Obama to Congress: 'We Are Not a Deadbeat Nation'

President Obama says the U.S. economy is "poised for a good year" but that progress could be threatened by political brinksmanship on the nation's debt limit.

"While I'm willing to compromise and find common ground over how to reduce our deficits, America cannot afford another debate with this Congress about whether or not they should pay the bills they've already racked up," Obama said at a White House news conference.

"We are not a deadbeat nation," he said. "The consequences of us not paying our bills would be disastrous."

Lawmakers have until the end of February to raise the nation's debt limit and address the delayed $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts to defense and domestic spending.

Failure to raise the debt limit would set the stage for a U.S. default on its loan obligations or force immediate cuts to government spending that could threaten hundreds of thousands of federal employees and beneficiaries of government aid, including Social Security recipients and active-duty military personnel.

Republicans have said they plan to use the debate on a debt-limit increase to extract spending cuts from the Obama administration. They note a legislative precedent, including most recently in 2011, of coupling the debt ceiling with deficit-reduction legislation.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

"The president and his allies need to get serious about spending, and the debt-limit debate is the perfect time for it," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in response to Obama's remarks.

"We are hoping for a new seriousness on the part of the president with regard to the single biggest issue confronting the country," he said. "And we look forward to working with him to do something about this huge, huge problem."

Obama says he will "not negotiate" on an increase to the debt limit, which covers spending obligations that have already been passed into law, insisting that the issue should be independent of a debate on new limits on future spending.

"The financial well being of the American people is not leverage to use," Obama said. "The full faith and credit of the U.S.A. is not a bargaining chip to use."

The White House said the news conference would be Obama's last of his first term, coming six days before the inauguration and at a critical juncture in an ongoing fight with Congress on federal deficits and debt.

It also comes one day before Vice President Joe Biden will present to Obama his task force's recommendations for curbing gun violence in the wake of the deadly Newtown, Conn., shooting.

"They've presented me now with a list of sensible, common-sense steps that can be taken to make sure that the kinds of violence we saw at Newtown doesn't happen again," Obama said.

"I expect to have a fuller presentation later in the week to give people some specifics about what I think we need to do. My starting point is not to worry about the politics," he said. "My starting point is to focus on what makes sense, what works."

ABC News' Mary Bruce contributed to this report.

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Grieving relatives mark Italy shipwreck anniversary

GIGLIO ISLAND: Grieving relatives of the 32 victims of the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster laid flowers by the giant wreck on Sunday in an emotional one-year anniversary commemoration on the Italian island of Giglio to try and heal the wounds of the tragedy.

Salvage workers on a tugboat also used a crane to lower into the sea a piece of the enormous rock that the Costa Concordia crashed into and then tore from its base before veering sharply and keeling over with 4,229 people from 70 countries on board.

A ship's horn sounded out 32 times under a leaden sky in memory of those who died, echoing across the water as the rock slowly descended into the sea and tearful families looked on from another ship.

"I want justice for my family and for all the victims," said Susy Albertini, mother of a five-year-old girl who perished with her father.

Twelve of the victims on the luxury liner were from Germany, seven from Italy, six from France, two from Peru, two from the United States, one from Hungary, one from India and one from Spain.

Survivors of the disaster who came for the ceremony re-lived the panic of that night, when hundreds had to jump into the freezing waters, clamber down a rope ladder in the dark or be evacuated by helicopter after several lifeboats failed to deploy.

"We came because we wanted to express our gratitude. We survived," said Ronald Dots, who was with his wife and son when tragedy struck.

"It was a painful night and at first we cried a lot. Even now, when I see the sea I shake," he said.

French passenger Daniele Dubuc broke down in tears upon stepping off a ferry -- the first time she had been back on a ship since that night.

Dubuc said she and her husband loved ballroom dancing and had enjoyed dances on the cruise, but "the tragedy has made us lose the will to dance."

Many said they also came to thank local residents who rushed to pluck shivering survivors from the water and bring them food and blankets.

Ten people are being investigated including the ship's infamous captain Francesco Schettino -- who is accused of reckless seamanship and abandoning the ship early -- and three executives from owner Costa Crociere, but a trial is still months away.

"From last January 13 and for the rest of my life I will always have something in my heart that will tie me to that event and to the families of the victims," Schettino said in a television interview from his home in southern Italy where he has been confined pending the investigation.

