Sabres G Miller calls NHL lockout 'waste of time'

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — After rejoining his Buffalo Sabres teammates on the ice for the first time in some nine months, goalie Ryan Miller had a few lingering frustrations to get off his chest regarding the NHL lockout.
"The best thing to do is acknowledge that it was stupid," Miller said Friday, before turning his attention to Sabres fans. "I appreciate their patience. I know it's a hard situation. I still don't even know the right message because it was just a stupid, useless waste of time."
Miller, who played a role in negotiations, called himself "embarrassed" that it took more than six months of negotiations to reach an agreement. At one point during talks, he gave up on the possibility of there being a season this year.
And he laid the blame on owners, specifically singling out Commissioner Gary Bettman, whom he accused of being the reason why the four-month lockout wasn't resolved sooner.
"In my mind, it always had to be January in Gary Bettman's mind," Miller said. "Obviously, he had something in his head and he was going to see how far he could take it. So there's really no going up against Gary, when he has something in his head."
For someone who hasn't played in a competitive game since April 5, the ever-outspoken Miller seems already in midseason form.
"It's exciting to be back. It's the way you that you're supposed to feel," he said. "It's not in the board room, so that's good. It's getting back on the ice, and that's the important part."
Spending much of his offseason in southern California, Miller arrived in Buffalo on Thursday, and was on the ice for what's expected to be the players' final informal practice at a suburban arena. Training camp is tentatively set to open Sunday, and a 48-game regular season to start a week later.
A seven-year veteran, Miller is the face of the franchise, and regarded as a team leader. His arrival was welcomed by the Sabres, and also by numerous fans. About 300 onlookers — the largest turnout this week — lined the boards to watch the open practice.
Aside from his frustrations regarding labor talks, Miller was in an upbeat mood. Walking out of the locker room with his mask perched above his head exposing a familiar patchy beard — "It's my lockout beard" — he then flashed a big smile and waved his glove hand before taking the ice.
Before taking any questions from reporters afterward, Miller first wanted to find out what's been happening in Buffalo, and then shook hands with each member of the media.
"There," he said. "We're reintroduced again, eight months later."
Now it's time to get to work in what will be a shortened season, and for a high-priced Sabres team that was among the NHL's biggest busts after missing the playoffs last season.
Buffalo (39-32-11) finished ninth in the Eastern Conference and was hampered by a rash of injuries, including Miller missing a nine-game stretch because of concussion-like symptoms. On the bright side, Miller hopes the team can pick up where it left off after closing last season on a 15-5-4 roll.
The challenge for Miller is getting himself ready to carry much of the load during a tightly packed stretch of games.
"Hockey-wise, I'm in a pretty good spot," he said. "Mentally, I always kind of knew it was going to be a short sprint kind of situation. It's not a surprise for anyone of us."
Coach Lindy Ruff has already projected that he's targeting Miller to play between 36 and 38 games.
Miller hasn't given any thought to how many games he'll play, but has been accustomed to being the Sabres workhorse.
He's appeared in 59 or more games in each of his past six seasons. That includes 2009-10, when he was the NHL's Vezina Trophy winner after going 41-18-8 in 69 NHL regular-season games, and six more games at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, where he led the United States to win a silver medal.
"I just want to be that guy, and we'll go by that," Miller said. "I think if I'm playing at a high enough level, I'd like to be in net."
Unlike some NHLers who spent part of the lockout playing overseas, Miller elected to stay home. He said the insurance premiums on his contract proved expensive. He also noted that he wanted to make sure there were no lingering effects from the head injury he sustained last year.
Miller spent much of his time working out in California, where he skated between three and four times a week. He mostly worked out with numerous members of the defending Stanley Cup-champion Los Angeles Kings such as Jarret Stoll, Brad Richardson, Justin Williams and Rob Scuderi. Several other NHLers, including Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, spent a few months also working out with them.
"I've been skating pretty consistently since June, but it's not the same as playing with your teammates," Miller said. "It's been missing from my life for the past eight months, that's a long time.

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Mo. court to appoint lawyer for Belcher baby

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri court will appoint a lawyer to protect the interests of the 4-month-old daughter of the late Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher as her grandparents argue over custody.
Belcher fatally shot the child's mother, Kasandra Perkins, on Dec. 1 in their Kansas City home, then drove to Arrowhead Stadium and killed himself in front of coaches and the team's general manager. Belcher's mother, Cheryl Shepherd, had been living with the couple for about two weeks and was in the home when her son killed Perkins.
Shepherd received temporary custody of Belcher's daughter, Zoey, soon after the shootings and filed a petition in mid-December asking to be appointed as Zoey's guardian and conservator of her estate, which could be worth millions of dollars.
Shepherd, of West Babylon, N.Y., also filed a second petition seeking to be named administrator of her son's estate.
Friday morning, she sat silently between her two attorneys in a Jackson County courtroom as probate commissioner Daniel Wheeler addressed the petitions.
Wheeler changed the status of the custody petition to "contested" because Zoey's maternal grandparents and other family members in Texas have filed a petition in that state to be Zoey's legal guardians.
He also ordered the appointment of a guardian ad litem — an attorney who represents the interests of minor children — and set a Dec. 25 hearing on Shepherd's petition to take over her son's estate.
The Ford Worth Star-Telegram reported Friday that Zoey is staying with relatives in Austin, Texas.
In addition to the well-being of the child, millions of dollars are at stake in the custody battle.
Zoey's estate or guardian will receive more than $1 million under terms of the NFL's collective bargaining agreement, including $108,000 annually over the next four years, $48,000 in the fifth year and $52,000 each year until she turns 18. She can keep receiving that amount until she is 23 if she attends college.
A trust funded by the Hunt family, which owns the Chiefs, along with team coaches, players, employees and contributions from the public, will help care for the child. Also, Belcher's beneficiary will receive $600,000 in life insurance, plus $200,000 for each credited season — Belcher was in his fourth season at the time of his death — and $100,000 in a retirement account.
Shepherd's attorney, Gretchen Gold, declined to answer questions after the hearing and said her client didn't have any comments, either.
Zoey's maternal grandparents, Rebecca Anne Gonzalez and Darryl Perkins, and other Texas relatives have filed a lawsuit seeking temporary custody of the girl, that her residence be in Tarrant County, Texas, and that a guardian ad litem be appointed.
A Fort Worth judge has scheduled a Jan. 22 hearing in that lawsuit. The judge will conduct a conference Jan. 17 with his Jackson County, Mo., counterpart and attorneys for Zoey's maternal and paternal grandparents to discuss whether Texas or Missouri has jurisdiction in the case.

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Chudzinski thrilled to get Browns' job

