Kerry wins Arab backing on Mideast peace effort

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry won Arab League backing Wednesday for his effort to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, raising hopes that the stalled negotiations could resume.

Kerry cited significant progress in narrowing gaps between the two sides, but he declined to elaborate.

On his sixth trip to the Middle East in as many months as America's top diplomat, Kerry met in Jordan with representatives of the Arab League and nine of its members that support an Arab-Israeli peace plan proposed by Saudi Arabia.

In a statement after the meeting, the Arab delegation endorsed Kerry's initiative, saying his ideas "constitute a good ground and suitable environment for restarting the negotiations, especially the new and important political, economic and security elements."

The statement was significant because it could give Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas the political cover he would need to sell a return to negotiations to a skeptical Palestinian public.

Abbas was to convene a meeting Thursday of the PLO leadership to discuss the matter.

Kerry met with Abbas in Amman on Wednesday afternoon; they also had a lengthy working dinner Monday night.

At a news conference after the Arab League and Abbas meetings, Kerry mentioned "very wide" and "very significant" gaps between Israelis and Palestinians that had prevented the two sides from restarting talks when his efforts began several months ago.

"Through hard and deliberate, patient work, and most importantly through quiet work we have been able to narrow those gaps very significantly," he said.

"We continue to get closer and I continue to remain hopeful that the sides will soon be able to come to sit at the same table," he said.

Kerry refused to discuss details of the proposals he laid out to the Arab officials or how the gap with the Israelis had narrowed.

As Abbas prepared to meet with his top aides Thursday, Palestinian officials said Kerry had expressed hope that some kind of framework for doing so could be reached as early as Friday.

"The Palestinians are cooperating but it is time for the Israeli side to show the same cooperation," said the Palestinians' foreign minister, Riad al-Malki, who attended the Amman meeting.

Palestinian negotiator Mohammed Ishtayeh echoed that view.

"We are keen to see Kerry's efforts work, but so far there are no promising signs from the Israeli side," Ishtayeh said.

It was unclear whether Kerry would meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or any of his top aides. Israel was not currently on Kerry's itinerary, although officials said that could change.

Abbas has refused to negotiate unless Israel halts all construction in West Bank settlements. Israel has refused, saying negotiations should resume without conditions. Kerry has offered the Palestinians a package of economic incentives to restart the talks.

Kerry has spent hours with Abbas and Netanyahu trying to set the stage for a return to peace talks that foundered and collapsed in 2008. Kerry insists progress has been made, but there have been few, if any, discernible signs that the two sides are getting closer to agreeing to discuss the major issues that divide them.

In addition to the peace process, Kerry was updating the Arabs on U.S. support for the Syrian opposition and attempts to convene an international conference to establish a transition government there, as well as Washington's position on Egypt's political turmoil.

Kerry said on Tuesday that he wanted to see a Syrian refugee camp, and it appeared likely that he would do so Thursday before his scheduled return to the United States.

Jordan's foreign minister, Nasser Judeh, said Kerry expressed concern about the economic impact the humanitarian crisis in Syria has had in Jordan, which hosts more than a half million displaced Syrians.

Should the visit materialize, it would be the first by an Obama administration Cabinet-level figure to Syrian refugees, some of whom have complained about a lack of U.S. support. Syrian rebels have also complained that they are not receiving promised military assistance from Washington.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-wins-arab-backing-mideast-peace-effort-144028349.html

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Lyft Co-Founders Logan Green And John Zimmer To Join Us At Disrupt SF

It was just a little over a year ago that a little company called Zimride launched a new product called Lyft. The idea was simple -- connect drivers with a car and extra time with passengers who need to get from one place to another. Thanks to GPS, mobile phones, and Facebook Connect, the company has built a platform that has quickly taken off in San Francisco and other markets around the country.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/-kd2vAZtq4M/

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Al-Qaida branch says No. 2 leader killed in Yemen

SANAA, Yemen (AP) ? The Yemen-based branch of al-Qaida announced Wednesday that the group's No. 2 figure, a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner, has died in a U.S. drone strike.

The announcement, posted on militant websites, gave no date for the death of Saudi-born Saeed al-Shihri.

Yemeni security officials, however, said al-Shihri died of serious injuries sustained when a drone strike targeted him in November last year.

Al-Shihri had survived an earlier drone attack, in September 2012, the officials added, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to media.

Wednesday's announcement came in a video purporting to show the group's chief theologian, Ibrahim Al-Robaish, in which he eulogized al-Shihri.

In the video, al-Robaish said al-Shihri was hit by the drone while speaking on his mobile telephone in the province of Saadah, north of the Yemeni capital of Sanaa.

