US expands Venezuela visa bans

3 February 2015 Last updated at 00:22

The United States has imposed visa restrictions on unnamed Venezuelan officials it accuses of human rights violations and corruption.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said the measures were an attempt to violate Venezuelan sovereignty.

They build on sanctions imposed last year on officials alleged to have violated the rights of protesters.

The list of officials banned from entering the US has been extended, and now includes family members.

"We are sending a clear message that human rights abusers, those who profit from public corruption, and their families are not welcome in the United States," said US state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

Mr Maduro reacted angrily and said he would write a letter to US President Barack Obama.

"We can't let an empire that has been eyeing all of us pretend or think it has the right to sanction the country of [Simon] Bolivar," Mr Maduro said, making reference to the Venezuela-born hero of Latin American liberation.

The sanctions imposed in December were aimed at officials accused over their role in suppressing anti-government protests that shook Venezuela in the first six months of 2014.

'Look me in the eyes'

The new visa restrictions were announced a day after Mr Maduro accused US Vice-President Joe Biden of plotting a coup against his Socialist government during an energy summit of Caribbean leaders in Washington.

Mr Biden's office called the allegation "baseless and patently false".

"President Maduro's accusations are clearly part of an effort to distract from the concerning situation in Venezuela, which includes repeated violations of freedom of speech, assembly, and due process," read a statement.

Mr Biden and Mr Maduro had shaken hands in Brazil during Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's inauguration ceremony on 1 January.

"Vice-President Biden: Look me in the eyes. I saw you in Brazil, I gave you my hand," said Mr Maduro in a televised address on Sunday night.

"You, who said this is a new era for relations in Latin America, were going to conspire against Venezuela," he added.

Relations between the US and Venezuela have been tense for many years. They last had ambassadors in each other's capitals in 2010.

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US oil workers go on national strike

2 February 2015 Last updated at 01:44

US union leaders have launched a large-scale strike at nine refineries after failing to agree on a new national contract with major oil companies.

It marks the first nationwide walkout since 1980 and impacts plants that together account for more than 10% of US refining capacity.

The United Steelworkers Union (USW) began the strike on Sunday, after their current contract expired and no deal was reached despite five proposals.

The USW said it "had no choice".

"This industry is the richest in the world and can afford to make the changes we offered in bargaining," USW International Vice President of Administration Tom Conway said in a statement.

"The problem is that oil companies are too greedy to make a positive change in the workplace and they continue to value production and profit over health and safety, workers and the community."

Royal Dutch Shell, the lead industry negotiator, said it "hopes to resume negotiations as early as possible".

Continue reading the main story

The move comes at a tough time for oil companies, which have been cutting costs and reining in spending following a collapse in crude prices.

A large part of this is due to an increase in oil volumes extracted from shale formations, adding to a global supply glut.

USW said it represents workers at 65 US refineries that produce approximately 64% of the oil in the US.

The union has been renegotiating a three-year national contract since 21 January. The latest offer was the fifth proposal rejected by the union.

It wants to double the size of the annual pay increases from the previous agreement, increased healthcare coverage and reduced use of non-union contract workers.

Shell, Marathon Petroleum and LyondellBasell will see their facilities affected but have since implemented strike contingency plans.

The last nationwide work stoppage in 1980 lasted three months.

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Whitney daughter 'fighting for life'

2 February 2015 Last updated at 21:53

Bobbi Kristina Brown, daughter of late singer Whitney Houston, is "fighting for her life" after being found unconscious, her family says.

Ms Brown, 21, was rushed to hospital on Saturday after being found unconscious in the bath at her home in Atlanta.

Her mother, a global star, was found dead in February 2012, aged 48, in a bath in a hotel in Los Angeles.

The hospital has not commented on her condition but her family said they were by her bedside.

In a statement, Ms Brown's family said: "Bobbi Kristina is fighting for her life and is surrounded by immediate family."

"We are asking you to honour our request for privacy during this difficult time."

On Monday, police said they were called to her home in suburban Atlanta on Saturday in response to a "drowning".

A police official told a local broadcaster officials had not found any drugs or prescription medications in the home.

A spokeswoman for North Fulton Hospital declined to comment on Ms Brown's condition, citing medical privacy laws.

An unidentified source close to the family told CNN Ms Brown was in a medically-induced coma and breathing with the aid of ventilator.

Whitney Houston was seen as the golden girl of the music industry in the 1980s and 90s, becoming one of the world's best-selling artists and the most successful soul singer of all time.

But the hits stopped in the mid-1990s after she began to abuse cocaine, marijuana and prescription drugs.

A post-mortem examination later concluded she died of accidental drowning due to the effects of cocaine use and heart disease.

Bobbi Kristina was born after the singer's tumultuous 1992 marriage to hip-hop singer Bobby Brown.

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US drops News Corp hacking probe

3 February 2015 Last updated at 04:33

Rupert Murdoch's company News Corp will not be prosecuted in the US over the phone-hacking scandal that engulfed the media giant in the UK.

