Asked this weekend to grade her performance as speaker, Nancy Pelosi gave herself an “A for effort.”
But Pelosi knows that the real test is still to come.
Pelosi is inarguably one of the strongest speakers in modern history — an authoritarian figure in an era of centralized power in the House. But the coming months are a make-or-break period for her, a brutal reality check of her ability to manage all aspects of her job — consensus-building, agenda-setting, vote-counting, fundraising and campaigning.
Now in her fourth year as speaker and eighth overall as the top Democrat in the House, Pelosi has never faced such a daunting set of challenges:
Health care: Pelosi and other top House Democrats say publicly that they have the votes to push through a comprehensive package, but privately, they know they don’t. Pelosi must balance the diverging interests of her own members while simultaneously satisfying Senate Democrats and working with President Barack Obama and his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, a former House colleague with whom she has an uneasy relationship.
The voters: The electoral winds that were at Pelosi’s back in the past two cycles thanks to having George W. Bush in the White House are blowing this year in Democrats’ faces. Prognosticators both inside and outside the party are laying odds on an outcome that seemed unthinkable just a few months ago: a GOP takeover of the House.
Democratic infighting: The factions that make up the House Democratic majority, from the conservative Blue Dog Coalition to the liberal Progressive Caucus, are increasingly willing to fight for their own priorities at the risk of party unity. That dynamic was evident last week when a simple $15 billion jobs bill was punted from the floor schedule over a series of Goldilocks-like objections about too little spending, too much spending and misdirected spending.
Brutal campaigning: Pelosi faces a tough year on the fundraising circuit, with a punishing travel schedule and hard environment in which to raise money. She’s collected $18.5 million for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee — with a goal of $25 million for the election cycle — and $3.6 million for vulnerable Democratic incumbents and challengers. But hints of GOP victory in the fall could to make it more difficult for her to raise money from Corporate America and K Street.
Loss of allies: Pelosi suffered a tremendous personal loss with the death of her friend and her most influential ally in the House, Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha. Another of Pelosi’s powerful colleagues, Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel, has seen his influence diminished by ethical problems — including an admonishment last week by theHouse ethics committee.
The “bullet in the head” factor: Pelosi insists she will fight for every Democratic seat this November. But as Election Day draws nearer, Pelosi will most likely have to make tough calls on which vulnerable Democratic candidates to help and which ones to cut loose. Those choices would cause conflict in her caucus and could threaten the Democratic majority if she picks poorly.
Internal polls look bad for the Democrats, and Charlie Cook has warned that the party may lose its majority in November.
But in an interview over the weekend, Pelosi said unequivocally that the Democrats will hold on to their majority in November.
“I’m not yielding one grain of sand; we’re fighting for every seat,” the speaker said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Pelosi’s supporters point to her past successes as a sign that she’ll succeed again this year, despite all the obstacles and the gloom and doom.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/33670.html#ixzz0gyaJNTMB
Monday, March 1, 2010
Crosby's goal wins gold, Canada beats US 3-2 in OT
By IRA PODELL, AP Hockey Writer Ira Podell, Ap Hockey Writer – Mon Mar 1, 6:22 am ET
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Sidney Crosby sized up goalie Ryan Miller in overtime and delivered hockey gold to a nation that not only craved it, but demanded it, too.
Silver wouldn't satisfy. Not in this sport and not in these Olympics.
Canada needed a pick-me-up to call the past 17 days a success. With a wrist shot Miller wasn't expecting, Crosby wiped away a whole lot of hurt. The scoreboard read Canada 3, USA 2. A happy — yet relieved country — rejoiced Sunday.
The death of a luger before the Olympic cauldron was lit, disheartening glitches and a slow start in the medals race had Canada down on these games. But after finishing tops among all nations with a Winter Olympics record 14 gold medals, including the one it wanted most, the hosts held their heads high.
'O Canada' surely never sounded as sweet as when the Maple Leaf flag rose above the ice to honor hockey's latest champions. And the way the Canadians pulled it off was truly dramatic. Crosby and Canada shook off a shocking tying goal by Zach Parise that gave the United States hope in the closing seconds of regulation.