The authenticity of the video, which was first reported by the U.S. monitoring service SITE, could not be independently confirmed but it appeared on militant websites commonly used by al-Qaida.

In January, Yemen's official SABA news agency reported that al-Shihri died of wounds from a drone strike three months earlier.

Al-Shihri, also known as Abu Sufyan al-Azdi, fought in Afghanistan and spent six years in Guantanamo. He was returned to Saudi Arabia in late 2007 and later fled to Yemen to join the al-Qaida branch there.

In one of his last videos, which appeared on the Internet in April, al-Shihri harshly criticized Yemen's neighbor to the north, Saudi Arabia, for its policy of allowing the United States to launch deadly drone strikes from bases in the kingdom.

Al-Shihri's death is considered a major blow to the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch, known as Al-Qaida in The Arabian Peninsula. Washington considers it the most dangerous of the group's offshoots.

The branch has been linked to several attempted attacks on U.S. targets, including the foiled Christmas Day 2009 bombing of an airliner over Detroit and explosives-laden parcels intercepted aboard cargo flights in 2010.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/al-qaida-branch-says-no-2-leader-killed-070539791.html

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Dems pin immigration hopes on GOP's Ryan

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Democrats doggedly pursuing a far-reaching immigration bill are counting on help from Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney's running mate last year and an unlikely candidate for delivering the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's second-term agenda.

Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman who is frequently mentioned in the GOP lineup of possible 2016 presidential candidates, stands apart from many fellow House Republicans in favoring a way out of the shadows for the 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. in violation of the law.

He casts sweeping overhaul as a necessity to ensure both economic and national security ? a fitting argument for an acolyte of Jack Kemp, the late Republican congressman and 1996 vice presidential candidate who backed an ill-fated effort in 2006 to overhaul the immigration system.

"Paul Ryan says we cannot have a permanent underclass of Americans, that there needs to be a pathway to citizenship," says Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., who has been working relentlessly on immigration legislation. "He is my guiding light. I know I get him in trouble every time I say it."

Senior White House aides often mention the Wisconsin Republican as crucial to the prospects for legislation this year, hoping the Republican with impeccable conservative credentials will sway recalcitrant House members. Ryan also is a reminder of two other powerful forces backing an overhaul of immigration laws ? the Catholic Church and business.

Ryan is a practicing Catholic who made a point of attending Mass every Sunday during the jam-packed 2012 campaign; the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops strongly favors the first major changes to immigration in 27 years.

Ryan also represents a southeast Wisconsin district in a state that relies on the manufacturers of Waukesha engines, Kohler generators and numerous supply chains. The companies are counting on immigrants to fill future factory jobs.

"The American economy needs immigration reform, certainly the Wisconsin economy does," said Kurt Bauer, the president and CEO of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the state's chamber of commerce.

Ryan made his appeal at last week's closed-door GOP meeting, urging Republicans to seize the moment and opportunity.

He "made some very good points about how immigration is part of our history, it's made us great as a country. The diversity of America is one of its greatest strengths," recalled Rep. Tom Reed, R-N.Y. "I will heartily agree with that. I think all of us in the conference accept that and believe that, and that's where we recognize that this is a problem that has to be dealt with."

The difficulty for Ryan ? and proponents of immigration legislation ? is the fracture within the Republican Party. National Republicans are pressing for immigration legislation and consider it vital to helping the party improve its standing with the nation's fastest-growing minority, Hispanics. The Romney-Ryan ticket got just 27 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2012, a downward trend that GOP leaders fear will undermine the party in future presidential elections.

Ryan says any immigration legislation has to address the question of the 11 million living in the U.S. unlawfully. Improving border security alone is not enough.

"You can't fix the system, in my opinion, this is my personal opinion, without coming up with a viable solution for the undocumented and it's got to be a solution that respects the rule of law, that doesn't grant amnesty, that respects the person who came legally from the beginning by making sure that those who are undocumented go to the back of the line, and I think we can come up with that," he said.

But House Republicans in gerrymandered districts with few Hispanic voters have shown little inclination for addressing a path to citizenship, let alone an urgency to deal with immigration at all. Forces of personalities ? Republicans Marco Rubio and John McCain and Democrat Chuck Schumer ? helped steer a comprehensive bill to passage in the Senate on a strong, bipartisan vote of 68-32. The House, which has adopted a piecemeal approach, is unlikely to consider any legislation before the August break, a timetable that raises doubts of any immigration legislation passing Congress this year.

Ryan is undeterred. He is working away from the spotlight, staying in contact with the bipartisan "Gang of Seven" House lawmakers trying to craft a bill. He doesn't see himself in a high-profile role like Rubio, arguing it's an approach that doesn't work in the House.