CLEVELAND (AP) — Rob Chudzinski's roots run 44 years deep with the Browns.
As a kid, he buckled on his orange helmet and ran around his backyard in Toledo, Ohio, pretending he was Ozzie Newsome. He sat outside in the snow and watched Cleveland games on TV through the window to make it feel like he was in the Dawg Pound.
He chomped on dog biscuits.
On Friday, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity came true for Chudzinski, who was introduced as the Browns' sixth fulltime coach since 1999. Although he has never been a head coach, "Chud" was selected over candidates with more experience and stronger resumes.
Chudzinski, though, stood out. He wanted it more than anyone.
"It's a dream come true, almost unbelievable in a lot of ways," Chudzinski said.
There is a segment of Browns fans as stunned as Chudzinski, whose hiring seemed to come out of nowhere.
After interviewing several high-profile candidates, including Oregon coach Chip Kelly, former Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt and other top coordinators, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and CEO Joe Banner picked Chudzinski, who spent the past two years as Carolina's offensive coordinator.
Haslam said he spoke with "nine or 10 of the best coaches in the country" and insisted Chudzinski was on the team's list of candidates from the outset.
"Rob was always on our radar screen," Haslam said of his first coaching hire. "Rob has been identified as a top, bright, young guy for a long time. I feel very confident we've got the right guy."
This is Chudzinski's third stint with the Browns. He coached Cleveland's tight ends in 2004 and was the team's offensive coordinator in 2007-08. In his first season calling plays, the Browns went 10-6 and had four players make the Pro Bowl. It hasn't been nearly as good since he left
"Happy to see Chud coming back," Browns Pro Bowl tackle Joe Thomas said in an email to the AP. "We had a good year in 2007. Very smart offensive mind. When he left, I knew he'd be a great head coach someday!"
Chudzinski's first task is to assemble his staff. He'll speak with the assistants still under contract and is confident he'll be able to bring in quality coaches to build the Browns into a consistent winner. Chudzinski would not comment on any specific candidates. There are reports he'll hire former San Diego coach Norv Turner as his offensive coordinator.
Chudzinski was the Chargers tight ends coach under Turner.
Working on an hour's sleep after getting his dream job. Chudzinski would not comment on any players on Cleveland's current roster. He said his philosophy will be to "attack" on offense and defense and he feels the Browns have the versatility to run a 4-3 or 3-4 defense.
The 44-year-old Chudzinski interviewed for head coaching jobs last year with St. Louis, Jacksonville and Tampa Bay before returning for his second season with Carolina, where he spent two years working with quarterback Cam Newton.
When he left the Browns for the second time in 2008, Chudzinski always thought he would return to Cleveland.
"I remember the last game walking out of the stadium and looking across the field, somehow knowing I'd be back somehow, someway," he said.
The Browns had a whirlwind courtship with Chudzinski. Haslam and Banner spent last week in Arizona, where they spoke to at least five known candidates. They got deep in talks with Kelly before backing away because of the offensive mastermind's indecision about jumping to the NFL.
The team rebooted its search and spoke with several other candidates including Whisenhunt, who was in Cleveland on Thursday for a second interview. Chudzinski met with the Browns on Wednesday at Haslam's estate on Lake Erie, where he laid out his coaching philosophies.
"Rob was very decisive," Haslam said. "'This is how I'm going to do things. I'm an offensive guy, but here's my role on defense. Here's my role on special teams. Here are the type of people I would bring in as coordinators, here are the type of coaches.' It was just very definitive."
Chudzinski received a phone call on Thursday that Haslam and Banner wanted to have dinner with him in Charlotte, N.C. They had been impressed with Chudzinski's thoroughness in the first interview, but wanted to spend more time with him.
"''We felt very positively that Rob was the man," Haslam said. "This organization has had a lot of change in terms of leadership, so it was exceptionally important that we get that right. An hour through dinner, we felt like that definitely this was the right guy."
Haslam said he wasn't aware of Chudzinski's Ohio background or his love for the Browns.
"It's a great story, but if Rob had been from Plano, Texas, we'd have hired him," Haslam said.
Banner has tracked Chudzinski's career for some time as he does with "the best young people in the league." It was Banner who had plucked Andy Reid, a then-unknown assistant from Green Bay, and hired him as Philadelphia's head coach in 1999. Reid spent 14 years with the Eagles before he was recently fired.
Now that they've hired a coach, Haslam and Banner will focus on finding a new general manager to help pick players for Chudzinski, who will be involved in finding the next GM.
Chudzinski has it better than any of his five predecessors in Cleveland. He inherits a young roster with more talent than the team has had in years, and it's his job to develop a team that has lost at least 11 games in each of the past five seasons.
Chudzinski understands Cleveland's passion for football — and its pain.
He knows the heartbreak felt by Browns fans, who are still waiting for their team to make the Super Bowl. He knows it because he's felt it, too.
The Browns have had other coaches, but never one so intensely attached to the team. Chudzinski could have stayed in Carolina and waited for another head coaching job to come along. But there's no other job that could match this one.
To Chudzinski, this was the only one.
"I wouldn't have missed this opportunity for anything in the world," he said. "To bring back the pride, the passion, the success this franchise has had in the past, I want to be part of that.

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U.S. Franciscan friars go digital, accept prayer requests via text

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The largest group of Franciscan friars in the United States is offering the faithful a new way to pray in the digital age by accepting prayer requests via text messages.
The Friars of Holy Name Province, who staff 40 parishes and have colleges, soup kitchens and food centers along the eastern seaboard, as well as groups in Peru and Tokyo, are among a few religious groups offering this type of digital service.
Its "Text a Prayer Intention to a Franciscan Friar" initiative, which is described as faith at your fingertips, is a novel way for Roman Catholics to connect.
"People are always saying to friars, 'Can you say a prayer for me?' Or 'Can you remember my mother who has cancer?'" Father David Convertino, the New York-based executive director of development for the Franciscan Friars of the Holy Name Province, said in an interview.
"I was thinking that a lot of people text everything now, even more than email, so why not have people have the ability to ask us to pray for them ... by texting."
The faithful simply text the word 'prayer' to 306-44, free of charge. A welcome message from the friars comes up along with a box to type in the request. When the it is sent, the sender receives a reply.
The intentions are received on a website and will be included collectively in the friars' prayers twice a day and at Mass.
It is one of several ways the friars hope to reach a younger audience, increase the number of faithful and spread the faith. They have already renovated their website and the next step is moving into Facebook and tweeting.
"If the Pope can tweet, friars can text," said Father David.
The friars also have a presence on LinkedIn and have been streaming some of their church services.
"We're trying," said Father David when asked if the friars are well into the digital age, adding that they were "rushing madly into the 19th century."
Most of the 325 friars, whose average age is about 60, are comfortable with the technology.
"We have a friar who is 80 who was texting today," said Father David.
The friars are following the example of 85-year-old Pope Benedict, the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, whom the Vatican said had 2.1 million followers on Twitter just eight days after sending his first tweet.
The Pontiff tweets in several languages, including Arabic, and plans to add Latin and Chinese to them.
"We're really excited about this working," said Father David, about the new program. "I think we'll be able to keep up (with all the intentions). That's what we do, we pray for people."

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Aereo CEO: Hollywood Apathy, "Irrelevant" Ads Inspired the Controversial Service

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Sorry, networks, but Aereo - the streaming TV service you love to hate - has no plans to go away. In fact, CEO Chet Kanojia and company are planning a major expansion thanks to $38 million in new spending money.
That's not just to fund the service's move from New York into 22 other major cities, as announced Tuesday, but onto videogame consoles, Smart TVs and the Android operating system. (Currently, Aereo is available via web browsers, set-top boxes like the Roku and Apple devices.)
Aereo has one very important backer in its corner, media mogul Barry Diller, who IAC/InterActiveCorp has invested millions in the startup. However, not everyone is enamored of the technology.
TV networks feel that Aereo, which uses clusters of tiny antennas to stream mostly broadcast channels directly to devices like tablets and smartphones, is stealing their content.
The court is not so sure. A federal court in July denied a plea by broadcasters for an injunction to block the service in New York. Kanojia said that decision emboldened Aereo to move into markets like Chicago and Houston.
TheWrap spoke with Kanojia at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas about Aereo's planned expansion, Hollywood apathy and his least favorite commercials.
What convinced you now was the time to expand?
Consumer engagement data and the volume of requests we were getting from different cities - when are you coming to Atlanta? When are you coming to Detroit? It was a consistent theme.
The data that we saw from New York in terms of engagement, the utilization of our product and the quality we were able to provide made us want to scale things. We don't have all the data or all the answers - but enough to give us confidence that we have a great product here that people really really like.
You mentioned "trends" in New York. How many users do you have now?
We don't disclose that, but it's an incredibly positive trend.
How did you select the cities?
Obviously, this is phase one. We wanted to concentrate on the Eastern corridor. The location of the company is east coast, and it's still a small company relatively speaking.
Also, age and demographics. There's a huge Latin population in some of these markets, and 90 percent of viewership of Latin content is on broadcast.
You raise the Latin market, but there's no Los Angeles included here.
No Los Angeles, no Seattle - pretty much nothing west of Denver with the exception of Salt Lake City. The focus is eastern, and in stage two we'll focus on the west.
What does Aereo have to do in order to expand? What kinds of costs are associated with it?
We go in and establish the facility, which is really a data center that we lease from data-center providers. We put in rooftop antenna systems. We can get that done in about 60 days at any given system, and we have teams working at all the main sites.
Our operation and execution is centralized. We're not building out people and offices in every location.
How much concern remains about legal roadblocks?
We firmly believe in our position. Nothing that we've seen or heard gives us any less confidence in the basic premise that consumers have the ability to do this today. We have the right to be able to do this. There is nothing prohibiting technology from being implemented in the ways we have.
We've made an incredible amount of effort to comply with the law.
Like?
Building the technology to comply with the law the way we did. We're clearly within precedent. We're more conservative than precedent.
The Dish CEO spoke at CES on Monday and struck something of a populist tone. Television is the medium of the masses but one owned by a select few. Do you sense a wave of democratization? It really comes down to lack of competition and innovation. They haven't kept the consumer in the forefront because they don't have competition; distribution is locked up. They have guaranteed payments, and it's getting worse with the increasing costs of cable.
There's been no innovation in advertising - the same, more irrelevant stuff you don't care about.
Do you have a truck?
No.
Do you intend to buy one?
No.
Well, how many times have you seen that same damn commercial? We're wasting consumer engagement with this. There's so little innovation in how content is distributed, user experience and all of that. Apathy is the biggest enemy.
You can't only feel this way about broadcast. Do you intend to add more channels to the service?
The sequence of events is as follows - markets, devices and make barriers go away. We need to get to a certain amount of the population base and given the general trends out of New York that's a doable exercise. Once we get to that point, we'll think about adding additional content.
What devices are you missing right now?
We don't have an Android app, and that's a big priority for us. Game consoles make a lot of sense. Smart TVs.
What isn't being discussed about Aereo?
There's so much attention and drama with the litigation that people are ignoring the importance of what's going on. For the first time, someone is coming out with a way consumers can get quality access to TV at an incredible price on any device. The change we're causing with cloud-based implementation is something that's a much bigger story at the end of the day than litigation drama.
In two years the company has gone from not being in existence to building out to 22 markets.

