Noticias de Hoy

KABUL (Reuters) – Chuck Hagel arrived in Afghanistan on Friday for his first trip abroad as defense secretary, seeking to make his own assessment of America’s longest war as it enters its final stretch. Hagel said he would meet U. S. commanders and troops, and hold talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, whose recent orders to curtail U. S. military activity underscore an often tense relationship with the 66,000 American forces there. Hagel praised the sacrifices of American troops in Afghanistan. . . .

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, a leading voice on national security who opposed the Iraq War and has fought corporate abuse during more than three decades in the chamber, said on Thursday he would not seek re-election next year. "This decision was extremely difficult because I love representing the people of Michigan in the U. S. Senate and fighting for the things that I believe are important to them," Levin, 78, said in a statement issued by his office. . . .

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U. S. President Barack Obama expanded his fledgling search for Republican allies on a possible deficit-reduction deal when he hosted lunch on Thursday for Paul Ryan, one of the House of Representatives’ leading fiscal conservatives. Coming the day after he took Republican Senators to dinner to discuss the budget, Obama’s new outreach brought optimism that two years of fiscal battles could ease up. But the White House and Republican lawmakers signaled the road to a grand bargain will still be difficult. . . .

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In his week of outreach to Republican senators, President Barack Obama on Thursday will have lunch with the top Republican and Democrat on the House of Representatives Budget Committee in a bid to bridge differences on the nation’s pressing fiscal issues. The president will have lunch with Republican chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the committee’s top Democrat, congressional and White House sources said. . . .

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CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) – A Republican senator introduced bipartisan gun background check legislation on Wednesday that would make it harder for mentally ill people who are considered to be dangerous to buy a firearm. The legislation proposed by Lindsey Graham would require reporting of certain mental illness treatments and legal proceedings to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, the clearinghouse for all new gun purchases. . . .

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TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) – Former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, returning to the site of the shooting rampage where she was gravely wounded, on Wednesday urged senators to "be courageous" and support background checks for all gun buyers. Standing just a few feet from where a gunman more than two years ago put a bullet through Giffords’ head and then opened fire on constituents, Giffords and husband Mark Kelly urged Arizona Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake, both Republicans, to support a universal background check system. "Be bold. Be courageous. . . .

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Legislation easily passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday to avert another partisan budget battle and a possible government shutdown, and a dinner meeting between President Barack Obama and Senate Republicans offered signs of a thaw in relations. By a vote of 267-151, the House passed a measure to fund government programs until the end of the fiscal year on September 30. The Democratic-controlled Senate is expected to pass a similar bill next week. Without such legislation, federal agencies would run out of money on March 27. . . .

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As the nation braces for potentially extended airport security lines because of the federal budget sequester, the

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Congress is moving rapidly to pass legislation funding the federal government through September 30, as Senate leaders on Tuesday expressed eagerness to avoid any threat of agency shutdowns when money runs out on March 27. "I’m cautiously optimistic we’re going to reach a solution before we leave here for the Easter recess," which is scheduled to begin on March 23, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters on Tuesday. . . .

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration has asked Congress for authority to implement historic voting reforms in the International Monetary Fund that boost the influence of emerging economies like China in the global financial institution, sources said on Tuesday. But the plan faces an uphill battle for passage in a tense U. S. budget environment marked by the launch of $85 billion in automatic spending cuts on Friday that hit both the U. S. military and domestic programs hard. . . .

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