"There are lots of different pockets of parties here in the House. And I've always believed from passing budgets and other big pieces of legislation that listening to members, talking with members, negotiating is the most effective way of getting things over the finish line," he said in a recent interview. "It's kind of more of a workhorse role than a show horse role only because I just find that's the most effective way of getting things through the House."

Ryan is hardly a newcomer to the issue. In 1994, when he worked with Kemp, he wrote a 4,000-word rebuttal to proponents of Proposition 187, the California ballot initiative that denied benefits to immigrants in the country illegally. He backed the immigration overhaul bill crafted by McCain and the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., that nearly became law in 2007.

In April, he joined Gutierrez at the City Club of Chicago to speak out for changes to the immigration system.

The Budget Committee chairman, whose next job may be head of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, makes his case based on numbers.

"Baby boomers are retiring to the tune of 10,000 people a day for the next 10 years," Ryan said. "We're going to have labor shortages in this country in the next decade. We need to have our immigration system prepared for that. It's going to take time to do that and that's why I think we need to do it now."

___

Associated Press writer Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dems-pin-immigration-hopes-gops-ryan-071508755.html

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Brooklyn Nets coach Kidd gets probation for DWI

HAMPTON BAYS, N.Y. (AP) ? Brooklyn Nets coach Jason Kidd pleaded guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge and was placed on interim probation nearly a year after he smashed his Cadillac SUV into a utility pole on eastern Long Island.

In exchange for the guilty plea, Kidd agreed to speak to Long Island high school students about the dangers of drunken driving. If he fulfills his community service, his plea will be reduced to a violation ? driving while ability impaired ? when he returns to court on Sept. 30.

Kidd, who retired as an NBA player after last season, was recently hired to coach the Nets ? the team he took to two NBA Finals as a player when the franchise played in New Jersey.

"Because of his status as a professional athlete Mr. Kidd is the perfect person to reinforce the important message we've been trying to send, which is don't drink and drive," Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said in a statement.

Police said Kidd crashed his SUV into a telephone pole in the Hamptons community of Water Mill on July 15, 2012. He was treated at a hospital for minor injuries.

Defense attorney Ed Burke Jr. said Kidd was returning from a charity function before the crash. A Southampton Town Police report noted the 10-time NBA all-star and Olympic gold medalist was unsteady on his feet, smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot and glassy eyes.

The judge asked him at the plea hearing how much he'd consumed before his arrest. "A couple of drinks, three or four," Kidd replied in a very soft voice.

"You could have killed yourself. You could have killed someone else," Town Court Judge Andrea Schiavoni. "I hope you wake up every day happy to be here."

Kidd nodded in response.

He did not speak when he left the courthouse, accompanied by his attorney.

While playing with Phoenix in 2001, Kidd was arrested on a domestic violence charge, acknowledging he struck his former wife.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/brooklyn-nets-coach-kidd-gets-probation-dwi-163110596.html

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Johnson & Johnson results beat expectations, as drugs, devices deliver

(Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson reported higher-than-expected second-quarter earnings as strong sales of prescription drugs and medical devices more than offset anemic growth of its consumer products.

The diversified healthcare company said on Tuesday that it earned $3.8 billion, or $1.33 per share. That compared with $1.41 billion, or 50 cents per share, in the year-earlier period, when J&J took $2.2 billion in charges for the writedown of research assets, litigation expenses and merger-related costs.

J&J earned $1.48 per share, excluding special items such as expenses from litigation and an acquisition. Analysts on average expected $1.39, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose 8.5 percent to $17.88 billion, while Wall Street had been expecting $17.71 billion.

J&J raised its full-year earnings forecast to between $5.40 and $5.47 per share from an earlier range of $5.35 to $5.45. It earned $5.10 per share last year.

Shares of J&J were up 0.6 percent at $90.94 in trading before the market opened.

(Corrects third paragraph to show Elan gain is not a special item)

(Reporting by Ransdell Pierson and Caroline Humer; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/johnson-johnson-results-beat-expectations-drugs-devices-deliver-121403275.html

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Westboro Baptist Church Plans Cranston Protest against Gay Marriage

Declaring the country is stupid and asking the United States population if they can read, the Westboro Baptist Church announced they plan to protest Rhode Island's recently-passed gay marriage law at?Cranston City Hall.

The protest is planned for Aug. 1 at 8:00 a.m.

"The Lord Jesus Christ said marriage is between 1 man and 1 woman for life," the church said in a statement. "This stupid country thinks it can, by popular vote, and a ruling by the Godless United States Supreme Court overrule Jesus Christ when it comes to fag marriage. How stupid is that?"

Additional protests are planned in Providence and Pawtucket.

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Source: http://cranston.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/westboro-baptist-church-plans-cranston-protest-against-gay-marriage

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