Costa Crociere, Europe's biggest cruise operator, had asked passengers in a letter to stay away from the ceremony on the island because of a lack of space, infuriating many survivors.

Costa Crociere said it would mark the day by holding masses in the chapels of all its vessels around the world and flying their flags at half-mast.

Among those attending the ceremony on Giglio was coast guard official Gregorio De Falco, who upbraided Schettino with an expletive in a phone call when the man dubbed "Captain Coward" refused to get back on the ship to aid the evacuation.

At a mass in the same church that served as a temporary refuge for many survivors, objects from the ship were put on display -- a life jacket, a rope, some bread and a statue of the Virgin Mary.

Of the 32 people who died that night, two -- an Indian waiter and an Italian passenger -- are still officially missing.

Elio Vincenzi, whose wife's body has never been found, could hardly speak for tears as he presented the island with a statue of the Virgin Mary.

Kevin Rebello, who is still searching for his brother's body, gave the island a plaque with four lions on it, the emblem of India -- which he said stood for power, courage, pride and confidence, characteristics "also shared by Giglio."

The 290-metre liner crashed into a group of rocks just off Giglio, veered sharply and keeled over just as many passengers were sitting down for supper on the first night of a Mediterranean cruise.

Salvage workers on Saturday said an unprecedented US$400 million operation to refloat and remove the ship for scrapping will be completed by September.

- AFP/jc

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RSS will support strong laws against rape: Bhagwat

GOYESHPUR (WB): Expressing displeasure over the incidents of rape and harassment of women in the country, RSS chief MohanBhagwat today said the organization will support strong laws and steps needed to stop such incidents.

"There is need for strong laws and steps to deal with the incidents and the perpetrators of rape," Bhagwat, whose comment that rapes took place in "India" but not in "Bharat" had created a controversy, told a function here in Nadia district in connection with the sesquicentennial of Swami Vivekananda.

But there is also a need to change the mindset of the society because the people who will make the laws (against rape) are also from the same society. "If there is no change in the mindset of the society then nothing will change," he said.

"In a country like India where women were worshipped as 'Jagat Janani' are now being harassed and raped. It is the same country where a war was fought because a woman was harassed (Mahabharata).

"We have forgotten our values and principles. It is a country where woman used to idolise Sita, Savitri and Damayanti," Bhagwat said

Referring to the country's development, he said it should become a superpower to serve the poor and the underprivileged.

"We don't want to become a superpower like China or the USA ... But we have to be fearless," he added.

Former ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair, who was also present on the occasion, spoke on the contribution of Swami Vivekananda.

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Pictures: Civil War Shipwreck Revealed by Sonar

Photograph by Jesse Cancelmo

A fishing net, likely only decades old, drapes over machinery that once connected the Hatteras' pistons to its paddle wheels, said Delgado.

From archived documents, the NOAA archaeologist learned that Blake, the ship's commander, surrendered as his ship was sinking. "It was listing to port, [or the left]," Delgado said. The Alabama took the wounded and the rest of the crew and put them in irons.

The officers were allowed to keep their swords and wander the deck as long as they promised not to lead an uprising against the Alabama's crew, he added.

From there, the Alabama dropped off their captives in Jamaica, leaving them to make their own way back to the U.S.

Delgado wants to dig even further into the crew of the Hatteras. He'd like see if members of the public recognize any of the names on his list of crew members and can give him background on the men.

"That's why I do archaeology," he said.

(Read about other Civil War battlefields in National Geographic magazine.)

Published January 11, 2013

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Poisoned Lottery Winner's Kin Were Suspicious

Urooj Khan had just brought home his $425,000 lottery check when he unexpectedly died the following day. Now, certain members of Khan's family are speaking publicly about the mystery -- and his nephew told ABC News they knew something was not right.

"He was a healthy guy, you know?" said the nephew, Minhaj Khan. "He worked so hard. He was always going about his business and, the thing is: After he won the lottery and the next day later he passes away -- it's awkward. It raises some eyebrows."

The medical examiner initially ruled Urooj Khan, 46, an immigrant from India who owned dry-cleaning businesses in Chicago, died July 20, 2012, of natural causes. But after a family member demanded more tests, authorities in November found a lethal amount of cyanide in his blood, turning the case into a homicide investigation.

