Denver Post: Boulder Democrat Polis plans to push decriminalizing marijuana at federal level
If Colorado was allowed to treat marijuana like alcohol — or any other medicine, for that matter — pot dispensaries could freely set up business bank accounts without fear of federal prosecution and marijuana could, like corn and wheat, be grown openly in national forests.
This is according to U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, a Boulder Democrat, who said he plans to push a law in the new Congress that would decriminalize marijuana at the federal level so that states with medicinal laws on the books, like Colorado, could treat it as they wish.
Under Polis' structure, marijuana laws would be extremely local — similar to states that have so-called dry, alcohol- free counties.
"It's not in the federal government's realm," Polis said. "I'm proud of Colorado being a pioneer in this regard and setting up a regulatory structure. We've benefited in tax revenues and I think it's dealt a big blow to criminalize it."
CNN: Obama signs 9/11 health bill
President Barack Obama signed the 9/11 health bill into law in Hawaii on Sunday, White House spokesman Bill Burton said.
Obama signed the bill during his Hawaiian vacation, with no signing ceremony held. In a statement issued later, the president said he was "honored" to sign the bill, which pays for health care for responders believed to have been sickened by pollution at the ruins of the World Trade Center in New York.
"We will never forget the selfless courage demonstrated by the firefighters, police officers, and first responders who risked their lives to save others," Obama said. "I believe this is a critical step for those who continue to bear the physical scars of those attacks."
The Guardian: Welfare bill soars as coalition counts cost of austerity drive
Rising unemployment will cost the government £1.5bn more than expected in welfare benefits, according to official forecasts that reveal the hidden cost of the coalition's austerity drive.
As big increases in VAT are due to bite from Tuesday, analysis from the Office for Budget Responsibility shows slowing economic growth will make it harder to reduce the deficit by forcing more people to seek state support.
The Treasury watchdog calculates the government will have to pay out £700m more in unemployment benefit than previously forecast. Similarly, a higher number claiming jobseeker's allowance as well as falling into lower wage brackets will see the government needing to pay out another £700m more in housing assistance over the next four years.
Though the OBR data, released last month, confirms the government is still making substantial savings from its changes to both benefits, the shadow work and pensions secretary, Douglas Alexander, said the OBR's fresh assessment suggested it was government strategy that was leaving these higher numbers exposed.
Washington Times: RNC faces $20 million debt in 2011
The next chairman of the Republican National Committee will face a money-raising challenge of historic proportions.
The unreleased official budget of the RNC reveals that the Republican party's national governing body and premier fund-raising apparatus begins the 2011-2012 presidential election cycle more than $20 million in the hole.
"A record for any year in the past 30 years," RNC chairman candidate and former Deputy U.S. Transportation Secretary Maria Cino told The Washington Times.
Raw Story: Afghan War Claims 10,081 Lives in 2010
More than 10,000 people, about a fifth of them civilians, lost their lives in violence in Afghanistan last year, an AFP count based on official figures and an independent website tally showed Sunday.
Afghanistan's interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary revealed new figures for the number of civilians, police and militants killed in 2010 -- a total of 8,560 people.
In addition, the Afghan defense ministry said that 810 Afghan soldiers died in 2010, while independent website icasualties.org puts the total death toll for international troops last year at 711.
That brings the overall number of dead from the war last year to 10,081, according to an AFP calculation.
Reuters: U.S. envoy on North Korea travels to Asia this week
The U.S. envoy responsible for policy toward North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, will visit South Korea, China and Japan this week for consultations on North Korean issues, the State Department said on Sunday.
Bosworth will arrive in Seoul on Tuesday, travel to Beijing on Wednesday and continue to Tokyo on Thursday.
"In all three cities, he will meet with senior government officials to discuss next steps on the Korean peninsula," the State Department said in a statement.
BBC: UN points to Ivory Coast 'extra-judicial killings'
The UN official investigating alleged abuses in Ivory Coast after a disputed election says he has evidence of extra-judicial killings.
Simon Munzu told the BBC his staff had verified some cases, while others were reported by families.
But he said a campaign of intimidation by incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo's supporters appeared to have receded.
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga is travelling to Abidjan to help try and resolve a post-election stalemate.
CNN: Did 4 bosses shirk snow duty and buy beer? NYC officials checking
Investigators in New York said Sunday they are looking into a report that four sanitation supervisors assigned to clean up after last week's monster blizzard instead bought beer and sat in their car.
"We urge all members of the public, most especially City employees, to call us with any information about this matter or with any provable information about deliberate inaction or wrongdoing relating to the snow storm," said Department of Investigation (DOI) Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn in a statement.
Investigators responded to an article published by the New York Post on Sunday, which alleged that a group of on-duty sanitation supervisors bought beer and sat in their department car for hours Monday night. Citing an unnamed witness, the paper said the four supervisors in Brooklyn later told their bosses they ran out of gas.
The DOI commissioner said a video that reportedly had store surveillance evidence related to the allegation had been "over ridden."
Guardian: Students could boost marks by showing 'corporate skills'
Some UK universities are considering awarding students in all subjects extra marks to their degrees if they can show "corporate skills" or experience in the jobs market, the Guardian has learned.