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'The Hunger Games' lead fan favorites at People's Choice awards

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Post-apocalyptic action film "The Hunger Games" was the big winner at the People's Choice Awards on Thursday, picking up five awards including favorite movie of the year, while singer Katy Perry again led in the music categories.
Hosted by "The Big Bang Theory" actress Kaley Cuoco, the People's Choice Awards named winners in more than 40 categories across film, television and music. About 475 million fans voted through the People's Choice website.
"The Hunger Games," based on the trilogy of novels by Suzanne Collins, beat out "The Avengers," "The Amazing Spider-Man," "The Dark Knight Rises" and "Snow White and the Huntsman" for the coveted favorite movie accolade.
Jennifer Lawrence, who plays "Hunger Games" heroine Katniss Everdeen, won the favorite movie actress award over Mila Kunis, Emma Stone, Anne Hathaway and Scarlett Johansson.
"Thank you for loving movies as much as I do, and loving this movie and voting," Lawrence said.
"The Hunger Games" was also named favorite action film and favorite movie franchise, while its stars Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth won favorite on-screen chemistry.
The People's Choice is the first of Hollywood's annual awards shows, but unlike the Oscars or the Golden Globes, the winners are determined by fans, so it provides few insights into likely winners of the movie industry's top honors in February.
"The Avengers," which was nominated in eight categories, didn't go home empty-handed. Robert Downey Jr. was named favorite movie actor for his role as Iron Man in the superhero ensemble box office hit.
"You've chosen wisely," the actor joked on stage.
Adam Sandler picked up the fan favorite award for comedic actor, while former "Friends" star Jennifer Aniston picked up the favorite comedic movie actress award, beating out Mila Kunis, Reese Witherspoon, Emily Blunt and Cameron Diaz.
"I cannot thank you enough for allowing me to be honored with this, after supporting me for almost 20 years," Aniston said.
Emma Watson of "Harry Potter" fame picked up the favorite dramatic actress accolade for her role in "The Perks of Being a Wallflower."
"Perks" was also named favorite dramatic movie, while "Ted," the raunchy R-rated comedy from "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane, was named favorite comedy film.
MUSIC AND TELEVISION WINNERS
Katy Perry took home four trophies this year, including favorite female artist and a surprise win for favorite pop artist over Justin Bieber.
Fan favorite Taylor Swift beat out Tim McGraw, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton and Carrie Underwood for favorite country artist.
"You guys have blown my mind with what you've done with this album 'Red.' I want to thank you for caring about my music and me," the singer said in her acceptance speech.
Her chart-topping album "Red," which the singer based on her experiences, was one of 2012's top-sellers. The singer attended the awards alone following a widely reported split from boyfriend Harry Styles of U.K. boy band One Direction.
Maroon 5 picked up the favorite band award. The band's popularity skyrocketed in 2012 after lead singer Adam Levine served as a judge on television talent show "The Voice."
British boy band The Wanted won favorite breakout artist.
In the television categories, CBS comedy "The Big Bang Theory" was named favorite network comedy, while ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" picked up favorite network drama.
Ellen Pompeo of "Grey's Anatomy" and "Castle" actor Nathan Fillion won the favorite TV dramatic actress and actor awards, while "Glee" stars Lea Michele and Chris Colfer picked up the favorite TV comedic actress and actor awards.
Sandra Bullock was named favorite humanitarian for her efforts in helping victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

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ECB to hold fire as euro zone economy shows glimmers of hope

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank is expected to keep interest rates at a record low of 0.75 percent on Thursday, refraining from a cut as the euro zone economy shows some signs of stabilising and inflation still tops its target.
The 17-country euro zone is in recession, but recent data points to some stabilisation, and ECB President Mario Draghi could strike a slightly more positive tone in the news conference that follows the rate decision.
"Rates are definitely on hold. Nothing has been spectacular enough in recent data to force the ECB to any action," Deutsche Bank economist Gilles Moec said.
"There is a recession, but no further deterioration. Lending is weak, but also not deteriorating further, so the ECB is not compelled to act."
The 23-man Governing Council will find some comfort from improving business morale as well as a survey of purchasing managers, which gave tentative signs that the worst of the downturn may have passed.
"Since the December meeting key figures have generally surprised on the upside," Nordea analyst Anders Svendsen said in a note to investors.
While the ECB had, in Draghi's words, "a wide discussion" on reducing rates last month, the grounds for such a move have not grown and Executive Board members have argued against a cut.
Yves Mersch said last month he did not see the logic of a debate about the ECB cutting its main rate and Peter Praet said there was little room to cut.
Another cut of the refinancing rate would raise the question of whether the ECB would also lower its deposit rate - currently at zero - by the same amount, which would push it into negative territory, essentially charging a fee, for the first time.
Even though Draghi has said the bank was "operationally ready" for such a step, it has grown increasingly wary of the idea over the past couple of months, a source with knowledge of the ECB's thinking said.
Negative deposit rates could deal a hefty blow to money market funds, which have already seen cash outflows since the ECB cut the deposit rate to zero in July. The rate is a peg for short-dated money market rates and at zero it is already almost impossible for funds to generate a return for their investors.
Executive Board member Joerg Asmussen said last month he would be "very reluctant" about the ECB cutting the deposit rate any further, adding that "our (monetary) policy is very accommodative".
INFLATION STUBBORN
ECB staff projections published last month saw inflation at about 1.4 percent in 2014, which would usually justify another interest rate cut.
The central bank also sees inflation falling below 2 percent this year with underlying price pressures remaining moderate.
But inflation has eased more slowly than the ECB initially expected and as long as it misses the target - it has been above 2 percent for more than 2 years - a cut could be difficult to justify.
Furthermore, in the euro zone's largest economy, Germany, prices rose faster in December than in the previous month.
In addition to gauging whether the ECB is entertaining another cut or not, Draghi will be pressed on what other options the ECB has, especially to improve lacklustre bank lending.
ECB data showed last week that bank lending to the private sector fell at an annual rate of 0.8 percent in November.
At his December news conference, Draghi attributed the drop mainly to demand factors, but added that in a number of countries, credit supply is restricted.
A move by global regulators to give banks more time and flexibility to build up cash reserves is expected to do little to support a recovery in Europe, where recession-hit firms and households have scant appetite for more debt.
"One thing the ECB needs to engineer is recovery in lending," Rabobank economist Elwin de Groot said.