US officials were looking into whether alleged payments to British police by journalists meant that News Corp, a US company, broke anti-corruption laws.

But the US Department of Justice said on Monday it was not pursuing charges and was closing its investigation.

The tabloid newspaper at the centre of the scandal was closed down in 2011.

And several News of the World journalists have been prosecuted in the UK, after being accused of hacking phones and paying public officials in return for exclusive stories.

Reporters gained access to the phone of missing British schoolgirl Milly Dowler, who had been murdered.

The BBC's Nick Bryant in New York says that the FBI had trawled through thousands of emails on News Corp servers, looking for evidence of any possible violations of US law.

On Monday, a statement from the department of justice said it was ending its "investigation into News Corp regarding possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act concerning bribes allegedly paid for news leads".

It reserved the right to reopen the inquiry if new information came to light, it said.

'Disappointing'

News Corp said it had been notified and welcomed the news.

"We are grateful that this matter has been concluded and acknowledge the fairness and professionalism of the justice department throughout this investigation," said Gerson Zweifach, general counsel of News Corp.

A lawyer acting on behalf of a group of relatives of victims of the 9/11 attacks, who suspect that their phones were hacked, said that it was "very disappointing" that the investigation had ended.

Rupert Murdoch controls both News Corp and its sister company Twenty-First Century Fox, which split into separate businesses in 2013.

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Obama seeks tax rises in budget

2 February 2015 Last updated at 18:04

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President Obama: "This country does its best when everyone gets a fair shot"

US President Barack Obama has sent a $4tn (£2.6tn) budget proposal to Congress with significant tax rises, primarily on firms and the wealthy.

Mr Obama's plan would use new taxes to remove current budget caps and fund infrastructure projects.

He spoke at the US homeland security department, which faces a funding shortage at the end of February.

But analysts say it is unlikely the Republican-controlled Congress will approve the proposals.

Mr Obama's spending plan is considered the opening gambit in an expected negotiation with Congress.

Republican budget officials are expected to put forward their own proposals in a few weeks time.

The opposition party accuses Mr Obama of reverting to tax-and-spend policies without changing the biggest areas of government spending - social security and health programmes.

Representative Paul Ryan, the Republican's top budget official, said Mr Obama was exploiting "envy economics" in his proposal.

"This top down redistribution doesn't work," Mr Ryan told NBC.

Among the new tax rises is a one-off 14% tax on US profits made overseas, as well as a 19% tax on any future profits as they are earned.

No tax is currently due on foreign profits as long as they are not brought into the US.

The $238bn (£158bn) raised would be used to fund infrastructure projects across the country.

Research firm Audit Analytics calculated last April that US firms made $2.1tn-worth of profits abroad.

Other tax proposals include:

• tax credits for child care and "second earners"
• earners taxed at the top rate would only be able to take tax deductions at a lower rate
• an increase in capital gains tax from 20% to 28%
• a tax rise on cigarettes over 10 years from $1.01 per pack to $1.95

Mr Obama also called for an end to spending caps on the military and most domestic agencies first put in place in 2011.

Calling the caps "mindless austerity", Mr Obama's budget eliminates such limits for the six years they are scheduled to remain in place, representing a spending increase of $362bn.

Mr Obama warned congressional Republicans on Monday that he would not accept lifting caps on national security spending without doing the same for domestic programmes.

"I will not accept a budget that severs the vital links between our national security and our economic security," he said ."Those two things go hand in hand."

The spending plan also includes proposals Mr Obama promised in his State of the Union speech last month, including free community college tuition.

Apple and the US tax grab

Kim Gittleson, BBC News

To understand just how convoluted the world of US corporate tax has become, you only need to look to one company: Apple.

The technology giant just announced on Monday that it will raise money via US debt markets in order to return money to shareholders - despite reporting the biggest quarterly corporate profit in history last week.

That's because Apple keeps most of its profits overseas, in places like Ireland and Bermuda, where corporate tax rates are lower than the 35% imposed by the US government.

The company's accountants have decided it is cheaper to raise money via so-called "iBond" sales than to take any of that money back into the US.

No-one in the US - Republicans and Democrats - think this is a good thing, but President Obama's solution is not supported by Republicans, and even some Democrats.

Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer and Republican Rand Paul recently proposed a separate plan for a tax repatriation holiday. That's when the US government agrees to let firms bring money back into the US at a one-time lower tax rate.

While this is the method preferred by corporations, studies have shown that repatriation holidays have ultimately cost the US government money.

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VIDEO: Groundhog bites Wisconsin mayor

A groundhog bit the ear of the mayor of Sun Prairies in Wisconsin as the animal "predicted" how long it would be until spring.

According to tradition in the US, the emerging of the groundhog from its burrow on Groundhog Day, will determine how much winter weather remains.

However when Jimmy was held to Mayor Jonathan Freund's ear it chose to bite down.

