Chavez: Venezuela to buy Embraer, Airbus jets

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that his government plans to buy new Embraer jets from Brazil as well as used Airbus jets to expand his country's state airline Conviasa.

Chavez said Venezuela will negotiate credit with the Brazilian Development Bank to buy up to 20 Embraer jets from Brazil.

Chavez thanked Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff "for the credit they're going to give us." He said the estimated cost of 20 jets would be $814 million.

The Venezuelan government had said earlier this month that Chavez approved plans to buy six Embraer jets. But during Chavez's Sunday television and radio program, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez laid out the options of buying either 10 or 20 Embraer jets.

"It's enough to see Venezuela's location on the map to conclude on the pressing need for us to have a very powerful airline," Chavez said.

Chavez's government has subsidized Conviasa since its launch in 2004. The president on Sunday did not provide information about how much the government has spent on the airline in recent years.

According to Conviasa's website, it currently has a fleet of 18 planes. In addition to domestic routes, Conviasa has international flights to cities including Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Damascus, Syria, among others.

Chavez also said Venezuela will buy four used Airbus 340-500 jets from an airline in the United Arab Emirates at a cost of about $60 million per plane.

Bolivian President Evo Morales, a Chavez ally, has announced similar plans to expand his country's state airline, Boliviana de Aviacion, or BoA.

Morales last month proposed to buy six Embraer 190 jets during a meeting with Rousseff in Caracas.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-22-LT-Venezuela-State-Airline/id-374b69c6179d46fd8899b074fa238e80

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Video: Romney evades tax questions

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/46076802#46076802

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After NW storm, outages and flood concerns abound (AP)

SEATTLE ? A Pacific Northwest storm that brought snow, ice and powerful winds left a mess of fallen trees and power lines Friday as tens of thousands of residents without power faced the prospect of a cold, dark weekend and flooding became a top region-wide concern.

While temperatures warmed and the icy, snowy conditions abated in western Washington and Oregon, slick roads and fast-melting snow brought challenges for road workers, city officials and rescue crews. The region also faces more rain as swelling rivers led to the worst flooding some Oregon counties have seen in more than a decade.

"It's definitely a trial we get to endure," said Jeanette Donigan, who left with her family after their home in Turner, Ore., was surrounded by floodwater. "But earthly possessions can be replaced, as long as we got our children to higher ground."

The storm was blamed for three deaths. A mother and her 1-year-old son died after torrential rain on Wednesday swept away a car from an Albany, Ore., grocery store parking lot. An elderly man was fatally injured Thursday by a falling tree as he was backing an all-terrain vehicle out of a backyard shed near Seattle.

On Washington's Mount Rainier, a blizzard kept rescuers from searching Friday for two campers and two climbers missing since early this week. Just east of that region, about 200 skiers and workers were able to leave the Crystal Mountain ski resort after transportation officials closed the area's main highway two days ago.

Near Tacoma, three people escaped unharmed Friday when a heavy snow and ice load on the roof of an Allied Ice plant caused the building to collapse. West Pierce Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Hallie McCurdy said they heard loud noises and got out just in time.

Meanwhile, the storm plodded east, bringing the first major snowstorm for the season to parts of the Midwest. More than 700 flights were cancelled in Chicago, the bulk of them at O'Hare International Airport.

Forecasters said the Northwest can expect more rain, mountain snow and winds for a week.

A 35-year-old woman who drove a Ford Mustang into 4 feet of floodwaters in Oregon's Willamette Valley was plucked from the roof Friday by deputies who arrived by boat to save her. It was one of a number of dramatic rescues in western Oregon, left sodden by as much as 10 inches of rain in a day and a half that has brought region's worst flooding in 15 years.

Interstate 5, the main road connecting Seattle and Portland, was briefly closed near Centralia so crews could remove fallen power lines. Amtrak trains weren't running Friday between Seattle and Portland, because of trees and other debris that fell on the tracks.

Northbound lanes of the interstate in Everett, north of Seattle, were closed much of the morning following a tractor-trailer accident. For several hours, the Washington State Patrol closed both Tacoma Narrows bridges, which connect Tacoma with communities to the west, because of large ice chunks falling onto the bridge deck.

In Seattle, residents were asked for help clearing the city's 80,000 storm drains.

Puget Sound Energy used helicopters to check transmission lines as crews repaired damage from Thursday's ice storm. Nearly 250,000 remained without power Friday night, including 239,000 PSE customers, mostly around Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia.

Much of Washington's capital, Olympia, was without power.

Gov. Chris Gregoire's office, legislative buildings and other state agencies in Olympia lost electricity for several hours before power was restored. The governor thanked repair crews late Friday by hand-delivering peanut butter cookies.

The storm was "a constant reminder of who's in charge. Mother Nature is in charge, she gives us a wake-up call every once in a while, this is one of those," Gregoire said.