"I'm very proud to be Canadian," forward Jarome Iginla said. "You know what, I'm really proud of setting the gold-medal record for Canada."
Remember the time: 7:40 into the extra session. That's the moment Sid the Kid grew up on the world stage and scored the winning goal. It set off howls, chants, sobs and cheers inside a packed Canada Hockey Place that was so proud of the guys decked out in red and white.
"It's a pretty unbelievable thing," the 22-year-old Crosby said. "Being in Canada, that's the opportunity of a lifetime. You dream of that a thousand times growing up. For it to come true is amazing."
For the past few years, Crosby has basically been on loan. He plays below the border in Pittsburgh — a working-class American town that celebrated him and the Stanley Cup title he and the Penguins brought to the Steel City last year.
For the past two weeks, he was back home for Canada to reclaim as its own. There could be no more fitting ending to the Vancouver Games than to have the favorite son bring home the gold medal to a country that loves hockey more than any other sport.
At times, it seemed as if the pressure and expectations on this group of Canadian hockey players might be too much too handle. There was the early scare against Switzerland that produced a victory, a scaled-down one in a shootout, and then the crushing loss to the Americans at the end of preliminary round play.
Canada was stuck in a play-in game just to get into the quarterfinals. Could they realistically be expected to win four times in six days to capture gold?
The answer was a resounding yes.
"We talked about not getting discouraged if the tournament didn't go our way right off the bat," defenseman Scott Niedermayer said. "Believe in each other and get our team game the way it needs to be to win, and we did it."
To win, Canada withstood a remarkable and determined effort from a U.S. team that wasn't supposed to medal in Vancouver, much less roll through the tournament unbeaten before losing in the first overtime gold-medal game since NHL players joined the Olympics in 1998.
"No one knew our names. People know our names now," said Chris Drury, one of three holdovers from the 2002 U.S. team that also lost to Canada in the gold-medal game.
Miller graciously accepted the silver medal around his neck, but the disappointment was easy to read on his face.
"He was the main reason we were in the gold medal game and why we got it to overtime," forward Ryan Callahan said.
Drury, Miller's former teammate with the Buffalo Sabres, hugged the devastated goalie near the U.S. bench as the celebration roared all around them.
"He's pretty down, but there's no chance we're here without the way he played the whole tournament," Drury said. "It's heartbreaking to lose in OT of a gold-medal game, but he should be proud of everything he did the last two weeks."
Miller was done in on Sunday by a couple of costly mistakes by his typically sure-handed defensemen. The gaffes led to shots that gave the rock-solid goalie little chance to stop.
Even with an early 0-2 deficit — the first for the Americans' in this stunning Olympic run — Miller proved to be as brilliant as he had been throughout the tournament.
A two-goal hole was already deep for the Americans. Three would have been almost too monumental to overcome.
Miller knew it and never let it get that far. He watched from the bench after being pulled for an extra attacker and saw Parise net the goal that made it 2-2 with 24.4 seconds remaining that forced a most improbable overtime. Ryan Kesler began the comeback when he cut the deficit to 2-1 with 7:16 left in the second.
Whatever momentum was gained by Parise's exhilarating goal was mostly gone by the time the teams returned after a lengthy break before overtime.
"Once we got past about 10 minutes into the intermission we realized, 'You know what? We've still got a chance here,'" Crosby said. "We just said, 'Let's go after it.'
"I didn't want to have any regrets."
Canada was in control throughout extra time, keeping the puck in the U.S. zone and the pressure squarely on the young Americans. Their speed, the Americans' greatest strength, seemed to slow as the game wore on under the constant hitting from the much-bigger Canadians.
Crosby scored from the bottom of the left circle on a shot Miller didn't think would come.
Now, Crosby joins Lemieux — whose goal beat the Soviet Union in the 1987 World Cup — and Paul Henderson, who beat the Soviets with a goal in the 1972 Summit Series, among the instant national heroes of Canadian hockey. At age 22, Crosby has won the Stanley Cup and the Olympics in less than a year's time.