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Suge Knight charged with murder

3 February 2015 Last updated at 03:52

The former American rap music mogul Marion "Suge" Knight has been charged with murder and attempted murder following a fatal hit-and-run incident.

His lawyer says it was an accident which happened as his client tried to escape an attack last week.

Prosecutors allege that the US record producer intended to run over a friend and another man after an argument.

One of the men was killed. Marion "Suge" Knight, who turned himself in, faces life in prison if convicted.

On Monday a court commissioner revoked the $2m bail after police said the defendant had a violent past and could intimidate witnesses.

He is scheduled to appear in court in Compton, Los Angeles, on Tuesday, facing four charges under his real name Marion Hugh Knight.

His friend, Terry Carter, 55, was killed and Cle "Bone" Sloan, 51, injured in the incident in Compton, in Los Angeles County.

Suge Knight founded Death Row Records in the 1990s, but later declared bankruptcy and the company was sold at auction.

He helped launch the careers of artists including Dr Dre, Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg.

The music producer has previously been convicted of armed robbery and assault with a gun.

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Super Bowl sets US TV ratings record

3 February 2015 Last updated at 09:13

An estimated average of 114.4 million people watched Sunday's Super Bowl on NBC, according to initial figures.

The game set a new record for the most-watched event in US television, beating last year's audience of 112.2 million.

Viewing peaked at 120.8 million during the last quarter, which saw the New England Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks 28-24.

Some 118.5 million watched Katy Perry's half-time show - three million more than last year's show with Bruno Mars.

Ratings compiler Nielsen said the 12-minute performance - which also featured Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliot - attracted the biggest half-time audience since 1991.

NBC, which broadcast the game, said the actual audience was likely to have been higher because official ratings did not count people watching in locations such as sports bars.

An additional 600,000 viewers watched the game with Spanish-language announcers on NBC's Universo cable network.

NBC Sports also offered a live stream to computers and tablets - attracting an average 800,000 people, according to Adobe Analytics.

After the game, an estimated 26.5 million people kept their TVs on NBC to watch an episode of James Spader's crime drama The Blacklist, making it the most-watched scripted programme on the network in more than a decade.

Next year's Super Bowl will be played in Santa Clara, California, and will be broadcast by CBS.

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Williams family fights over estate

3 February 2015 Last updated at 10:28

Robin Williams' widow and children have gone to court in a dispute over the late comedian's estate.

In papers filed in December in San Francisco Superior Court, Williams' wife Susan accused his children of taking items without her permission.

The children - Zachary, Zelda and Cody - argued that Susan Williams was "adding insult to a terrible injury" by trying to change their trust agreement.

The dispute involves items Williams kept at two homes and in storage.

Susan Williams has requested that the contents of the home she shared with her husband be excluded from the jewellery, memorabilia and other items her husband said his children should have.

Williams' children have taken issue with this suggestion, saying there should be no limits placed on the items to which they are entitled.

Items in dispute include the actor's collection of watches and the Oscar statuette he won in 1998 for Good Will Hunting.

The star committed suicide at his home in Tiburon, California, in August 2014.

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Web rallies around walking commuter

3 February 2015 Last updated at 12:11

A Detroit man who walks about 21 miles (34km) as part of his daily commute has received thousands of dollars in internet donations after a newspaper told his story.

James Robertson, 56, works at a factory in suburban Rochester Hills, Michigan.

He rides a bus part of the way but has to walk the rest.

After The Detroit Free Press wrote about Mr Robertson on Sunday, multiple people started efforts to help him including offers of free cars.

Evan Leedy, a 19-year-old student at Wayne State University, read the story and started a GoFundMe site with the goal of raising $5,000 (£4,416). As of Tuesday, he and others had raised more than $130,000.

Mr Robertson says he is flattered by the attention and amazed that complete strangers would be so generous.

"Are you serious?" he told The Free Press after hearing that one crowd-funding effort alone had raised $30,000 by Sunday evening.

A nearby car dealership has offered to give Mr Robertson a new vehicle. Others have pledged bicycles and volunteered to drive him to work.

'Standard-setter'

When his car stopped working 10 years ago, Mr Robertson began making the daily trek to Schain Mold & Engineering where he moulds car parts. Even with cuts to bus services, he has had perfect attendance for more than 12 years.

"I set our attendance standard by this man," said Todd Wilson, plant manager. "I say, if this man can get here, walking all those miles through snow and rain, well I'll tell you, I have people in Pontiac 10 minutes away and they say they can't get here."

Recently, Blake Pollock has been giving Mr Robertson occasional rides. The banker passed him walking every day and finally asked what he was doing.

Mr Pollock offered to help Mr Robertson manage his windfall.

Informed about a federal programme newly available through Detroit's bus system that might pick him up at home and drop him off at his job, Mr Robertson said he would rather have more people benefit.

"I'd rather they spent that money on a 24-hour bus system, not on some little bus for me," he told the Detroit Free Press.

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