Tuesday, November 10, 2015
In economy-focused debate, GOP candidates oppose raising federal minimum wage
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Drawing a sharp contrast with Democrats, Republican presidential candidates voiced opposition to raising the federal minimum wage in Tuesday's primary debate, casting it as an impediment to national job growth.
"If you raise the minimum, you're going to make people more expensive than a machine," Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said.
Billionaire businessman Donald Trump concurred. "We cannot do this if we're going to compete with the rest of the world," he said.
Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton has called for raising the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $12. Her chief rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, has backed an increase to $15.
The economy-focused debate, the last for the GOP until mid-December, could help shape the course of the campaign into the winter as voters begin to pay more attention to the White House race.
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The Latest: GOP presidential candidates meet for 4th debate, with Trump, Carson leading
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Republican presidential candidates are debating for the fourth time in the 2016 nomination contest, this time in Milwaukee, as they compete to narrow down the wide-open contest.
Here are the latest developments (all times local):
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8:30 p.m.
Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson says he's faced lies about his life story as part of what he suggests is unprecedented scrutiny.
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10 Things to Know for Wednesday
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Wednesday:
1. REPUBLICANS SQUARE OFF FOR LAST TIME UNTIL MID-DECEMBER
The party's fourth debate could help shape the course of the campaign into the winter as voters begin to pay more attention to the White House race.
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Moscow pushes back against doping allegations, which threaten Russia's rich sports legacy
MOSCOW (AP) — The day after the 2014 Sochi Olympics ended with Russia atop the medals table, a beaming President Vladimir Putin presented his athletes with state awards for "defending the honor" of their country by showing that its "great and glorious" sports traditions were still strong.
From its decades of dominance in the 1960s to the 1980s when the Soviet Union was known as the "Big Red Machine," international sports has held outsized importance for Russians as a way to measure their country's standing in the world.
That's why accusations of cheating — widespread, state-sponsored doping — drew such a harsh reaction Tuesday in Moscow. It would be a huge embarrassment for Russia if its track and field athletes were kept out of next summer's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Russian officials have sought to discredit the report by a commission from the World Anti-Doping Agency, saying it failed to prove its main points and suggested the existence of an anti-Russian conspiracy.
"As long as there is no evidence, it is difficult to consider the accusations, which appear rather unfounded," said Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
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At least 2 dead as 10-seat business jet crashes into Ohio apartment building with 'big bang'
AKRON, Ohio (AP) — A small business jet crashed into an apartment building with a huge bang on Tuesday, killing at least two people aboard and shaking furniture in homes several blocks away, authorities said.
Investigators were trying to determine how many people were on the 10-seat Hawker H25 jet, but they confirmed two deaths, said Lt. Sierjie Lash, an Akron fire department spokeswoman.
No one was inside the small brick apartment building or another home that caught fire, she said.
The jet, which took off from Dayton, had planned to land at Akron Fulton International Airport, about 2 miles from where it crashed. It clipped a utility wire on the way down and burst into flames and disintegrated after impact, Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. Bill Haymaker said.
The plane then hit an embankment beyond the apartment building, causing a nearby house to also burn, he said. There were no known injuries on the ground, he said.
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Before recent protests, U. of Missouri's main campus saw decades of strained race relations
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — This week's events at the University of Missouri seemed to unfold rapidly, with little warning. But some students, faculty and alumni say the protests and sudden resignation of the president and chancellor are the culmination of years of racial tension on the state's flagship campus.
The history of racially charged incidents dates back generations.
When the university denied admission to black law school applicant Lloyd Gaines, the issue led to an influential 1938 Supreme Court decision that helped pave the way for the civil rights movement.
Three decades later, during the unrest of the late 1960s, the Legion of Black Collegians emerged at Mizzou to press for increased minority representation among students, staff and faculty — a goal student protesters say remains unmet.
And the 2011 suicide of black swimmer Sasha Menu Courey after she was allegedly raped by several football players led some to question the campus commitment to investigating sexual assaults.