"He's got a little destiny to him — his entire career, throughout minor hockey, junior hockey, NHL," Canada executive director Steve Yzerman said about Crosby. "So it's just another monumental moment in his career. And he's what, 22 still? He's a special, special guy. Kind of like Gretzky."
Minutes after the game ended, delirious fans chanted, "Crosby! Crosby! Crosby!" International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge paused before giving the final medal to Crosby as the crowd got even louder. Then he gestured with his right hand, calling for more cheers for Crosby.
"It's just fitting, I think, that Sid would get it," goalie Roberto Luongo said. "I couldn't think of anyone better."
info came from http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/oly_hko_canada_us
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Sidney Crosby sized up goalie Ryan Miller in overtime and delivered hockey gold to a nation that not only craved it, but demanded it, too.
Silver wouldn't satisfy. Not in this sport and not in these Olympics.
Canada needed a pick-me-up to call the past 17 days a success. With a wrist shot Miller wasn't expecting, Crosby wiped away a whole lot of hurt. The scoreboard read Canada 3, USA 2. A happy — yet relieved country — rejoiced Sunday.
The death of a luger before the Olympic cauldron was lit, disheartening glitches and a slow start in the medals race had Canada down on these games. But after finishing tops among all nations with a Winter Olympics record 14 gold medals, including the one it wanted most, the hosts held their heads high.
'O Canada' surely never sounded as sweet as when the Maple Leaf flag rose above the ice to honor hockey's latest champions. And the way the Canadians pulled it off was truly dramatic. Crosby and Canada shook off a shocking tying goal by Zach Parise that gave the United States hope in the closing seconds of regulation.
"I'm very proud to be Canadian," forward Jarome Iginla said. "You know what, I'm really proud of setting the gold-medal record for Canada."
Remember the time: 7:40 into the extra session. That's the moment Sid the Kid grew up on the world stage and scored the winning goal. It set off howls, chants, sobs and cheers inside a packed Canada Hockey Place that was so proud of the guys decked out in red and white.
"It's a pretty unbelievable thing," the 22-year-old Crosby said. "Being in Canada, that's the opportunity of a lifetime. You dream of that a thousand times growing up. For it to come true is amazing."
For the past few years, Crosby has basically been on loan. He plays below the border in Pittsburgh — a working-class American town that celebrated him and the Stanley Cup title he and the Penguins brought to the Steel City last year.
For the past two weeks, he was back home for Canada to reclaim as its own. There could be no more fitting ending to the Vancouver Games than to have the favorite son bring home the gold medal to a country that loves hockey more than any other sport.
At times, it seemed as if the pressure and expectations on this group of Canadian hockey players might be too much too handle. There was the early scare against Switzerland that produced a victory, a scaled-down one in a shootout, and then the crushing loss to the Americans at the end of preliminary round play.
Canada was stuck in a play-in game just to get into the quarterfinals. Could they realistically be expected to win four times in six days to capture gold?
The answer was a resounding yes.
"We talked about not getting discouraged if the tournament didn't go our way right off the bat," defenseman Scott Niedermayer said. "Believe in each other and get our team game the way it needs to be to win, and we did it."
To win, Canada withstood a remarkable and determined effort from a U.S. team that wasn't supposed to medal in Vancouver, much less roll through the tournament unbeaten before losing in the first overtime gold-medal game since NHL players joined the Olympics in 1998.
"No one knew our names. People know our names now," said Chris Drury, one of three holdovers from the 2002 U.S. team that also lost to Canada in the gold-medal game.
Miller graciously accepted the silver medal around his neck, but the disappointment was easy to read on his face.
"He was the main reason we were in the gold medal game and why we got it to overtime," forward Ryan Callahan said.
Drury, Miller's former teammate with the Buffalo Sabres, hugged the devastated goalie near the U.S. bench as the celebration roared all around them.
"He's pretty down, but there's no chance we're here without the way he played the whole tournament," Drury said. "It's heartbreaking to lose in OT of a gold-medal game, but he should be proud of everything he did the last two weeks."