"When we found out there was cyanide in his blood after the extensive toxicology reports, we had to believe that ... somebody had to kill him," Minhaj Khan said. "It had to happen, because where can you get cyanide?"

In Photos: Biggest Lotto Jackpot Winners

Authorities could be one step closer to learning what happened to Urooj Khan. A judge Friday approved an order to exhume his body at Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago as early as Thursday to perform further tests.

Lottery Winner Murdered: Widow Questioned By Police Watch Video

Moments after the court hearing, Urooj Khan's sister, Meraj Khan, remembered her brother as the kind of person who would've shared his jackpot with anyone. Speaking at the Cook County Courthouse, she hoped the exhumation would help the investigation.

"It's very hard because I wanted my brother to rest in peace, but then we have to have justice served," she said, according to ABC News station WLS in Chicago. "So if that's what it takes for him to bring justice and peace, then that's what needs to be done."

Khan reportedly did not have a will. With the investigation moving forward, his family is waging a legal fight against his widow, Shabana Ansari, 32, over more than $1 million, including Urooj Khan's lottery winnings, as well as his business and real estate holdings.

Khan's brother filed a petition Wednesday to a judge asking Citibank to release information about Khan's assets to "ultimately ensure" that [Khan's] minor daughter from a prior marriage "receives her proper share."

Ansari may have tried to cash the jackpot check after Khan's death, according to court documents, which also showed Urooj Khan's family is questioning if the couple was ever even legally married.

Ansari, Urooj Khan's second wife, who still works at the couple's dry cleaning business, has insisted they were married legally.

She has told reporters the night before her husband died, she cooked a traditional Indian meal for him and their family, including Khan's daughter and Ansari's father. Not feeling well, Khan retired early, Ansari told the Chicago Sun-Times, falling asleep in a chair, waking up in agony, then collapsing in the middle of the night. She said she called 911.

"It has been an incredibly hard time," she told ABC News earlier this week. "We went from being the happiest the day we got the check. It was the best sleep I've had. And then the next day, everything was gone.

"I am cooperating with the investigation," Ansari told ABC News. "I want the truth to come out."

Ansari has not been named a suspect, but her attorney, Steven Kozicki, said investigators did question her for more than four hours.

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Several killed in failed French raid to free Somalia hostage

MOGADISHU: A French soldier and 17 Islamists were killed in a failed bid to free an intelligence officer captured in Somalia in 2009 and whose fate remained unclear, the defence minister said Saturday.

The overnight operation involving some 50 troops and at least five helicopters to free the intelligence agent, with the alias of Denis Allex, was launched by elite forces from the DGSE secret service, Jean-Yves Le Drian said.

"All indications are (that Allex was) killed by his captors," Le Drian told reporters, adding that one French soldier was killed and another missing. He had earlier spoken of two dead troops.

The Shebab, Al Qaeda's local franchise which has held the Frenchman for more than three years, denied Le Drian's assertion that Allex was killed by his captors during the raid and even claimed to have captured a member of the commando team.

"In the end, it will be the French citizens who will inevitably taste the bitter consequences of their government's devil-may-care attitude towards hostages," a Shebab statement said.

Le Drian said the raid in Bulomarer, some 110 kilometres (70 miles) south of Mogadishu, was sparked by the "intransigence of the terrorists who have refused to negotiate for three and a half years and were holding Denis Allex in inhuman conditions."

It came on the same day that French troops launched air strikes on Islamist militants in Mali, in west Africa, but the minister said the operations were not connected.

Allex is among nine French hostages in Africa of whom at least six are held by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

French President Francois Hollande expressed his great distress over the deaths and extended his condolences to the families of victims.

A French expert involved in several hostage negotiations said "talks with the Somali Islamists had become impossible due to the huge ransom demanded and the marked opposition of the Americans to the payment of ransom.

"Denis Allex became a human shield and an operation had become indispensable," the expert said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A source close to the case also speaking on condition of anonymity said the DGSE had been preparing a raid to free Allex for more than a year, adding they had "been cancelled at the last-minute three or four times as we did not have a solid confirmation of his location."

The Shebab statement said the French carried away "several" of their dead.

"The helicopters attacked a house... upon the assumption that Denis Allex was being held at that location, but owing to a fatal intelligence blunder, the rescue mission turned disastrously wrong.