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APNewsBreak: Deal in Mass. suit on pregnancy drug

BOSTON (AP) — Four sisters who claimed their breast cancer was caused by a drug their mother took during pregnancy in the 1950s reached a settlement Wednesday with Eli Lilly and Co. in the first of scores of similar claims around the country to go to trial.
Neither Eli Lilly nor lawyers for the women would disclose the financial terms of the settlement, which was announced on the second day of testimony during a federal trial in Boston.
Eli Lilly said it continues to believe its medication "did not cause the conditions alleged in this lawsuit" but the settlement was in its "best interest."
"Settling this trial helps us get back to what we want to focus on as a company; developing important new medications through research and partnerships with doctors and patients," it said in a statement.
A total of 51 women, including the Melnick sisters, filed lawsuits in Boston against more than a dozen companies that made or marketed a synthetic estrogen known as DES.
DES, or diethylstilbestrol, was prescribed to millions of pregnant women over three decades to prevent miscarriages, premature births and other problems. It was taken off the market in the early 1970s after it was linked to a rare vaginal cancer in women whose mothers used it.
Studies later showed the drug did not prevent miscarriages.
Attorney Aaron Levine, representing the Melnick sisters, told the jury during opening statements that Eli Lilly failed to test the drug's effect on fetuses before promoting it as a way to prevent miscarriages.
Lawyer James Dillon, for Eli Lilly, told the jury that there was no evidence the drug causes breast cancer in the daughters of women who took it.
Dillon also said that no medical records show the mother of the four Melnick sisters took DES or that, if she did take it, it was made by Eli Lilly. Leading researchers at the time recommended that DES be used for pregnant women who had consecutive miscarriages, he said.
DES was not patented and was made by many companies.
The Melnick sisters, who grew up in Tresckow, Pa., said they all developed breast cancer in their 40s.
Levine told the jury their mother did not take DES while pregnant with a fifth sister and that sister has not developed breast cancer.
The four Melnick sisters also had miscarriages, fertility problems or other reproductive tract problems long suspected of being caused by prenatal exposure to DES. They were diagnosed with breast cancer between 1997 and 2003 and had treatments ranging from lump-removal surgery to a full mastectomy, radiation and chemotherapy.
Thousands of lawsuits have been filed alleging links between DES and vaginal cancer, cervical cancer and fertility problems. Many of those cases were settled.
Attorney Andrew Meyer, who's handled numerous medical malpractice cases, said the settlement in this case could signal settlements in other cases.
"When one settles a case, they recognize they can lose it," he said. "The reason they can lose it is because there's enough evidence for the plaintiffs to be able to win it. So it's not just optics, it isn't."
Columbus, Ohio, resident Irene Sawyer also is suing Eli Lilly, alleging that her prenatal exposure to DES caused her breast cancer. She called the settlement "a huge victory" for DES daughters.
"The bottom line is that this company put out a drug without testing, without knowing the consequences of this drug," she said.
It's wonderful, she said, that drug companies "are starting to realize this is not right, that there are consequences.

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Tech delegation pressing NKorea Internet openness

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — A private delegation including Google's Eric Schmidt is urging North Korea to allow more open Internet access and cellphones to benefit its citizens, the mission's leader said in the country with some of the world's tightest controls on information.
Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson also said his nine-member group called on North Korea to put a moratorium on missile launches and nuclear tests that have prompted U.N. sanctions, and the delegation asked for fair and humane treatment for an American citizen detained. He spoke in an exclusive interview in Pyongyang with The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Before departing on Thursday, he told reporters his trip had been productive and successful.
"We enjoyed our trip to the DPRK, especially with the North Korean people, and we had a good opportunity to talk about expanding the Internet and cell phones in the DPRK," Richardson said at the Pyongyang airport.
The visit has been criticized for appearing to hijack U.S. diplomacy and boost Pyongyang's profile after North Korea's latest, widely condemned rocket launch. Richardson has said the delegation is on a private, humanitarian trip.
Schmidt, the executive chairman of the U.S.-based Internet giant Google, is the highest-profile American business executive to visit North Korea since leader Kim Jong Un took power a year ago.
Although Schmidt often meets with government officials around the world on behalf of Google, he didn't make this trip at the company's request.
Schmidt has not said publicly what he hopes to get out of his visit to North Korea. However, he has been a vocal proponent of Internet freedom and openness, and is publishing a book in April with Jared Cohen, director of the company's Google Ideas think tank, about the power of global connectivity in transforming people's lives, policies and politics.
Cohen doesn't typically accompany Schmidt on Google-sanctioned trips, a sign that the two men may be primarily interested in gathering more material for their book.
On Wednesday, Schmidt toured the frigid quarters of the brick building in central Pyongyang that is the heart of North Korea's own computer industry. He asked pointed questions about North Korea's new tablet computers as well as its Red Star operating system, and he briefly donned a pair of 3-D goggles during a tour of the Korea Computer Center.
Even if Schmidt isn't officially representing Google in North Korea, the company stands to benefit if the country's leadership were to loosen its Internet restrictions.
For years, the Mountain View, California, company has pushed for more accessible and affordable Internet connections and Web-surfing devices on the premise that its business ultimately will make more money if people spend more time online.
Besides the world's most dominant search engine, Google also offers a variety of other services that rank among the most popular destinations on the Internet. More Internet traffic translates into more opportunities to sell digital ads, which account for most of its more than $50 billion in annual revenue.
Richardson told The Associated Press that his delegation was bringing a message that more openness would benefit North Korea. Most in the country have never logged onto the Internet, and the authoritarian government strictly limits access to the World Wide Web.
"The citizens of the DPRK will be better off with more cellphones and an active Internet. Those are the ... messages we've given to a variety of foreign policy officials, scientists" and government officials, Richardson said.
The four-day trip, which began Monday, is taking place at a delicate time in U.S.-North Korean relations. Less than a month ago, North Korea shot a satellite into space on a long-range rocket, a launch widely celebrated in Pyongyang but condemned by Washington and others as a banned test of missile technology.
The State Department criticized the trip as "unhelpful" at a time when the U.S. is rallying support for U.N. Security Council action. Schmidt advised President Barack Obama during his 2008 election campaign and was once considered a potential candidate for a Cabinet-level appointment. Schmidt has repeatedly said that he has no plans to leave Google for a government job.
State Department spokesman Peter Velasco said from Washington that he did not believe the delegation had been in contact with U.S. officials since they arrived in Pyongyang.
However, Richardson said the delegation has pressed the North Koreans for a moratorium on missile launches and nuclear tests.
In 2006 and 2009, North Korea followed up similar launches with nuclear tests. Pyongyang is believed to be working on mastering technology that would allow it to mount a nuclear device on a long-range rocket capable of striking the United States.
Richardson also said the delegation is pushing for "fair and humane treatment" of an American, Kenneth Bae, now in North Korean custody on suspicion of committing "hostile" acts against the state.
The group also has urged government officials and scientists to offer more cellphones and to open up the Internet to the North Korean people, he said.
North Korea has exercised strict control over its population of 24 million since it was founded by Kim Il Sung in 1948, including tight rules on the flow of information and close monitoring of the people's interaction with the outside world.
But as the Asian nation's tiny economy has languished in its isolation, the government has sought in recent years to turn its economy around by carefully and cautiously reaching out to foreign nations — primarily neighboring China and Southeast Asian allies — for help.
Young North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who took power a year ago following the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, has made improving the economy a focal point of national policy for 2013, and has urged the people to expand their knowledge of science and technology to reach that goal.
Across the snowy capital, new propaganda signs and slogans reiterate those goals, exhorting the people to "break through the cutting edge" and "push back the frontiers" of science and technology in the spirit of the Dec. 12 space launch.
The number of cell phone users has surpassed 1.5 million in a few short years, with help from the Egyptian telecommunications giant Orascom, which provides a 3G cell phone service.
However, offering open Internet access has not been part of the strategy. Experts see North Korea as one of the least connected countries in the world.
Though global broadband Internet is available in North Korea, few have permission to log onto the World Wide Web. Those with computers and Internet access typically are restricted to a domestic Intranet site that filters the information and publications available to North Koreans.
On Tuesday, Schmidt, Richardson and their delegation chatted with students at Pyongyang's elite Kim Il Sung University who have permission to access the global Internet for research purposes.
On Wednesday, the group toured the main library in Pyongyang, the Grand People's Study House, where locals still in their winter coats were crowded into drafty, unheated halls at computers with Intranet access to the library's archive of books, documents and newspapers.
Later, the delegation visited the multi-story Korea Computer Center, the hub of North Korea's software and computer product development, where a quote from Kim Jong Il reads: "Now is the era for science and technology. It is the era of computers."
Inside an atrium exhibition hall lined with widescreen displays showing off North Korea's computer products, the Google group fiddled around with the new Samjiyon tablet computer utilizing foreign-made hardware and North Korean software and linked to the Internet through a wifi router.
They learned about North Korea's data encryption software, face recognition devices, video chat room software and instant messaging services.
So far, the computer center has teamed up with nations including China, Russia and India to develop products — but is hoping to reach out to establish partnerships with other countries also, officials told Schmidt and Richardson.
Schmidt, who as chief executive of Google until 2011 oversaw the Internet search provider's expansion into a global Internet giant, speaks frequently about the importance of providing people around the world with Internet access and technology.
Google now has offices in more than 40 countries, including Russia, South Korea and China, another country criticized for systematic Internet censorship.
There are no major U.S. firms operating in North Korea, which fought against the United States in the Korean War of the 1950s. The foes signed a truce in 1953 to end the fighting, but never a peace treaty, and the two countries still do not have diplomatic relations.
U.N. sanctions ban the trade with North Korea of weapons and items that could be used for nuclear purposes, as well as luxury items. The U.S. also prohibits the import of North Korean-made goods into the United States.
Some conservatives in the United States have had harsh criticism of the Schmidt-Richardson trip.
Schmidt and Richardson "have joined the long list of Americans and others used by the Kim family dictatorship for political advantage," John Bolton, who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during the George W. Bush administration, wrote in the New York Daily News.
"North Korea has repeatedly welcomed prominent Americans to help elevate its stature. It is seeking direct negotiations with Washington, for in the distorted vision of the nation's leadership, this might lead to full diplomatic recognition and 'equal' status in the world community."