Miller was done in on Sunday by a couple of costly mistakes by his typically sure-handed defensemen. The gaffes led to shots that gave the rock-solid goalie little chance to stop.
Even with an early 0-2 deficit — the first for the Americans' in this stunning Olympic run — Miller proved to be as brilliant as he had been throughout the tournament.
A two-goal hole was already deep for the Americans. Three would have been almost too monumental to overcome.
Miller knew it and never let it get that far. He watched from the bench after being pulled for an extra attacker and saw Parise net the goal that made it 2-2 with 24.4 seconds remaining that forced a most improbable overtime. Ryan Kesler began the comeback when he cut the deficit to 2-1 with 7:16 left in the second.
Whatever momentum was gained by Parise's exhilarating goal was mostly gone by the time the teams returned after a lengthy break before overtime.
"Once we got past about 10 minutes into the intermission we realized, 'You know what? We've still got a chance here,'" Crosby said. "We just said, 'Let's go after it.'
"I didn't want to have any regrets."
Canada was in control throughout extra time, keeping the puck in the U.S. zone and the pressure squarely on the young Americans. Their speed, the Americans' greatest strength, seemed to slow as the game wore on under the constant hitting from the much-bigger Canadians.
Crosby scored from the bottom of the left circle on a shot Miller didn't think would come.
Now, Crosby joins Lemieux — whose goal beat the Soviet Union in the 1987 World Cup — and Paul Henderson, who beat the Soviets with a goal in the 1972 Summit Series, among the instant national heroes of Canadian hockey. At age 22, Crosby has won the Stanley Cup and the Olympics in less than a year's time.
"He's got a little destiny to him — his entire career, throughout minor hockey, junior hockey, NHL," Canada executive director Steve Yzerman said about Crosby. "So it's just another monumental moment in his career. And he's what, 22 still? He's a special, special guy. Kind of like Gretzky."
Minutes after the game ended, delirious fans chanted, "Crosby! Crosby! Crosby!" International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge paused before giving the final medal to Crosby as the crowd got even louder. Then he gestured with his right hand, calling for more cheers for Crosby.
"It's just fitting, I think, that Sid would get it," goalie Roberto Luongo said. "I couldn't think of anyone better."
info came from http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/oly_hko_canada_us
UPDATE 1-Winter storms to distort US jobless figures-Summers
(Adds quotes on Greece, background)
Regulatory News | Bonds | Global Markets
WASHINGTON, March 1 (Reuters) - White House economic adviser Larry Summers said on Monday winter blizzards were likely to distort U.S. February jobless figures, which are due to be released on Friday.
"The blizzards that affected much of the country during the last month are likely to distort the statistics. So it's going to be very important ... to look past whatever the next figures are to gauge the underlying trends," Summers said in an interview with CNBC, according to a transcript.
Construction activity was hit particularly hard by the storms, but many restaurants and stores also had to close, putting the brakes on hiring plans and temporarily throwing some employees out of work.
Summers, director of the White House's National Economic Council, also said the United States was closely monitoring Greece's debt problems and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was encouraged by what he had heard from European officials about the issue.
"With respect to Europe, I am obviously very concerned about what's happening in Greece and Portugal, in Spain, in Italy, on the European continent," Summers said.
"I think there have been increasing signs of recognition both in Greece and in the major countries of Europe that this is a situation that has to be managed; that combination of getting the Greek budget under better control and providing more support is necessary to stabilize this situation."
Summers brushed aside speculation that he was interested in changing jobs.
"I like what I'm doing," he said. "My view is if the president asks me to do something in which I think I can make a contribution, the right approach to it is to say yes, and that's why I'm very pleased to be here working at the National Economic Council." (Reporting by Jeff Mason and Ross Colvin; editing by Chris Wilson)
info came from http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0111549320100301?type=marketsNews
Regulatory News | Bonds | Global Markets
WASHINGTON, March 1 (Reuters) - White House economic adviser Larry Summers said on Monday winter blizzards were likely to distort U.S. February jobless figures, which are due to be released on Friday.