"The injured French soldier is now in the custody of the mujahedeen and Allex still remains safe and far from the location of the battle," it said.

A Bulomarer resident, Idris Youssouf, told AFP: "We don't know exactly what happened because the attack took place at night, but this morning we saw several corpses including that of a white man.

"Three civilians were also killed in the gunfight," he said.

Allex was kidnapped in Somalia on Bastille day in July 2009 along with a colleague. The second hostage, named as Marc Aubriere, was freed in August in what the French government said was an escape.

The Al-Qaeda linked Shebab lost their main strongholds in the south and centre of the country following an offensive launched in mid-2011 by an African Union force, but they still control some rural areas.

Allex appeared in a video in June 2010 appealing to Paris to drop its support for the Somali government.

He last appeared in another video in October looking gaunt and calling on Hollande to work for his release.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since 1991.

France has a recent history of botched operations, including a failed joint raid with Niger forces in 2011 that left both hostages dead, another in Mali that led to the hostage's execution.

In 2009, French commandos launched a raid to free a French family whose yacht had been hijacked by Somali pirates. They retook the boat but accidentally shot the father.

-AFP/ac

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Fresh exchange of fire along LoC in Poonch sector

JAMMU: Indian and Pakistan troops traded heavy gunfire along the Line of Control in Poonch sector after the movement of a group of suspected infiltrators was detected on Saturday night, in fresh escalation of tension.

"There was a movement of 6 to 7 persons close to LoC opposite Krishagati sub-sector in Poonch sector at around 9.45pm", defence spokesman Col R K Palta said.

There was no immediate report of casualty or injury on the Indian side.

Indian troops opened fire on the suspected infiltrators, the spokesman said adding that thereafter exchange of heavy fire took place.

After about half-an-hour of exchange of fire, the suspected infiltrators disappered from the scene, Col Palta said adding the intensity of firing from both sides has reduced but is going on.

It is suspected that either a groups of militants or Border Action Team (BAT) could have been undertaking movement close to LoC opposite Krishnagati sub-sector in Poonch tonight.

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Pictures: Civil War Shipwreck Revealed by Sonar

Photograph by Jesse Cancelmo

A fishing net, likely only decades old, drapes over machinery that once connected the Hatteras' pistons to its paddle wheels, said Delgado.

From archived documents, the NOAA archaeologist learned that Blake, the ship's commander, surrendered as his ship was sinking. "It was listing to port, [or the left]," Delgado said. The Alabama took the wounded and the rest of the crew and put them in irons.

The officers were allowed to keep their swords and wander the deck as long as they promised not to lead an uprising against the Alabama's crew, he added.

From there, the Alabama dropped off their captives in Jamaica, leaving them to make their own way back to the U.S.

Delgado wants to dig even further into the crew of the Hatteras. He'd like see if members of the public recognize any of the names on his list of crew members and can give him background on the men.

"That's why I do archaeology," he said.

(Read about other Civil War battlefields in National Geographic magazine.)

Published January 11, 2013

Read More..

Poisoned Lottery Winner's Kin Were Suspicious

Urooj Khan had just brought home his $425,000 lottery check when he unexpectedly died the following day. Now, certain members of Khan's family are speaking publicly about the mystery -- and his nephew told ABC News they knew something was not right.

"He was a healthy guy, you know?" said the nephew, Minhaj Khan said. "He worked so hard. He was always going about his business and, the thing is: After he won the lottery and the next day later he passes away -- it's awkward. It raises some eyebrows."

The medical examiner initially ruled Urooj Khan, 46, an immigrant from India who owned dry-cleaning businesses in Chicago, died July 20, 2012, of natural causes. But after a family member demanded more tests, authorities in November found a lethal amount of cyanide in his blood, turning the case into a homicide investigation.

"When we found out there was cyanide in his blood after the extensive toxicology reports, we had to believe that ... somebody had to kill him," Minhaj Khan said. "It had to happen, because where can you get cyanide?"

In Photos: Biggest Lotto Jackpot Winners

Authorities could be one step closer to learning what happened to Urooj Khan. A judge Friday approved an order to exhume his body at Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago as early as Thursday to perform further tests.

Lottery Winner Murdered: Widow Questioned By Police Watch Video

Moments after the court hearing, Urooj Khan's sister, Meraj Khan, remembered her brother as the kind of person who would've shared his jackpot with anyone. Speaking at the Cook County Courthouse, she hoped the exhumation would help the investigation.