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PM Note: NRA to Meet Joe Biden, Diane Sawyer and Gabbrielle Giffords, Remembering Richard Ben Cramer

Remembering Richard Ben Cramer, Chronicler of Political Candidates- Indulge Amy Walter, please, as she joins many of her political colleagues in paying tribute to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Richard Ben Cramer, who died Monday at age 62. http://abcn.ws/UGXMWH (Amy Walter)
Exclusive - Sawyer and Giffords - See Diane Sawyer's Interview with Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly - http://abcn.ws/ZnErq3
From Alyssa Newcomb and Lana Zak - "After she was gravely wounded by gunfire two years ago in Tucson, Ariz., former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, imagined a life out of the public eye, where she would continue therapy surrounded by the friends, family and the Arizona desert she loves so much.
"But after the slaughter of 20 first-graders and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., last month, Giffords and Kelly knew they couldn't stay silent. "Enough," Giffords said.
"The couple marked the second anniversary of the Tucson shooting by sitting down with "Diane Sawyer to discuss their recent visit to Newtown and their new initiative to curb gun violence, "Americans for Responsible Solutions."
"After the shooting in Tucson, there was talk about addressing some of these issues, [and] again after [a movie theater massacre in] Aurora," Colo., Kelly said. "I'm hopeful that this time is different, and I think it is. Twenty first-graders' being murdered in their classrooms is a very personal thing for everybody."
Biden's Sked - Wednesday - Gun Control Advocates and Victims Groups Thursday - NRA, Sportsmen Advocates
The full wrap from Arlette Saenz - http://abcn.ws/SiiqLW
Obama, Karzai to meet Friday on Afghan Transition- President Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai will meet at the White House Friday to discuss the future of the U.S.-Afghan relationship as the Obama administration readies to draw down its remaining forces after more than a dozen years of war. http://abcn.ws/UzbLIL (Mary Bruce and Luis Martinez)
Illinois House Passes Drivers Licenses For Undocumented Immigrants-The Illinois General Assembly passed legislation on Tuesday that would permit unauthorized immigrants to obtain temporary drivers licenses, clearing the way for Gov. Pat Quinn (D) to sign the bill into law. http://abcn.ws/VDbCVT (Jordan Fabian)
John Brennan's 'Zero Dark Thirty' Problem - There's only one White House staffer portrayed in the new movie "Zero Dark Thirty," and it is someone described in the credits as "National Security Advisor." http://abcn.ws/VNwUzN
'Breaking Bad' Actor Joining Albuquerque School Board-"Breaking Bad" actor Steven Michael Quezada wants to make a difference in the state that he and his show call home. http://abcn.ws/13eHfu8 (Josh Haskell)
Man Runs to DC From Maine for Charity- Gary Allen, an avid runner and Maine resident, is lacing up his sneakers in an attempt to run from Mount Desert Island to the nation's capital. http://abcn.ws/13go16E (Jilian Fama)
Christie Accused of Praying for Sandy - Chris Christie Foe Claims Christie 'Prayed' for Superstorm Sandy-Hours before New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was scheduled to give his state of the state address Tuesday afternoon, a political opponent claimed the tough-talking governor "prayed and got lucky" that superstorm Sandy slammed into the Garden State and drove attention away from the New Jersey economy. http://abcn.ws/U19s2E (Shushannah Walshe)
AIG May Join Suit Over US Bailout-Saved from collapse by a massive bailout, the insurance company AIG is now considering joining a lawsuit against the government, which claims the terms were too harsh. The complaint says shareholders were cheated by the $182 million bailout, which included high interest rates and billions in payments to AIG's Wall Street clients. The New York Times reports the lawsuit was filed in 2011 by 87-year-old former CEO Maurice Greenberg, a major investor who ran AIG for more than four decades. http://abcn.ws/WqxMt6 (Richard Davies)

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Government launches review of Shell Arctic drill program

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Interior Department said on Tuesday it will review Royal Dutch Shell's 2012 Arctic oil drilling program to assess the challenges the company faced and to help guide future permitting in the region.
The announcement follows the grounding of one of Shell's rigs off the coast of Alaska last week, the latest in a series of mishaps the company has encountered as it undertakes an ambitious Arctic oil exploration plans.
"Exploration allows us to better comprehend the true scope of our resources in the Arctic ... but we also recognize that the unique challenges posed by the Arctic environment demand an even higher level of scrutiny," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement.
Any changes in permitting requirements or delays due to the review could threaten Shell's drilling plans for 2013. The company faces a limited window during the summer when weather conditions and regulators will allow drilling.
Interior said it hopes to complete its "high-level" assessment within 60 days.
Shell has spent $4.5 billion since 2005 to develop the Arctic's vast oil reserves, but the company has faced intense opposition from environmentalists and native groups as well as regulatory and technical hurdles.
The oil giant made some strides last year, actually beginning preparatory drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. But the work was far short of completing up to three wells in the Chukchi and up to two in the Beaufort as the company had planned.
Instead, Shell's 2012 drilling season was beset by delays due to lingering ice in Arctic waters and problems with getting its mandatory oil spill containment vessel certified by the Coast Guard.
Shell said it welcomed the department's review, conceding that it had experienced some challenges.
"We have already been in dialogue with the DOI on lessons learned from this season, and a high level review will help strengthen our Alaska exploration program going forward," Shell spokeswoman Kelly op de Weegh said in a statement.
Interior said it would examine the issues with Shell's containment vessel, as well as issues with Shell's two drilling rigs, the Noble Discoverer and the Kulluk.
It was the Kulluk rig that broke away from tow boats last week and ran aground on New Year's Eve in what were described as near hurricane conditions.
U.S. Senator Mark Begich, an Alaska Democrat and strong supporter of offshore Arctic oil drilling, on Tuesday called for a hearing to examine the Kulluk situation.
"While this incident notably involves marine transportation and not oil exploration or drilling, we must quickly answer the many questions surrounding the Kulluk grounding and improve any regulatory or operational standards as needed to ensure this type of maritime accident does not occur again," Begich said in a letter to Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Robert Papp and to Shell.
Environmental groups said the Kulluk accident was new evidence that oil companies were not prepared to operate in the Arctic, calling on the government to put all permitting in the area on hold.
One of the groups calling for a pause in permitting, the conservation group Oceana, said Interior's review is a step in the right direction, but it must be "more than a paper exercise."
"The Department of the Interior, after all, is complicit in Shell's failures because it granted the approvals that allowed Shell to operate," said Michael LeVine, Pacific senior counsel at the ocean conservation group.

