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WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is again urging Congress to send him a package of tax breaks and other incentives to help small businesses grow and create jobs.
The legislation would eliminate capital gains taxes for investments in such companies and encourage people to open businesses by offering tax relief to small startups.
Obama says his [...]

HONOLULU – Republicans cited Rep.-elect Charles Djou’s victory for a seat long out of their reach as evidence of steadily increasing election-year strength, but Democrats said Sunday the winner’s 40-percent vote share portends a short stay in Congress for him and predicts nothing about the fall.
“It is a significant win. It is the birthplace of [...]

WASHINGTON – A U.S. military official says the Navy had a close encounter with an Iranian surveillance jet last week in the Gulf of Oman.
The official says the jet buzzed a Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Eisenhower, coming within about 1,000 yards of the ship. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he [...]

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE – President Barack Obama said Wednesday that there “may not be an appetite” in Congress to deal with immigration immediately after going through a tough legislative year.
With energy legislation on the table and midterm elections approaching, Obama said he didn’t want to force an immigration bill through Congress “just for the [...]

WASHINGTON – Attorney General Eric Holder says the federal government may challenge Arizona’s new law on immigration.
The attorney general told reporters Tuesday that he fears Arizona’s new law is subject to abuse.

At a news conference, Holder said that the Justice Department and the Homeland Security Department are in the midst of conducting a review of [...]

WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is heading to a meeting of NATO ministers in Estonia at a time when the 61-year-old organization is suffering from a kind of mid-life crisis.
Almost 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the 28-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization is in the midst of an intense [...]

Senate Democratic leaders plan to stand behind the $50 billion fund maligned by Republicans as perpetuating Wall Street bailouts, agreeing at a leadership meeting Monday that they wouldn’t give it up without gaining GOP votes in return, according to a Democratic aide familiar with the discussions.
Democrats have been put on the defensive by Minority [...]

LONDON (AFP) – EU transport ministers were to hold a video conference Monday on the volcanic ash cloud blowing across Europe, which has left millions of passengers stranded around the globe.
With European air traffic officials still designating much of the continent a virtual no-fly zone for a fifth straight day Monday, airlines were urging a [...]

LONDON (Reuters) – Officials hope to significantly increase flights at the start of Europe’s new working week on Monday and the EU summoned ministers for talks as pressure builds for a solution to the 5-day-old air travel crisis.
From just over a fifth of flights taking to the air on Sunday, the figure could rise to [...]

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – It’s early on a Monday in north Alabama’s “space city,” and Sen. Richard Shelby is bashing Washington at a packed town hall meeting in the cavernous U.S. Space and Rocket Center.
“We’re spending a lot of money that we don’t have,” the veteran Republican tells hundreds of business leaders, many nodding in agreement [...]