"The blizzards that affected much of the country during the last month are likely to distort the statistics. So it's going to be very important ... to look past whatever the next figures are to gauge the underlying trends," Summers said in an interview with CNBC, according to a transcript.
Construction activity was hit particularly hard by the storms, but many restaurants and stores also had to close, putting the brakes on hiring plans and temporarily throwing some employees out of work.
Summers, director of the White House's National Economic Council, also said the United States was closely monitoring Greece's debt problems and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was encouraged by what he had heard from European officials about the issue.
"With respect to Europe, I am obviously very concerned about what's happening in Greece and Portugal, in Spain, in Italy, on the European continent," Summers said.
"I think there have been increasing signs of recognition both in Greece and in the major countries of Europe that this is a situation that has to be managed; that combination of getting the Greek budget under better control and providing more support is necessary to stabilize this situation."
Summers brushed aside speculation that he was interested in changing jobs.
"I like what I'm doing," he said. "My view is if the president asks me to do something in which I think I can make a contribution, the right approach to it is to say yes, and that's why I'm very pleased to be here working at the National Economic Council." (Reporting by Jeff Mason and Ross Colvin; editing by Chris Wilson)
info came from http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0111549320100301?type=marketsNews
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Huge quake hits Chile; tsunami threatens Pacific
By ROBERTO CANDIA and EVA VERGARA, Associated Press Writer Roberto Candia And Eva Vergara, Associated Press Writer – 7 mins ago
TALCA, Chile – A devastating earthquake struck Chile early Saturday, toppling homes, collapsing bridges and plunging trucks into the fractured earth. A tsunami set off by the magnitude-8.8 quake threatened every nation around the Pacific Ocean — roughly a quarter of the globe.
President-elect Sebastian Pinera said more than 120 people died, but the death toll was rising quickly.
In the town of Talca, just 65 miles (105 kilometers) from the epicenter, Associated Press journalist Roberto Candia said it felt as if a giant had grabbed him and shaken him.
The town's historic center, filled with buildings of adobe mud and straw, largely collapsed, though most of those were businesses that were not inhabited during the 3:34 a.m. (1:34 a.m. EST, 0634 GMT) quake. Neighbors pulled at least five people from the rubble while emergency workers, themselves disoriented, asked for information from reporters.
Many roads were destroyed, and electricity, water and phone lines were cut to many areas — meaning there was no word of death or damage from many outlying areas.
In the Chilean capital of Santiago, 200 miles (325 kilometers) northeast of the epicenter, a car dangled from a collapsed overpass, the national Fine Arts Museum was badly damaged and an apartment building's two-story parking lot pancaked, smashing about 50 cars whose alarms rang incessantly.
Experts warned that a tsunami could strike anywhere in the Pacific, and Hawaii could face its largest waves since 1964 starting at 11:19 a.m. (4:19 p.m. EST, 2119 GMT), according to Charles McCreery, director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
Tsunami waves were likely to hit Asian, Australian and New Zealand shores within 24 hours of the earthquake. The U.S. West Coast and Alaska, too, were threatened.
Waves 6 feet (1.8 meter) above normal hit Talcahuano near Concepcion 23 minutes after the quake, and President Michelle Bachelet said a huge wave swept into a populated area in the Robinson Crusoe Islands, 410 miles (660 kilometers) off the Chilean coast, but there were no immediate reports of major damage.
Bachelet said she had no information on the number of people injured in the quake. She declared a "state of catastrophe" in central Chile.
"We have had a huge earthquake, with some aftershocks," she said from an emergency response center. She said Chile has not asked for assistance from other countries, and urged Chileans not to panic.
"The system is functioning. People should remain calm. We're doing everything we can with all the forces we have. Any information we will share immediately," she said.
Powerful aftershocks rattled Chile's coast — 29 of them magnitude 5 or greater and one reaching magnitude 6.9 — the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
In Santiago, modern buildings are built to withstand earthquakes, but many older ones were heavily damaged, including the Nuestra Senora de la Providencia church, whose bell tower collapsed. A bridge just outside the capital also collapsed, and at least one car flipped upside down.
