Washington News
US approves sale of high-tech battery firm to China despite security concerns
Washington, Jan. 30 : The American Government has approved the sale of U. S. taxpayer-backed A123 Systems, a firm that manufactures lithium-ion batteries, to a Chinese company, despite security and economic concerns about sensitive technology changing hands.
A representative with A123 Systems confirmed to FoxNews. com that Wanxiang America Corp. has got the approval from a Treasury Department agency to take over `substantially all' of the non-government business assets of the lithium ion battery manufacturer.
Republican congresswoman challenges Obama to skeet-shooting contest!
Washington, Jan. 30 : President Barack Obama's claim that he goes skeet shooting `all the time' at Camp David has been met with skepticism, and a challenge from one Republican congresswoman who offered to test his skills in a competition.
Obama embraced the hobby when he was asked by The New Republic magazine if he's ever fired a gun.
According to the New York Daily News, the Democratic president said that yes he has indulged into skeet shooting at Camp David all the time.
The comment came as a surprise to people on both sides of the gun control debate.
Volkswagen Super Bowl ad under fire for being racist
Washington, Jan. 30 : A Volkswagen advertisement that is slated to air during the Super Bowl this Sunday has been criticized for being racist.
The controversial ad features a jovial white office worker speaking to disgruntled colleagues with a thick Jamaican accent.
The ad has already attracted intense criticism with one prominent essayist calling it `blackface with voices,' the New York Daily News reports.
In the one-minute advertisement, which is thought to have cost the carmaker eight million dollars for the airtime, a group of unhappy employees are shown standing in an elevator complaining about it being Monday.
US police arrests ex-con for mugging eight Asians in New Jersey
Washington, Jan. 30 : The ex-con wanted for attacking at least eight Asians in East Harlem has been nabbed in New Jersey Monday night.
Police said that investigators had been hunting Jason Commisso, 34, for eight attacks he carried out on Asians in January and learned he was boarding a Texas-bound bus in Newark.
According to the New York Daily News, NYPD cops worked with New Jersey State Police and searched over two Greyhound buses, and found Commisso sleeping in one of them at about 11:35 p. m., Paul Browne, the NYPD's top spokesman.
Ashley Judd splits from race car-driving husband Dario Franchitti
New York, Jan 30 : Ashley Judd and her race car driver hubby Dario Franchitti are splitting up after more than 10 years of marriage.
Judd told People magazine that they have mutually decided to end their marriage, the New York Daily News reported.
"We'll always be family and continue to cherish our relationship based on the special love, integrity, and respect we have always enjoyed," she said.
Judd and Franchitti, 39, tied the knot in 2001 at a private wedding in Scotland. (ANI)
No plans to run for president: Hillary Clinton
Washington, Jan 30 : Outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she still has "absolutely no plans to run" for president but is looking forward to more "adventures" down the road.
"I am lucky because I've been very healthy. I feel great. I've got enormous amounts of energy that have to be harnessed and focused, so I'm very fortunate," she told CNN in an exit interview Tuesday before she steps down.
Pressed further on whether she has ruled out another White House bid, Clinton said; "I have absolutely no plans to run."
U.S. Senate approves John Kerry as next secretary of state
Washington, Jan. 29 : U. S. Senate on Tuesday approved Democratic Senator John Kerry as the next secretary of state, who is set to replace Hillary Clinton.
The Senate confirmed Kerry''s nomination in a 94-3 vote, hours after the chamber''s Foreign Relations Committee approved his nomination. Kerry has chaired the committee himself for the past four years.
UN peace envoy Brahimi says Syria ‘being destroyed bit by bit’
Washington, Jan 30 : U. N.-Arab League envoy to Syria Lakdar Brahimi has told the Security Council that the county `is being destroyed bit by bit.'
Brahimi also told the council on Tuesday that the peace process he has been engaged in is at an impasse and "cannot be implemented as it is."
He, however, said that he is not walking away from the process, Fox News reports.
The president of the Security Council, Pakistan''s Ambassador Masood Khan said that Brahimi told the council that in Syria, `The situation is very grim,' the report said. (ANI)
Time for immigration reform: Obama
Washington, Jan 30 : Seizing an emerging consensus on immigration reform, President Barack Obama asked the US Congress to act fast to offer a "pathway to citizenship" for over 11 million illegal immigrants, including
240,000 from India.
Unveiling his own plan at a campaign style event at a Hispanic majority high school in Las Vegas, Nevada, Obama Tuesday warned that if Congress does not act "in a timely fashion" he will propose a bill "and insist that they vote on it right away."