Cathie Butler, a spokeswoman for the city of Olympia, said they were dealing with "the fallout from all of the heavy ice and snow on the trees."

Butler said that in addition to dealing with downed trees, limbs and power lines, the city wants to get snowplows out to clear primary roads and snow that is piled up on drains "so as it starts to rain this weekend the snow and ice have somewhere to go."

Nancy Kolnen of Issaquah was without power, and had to throw out food in the fridge and layer up to keep warm at night. By Friday, power hadn't returned.

"Well, going into the weekend, I'm kind of looking forward to (the snow) because it's nice if you don't have to drive in it, but if I get home and don't have power all weekend, I won't enjoy that," Kolnen said.

It was still snowing in the Cascades, with up to 2 feet possible in the mountains over the weekend.

At Sea-Tac Airport in Seattle, airlines were trying to accommodate passengers whose flights were canceled Thursday. The airport's largest carrier, Alaska Airlines, canceled 50 of its 120 daily departures Friday. On Thursday, Alaska and sister airline Horizon canceled 310 flights to and from Seattle, affecting 29,000 passengers.

In Seattle, Carly Nelson was negotiating an icy sidewalk on her way to Starbucks. Nelson has been frequenting her neighborhood coffee shop to avoid cabin fever.

"I'm pretty tired of it. It gets old pretty fast. All my friends are stranded in little pockets and you can't get together to go to yoga," she said. "I'm just looking forward to being able to go wherever I want to go."

___

Cooper reported from Oregon. Associated Press writers Doug Esser, Ted Warren, Rachel La Corte, Nigel Duara and Nicholas K. Geranios contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_re_us/us_northwest_storm

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Kristen Wiig in Talks for Ben Stiller's Walter Mitty

Kristen Wiig is in negotiations to star opposite Ben Stiller in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, the long-gestating fantasy comedy that Stiller also is directing for 20th Century Fox.

A remake of the 1947 Danny Kaye movie based on the James Thurber short story, the film centers on a timid magazine photo manager (Stiller) who daydreams of exciting adventures, only to find himself in an adventure of his own when he goes in search of a missing negative.

Wiig will play his co-worker and the girl of his fantasies.

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Mitty will be Wiig's first big studio gig?since her breakout starring role in last year?s comedy Bridesmaids. The comedienne, who shot two independent projects, Imogene and Revenge of the Jolly!,?over the summer, has been very careful about selecting her next role. She is repped by UTA, Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment and Jackoway Tyerman.

The movie is eyeing an April start and will shoot in New York and Iceland.

Stiller is producing with Red Hour Entertainment partner Stuart Cornfeld as well as John Goldwyn and Samuel Goldwyn Jr.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1924346/news/1924346/

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UK scraps inquiry into abuse of terrorism suspects (AP)

LONDON ? Britain's government-commissioned inquiry into the possible abuse of terrorism suspects during the so-called "war on terror" was scrapped Wednesday, days after police announced a new investigation into the country's spy agencies.

Justice Secretary Ken Clarke told the House of Commons that the inquiry ? which had already been delayed since 2010 ? would no longer take place, but would issue a report on any findings it had made during its preparatory work.

Shortly after winning office, Prime Minister David Cameron asked retired appeal court judge Peter Gibson to carry out a sweeping examination of Britain's conduct in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Foreign Secretary William Hague has said the investigation was necessary to "clear the stain from our reputation as a country."

Clarke, however, said it was now no longer practical to hold the reckoning, after police last week announced they will investigate claims British intelligence played a role in the alleged torture and rendition of two Libyan men, including Tripoli's military council commander Abdel-Hakim Belhaj.

"There now appears no prospect of the Gibson inquiry being able to start in the foreseeable future," Clarke told lawmakers. "We have decided to bring the work of this inquiry to a conclusion."

Gibson's inquiry had already been prevented from beginning a planned series of hearings with ministers and spy chiefs so as not to prejudice an earlier police inquiry into the actions of two British intelligence officers ? accused of wrongdoing at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba, and in Afghanistan.

Prosecutors announced last week that neither spy would face charges, but said they now planned to investigate the Libyan cases.

Government officials said that would have meant Gibson's hearings would likely be delayed until at least 2014, because any hearings could potentially prejudice the new police investigation which is expected to take several years.

Clarke said that Britain remained "committed to drawing a line under these issues" and hoped to launch a new inquiry in the future.

"The government fully intends to hold a judge-led inquiry into these issues once it is possible to do so and all related police investigations have been concluded," Clarke said.

In 2010, Britain paid millions of pounds (dollars) in settlements to 16 former Guantanamo Bay detainees who alleged U.K. complicity in their harsh treatment overseas, though the government did not admit any liability.

Several of the ex-detainees, and Belhaj, had already confirmed that they did not plan to cooperate with Gibson because of concern his inquiry lacked teeth.

Rights groups and lawyers had repeatedly complained about Gibson's powers, and that the government, and not the inquiry, would have had the final say on what evidence was made public.