Several hospitals were evacuated due to earthquake damage, Bachelet said.
Santiago's airport will remain closed for at least 24 hours, airport director Eduardo del Canto said. The passenger terminal suffered major damage, he told Chilean television in a telephone interview. TV images show smashed windows, partially collapsed ceilings and pedestrian walkways destroyed.
Santiago's subway was shut as well and hundreds of buses were trapped at a terminal by a damaged bridge, Transportation and Telecommunications Minister told Chilean television. He urged Chileans to make phone calls or travel only when absolutely necessary.
Candia was visiting his wife's 92-year-old grandmother in Talca when the quake struck.
"Everything was falling — chests of drawers, everything," he said. "I was sleeping with my 8-year-old son Diego and I managed to cover his head with a pillow. It was like major turbulence on an airplane."
In Concepcion, 70 miles (115 kilometers) from the epicenter, nurses and residents pushed the injured through the streets on stretchers. Others walked around in a daze wrapped in blankets, some carrying infants in their arms.
A 15-story building collapsed: "I was on the 8th floor and all of a sudden I was down here," said Fernando Abarzua, who lived in the building but somehow escaped with no major injuries.
Abarzua said a relative was still trapped in the rubble six hours after the quake hit, "but he keeps shouting, saying he's OK."
Concepcion, Chile's second-largest city, is 60 miles (95 kilometers) from the ski town of Chillan, a gateway to Andean ski resorts that was destroyed in a 1939 earthquake.
The quake also shook buildings in Argentina's capital of Buenos Aires, 900 miles (1,400 kilometers) away on the Atlantic side of South America. It was felt as far away as Sao Paulo in Brazil — 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) east of the epicenter.
Marco Vidal, a program director for Grand Circle Travel who was traveling with a group of 34 Americans, was on the 19th floor of the Crown Plaza Santiago hotel when the quake struck.
"All the things start to fall. The lamps, everything, was going on the floor," he said. "I felt terrified."
Cynthia Iocono, from Linwood, Pennsylvania, said she first thought the quake was a train.
"But then I thought, `Oh, there's no train here.' And then the lamps flew off the dresser and my TV flew off onto the floor and crashed."
The quake struck after concert-goers had left South America's leading music festival in the coastal city of Vina del Mar, but it caught partiers leaving a disco.
"It was very bad. People were screaming. Some people were running, others appeared paralyzed. I was one of them," Julio Alvarez told Radio Cooperativa.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center called for "urgent action to protect lives and property" in Hawaii, which is among 53 nations and territories subject to tsunami warnings.
"Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated. It may have been destructive along coasts near the earthquake epicenter and could also be a threat to more distant coasts," the warning center said. It did not expect a tsunami along the west of the U.S. or Canada.
The largest earthquake ever recorded struck the same area of Chile on May 22, 1960. The magnitude-9.5 quake killed 1,655 people and left 2 million homeless. The tsunami that it caused killed people in Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines and caused damage to the west coast of the United States.
___
Eva Vergara reported from Santiago, Chile. Associated Press Television News cameraman Mauricio Cuevas and writer Eduardo Gallardo in Santiago, and AP writer Sandy Kozel in Washington contributed to this story.
info came from http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/lt_chile_earthquake
TALCA, Chile – A devastating earthquake struck Chile early Saturday, toppling homes, collapsing bridges and plunging trucks into the fractured earth. A tsunami set off by the magnitude-8.8 quake threatened every nation around the Pacific Ocean — roughly a quarter of the globe.
President-elect Sebastian Pinera said more than 120 people died, but the death toll was rising quickly.
In the town of Talca, just 65 miles (105 kilometers) from the epicenter, Associated Press journalist Roberto Candia said it felt as if a giant had grabbed him and shaken him.
The town's historic center, filled with buildings of adobe mud and straw, largely collapsed, though most of those were businesses that were not inhabited during the 3:34 a.m. (1:34 a.m. EST, 0634 GMT) quake. Neighbors pulled at least five people from the rubble while emergency workers, themselves disoriented, asked for information from reporters.