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Supreme Court narrows avenue for death row appeals

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two death row inmates were not entitled to a delay of their federal appeals on the grounds that they were incompetent to assist their lawyers, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday.
In a unanimous ruling against inmates Ernest Valencia Gonzales and Sean Carter, the court also said federal judges cannot indefinitely delay appeals of state criminal convictions in the hope that the defendants might eventually become competent enough to help out.
Justice Clarence Thomas said defense lawyers are "quite capable" of reviewing cases without their clients' help and can identify arguments or state court errors that can be raised on appeal.
He said a district judge who believes an incompetent defendant could substantially aid in his defense should examine the likelihood that the defendant will regain competence.
In contrast, "where there is no reasonable hope of competence, a stay merely frustrates the state's attempts to defend its presumptively valid judgment," Thomas wrote.
Gonzales was convicted by an Arizona jury in the stabbings of two people in front of their seven-year-old son during a burglary. One of the victims died.
Carter was found guilty by an Ohio jury of the rape and stabbing death of his adoptive grandmother.
Dale Baich, who works in the federal public defender's office that represented Gonzales, noted that Supreme Court decision left room for federal courts to put some appeals on hold. A prisoner's competency to assist counsel is an issue in roughly one dozen capital cases pending nationwide, he said.
A lawyer for Carter was not immediately available to comment.
Thomas said the federal appeals courts that put both cases on hold erred in relying on two federal statutes to find that defendants must be competent.
A requirement of competency also does not flow from a defendant's right to counsel under the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, he wrote.
The court also said it was "unwarranted" to extrapolate a definitive rule based on a 1960s case involving an incompetent death row inmate that it put on hold for nearly three decades. That case ended when the prisoner died.
The cases are Ryan v. Gonzales, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 10-930; and Tibbals v. Carter, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 11-218.

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Drilling barge pulled from rocks off Alaska island

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A large floating drill rig that ran aground a week ago on a remote Alaska island arrived as planned Monday in the shelter of a Kodiak Island bay after being towed about 45 miles through swells as high as 15 feet, officials said.
The Royal Dutch Shell PLC vessel was lifted off rocks late Sunday and towed away from the southeast side of Sitkalidak Island, where it sat exposed to the full-on fury of Gulf of Alaska winter storms since grounding near the beach there on New Year's Eve.
The Kulluk — a circular barge with a diameter as long as nearly three basketball courts — was towed for about 12 hours to the protected waters in Kiliuda Bay, where it will undergo further inspection, including an underwater look at its hull.
"We could not be more impressed with the caliber of the response and recovery crews who were safe and meticulous in their effort to move the Kulluk offshore," Shell Alaska spokesman Curtis Smith said by email.
The vessel will remain in the bay 43 miles southwest of the city of Kodiak until inspectors review its condition and the Coast Guard clears it to travel. Shell incident commander Sean Crutchfield said there's no timetable for departure.
"Until we have that damage assessment, we'll not be able to develop those plans," Crutchfield said at a news conference Monday.
The massive effort to move and salvage the ship involves more than 730 people, according to the Unified Command, which includes the Coast Guard, Shell and contractors involved in the tow and salvage operation. Eleven people are aboard the ship — a salvage crew of 10 people and one Shell representative
Shell earlier reported superficial damage above the deck and seawater that entered through open hatches. Water has knocked out regular and emergency generators, but portable generators were put on board last week.
The Kulluk is 266 feet in diameter with a derrick in its middle and a funnel-shaped, reinforced steel hull that allows it to operate in ice. Its derrick rises 160 feet. The barge drilled last year in the Beaufort Sea and was headed to Seattle for upgrades and maintenance when it ran into trouble.
Its towing vessel, the 360-foot anchor handler Aiviq, on Dec. 27 lost its line to the Kulluk in heavy seas and hours later lost power to all four of its engines, possibly due to contaminated fuel.
Four reattached lines between the Aiviq or other vessels also broke in stormy weather. The Aiviq on New Year's Eve again broke its line, leaving the Kulluk attached to the tugboat Alert.
Coast Guard Capt. Paul Mehler, the federal on-scene coordinator, said Monday the Alert also experienced a mechanical problem the night the Kulluk went aground. The agency is investigating.
"The understanding the night of the response was that when she was taking maximum power, there was an engine problem," Mehler said. "They did recover that within 30 minutes. The details of that, I couldn't answer yet."
Inspections after the grounding determined that the Kulluk could be towed, and the Aiviq on Sunday reattached a tow line. Tension was added to test the line Sunday night and increased as high tide approached, Crutchfield said.
He was not on scene but did not hear of complications.
"The Kulluk came off reasonably easy, would be my assessment," he said.
Mehler said he was in the command center when salvors reported the Kulluk had come off the rocks.
"I won't say that I saw anyone high-fiving," Mehler said. "I'll say there was certainly a sense of relief, but recognizing now we have a lot more work to do."
Likewise, the tow "has gone pretty much according to plan," Crutchfield said.
Inspections will involve an underwater look at the hull with divers or remotely operated underwater vehicles or divers or both, he said.
The Kulluk will be tethered to two tugs in the bay and will attempt to set its anchor. If that doesn't work, he said, additional tugs will be used to keep it in place. Four more tugs were on scene Monday.
A tug trailing the drill vessel used infrared equipment to watch for oil sheens and reported no petroleum discharge.

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New York can't object to $115 million AIG shareholder deal: judge

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman cannot stop a $115 million settlement between American International Group Inc shareholders and the insurer's former chief executive and others, a U.S. judge ruled on Monday.
The New York Attorney General lacks standing to object to the settlement, U.S. District Court Judge Deborah Batts in Manhattan wrote in her decision. She also denied Schneiderman's request to intervene.
Batts will decide whether to approve the accord reached in 2009 between shareholders and former AIG Chief Executive Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, former Chief Executive Howard Smith, other executives and Greenberg's companies C.V. Starr & Co and Starr International Co.
The judge set a fairness hearing for April 10 and could approve the settlement afterward. If she does and no one appeals, it would effectively end a high-profile civil fraud case against Greenberg and Smith brought by the Attorney General's office in 2005.
A spokesman for Schneiderman did not immediately return a call for comment. A spokeswoman for Boies, Schiller & Flexner, which represents Greenberg and his companies, had no immediate comment. Lawyers for the shareholders and Smith also did not immediately return calls for comment.
The New York Attorney General's plea for the parties to re- negotiate raises concerns of "undue delay" and demands court action based on "sheer speculation and hotly contested expert evaluations," the judge wrote in her ruling.
In August, Schneiderman urged Batts to reject the accord, saying an expert for shareholders made a math error that caused the payout to be too low. Lawyers for the shareholders responded the error had no significant effect.
They also said it was "entirely speculative" to expect the shareholders to fare better in new talks.
Lawyers for Greenberg, Smith and the Starr entities had also urged approval of the settlement.
At issue is a 2000 transaction with General Re Corp, a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc , which various government investigators have said allowed AIG to inflate loss reserves by $500 million without transferring risk.
Schneiderman argued a math error by the expert caused the transaction to get no weight in the calculation of damages.
Projections and arguments as to the amount of damages include nothing, $100 million, $543 million, $1.2 billion and $6.5 billion, the highest estimated by the New York attorney general's expert, the judge said in her ruling.
The state case against Greenberg and Smith was brought by former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer under the Martin Act, New York's powerful securities fraud law. Greenberg and Smith are awaiting an appeal in the case at the state's highest court.
If the federal accord is approved before the state case, the "broad terms of the releases" would preclude New York pursuing its case on behalf of AIG shareholders, Schneiderman has said in court papers.
The case is In re American International Group Inc Securities Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 04-08141.

