreme Court ruling, also applies to power plants and factories.
The court's decision essentially puts on trial a small but critical piece of President Barack Obama's toolbox to tackle global warming — a requirement that companies expanding existing industrial facilities or building new ones that would increase overall pollution must evaluate ways to reduce the carbon they release, as well. For many industrial facilities, this is the only way heat-trapping gases will be regulated, until the EPA sets national standards.
That's because the administration's plans hinge on the high court's 2007 ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA which said the EPA has the authority, under the Clean Air Act, to limit emissions of greenhouse gases from vehicles. Two years later, Obama's EPA concluded that the release of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases endangered human health and welfare, a finding the administration has used to extend its authority beyond automobiles to develop national standards for large stationary sources.
The administration currently is at work setting first-time national standards for new and existing power plants, and will move on to other large stationary sources. But in the meantime, the only way companies are addressing global warming pollution is through a permitting program that requires them to analyze the best available technologies to reduce carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas.
The president gave the EPA until next summer to propose regulations for existing power plants, the largest unregulated source of global warming pollution.
"From an environmental standpoint, it is bad, but not catastrophic," said Michael Gerrard, a law professor at Columbia University and director of its Center for Climate Change Law. Gerrard said it would have been far worse if the court decided to question the EPA's conclusion that greenhouse gases endanger human health and welfare.
Environmental groups generally breathed a sigh of relief that the court rejected calls to overrule its 2007 decision or review the EPA's conclusion about the health effects of greenhouse gas emissions.
"It's a green light for EPA to go ahead with its carbon pollution standards for power plants because the court has left standing EPA's endangerment finding," said Joanne Spalding, the Sierra Club's senior managing attorney.
But a lawyer for some of the business groups involved in the case said the court issued a more sweeping ruling.
"Read in its broadest sense, it arguably opens the door to whether EPA can regulate greenhouse gases from stationary sources at all," said Roger Martella, a partner with the Sidley, Austin law firm in Washington.
The regulations have been in the works since 2011 and stem from the landmark Clean Air Act that was passed by Congress and signed by President Richard Nixon in 1970 to control air pollution.
The administration has come under fierce criticism from Republicans for pushing ahead with the regulations after Congress failed to pass climate legislation, and after the administration of President George W. Bush resisted such steps.
In 2012, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia concluded that the EPA was "unambiguously correct" in using existing federal law to address global warming.
The judges on that panel were: Then-Chief Judge David Sentelle, who was appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan, and David Tatel and Judith Rogers, both appointed by Democrat Bill Clinton.
The case will be argued in early 2014.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-10-15-Supreme%20Court-Greenhouse%20Gases/id-11e1fd7ce4c34489902d35b8d592faa8President Barack Obama, center, and Vice President Joe Biden, center left, meet with Democratic Leadership in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013, in Washington. Sitting with them are from left to right, Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y. The partial government shutdown is in its third week and less than two days before the Treasury Department says it will be unable to borrow and will rely on a cash cushion to pay the country's bills. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
President Barack Obama, center, and Vice President Joe Biden, center left, meet with Democratic Leadership in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013, in Washington. Sitting with them are from left to right, Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y. The partial government shutdown is in its third week and less than two days before the Treasury Department says it will be unable to borrow and will rely on a cash cushion to pay the country's bills. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
From left to right, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., and Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., speaking with members of the media outside the West Wing of the White House following their meeting with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013, in Washington. The partial government shutdown is in its third week and less than two days before the Treasury Department says it will be unable to borrow and will rely on a cash cushion to pay the country's bills. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Reporters wait outside the office of Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, as a planned vote in the House of Representatives collapsed, Tuesday night, Oct. 15, 2013, at the Capitol in Washington. Time growing desperately short, House Republicans pushed for passage of legislation late Tuesday to prevent a threatened Treasury default, end a 15-day partial government shutdown and extricate divided government from its latest brush with a full political meltdown. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate leaders are optimistic about forging an eleventh-hour bipartisan deal preventing a possible federal default and ending the partial government shutdown after Republican divisions forced GOP leaders to drop efforts to ram their own version through the House.
