| Biden's 2016 comment turns heads Posted: 21 Jan 2015 04:51 AM PST  The VP said, "I think I could do a good job" as president
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| U.S. and Cuba start historic talks on restoring ties Posted: 21 Jan 2015 08:06 AM PST  By Daniel Trotta HAVANA (Reuters) - The highest-level U.S. delegation to Cuba in 35 years began talks on Wednesday aimed at restoring diplomatic relations and eventually opening up full trade and travel ties between two adversaries locked in Cold War-era hostilities. The two days of meetings are the first since U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced on Dec. 17 they had reached a historic breakthrough after 18 months of secret negotiations. Obama has set the United States on a path toward removing economic sanctions and a 53-year-old trade embargo against the communist-ruled island. He also urged Congress to start work on ending the embargo but critics at home say Obama first needs to win concessions from Cuba's communist government on political prisoners and democratic rights, the claims of U.S. citizens whose property was nationalized after Cuba's 1959 revolution, and U.S. fugitives who have been given asylum in Cuba.
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| Boehner invites Israeli leader to address Congress on Iran Posted: 21 Jan 2015 08:03 AM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Rebuffing President Barack Obama on Iran, House Speaker John Boehner said Wednesday he had invited Israel's prime minister to address a joint meeting of Congress next month about the threats from Tehran and radical Islam.
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| Matt Bai: Obama declares victory, way too late Posted: 21 Jan 2015 02:09 AM PST  At long last, President Obama champions his own economic recovery.
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| On scale of 1-10, it's 11 for Patriots in deflate-gate mess Posted: 21 Jan 2015 01:33 AM PST  Eleven? Eleven. Eleven footballs the New England Patriots brought to Sunday's AFC championship game have now been determined by the NFL to be under-inflated – by 2 full pounds – according to ESPN, which cited the preliminary findings of a league investigation.
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| Some Republicans see areas of common ground in Obama's speech Posted: 20 Jan 2015 08:34 PM PST  Rank-and-file congressional Republicans leaving the House chamber Tuesday night took a more measured tone in responding to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, focusing on specific policy areas where they agreed with him, even as their leaders released boilerplate statements panning the speech.
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| Time to 'turn the page' and help middle class, Obama to say Posted: 21 Jan 2015 07:50 AM PST  By Steve Holland and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will challenge a skeptical Republican-led Congress on Tuesday to back tax increases on the wealthy to help lift up middle-class Americans, saying in a State of the Union speech it is time to "turn the page" from recession and war. On foreign policy, Obama will call on lawmakers to pass a new authorization of military force against Islamic State militants to replace powers that were given to President George W. Bush to prosecute the Iraq war. Obama's appeal for a new force authorization for Washington's five-month campaign of air strikes in Iraq and Syria may be one of the few items he proposes on Tuesday that will gain congressional approval, as Republicans cast a dim view on his call for tax hikes. Obama will credit his "middle-class economics" for a surge in the U.S. economy and say it is time to "turn the page" from recession and war and to focus on growth for the middle class, according to excerpts of his 9 p.m. EST (0200 GMT Wednesday) televised speech released by the White House.
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| Town to vote on demolishing Sandy Hook killer's Connecticut home Posted: 21 Jan 2015 08:04 AM PST  By Richard Weizel NEWTOWN, Conn. (Reuters) - Civic officials will vote on Wednesday evening whether to demolish the Connecticut home of the 20-year-old man who killed 26 children and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 in one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. Adam Lanza shot and killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, on Dec. 14, 2012, at the white colonial-style house shortly before driving to the school to continue his shooting spree, which ended with him killing himself. "The best thing we can do to honor the families is to demolish the house," Patricia Llodra, Newtown's most senior elected official, said in telephone interview ahead of Wednesday's public hearing. Llodra said the Newtown Board of Selectmen, the administrative body that she leads, had unanimously approved a recommendation to demolish the house.
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| Texas to execute man for triple murder in San Antonio home Posted: 21 Jan 2015 10:09 AM PST  By Jon Herskovitz AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Texas plans to execute on Wednesday a man who was convicted of stabbing three people to death with a screwdriver, including his great-uncle and great-aunt, in a San Antonio home robbery in 1993. Arnold Prieto's execution by injection is planned for 6 p.m. CST at the state's prison death chamber in Huntsville. If it takes place, Prieto, 41, will be the 519th person executed in Texas since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, the most of any state. Prieto and two other men went to the home of Rodolfo Rodriguez, 72, and his wife, Virginia, 62, who cooked the visitors breakfast.
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| Joni Ernst SOTU response challenges Obama in an affable tone Posted: 20 Jan 2015 07:32 PM PST  Ernst's elevation to the national stage became complete Tuesday night when she delivered a speech responding on behalf of her party to Obama's address to a joint session of Congress.
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| SOTU: How Obama 'turned the page' Posted: 20 Jan 2015 07:48 PM PST Just two years ago, he was modest — even meek — in his State of the Union. Not anymore. |
| Members of Congress, others can't resist #SOTU selfies Posted: 20 Jan 2015 07:40 PM PST Even the U.S. Capitol isn't immune to the sway of the selfie. |
| 'Designated Survivor': Anthony Foxx is cabinet official absent from SOTU address Posted: 20 Jan 2015 05:57 PM PST  Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx is the designated survivor for this year's presidential State of the Union address, a long-held and secretive tradition.
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| Paris mayor plans to sue Fox News over reports of Muslim 'no-go zones' Posted: 20 Jan 2015 12:59 PM PST  Anne Hidalgo says she intends to sue the American cable network over reports suggesting there are Muslim "no-go zones" in the French capital.
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| Watch live: President Obama's 2015 State of the Union address Posted: 20 Jan 2015 04:29 PM PST  The president gave his penultimate State of the Union address on Tuesday. Yahoo News provided live streaming coverage and analysis of the speech.
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| Obama in State of the Union: America is turning the page Posted: 20 Jan 2015 04:35 PM PST  President Barack Obama was set to urge Americans on Tuesday night to "turn the page" on years of economic troubles, terrorism and lengthy wars, arguing that his presidency had ushered in an era of smarter American leadership and a growing U.S. economy.
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