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Insight: In "fiscal cliff" bill, White House was key to corporate tax breaks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As the Congress rushed last week to approve a "fiscal cliff" tax bill that raised income taxes on the wealthy, Washington lobbyists were fretting over a drama that was playing out within the negotiations: whether the bill would include about $64 billion in tax breaks for businesses.
The bill extended several tax breaks backed by both parties, including $14.3 billion in credits for research and development projects for thousands of U.S. businesses. But it also had other provisions - breaks for companies involved in wind energy, auto racing, rum, Hollywood films and much more.
In the end, the bill approved by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama included all of those things, thanks partly to the White House's interest in promoting wind and other alternative sources of energy, and in subsidizing research and development costs for companies.
It also became a lesson in how Washington's taste for dishing out favors to special interests is alive and well, despite bipartisan calls for the government to reduce the tax credits it gives businesses and individuals at a time when the nation's debt tops $16 trillion and is growing.
Some business lobbyists told Reuters they were surprised that the package of tax credits - which had been approved by the Democrat-led Senate Finance Committee in August - survived the negotiations over the tax bill. The main part of the bill extended Bush-era income tax cuts for individuals with incomes of less than $400,000 and couples who make less than $450,000.
The longer the negotiations dragged on, lobbyists for various causes had figured, the more likely the bill would focus solely on the core issues of the talks: raising income taxes on the wealthy, allowing a payroll tax cut for all Americans to expire, and extending unemployment insurance benefits.
The lobbyists' expectations also were lowered by the emergence of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, as a key negotiator in the talks.
McConnell has spoken on the Senate floor about the need to rethink Congress' approach to various tax breaks, saying that many had been "reflexively extended" for years "without any meaningful review or oversight."
His words were echoed in September by 47 House Republicans who had urged Republican Speaker John Boehner to eliminate the wind energy tax credit, which had split the Republican Party and drawn criticism from Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee for president.
But in the final hours of the negotiations over the fiscal cliff bill, lobbyists pushing the additional tax breaks appear to have had a key ally: President Obama, who during his re-election campaign had touted the need to increase the nation's investment in alternative energy sources such as wind.
Tax credits for the energy industry make up a big chunk of the "add-ons" that were attached to the fiscal cliff bill - about $18.1 billion worth, of which $12.1 billion represents a dramatic expansion of write-offs for wind energy investments.
McConnell's spokesman, Don Stewart, said the White House insisted that it would a "deal breaker" if the entire package of tax credits was not in the bill. Stewart also said the White House initially wanted to make all of the tax breaks permanent, rather than extend them only through the end of this year.
"The White House ... can't deny that the only reason the (business tax breaks were) included in the final agreement is because the president insisted" they be in there, Stewart said.
White House spokesman Jay Carney on Monday said that Obama supported the overall package of tax breaks for businesses. He emphasized that the president favored the wind energy credit and tax benefits for research and development to encourage "job-creating research investments."
Carney also said that many of the tax breaks in the fiscal cliff bill had bipartisan support.
"It would strain the credulity of everyone in this room to suggest that Republicans did not support or want tax credits for business," Carney said during his daily briefing to reporters.
Some Democratic strategists said that given the rush to get a fiscal cliff bill through Congress before U.S. financial markets opened for the new year last Wednesday, it likely seemed unrealistic to pick apart the package of tax credits - known as "extenders" - that had passed the Senate Finance Committee on a bipartisan, 19-5 vote.
So the package - with its $222 million credit for the rum industry, a $78 million write-off for the owners of NASCAR auto racing tracks and tax credits for the film industry that could total $248 million, among other things - survived intact, like a holiday bonus to Washington's lobbyists.
"I reacted, like, 'Wow,' " said Rich Gold of Holland & Knight, who lobbied for tax breaks for wind energy and railroad maintenance.
He represented the Juno Beach, Florida-based company NextEra Energy as well as the Greenwich, Connecticut-based Genesee & Wyoming, a freight rail company.
"The (fiscal cliff) package had gotten so skinny," Gold said, "that I just didn't expect it to happen at the end of the day."
THE WAY WASHINGTON WORKS
Outrage over the tax breaks flowed from small-government advocates and conservative voices such as the Wall Street Journal's editorial page, which called the tax credits a "crony capitalist blowout."
Such business tax breaks are called extenders because lawmakers usually extend them all at once, adding them to other tax bills as they move through Congress. Government budget analysts project their total costs over 10 years, even though many of the breaks are extended for only one or two years at a time.
During a session in which a bitterly divided Congress had trouble passing any legislation, let alone a controversial tax bill, the fiscal cliff package was the only vehicle for such tax breaks in the final hours of the session that ended Wednesday. A new Congress, including House and Senate members just elected in November, began meeting Thursday.
Critics and supporters alike said that tucking expensive tax incentives into last-minute bills is how Washington has worked for years.
"They always do this," said Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste. The difference this time was that more people were watching the high-stakes talks over the fiscal cliff bill, he said.
"Many people are being made aware of these tax breaks," Schatz said.
Republican strategist John Feehery, who favors the wind energy tax credit, said the fiscal cliff deal was never expected to reform the U.S. tax code, as some in Washington had hoped.
"This was not going to be a tax reform package. This was going to be an agreement or disagreement over whether we keep the current tax policies in place. And these extenders are, by and large, keeping current policy in place," said Feehery, who leads a group called the Red State Renewable Alliance, which touts the benefits of the wind industry in conservative states.
'CORPORATE WELFARE'?
Like Feehery and White House spokesman Carney, supporters of tax credits for wind energy and other industries argue that such incentives often boost the economy and create jobs.
Critics argue that the breaks are "corporate welfare," handed out to whoever can hire the best lobbyists or contribute the most to lawmakers' campaigns.
During the past two years, the American Wind Energy Association spent $4.5 million lobbying and gave more than $335,000 in campaign contributions to federal candidates, most of them members of Congress, according to the Senate's lobbying database and the watchdog group Center for Responsive Politics.
Fiscal conservatives aren't the only ones lobbying against such tax breaks.
Those opposing the wind energy credits include some in the nuclear power industry, which itself has received more than $100 billion in federal subsidies since the 1940s, according to the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense.
Chicago-based Exelon Corp, the largest nuclear power operator in the United States, spent $6.4 million on lobbying during the first 10 months of 2012, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Exelon also is investing in wind energy but was a vocal voice against the tax credit approved by Congress, saying in a statement that "wind energy can and should stand on its own in competing with other clean energy alternatives."
Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, a member of the Senate Finance Committee who first proposed the wind energy tax credit back in 1992, said that such provisions are not a giveaway by the U.S. Treasury because they encourage investments that might not otherwise be made.
"Using the tax code to stimulate investment is altogether different than appropriating money," he said.
LAWMAKERS TORN
Even so, Grassley's vote on the fiscal cliff bill reflected how some lawmakers were torn over the legislation to prevent income tax increases on most Americans.
Last summer, Grassley joined five other Republicans and 13 Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee in voting for the package of tax credits that wound up being included in the fiscal cliff bill.
But when the Senate voted 89-8 last week to approve the bill, Grassley was among the eight senators opposing it even though it included the wind energy credits he calls crucial to a developing industry in his state.
"The big picture is what ruled as far as I was concerned," Grassley told Reuters in an interview. "The bill does nothing on the expenditure side. ... It didn't cut down on the deficit."
By contrast, Arizona Republican Senator John McCain, a longtime critic of special-project spending known as "earmarks," said he reluctantly voted for the "flawed" agreement because he didn't want to see income taxes go up on all Americans.
Without action by Congress, the Bush-era tax cuts that save middle-class families about $2,000 a year would have expired at the end of 2012.
McCain's distaste for the tax credits in the bill was clear.
"It's hard to think of anything that could feed the cynicism of the American people more than larding up must-pass emergency legislation with giveaways to special interest and campaign contributors," he said in a statement.
After the Senate approved the fiscal cliff deal early on New Year's Day, it moved to the House, where some Republicans complained about the "bloated" package during a closed-door party meeting. But the objectors decided they did not have the votes to amend the bill, House Republican aides said.
The deal passed the House on a vote of 257-167, with opponents of the wind energy credit making up a good chunk of the Republicans' "no" votes. Some are vowing to return to the issue in the new congressional session.
"With taxpayers on the hook for unsustainable corporate welfare, there's no question we're going to come back to it in the new Congress," Representative Mike Pompeo, a Kansas Republican, said in an e-mail.

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Palestinians change their name following UN bid

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The Palestinian president has ordered his government to officially change the name of the Palestinian Authority to "State of Palestine."
The move follows the November decision by the United Nations to upgrade the Palestinians' status to that of a "non-member observer state."
President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday that all official Palestinian stamps, stationery and documents will now bear the new name.
A statement from his office said the move was aimed at enhancing Palestinian "sovereignty on the ground" and was a step on the way to "real independence." Israel still controls most of the West Bank.
Israel objected to the Palestinian statehood bid at the U.N., calling it a unilateral step aimed at bypassing direct peace negotiations. Abbas denied that.
Israel had no comment Sunday.