Pressured by the calendar, financial markets and public opinion polls, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., were hoping to shake hands on an agreement Wednesday and, if possible, hold votes later in the day.
Driving their urgency were oft-repeated Obama administration warnings that the government would exhaust its borrowing authority Thursday and risk a federal default that could unhinge the world economy. Lawmakers feared that spooked financial markets would plunge unless a deal was at hand and that voters would take it out on incumbents in next year's congressional elections.
"People are so tired of this," President Barack Obama said Tuesday in an interview with Los Angeles TV station KMEX.
U.S. stock futures were rising early Wednesday amid strong corporate earnings and lingering hope for a deal to head off a government default. But there were also dire warnings from the financial world a day after the Fitch credit rating agency said it was reviewing its AAA rating on U.S. government debt for possible downgrade.
John Chambers, chairman of Standard & Poor's Sovereign Debt Committee, told "CBS This Morning" on Wednesday that a U.S. government default on its debts would be "much worse than Lehman Brothers," the investment firm whose 2008 collapse led to the global financial crisis.
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett told CNBC he doesn't think the federal government will fail to pay its bills, but "if it does happen, it's a pure act of idiocy."
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, a tea party favorite, said he was not worried about the prospect of a U.S. default.
"We are going to service our debt," he told CNN. "But I am concerned about all the rhetoric around this ....I'm concerned that it will scare the markets."
Aides to Reid and McConnell said the two men had resumed talks, including a Tuesday night conversation, and were hopeful about striking an agreement that could pass both houses.
It was expected to mirror a deal the leaders had neared Monday. That agreement was described as extending the debt limit through Feb. 7, immediately reopening the government fully and keeping agencies running until Jan. 15 — leaving lawmakers clashing over the same disputes in the near future.
It also set a mid-December deadline for bipartisan budget negotiators to report on efforts to reach compromise on longer-term issues like spending cuts. And it likely would require the Obama administration to certify that it can verify the income of people who qualify for federal subsidies for medical insurance under the 2010 health care law.
But that emerging Senate pact was put on hold Tuesday, an extraordinary day that highlighted how unruly rank-and-file House Republicans can be, even when the stakes are high. Facing solid Democratic opposition, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, tried in vain to write legislation that would satisfy GOP lawmakers, especially conservatives.
Boehner crafted two versions of the bill, but neither made it to a House vote because both faced certain defeat. Working against him was word during the day from the influential group Heritage Action for America that his legislation was not conservative enough — a worrisome threat for many GOP lawmakers whose biggest electoral fears are of primary challenges from the right.
The last of Boehner's two bills had the same dates as the emerging Senate plan on the debt limit and shutdown.
But it also blocked federal payments for the president, members of Congress and other officials to help pay for their health care coverage. And it prevented the Obama administration from shifting funds among different accounts — as past Treasury secretaries have done — to let the government keep paying bills briefly after the federal debt limit has been reached.
Boehner's inability to produce a bill that could pass his own chamber likely means he will have to let the House vote on a Senate compromise, even if that means it would pass with strong Democratic and weak GOP support. House Republican leaders have tried to avoid that scenario for fear that it would threaten their leadership, and some Republicans worried openly about that.
"Of all the damage to be done politically here, one of the greatest concerns I have is that somehow John Boehner gets compromised," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a former House member and Boehner supporter.
With the default clock ticking ever louder, it was possible the House might vote first on a plan produced by Senate leaders. For procedural reasons, that could speed the measure's trip through Congress by removing some parliamentary barriers Senate opponents might erect.
The strains of the confrontation were showing among GOP lawmakers.
"It's time to reopen the government and ensure we don't default on our debt," Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., said in a written statement. "I will not vote for poison pills that have no chance of passing the Senate or being signed into law."
___
Associated Press writers David Espo, Andrew Taylor, Charles Babington, Stephen Ohlemacher, Henry C. Jackson and Donna Cassata contributed to this report.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-10-16-Budget%20Battle/id-12bbcdd4a82744e783d77ad0d8036ecfBy Sophie Knight, Ritsuko Ando and Malathi Nayak
TOKYO/HELSINKI/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Japanese tech and telecoms group SoftBank Corp is tobuy into Finnish mobile game maker Supercell in a deal that values the three-year-old maker of hit game "Clash of Clans" at $3 billion, in the hopes of building a gaming company with a significant global footprint.