"It's very hard because I wanted my brother to rest in peace, but then we have to have justice served," she said, according to ABC News station WLS in Chicago. "So if that's what it takes for him to bring justice and peace, then that's what needs to be done."

Khan reportedly did not have a will. With the investigation moving forward, his family is waging a legal fight against his widow, Shabana Ansari, 32, over more than $1 million, including Urooj Khan's lottery winnings, as well as his business and real estate holdings.

Khan's brother filed a petition Wednesday to a judge asking Citibank to release information about Khan's assets to "ultimately ensure" that [Khan's] minor daughter from a prior marriage "receives her proper share."

Ansari may have tried to cash the jackpot check after Khan's death, according to court documents, which also showed Urooj Khan's family is questioning if the couple was ever even legally married.

Ansari, Urooj Khan's second wife, who still works at the couple's dry cleaning business, has insisted they were married legally.

She has told reporters the night before her husband died, she cooked a traditional Indian meal for him and their family, including Khan's daughter and Ansari's father. Not feeling well, Khan retired early, Ansari told the Chicago Sun-Times, falling asleep in a chair, waking up in agony, then collapsing in the middle of the night. She said she called 911.

"It has been an incredibly hard time," she told ABC News earlier this week. "We went from being the happiest the day we got the check. It was the best sleep I've had. And then the next day, everything was gone.

"I am cooperating with the investigation," Ansari told ABC News. "I want the truth to come out."

Ansari has not been named a suspect, but her attorney, Steven Kozicki, said investigators did question her for more than four hours.

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Turkey blames internal feud as France hunts Kurd killers

PARIS: Police on Friday hunted the assassins of three Kurdish activists shot dead in Paris as Turkey said an internal feud in the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was most likely behind the slayings.

The PKK meanwhile warned that it would hold France responsible if the killers are not quickly found, as Ankara asked for increased security to safeguard its missions in France.

French judicial sources said the three female activists, including founding PKK member Sakine Cansiz, were each shot at least three times in the head, giving further credence to the theory of an execution-style hit.

Autopsies on the bodies revealed that one of the women had been shot four times in the head and the other two shot three times, the sources said. A police source said that 7.65 mm bullets were found, indicating the use of automatic pistols.

The killings came days after Turkish media reported Turkey and the PKK leadership had agreed a roadmap to end the three-decade old insurgency that has claimed more than 45,000 lives.

The PKK, which took up arms in 1984 for Kurdish self-rule in southeastern Turkey, is considered a terrorist organisation by Ankara and much of the international community.

Experts have suggested a number of potential motives for the killings, including an attack by Turkish extremists and internal feuding within the PKK.

The three were found dead on Thursday at the Kurdistan Information Centre in the French capital's 10th district, after last being seen alive at the centre at midday on Wednesday.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the slayings bore the hallmarks of an internal feud, noting that the victims appeared to have given the killer or killers access to the centre.

"The place was protected not by one lock but many coded locks," Anatolia news agency quoted Erdogan as telling reporters. "Those three people opened it (the door). I do not assume they would open it to people they didn't know."

But the Turkish leader also upheld his earlier suggestion that the slayings could be aimed at derailing peace talks between Ankara and the PKK's jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan.

"The killings could be the result of an internal feud or steps aimed at disrupting the steps we are taking with good intentions," Erdogan said.

Experts have said potential internal feuding could be linked to the peace process or to other PKK activities, in particular conflicts over money.

A French judicial source said police are currently running 21 investigations into potentially illegal fundraising by the PKK.

The group raises funds through a "revolutionary tax" on Kurdish expatriates that authorities in several countries have condemned as extortion.

The PKK's military wing, the People's Defence Forces (HPG), said in a statement on its website that France would be held to account if no progress is made in the investigation.

"France has a responsibility to immediately shed light on the massacre," it said. "Or it will be held responsible for the murder of our comrades."

The PKK accused Ankara of trying to shift the blame on Kurds for what it called a "well-organised and professional political murder."

A Turkish diplomatic source meanwhile said Ankara had asked France to boost security at its missions. "We alerted our representations in France and the rest of Europe to be careful," the source added.

There are around 150,000 Kurds in France, the vast majority of them of Turkish origin.

-AFP/ac

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