Undergraduates on all courses could earn credits for showing they possess the ability to run a workshop or make a good presentation, under the University of Leicester's plans. University College London's career unit is in discussions with senior managers over how to accredit employment skills, and Durham University is considering giving marks for work experience. Workplace skills courses have been a compulsory part of vocationally-oriented undergraduate degrees, such as engineering, for several years.
But awarding credits to an English literature student for these skills is thought to be a new step.
MSNBC: Navy orders investigation into raunchy videos
The U.S. Navy has launched an investigation into the production of raunchy videos aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Enterprise four to five years ago but just now publicly released, NBC News reported Sunday.
The videos which portray women sailors taking showers, references to masturbation and bestiality were apparently produced by or with the consent of the current commander of the Enterprise, Capt. Owen Honors.
The U.S. Navy has launched an investiagation into the production of raunchy videos aboard the nuclear powered aircraft carrier Enterprise four to five years ago but just now publicly released, NBC News reported Sunday.
According to senior Navy officials, the videos — which were apparently produced for the crew's entertainment and as a "morale booster" —first surfaced when Honors was executive officer of the ship. A senior Navy official tells NBC News that although senior officers up the chain of command were aware of the videos at the time, Honors and others were simply told to "knock it off" and there was apparently no formal disciplinary action taken.
Guardian: Indian corruption backlash builds after 'year of the treasure hunters'
It is an image that has become wearily familiar to Indians in recent days. On the front cover of its new year issue India Today ran pictures of four men under the headline "2010 – year of the treasure hunters".
Inside an editorial said bluntly: "One word dominated the national vocabulary [last year]: corruption." The men pictured are high-profile businessmen and politicians variously accused of graft, complicity or tax-dodging.
Written by Aroon Purie, one of India's best-known publishers, the editorial summed up what many are saying from well-heeled Delhi sitting rooms to bus stop tea shops: "In India, the sheer banality of the word evokes a sense of deja vu ... [but] the size and frequency of corruption in 2010 made it the theme of the year."
India has seen many scams before, but few have been as brazen and on such a scale as those that have come to light in recent weeks.
MSNBC: Major 7.1 magnitude earthquake hits Chile
A major earthquake of 7.1 magnitude hit central Chile Sunday, but there were no immediate reports of serious damage or casualties, local emergency officials said.
"Up until now we don't have any information of deaths or major damage. A tsunami alert is ruled out," said Felipe Plaza, duty officer at Chile's Onemi emergency office.
Another emergency official in the Araucania region close to the epicenter some 43 miles northwest of Temuco, said the quake had hit telephone communications but that all other public services were working with as usual.
BBC: Pakistan PM loses vital coalition partner as MQM quits
Pakistan's MQM party says it is leaving Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani's coalition to join the opposition.
The move will deprive Mr Gilani of his majority in parliament.
He denied his government was in danger of collapsing. "I don't see any crisis," he said, speaking on television after the announcement.
But a BBC correspondent says Western allies engaged in the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaida had been hoping to avoid such political instability.
MSNBC: Mexico plans immigration shake-up
Mexico plans a shake-up of its corruption-ridden immigration institute, officials said, after a year that saw some of the worst atrocities against illegal migrants trekking through the country — including the mass slaughter of 72 Central and South Americans trying to reach the United States.
The dismissals early this week will include several top directors of the National Institute for Migration, according to two government officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision has not been made public.
The government of President Felipe Calderon also plans to reform practices that have led to omissions, oversights and acts of corruption, though the officials didn't provide details
CBS: Wikipedia Raises $16M to Remain Ad-Free
A couple of weeks shy of its 10-year anniversary, the Wikimedia Foundation said it has raised $16 million in donations from more than half a million people around the world to sustain the Wikipedia website.
In his online appeal, the organization's founder Jimmy Wales wrote that Wikipedia needed the funds to remain ad-free.
The foundation, which is the non-profit parent of Wikipedia, said that more than 500,000 donated in 2010, compared to the 230,000 people who contributed money in 2009.
The average donation was $22.
USA Today: Pope: Egypt bomb blast 'offends God, all humanity'
Pope Benedict XVI says an apparent suicide bombing outside a Mass in Egypt that left 21 worshippers dead "offends God and all of humanity.
The pope offered condolences and expressed his grief for the victims and their families during his traditional Sunday Angelus prayer.
He compared the attack to bombs placed near churches in Iraq, saying both are meant to intimidate Christians and prevent them from attending services. Benedict has repeatedly denounced the violent campaign against Christians in Iraq blamed on al-Qaeda militants.
He also remembered the "numerous" pastoral workers killed in 2010. urged Christians to remain strong in the face of intolerance and violence in a New Year's appeal Saturday that came hours after the bomb blast.
BBC: South Korea tightens rules to combat illegal whaling
South Korea says it is tightening rules to combat illegal whaling.
Although commercial whale hunting is banned in the country, the trading of whales that are found dead is still legal.
The new rules will require fisherman to report to police immediately if they discover dead whales in their nets or washed ashore.
The move comes after critics said some fishermen were exploiting a loophole in the law.