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Assad calls on Syrians to defend the country

BEIRUT (AP) — President Bashar Assad called on Syrians to defend their country against Islamic extremists seeking to destroy the nation, dismissing any prospect of dialogue with the "murderous criminals" he says are behind the uprising even as he outlined his vision for a peaceful settlement to the civil war.
In a one-hour speech to the nation in which he appeared confident and relaxed, Assad struck a defiant tone, ignoring international demands for him to step down and saying he is ready to hold a dialogue — but only with those "who have not betrayed Syria."
He offered a national reconciliation conference, elections and a new constitution but demanded regional and Western countries stop funding and arming rebels trying to overthrow him first.
Syria's opposition swiftly rejected the proposal. Those fighting to topple the regime, including rebels on the ground, have repeatedly said they will accept nothing less than the president's departure, dismissing any kind of settlement that leaves him in the picture.
"It is an excellent initiative that is only missing one crucial thing: His resignation," said Kamal Labwani, a veteran secular dissident and member of the opposition's Syrian National Coalition umbrella group.
"All what he is proposing will happen automatically, but only after he steps down," Labwani told The Associated Press by telephone from Sweden.
On top of that, Assad's new initiative is reminiscent of symbolic changes and concessions that his government made earlier in the uprising, which were rejected at the time as too little too late.
Speaking at the Opera House in central Damascus, Assad told the hall packed with supporters — who frequently broke out in cheers and applause — that "we are in a state of war."
"We are fighting an external aggression that is more dangerous than any others, because they use us to kill each other," he said. "It is a war between the nation and its enemies, between the people and the murderous criminals."
Assad has rarely spoken since the uprising against his rule began in March 2011, and Sunday's speech was his first since June. His last public comments came in an interview in November to Russian TV in which he vowed to die in Syria.
On Sunday, he seemed equally confident in his troops' ability to crush the rebels fighting his rule, even as they edge in closer than ever to his seat of power, Damascus.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Assad's speech was "beyond hypocritical." In a message posted on his official Twitter feed, Hague said "empty promises of reform fool no one."
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton's office said in a statement that the bloc will "look carefully if there is anything new in the speech but we maintain our position that Assad has to step aside and allow for a political transition."
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Assad's speech was filled with "empty promises" and repetitive pledges of reform by a president appeared out of touch with reality of the Syrian people.
"It seems (Assad) has shut himself in his room, and for months has read intelligence reports that are presented to him by those trying to win his favor," Davutoglu told reporters in the Aegean port city of Izmir on Sunday.
Turkey is a former ally of Damascus, and while Ankara first backed Assad after the uprising erupted, it turned against the regime after its violent crackdown on dissent.
At the end of his speech and as he was leaving the hall, he was mobbed by a group of loyalists shouting: "With our blood and souls we redeem you, Bashar!"
The president waved and blew kisses to the crowd on his way out.
Assad acknowledged the enormous impact of the conflict, which the United Nations recently estimated had killed more than 60,000 people.
"Suffering is overwhelming Syrian land. There is no place for joy in any corner of the country in the absence of security and stability," he said. "I look at the eyes of Syria's children and I don't see any happiness."
The Internet was cut in many parts of Damascus ahead of the address, apparently for security reasons.
As in previous speeches, Assad said his forces were fighting groups of "murderous criminals" and jihadi elements and denied that there was an uprising against his family's decades-long rule.
He stressed the presence of religious extremists and jihadi elements among those fighting in Syria, calling them "terrorists who carry the ideology of al-Qaida" and "servants who know nothing but the language of slaughter."
He said Syria will not take dictates from anyone — a reference to outside powers — and urged his countrymen to unite to save the nation.
Outlining his peace initiative, he said: "The first part of a political solution would require regional powers to stop funding and arming (the rebels), an end to terrorism and controlling the borders."
He said this would then be followed by dialogue and a national reconciliation conference and the formation of a wide representative government which would then oversee new elections, a new constitution and general amnesty.
Assad made clear his offer to hold a dialogue is not open to those whom he considers extremists or carrying out a foreign agenda, essentially eliminating anyone who has taken up arms against the regime.
"We never rejected a political solution ... but with whom should we talk? With those who have an extremist ideology, who only understand the language of terrorism?" he said. "Or should we with negotiate puppets whom the West brought?"
"We negotiate with the master, not with the slave," he said.
As in previous speeches and interviews, he clung to the view that the crisis in Syria was a foreign-backed agenda and said it was not an uprising against his rule.
"Is this a revolution and are these revolutionaries? By God, I say they are a bunch of criminals," he said.

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AP Interview: Palestinian PM blasts Arab donors

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The Palestinian self-rule government is close to being "completely incapacitated," largely because Arab countries haven't delivered hundreds of millions of dollars in promised aid, the Palestinian prime minister said in an interview Sunday.
If allowed to continue, the Palestinian Authority's unprecedented financial crisis will quickly double the number of Palestinian poor to 50 percent of a population of roughly 4 million, Salam Fayyad told The Associated Press.
Fayyad said the malaise is further boosting the political appeal of the Islamic militant Hamas while discrediting him and other proponents of a nonviolent path to statehood in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. Hamas seized Gaza from Fayyad's boss, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in a 2007 takeover, leaving Abbas with only the West Bank.
The failure of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority to deliver on many of its promises, coupled with recent Israeli concessions to Hamas, "has produced a reality of a doctrinal win for what Hamas stands for, and correspondingly a doctrinal defeat for the Palestinian Authority," Fayyad said.
The Palestinian Authority was established nearly two decades ago, as part of interim peace deals with Israel, and was meant to make way after five years for a Palestinian state alongside Israel. However, Israeli-Palestinian negotiations repeatedly broke down, at times amid bursts of violence, and failed to produce a final deal.
After the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000, which resulted in harsh Israeli restrictions on Palestinian trade and movement, the Palestinian Authority became heavily dependent on foreign aid. It has received hundreds of millions of dollars each year since then, but has struggled to wean itself off foreign support.
Fayyad said his budget deficit has widened in recent years, blaming Arab states that broke aid promises.
"The financing problem that we've had ... in the last few years is solely due to some Arab donors not fulfilling their pledge of support in accordance with Arab League resolutions," Fayyad said. European countries kept all their aid commitments and the U.S. honored most, with the exception of $200 million held up by Congress last year, he added.
The crisis worsened sharply after the U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in late November, at the request of Abbas, to recognize a state of Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the territories Israel captured in 1967. Israel objected to the U.N. upgrade, accusing Abbas of trying to bypass negotiations.
Starting in December, Israel halted the monthly transfers of about $100 million in tax rebates it collects on behalf of the Palestinians. That sum amounts to about one-third of the monthly operating costs of the Palestinian Authority. Fayyad said he now only takes in about $50 million a month in revenues.
On Sunday, Abbas declared that his Palestinian Authority would be known as the State of Palestine from now on, in keeping with U.N. recognition of Palestine as a non-member observer state in November.
Fayyad's heftiest monthly budget item is the government payroll. The Palestinian Authority employs some 150,000 people, including civil servants and members of the security forces. About 60,000 live in Gaza and served under Abbas before the Hamas takeover, but they continue to draw salaries even though they've since been replaced by Hamas loyalists.
In recent months, the government has paid salaries in installments.
Fayyad said he managed to pay half the November salaries by getting another bank loan, using as collateral a promise by the Arab League to cover whatever money Israel might withhold in retaliation for the U.N. bid. The money from the Arab states never came, and Fayyad said he can't pay the rest of the November salaries, let alone December wages.
The Palestinian Authority already owes local banks more than $1.3 billion and can't get more loans. It also owes hundreds of millions of dollars to private suppliers, and some have stopped doing business with the government.
Fayyad said his government is on "the verge of being completely incapacitated." About 1 million Palestinians who depend on government salaries "are at a very serious threat of being pushed into a circle of poverty," he said. This would double the poverty rate, which currently stands at 25 percent in the West Bank and Gaza, he said.
Fayyad said these dire consequences would happen in "short order," but he would not give specifics.
Mohammed Sobeih, an official in the 22-nation Arab League, acknowledged Sunday that the Palestinian Authority is in a "critical situation." He said the head of the league has written to member states urging them "to pay the pledged $100 million."
The growing hardships have sparked repeated protests in the West Bank. Civil servants have held several warning strikes. On Sunday, the union decided to step up protests, calling for four days of strikes over the next two weeks.

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