SoftBank said it would pay 150 billion yen ($1.53 billion) for a 51 percent stake in Supercell, with 20 percent of that investment coming from its own mobile games maker subsidiary GungHo Online Entertainment Inc.
Market researcher Newzoo estimates global game revenues across all platforms will reach $86.1 billion by 2016 as the number of gamers reaches 1.55 billion. It expects the fastest growth to come from mobile gaming, which will make up almost 30 percent of the total, up from about 17 percent this year.
The deal shows SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son's appetite for foreign M&A has not dimmed since his $21.6 billion acquisition of U.S. mobile carrier Sprint Corp this year.
He was quoted on Supercell's blog as saying the acquisition was part of its "quest to become the #1 mobile Internet company," showing his ambition to expand further beyond its main wireless and Internet services business.
The stake acquisition also underscores the spectacular rise of Supercell, a small gaming company with around 100 employees and two hit games: "Clash of Clans" and "Hay Day." The games reached No. 1 in Apple's App Store in 137 and 96 countries respectively, SoftBank said, citing app analytics firm AppAnnie.
Supercell and GungHo developed a relationship after they struck a partnership to launch strategy game "Clash of Clans" in Japan this July, Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen said in a telephone interview with Reuters.
"How this came about is we've been very excited about the Asian market, and Japan especially, for the last 6 to 9 months... since we launched Clash in Japan and it obviously started to do very well," Paananen said.
"Clash of Clans" ranks among the top three iOS games in Japan and China, he added.
Supercell, which was founded in 2010, is now more valuable than Zynga, the company behind once-popular games such as "FarmVille" which is struggling with a fall in users and is worth $2.8 billion.
Last year sales at Supercell rose by more than 500 times to 78.4 million euros compared with 2011, according to a filing by SoftBank, while operating income turned to a profit of 39.2 million euros compared to a loss of 1.8 million in 2011.
"Now that we have Softbank backing us we can take (our)existing games to new markets and strengthen our position in the big three Asian markets - Japan, Korea and China," Paananen said.
Supercell also plans to release new games at some point, Paananen said without providing a timeline.
SoftBank now has the third largest market capitalisation in Japan and is set for a major windfall as Alibaba, China's top online retailer in which it owns a 36.7 percent stake, is preparing for a stock market listing.
Globally, mobile game revenues generated through Apple iOS and Google Playstore are expected to exceed $10 billion this year, according to Adam Krejcik at technology and gaming research firm Eilers Research in California.
Led by "Angry Birds" maker Rovio, Finland's gaming industry has been a rare bright spot in a small Nordic economy which has struggled with a decline in traditional industries such as paper and machinery as well as the decline of Nokia, once the world's biggest handset maker.
Nokia announced in September that it was selling its handsets unit, not including patent licensing fees, to Microsoft for $5 billion. The handset business was the biggest part of Nokia's operations. After the deal 90 percent of the company's sales will come from its telecom equipment business, Nokia Solutions and Networks.
Paananen, who will remain in his position as CEO of Supercell, said that the company will work autonomously.
"The most important point in the deal for us is that it guarantees our independence," Paananen said.
In a company blog post, he also reassured Finns that the company's operations would remain in Finland and that it would continue to pay taxes in the country.
"I think more and more people in this country are realising that there is life after Nokia!" he wrote.
(Additional reporting by Nobuhiro Kubo; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Pravin Char and Carol Bishopric)
The Supreme Court is expected to take up the case on the greenhouse gas permits for large polluters early next year.
The Supreme Court is expected to take up the case on the greenhouse gas permits for large polluters early next year.
The Supreme Court has agreed to review an Obama administration policy that requires new power plants and other big polluting facilities to apply for permits to emit greenhouse gases.
To get these permits, which have been required since 2011, companies may have to use pollution controls or otherwise reduce greenhouse gases from their operations — although industries report that so far they haven't had to install special pollution control equipment to qualify for the permits.
The rule is part of a larger effort by the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases.