Many roads were destroyed, and electricity, water and phone lines were cut to many areas — meaning there was no word of death or damage from many outlying areas.
In the Chilean capital of Santiago, 200 miles (325 kilometers) northeast of the epicenter, a car dangled from a collapsed overpass, the national Fine Arts Museum was badly damaged and an apartment building's two-story parking lot pancaked, smashing about 50 cars whose alarms rang incessantly.
Experts warned that a tsunami could strike anywhere in the Pacific, and Hawaii could face its largest waves since 1964 starting at 11:19 a.m. (4:19 p.m. EST, 2119 GMT), according to Charles McCreery, director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
Tsunami waves were likely to hit Asian, Australian and New Zealand shores within 24 hours of the earthquake. The U.S. West Coast and Alaska, too, were threatened.
Waves 6 feet (1.8 meter) above normal hit Talcahuano near Concepcion 23 minutes after the quake, and President Michelle Bachelet said a huge wave swept into a populated area in the Robinson Crusoe Islands, 410 miles (660 kilometers) off the Chilean coast, but there were no immediate reports of major damage.
Bachelet said she had no information on the number of people injured in the quake. She declared a "state of catastrophe" in central Chile.
"We have had a huge earthquake, with some aftershocks," she said from an emergency response center. She said Chile has not asked for assistance from other countries, and urged Chileans not to panic.
"The system is functioning. People should remain calm. We're doing everything we can with all the forces we have. Any information we will share immediately," she said.
Powerful aftershocks rattled Chile's coast — 29 of them magnitude 5 or greater and one reaching magnitude 6.9 — the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
In Santiago, modern buildings are built to withstand earthquakes, but many older ones were heavily damaged, including the Nuestra Senora de la Providencia church, whose bell tower collapsed. A bridge just outside the capital also collapsed, and at least one car flipped upside down.
Several hospitals were evacuated due to earthquake damage, Bachelet said.
Santiago's airport will remain closed for at least 24 hours, airport director Eduardo del Canto said. The passenger terminal suffered major damage, he told Chilean television in a telephone interview. TV images show smashed windows, partially collapsed ceilings and pedestrian walkways destroyed.
Santiago's subway was shut as well and hundreds of buses were trapped at a terminal by a damaged bridge, Transportation and Telecommunications Minister told Chilean television. He urged Chileans to make phone calls or travel only when absolutely necessary.
Candia was visiting his wife's 92-year-old grandmother in Talca when the quake struck.
"Everything was falling — chests of drawers, everything," he said. "I was sleeping with my 8-year-old son Diego and I managed to cover his head with a pillow. It was like major turbulence on an airplane."
In Concepcion, 70 miles (115 kilometers) from the epicenter, nurses and residents pushed the injured through the streets on stretchers. Others walked around in a daze wrapped in blankets, some carrying infants in their arms.
A 15-story building collapsed: "I was on the 8th floor and all of a sudden I was down here," said Fernando Abarzua, who lived in the building but somehow escaped with no major injuries.
Abarzua said a relative was still trapped in the rubble six hours after the quake hit, "but he keeps shouting, saying he's OK."
Concepcion, Chile's second-largest city, is 60 miles (95 kilometers) from the ski town of Chillan, a gateway to Andean ski resorts that was destroyed in a 1939 earthquake.
The quake also shook buildings in Argentina's capital of Buenos Aires, 900 miles (1,400 kilometers) away on the Atlantic side of South America. It was felt as far away as Sao Paulo in Brazil — 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) east of the epicenter.
Marco Vidal, a program director for Grand Circle Travel who was traveling with a group of 34 Americans, was on the 19th floor of the Crown Plaza Santiago hotel when the quake struck.
"All the things start to fall. The lamps, everything, was going on the floor," he said. "I felt terrified."
Cynthia Iocono, from Linwood, Pennsylvania, said she first thought the quake was a train.