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Congress sends Obama defense bill that bans moving Guantanamo detainees to US
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress sent President Barack Obama a $607 billion defense policy bill that he is expected to sign even though he adamantly opposes its ban on moving some Guantanamo Bay detainees to U.S. prisons.
The Senate overwhelmingly approved the bill, 91-3, on Tuesday just days after the House passed the bipartisan measure, 370-58. The legislation authorizes Pentagon spending on military personnel, ships, aircraft and other war-fighting equipment.
The president plans to send Congress a blueprint for fulfilling his campaign pledge to close the U.S. prison in Cuba. But the plan is widely expected to be dead on arrival on Capitol Hill, with Republicans and some Democrats opposed to any move to detain some of the terror subjects on U.S. soil.
The congressional decision to retain a ban on transferring detainees to the U.S. has prompted debate on whether the president will try to bypass Congress and close the prison through executive action. "We know he's contemplating it," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Obama would sign the bill because it includes provisions critical to protecting the United States. But he said the president's signature does not change his position about the need to close the prison.
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Outcry over Starbucks' minimalist red cups show fine line marketers walk during holidays
NEW YORK (AP) — It's as red as Santa's suit, a poinsettia or your neighbor's ugly Christmas sweater. Yet Starbucks' stark new holiday coffee cup has set off complaints that the chain is making war on Christmas.
The outcry — which gained in intensity after Donald Trump suggested boycotting the coffee chain — illustrates the fine line companies must walk during the all-important holiday season: They want to stand out from their competitors, but not go so far as to offend or unsettle.
"The challenge is that the holiday language is same for everything," said Allen Adamson, founder of BrandSimple Consulting. "Everyone does it, so how do you do it in a way that's distinctive? If you push too far with distinctiveness, you might end up ruffling feathers."
Since 1997, Starbucks has offered holiday drinks in a festive red cup, adorned with such things as Christmas ornaments, reindeer and snowflakes. This year's design is minimalist: vivid red, with nothing but the familiar green Starbucks logo.
Starbucks executives said they wanted to embrace "simplicity and quietness" and show that the coffee shops are a "sanctuary" during the holidays. The company also reminded customers that it is selling its Christmas Blend of coffee as usual this year.
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'He would do the same for me': Vietnam veterans' bond strengthened by kidney donation
NEW YORK (AP) — Serving together in Vietnam, John Middaugh and Henry "Bill" Warner forged an Army-brothers bond they knew was profound and lasting.
A world and nearly a half a century away from the war zone where they'd counted on each other, Middaugh put himself on the line for Warner this month in a new way: by giving one of his kidneys.
"He had my back many times," Middaugh said as they awaited surgery last week at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, across the country from his home in Port Orchard, Washington. "So this is payback time."
Both are now 73. Warner, of Brightwaters, New York, had been through a health wringer since his kidneys failed after heart bypass surgery in June 2014, abruptly thrusting him into dialysis.
But "we got through Vietnam. We'll get through this," Warner said.
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New Orleans pianist, songwriter, producer, performer Allen Toussaint dies at 77 in Spain
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Legendary New Orleans musician Allen Toussaint, who racked up hits like "Working in the Coal Mine" and "Lady Marmalade" as a behind-the-scenes songwriter and producer before he gained new fame as a performer, died Tuesday, not long after a performance in Spain. He was 77.
Rescue workers were called to Toussaint's hotel in Madrid early Tuesday morning after he suffered a heart attack, said Madrid emergency services spokesman Javier Ayuso.
They managed to revive him but Toussaint stopped breathing during the ambulance ride to a hospital and did not recover, Ayuso said. Toussaint performed Monday night at Madrid's Lara Theater. Toussaint's family confirmed his death in an emailed statement, thanking fans and friends for their condolences.
"He was a legend in the music world," said Quint Davis, who produces the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Toussaint performed there so often — starting in 1973 — that Davis said Toussaint referred to the festival as his "annual concert."
Born in New Orleans' working class Gert Town neighborhood, Toussaint went on to become one of the city's most legendary and celebrated performers and personalities.