The EPA started with automobiles. It determined that once it did that, it was "compelled" by the Clean Air Act to also require greenhouse gas permits when companies want to construct big new facilities. The statute requires permits for all facilities that are major polluters of "any air pollutant." And the EPA has long interpreted this to mean any pollutant that is regulated under the Clean Air Act.
The utilities, manufacturers and chemical companies that petitioned the Supreme Court challenge EPA's decision. They argue that the EPA should have interpreted "any air pollutant" to mean only pollutants that have health-based ambient air quality standards, such as ground-level ozone, according to Jeffrey Holmstead, an industry lawyer who headed EPA's air pollution program under the Bush administration.
Furthermore, industry groups argue that getting these permits causes delays in big projects that could help revive the economy.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia decided in 2012 that the EPA got it right.
In its decision, the appeals court cited a 2007 Supreme Court decision, Massachusetts v. EPA, which affirmed the EPA's determination that greenhouse gases are a pollutant under the Clean Air Act.
That Supreme Court ruling also upheld the EPA's finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health and the Obama administration's authority to regulate greenhouse gases from automobiles.
The Supreme Court is expected to take up the case on the greenhouse gas permits for large polluters early next year.
These greenhouse gas permits are not the same as the greenhouse gas regulations that the Obama administration has been drafting over the past couple of years.
The EPA last month released a second proposal regarding how it wants to set limits on how much greenhouse gases new power plants can release. President Obama says he also intends to regulate greenhouse gases from existing power plants, but has yet to release a proposal.
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Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/10/15/234690444/house-gop-to-present-a-plan-to-reopen-government?ft=1&f=3WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republican leaders are planning to push their own bill to reopen the government and avoid a financial default.
Officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Speaker John Boehner and other GOP leaders have outlined a bill that would keep the government running through Jan. 15 and raise the debt limit to Feb. 7. The measure is separate from a deal emerging in the Senate.
The bill also would suspend a tax on medical devices for two years, require income verification for subsidies to receive health insurance and eliminate health care subsidies for the president, vice president, his Cabinet and members of Congress.
The House plans to vote on Tuesday.
Officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicly discuss the plans.
A new report published by the National Secular Society has revealed that publicly funded schools are being targeted and exploited by evangelical Christian groups as part of their missionary work.
The report, Evangelism in state schools – the role of external visitors in publicly funded education (pdf), reveals a determined push by evangelical churches and organisations to gain access to state schools with the intention of proselytizing among young children.
The report finds that the activities of external visitors are often undertaken in schools without parents' knowledge and with little, if any, opportunity for withdrawal.
According to the report, the motivations and aims of religious groups, either out of complicity or naivety, are going unquestioned by head teachers, governors, Local Education Authorities and the Department for Education.
The National Secular Society has written to Education Secretary, Michael Gove, calling for national guidance setting out best practice for working with external visitors and contributors and particularly religion and belief groups.
The report also calls for all schools to publish and adhere to an external visitor's policy which forbids proselytizing and evangelism and makes clear that parents should be given prior and relevant information about school visitors.
One parent, Saul Freeman from Sheffield, said:
"Having sent our child to a non-religious state primary school, we never expected to find ultra-conservative evangelical activity. Our son's school has never been open with parents about its close links with a local evangelical church despite our best efforts to get clarity.
"Adults who come in and lead school assemblies are seen by the children as authority figures in the local community – and this means that the school has conferred a status of trust and respect on a group of individuals who preach hate and a fundamentalist, literalist and creationist approach to religion and life."
Stephen Evans, National Secular Society campaigns manager, said that the educational purpose of religious education is so vague that it is open to exploitation by aggressive religious groups that are determined to reach children in schools.
He said: "The legal obligation on all schools to provide religious education, and a daily act of worship provides a foot in the door to organisations with evangelistic intentions. The ambiguity about the specific aims and purpose of religious education, and its low status in schools, provides an ideal environment for evangelical groups to exploit.
"Given the diminishing interest in religious observance amongst young people and their parents, it's easy to see why evangelical groups are so keen to access schools. But we have to question the appropriateness of state schools being used in this way. The presence of such groups undermines the rights of parents who rightly expect a state education for their child that doesn't run counter to their own religious and philosophical convictions."
Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, said:
"The targeting of our schools in this way by such dubious organisations must be tackled by the Department for Education. Most parents have absolutely no idea that such groups are present in their children's school until the child comes home and starts repeating the messages they've been given – sometimes about creationism, sometimes manipulative evangelical messages or literature that reinforces a very conservative religious outlook on life."
Mr Sanderson said the whole issue of religion in schools needs to be urgently reassessed.
"Our schools are becoming playgrounds for religious interests who are exploiting their opportunities to the full. The increasing number of faith schools is not going to make this any better. With fewer and fewer people regarding themselves as religious, it is clear that faith groups see schools as their best hope of reviving their fortunes. Children have to be there by law, they are a captive audience."
Read the report: Evangelism in state schools – the role of external visitors in publicly funded education (pdf)
See a list of evangelical groups active in schools
Research into the activities of evangelical groups in schools in ongoing. If you have information or concerns about external visitors in a particular school, please use the form on this page to provide details.
The NSS is calling for religious education to be replaced with a new National Curriculum subject that allows pupils to take a more objective and religiously neutral approach to the consideration of moral and ethical issues. Read our briefing paper setting out the need for comprehensive reform of RE.
Source: http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2013/10/new-report-highlights-growing-incursion-of-evangelical-christians-into-state-schoolsLondon (AFP) - British detectives investigating the 2007 disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal published two electronic images Monday of a man they said was seen carrying a child on the night she vanished.
Police said the man was of "vital importance" in their quest to discover what happened to the British youngster, who disappeared from her family's holiday apartment just a few days before her fourth birthday.
The two e-fits, plus others of different people, will be shown in a major primetime British television appeal which will also be broadcast in Germany and The Netherlands.
The BBC programme will set out a reworked timeline of events surrounding blonde-haired Madeleine's disappearance on May 3, 2007, in the south coast resort of Praia da Luz.
"The sighting was during the evening of the 3rd of May around 10:00 pm, and it was of a man walking down the street with a child in his arms," said Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, the senior investigating officer in the case.
"The child was described as about three to four years old, with blonde hair, possibly wearing pyjamas. That's why we're so interested in this particular incident," he told BBC television.
The images were drawn up based on descriptions from a group of witnesses. They said the child did not seem in distress.
The witnesses described the man in the e-fit as being white, aged between 20 and 40 years old, with short brown hair, of medium build, medium height and clean-shaven. One image shows him with a fuller jaw than the other.
Portuguese authorities closed their investigation in 2008, but Britain's Scotland Yard police headquarters spent two years reviewing the evidence at the British government's request and opened their own probe in July this year.
Redwood stressed that the man in the e-fits may be completely innocent.
"Whilst this man may or may not be the key to unlocking this investigation, tracing and speaking to him is of vital importance to us," he said.
Prime Minister David Cameron gave the new appeal his support.
"This was a crime that touched the heart of everyone in the country and everyone would like to see it resolved, so I hope Scotland Yard continue with their work and I wish them success," he said.
The BBC's hour-long "Crimewatch" show, broadcast Monday at 2000 GMT, will include a new 25-minute reconstruction as well as live interviews with Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate McCann, who launched a global media campaign to find their daughter and still hold out hope she is alive.
Police said they would present a new timeline around the incident.
Detectives have focused on the time between 8:30 pm, when the McCanns left the apartment to dine with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant, to when Kate McCann found Madeleine was missing at 10:00 pm.
Last week, British police also said analysis of mobile phone data from thousands of people who were in Praia da Luz when Madeleine disappeared could provide a new lead.
'It really hits home on special occasions'
Ahead of the broadcast, the McCanns told the BBC of the pain they still feel.
"When it's a special occasion, when you should be at your happiest, and Madeleine's not there, that's when it really hits home," Gerry McCann said.
"Obviously, Madeleine's birthday goes without saying."
Kate McCann added: "We're not the ones that have done something wrong here. It's the person who's gone into that apartment and taken a little girl away from her family."
The Scotland Yard operation has interviewed 442 people and identified 41 potential suspects.
Praia da Luz is an Algarve holiday destination popular with sun-seeking tourists from northern Europe.