"But then I thought, `Oh, there's no train here.' And then the lamps flew off the dresser and my TV flew off onto the floor and crashed."
The quake struck after concert-goers had left South America's leading music festival in the coastal city of Vina del Mar, but it caught partiers leaving a disco.
"It was very bad. People were screaming. Some people were running, others appeared paralyzed. I was one of them," Julio Alvarez told Radio Cooperativa.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center called for "urgent action to protect lives and property" in Hawaii, which is among 53 nations and territories subject to tsunami warnings.
"Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated. It may have been destructive along coasts near the earthquake epicenter and could also be a threat to more distant coasts," the warning center said. It did not expect a tsunami along the west of the U.S. or Canada.
The largest earthquake ever recorded struck the same area of Chile on May 22, 1960. The magnitude-9.5 quake killed 1,655 people and left 2 million homeless. The tsunami that it caused killed people in Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines and caused damage to the west coast of the United States.
___
Eva Vergara reported from Santiago, Chile. Associated Press Television News cameraman Mauricio Cuevas and writer Eduardo Gallardo in Santiago, and AP writer Sandy Kozel in Washington contributed to this story.
info came from http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/lt_chile_earthquake
Boozy ape sent to rehab
Ai Ai, a 26-year-old chimpanzee, enjoys a cigarette after a meal in her glass enclosure at the zoo in Xian, in central China's Shaanxi province, in this August 2005 file photo. A Russian chimpanzee has been sent to rehab by zookeepers to cure the smoking and beer-drinking habits he has picked up, a popular daily reported on Friday.
Photograph by: File, Reuters
info came from http://www.montrealgazette.com/travel/Boozy+chimp+sent+rehab+Russia/2616639/story.html
The gun-toting boys from Brazil who rule Rio’s ‘Corner of Fear’
A boy steps boldly into the night traffic and waves a gun to bring the cars to a halt, clearing a path for a motorcycle which screeches into the intersection. Riding pillion is another boy, brandishing a machinegun.
Later two teenagers, also riding pillion on motorbikes, flash their guns at other motorists; nearby, a boy can be seen taking aim with a rifle equipped with a telescopic sight. Other youths wander the street smoking crack.
For residents, the junction between the busy Dom Helder Câmara and dos Democráticos, in North Rio de Janeiro, has become known as the Corner of Fear — and video footage of daily life there has shocked a nation already familiar with guns and violence.
The latest images, captured by undercover journalists from the Rio tabloid Extra, have exposed the city’s criminal youth culture in a manner that echoes the journalistic investigation featured in the film City of God.
The age of the criminals — one pistol-toting boy is 12 — is obvious cause for alarm, but so is the seeming impunity with which they act.
The video footage has provided a glimpse into the city’s underworld that hardly touches Rio’s wealthier citizens.
Local newspapers rarely show at first hand the violence that permeates the city’s slums (favelas). Since the brutal torture and murder of the journalist Tim Lopes — who was caught filming secretly in the Vila Cruzeiro favela in 2002 — Brazilian reporters have been reluctant to take their cameras into slum areas. Any reports that are filed tend to come from correspondents talking from inside armoured cars, or are images showing the aftermath of a shooting.
“What is shocking is this parallel power, the fact that they are very young,” said André Cabral De Almeida Cardoso, 41, a teacher. “They are so brazen about it.”
Valera dos Santos, 34, a maid who lives in a favela in São Paulo, said: “My God, I’ve never seen pictures like this. It’s absurd, they’re just boys.”
The journalists who captured the images were also taken aback. “Even knowing the reality of what could happen, you are still shocked by the glamour that these weapons represent in the arms of minors,” said Fernando Torres, 27, one of a team of three who spent four nights undercover at the Corner of Fear.
“These images are desolate,” said Lucy Petroucic, 56, a translator. “These boys have become little Taleban who think they have nothing to lose.”
Within hours, police arrested one of a group of bandits shown in the video and promised that changes were on the way. Luiz Fernando Pezão, Rio’s Deputy Governor, told reporters that a new police base would open nearby in May.
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