Clare Algar, executive director of civil liberties group Reprieve, said Gibson's inquiry "simply did not have the powers or the independence to get to the truth."

"The inquiry, as established, would not have achieved the government's stated aim of removing the stain on Britain's international reputation. For that reason, it is welcome that the ministers have decided to think again," she said, following Clarke's announcement.

Carla Ferstmann, of the REDRESS campaign group said it was vital a full inquiry is held in the future. "The public has a right to know how these incidents were allowed to happen and what role the government played," she said.

British police are examining allegations made by Belhaj, a former fighter in the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, a militant organization that long opposed Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi, that both British and U.S. intelligence may have played a role in his 2004 detention in Bangkok and transfer to Tripoli.

Their investigation will also consider claims by Sami al-Saadi, another Libyan who had been opposed to Gadhafi, that Britain's overseas spy agency played a role in his rendition.

Both men allege they were detained, along with their families, as they attempted to fly to Britain.

Documents uncovered during the fall of Tripoli disclosed the cozy working ties between Gadhafi's spies and Western intelligence officials.

Gibson said that his panel had examined hundreds of documents from Britain's spy agencies and would now offer the government an initial assessment on the country's pursuit of terrorism suspects.

A report would highlight "themes which might be subject to further examination," Gibson said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120118/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_torture_inquiry

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US moves up 1 spot to 33rd in FIFA rankings

updated 12:20 p.m. ET Jan. 18, 2012

ZURICH - World and European champion Spain retained the top spot in the FIFA rankings for the fifth straight month, and the United States moved up one place to 33rd.

The Americans' ranking is its highest since it was 31st in September. The U.S. had been 11th in September-October 2009 and reached a high of fourth in April 2006.

The top 10 places were unchanged from December after just 11 international matches were played last month. The Netherlands is second, followed by Germany, South American champion Uruguay, England. Brazil, Portugal, Croatia, Italy and Argentina.

Mexico, at 21st, has the top ranking in North and Central America and the Caribbean.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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He's back

David Beckham has re-signed with the Los Angeles Galaxy, agreeing to a new two-year contract with the Major League Soccer club.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46042169/ns/sports-soccer/

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Russia: Western sanctions against Iran stifling (AP)

MOSCOW ? A military attack on Iran would trigger a "chain reaction" that destabilizes the world, while new sanctions against Tehran would "stifle" the Iranian economy and hurt its people, Russia's foreign minister warned Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia is "seriously worried" about the prospect of a military action against Iran and is doing all it can to prevent it.

"The consequences will be extremely grave," he said at a news conference. "It's not going to be an easy walk. It will trigger a chain reaction and I don't know where it will stop."

Lavrov said an attack on Iran would send refugees streaming into its Caspian Sea neighbor Azerbaijan and further on to Russia.

"But that is just one and not the main part of the problem," he said. "It's impossible to predict all the consequences. I have no doubt that it will add fuel to the smoldering confrontation between Sunnis and Shiites."

The Sunni Arab states in the Gulf like Saudi Arabia are close U.S. allies, locked in decades-old rivalries with Iran's Shiite-led Islamic Republic.

Lavrov also warned that sanctions on Iranian oil exports now being considered by the European Union could stymie efforts to solve the Iranian nuclear standoff through talks.

"It has nothing to do with a desire to strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation," Lavrov said at a news conference. "It's aimed at stifling the Iranian economy and the population in an apparent hope to provoke discontent."

Russia has walked a fine line on the Iranian nuclear crisis, mixing careful criticism of Iran, an important trading partner, with praise for some of its moves and calls for more talks.

The EU is weighing whether to impose sanctions on buying Iranian oil, which is the source of more than 80 percent of Tehran's foreign revenue. The U.S. has already imposed new sanctions targeting Iran's central bank and, by extension, refiners' ability to buy and pay for crude.

The sanctions are linked to Iran's disputed uranium enrichment program, which the U.S. and its Western allies suspect is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. Iran denies the charges, saying its program is aimed at civilian power generation and research.

Moscow, which built Iran's first nuclear power plant, backed some of the previous U.N. sanctions against Iran, but in recent months has firmly rejected imposing any new sanctions and has called for more dialogue.

Russia believes that "all conceivable sanctions already have been applied" and that new penalties could derail hopes for continuing six-way negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program, provoking Iranian intransigence, Lavrov said.

He noted that the EU's consideration of new sanctions comes as Iran plans to host a delegation from the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

"We believe that there is every chance to resume talks between the six powers and Iran, and we are concerned about obstacles being put to them," he said. "The sanctions could hardly help make the talks productive."

Iran's official IRNA news agency said a senior security official, Ali Bagheri, headed to Moscow for talks with Lavrov and other Russian officials on Wednesday.

____

Ali Akbar Dareini contributed to this report from Tehran, Iran.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120118/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_iran

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