Redwood said he would be travelling to The Netherlands, Germany and Ireland to "seek the support of the public there".
The German television programme "Aktenzeichen XY" on the public broadcaster ZDF will show the e-fits on Wednesday.
Two of the suspects are German-speaking, according to the German tabloid Bild and the British newspaper The Times.
Last week the McCanns said they were "greatly encouraged by new information coming to light" and said they hoped the appeal would take them closer to finding Madeleine.
Bachelor Nation has spawned another love connection! Bachelor alum AshLee Frazier, who made it to the final three during Sean Lowe's season of the ABC series, is dating Bachelorette alum Michael Garofola from Desiree Hartsock's quest for love, the couple confirmed exclusively to Us Weekly.
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The duo, who have been seeing each other for a few weeks now, have been happily parading their new romance on Twitter and Instagram. On Friday, Oct. 4, Garofola posted a picture of the two at a Blue Label Vodka event.
"Amazing night with an amazing girl in an above average city," he captioned the sweet shot.
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Frazier, 33, was sent packing by Lowe (now engaged to Catherine Giudici) during week nine of The Bachelor's 17th season earlier this year. Her wordless, angry exit was one of the most memorable and dramatic in recent memory -- and her reunion with Lowe at the Women Tell All special wasn't any less awkward.
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"He'd been telling me, 'You're going to meet my family. You and my sister are going to be best friends,'" the personal organizer (who also dated Bachelor Brad Womack) told host Chris Harrison in March. "So this whole time, I'm thinking, 'Huh, I got this.' And then all of a sudden I didn't."
Garofola, meanwhile, made headlines during season nine of The Bachelorette when he ruined a two-on-one date with Hartsock and fellow competitor Ben Scott. The two men almost came to blows after Garofola started questioning Scott's real reasons for coming on the show. (Rightly so: The single father later revealed himself to be less than honorable.)
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That's all in the past, though. Garofola, who hails from New York, is currently living it up in Miami, Fla. And Frazier recently came out with a personal calendar to help raise money for Parks Youth Ranch, a charity that provides shelter for at-risk, abused, or abandoned teens.
Ashlee Evans-Smith defeated Fallon Fox at CFA 12, knocking out the transgender fighter in the third round Saturday night in Coral Gables, Fla.
Evans-Smith earned $20,000 for the featherweight tournament win. She was almost finished by Fox in the first round, but Evans-Smith was able to overcome the barrage. Evans-Smith easily won the second round, and almost defeated Fox in the final seconds, but Fox was saved by the bell.
In the third round, Evans-Smith fought off a heel hook submission attempt before eventually mounting her and defeating Fox via ground and pound at the 3:15 mark in the third round. It was Fox's first career loss as a MMA fighter.
"She put up a fight, but I could feel her really getting tired," Evans-Smith said after the fight.
In other action in the card, Efrain Escudero defeated Luis Palomino via unanimous decision (29-28 x3).
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — South Korea's Ilhee Lee shot a 7-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead over Brittany Lang after the opening round of the LPGA Malaysia on Thursday.
Lee had four birdies on the back nine and another three on the front to take the lead from Lang.
"Everything felt good today, the driver, the 6-iron, the putter ... they were all good," the 24-year-old Lee said. "My goal was 3-under par every day this week, so I feel like I'm OK for the next couple of days."
Paula Creamer was among four players tied for third after shooting 66, while top-ranked Inbee Park, the defending champion, was tied for 28th after a 70.
Lang started off on the back nine with four straight birdies and was set to share the lead with Lee before a bogey on her final hole.
"I played great, didn't make too many mistakes, hitting the ball fantastically and had a lot of tap-in birdies," Lang said. "But I didn't finish off as strong as I'd like to. It gets pretty hot towards the end, so I need to get some rest and just make sure I'm eating and drinking enough out there."
Park also said the 90-degree weather made it difficult.
"I think I was affected a lot by the hot weather, that really made it hard to concentrate on the course," Park said. "I'm not a good player to play in such condition. But I've had success in recent years, like this year in Thailand and last year here in Malaysia. So I'm trying to relax a bit more and keep it going tomorrow."
