WASHINGTON(AP) -- Congressionalleaders on Sundayshowed no signs ofemerging from theircorners to resolve thenext step in the finan-cial crisis, withDemocrats still talkingabout higher taxes onthe wealthy and theSenate's topRepublican suggest-ing that a cripplingdefault on U.S. loanswas possible unlessthere were significantcuts in governments p e n d i n g .

"It's a shame we have to use whatever leverage wehave in Congress to get the president to deal with thebiggest problem confronting our future, and that's ourexcessive spending," said Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Last week's deal to avert the combination of end-of-year tax increases and spending cuts known as the "fiscalcliff" held income tax rates steady for 99 percent ofAmericans but left some other major pieces of businessunresolved.

By late February or early March, the TreasuryDepartment will run out of options to cover the nation'sdebts and could begin defaulting on government loansunless Congress raises the legal borrowing limit, or debtceiling. Economists warn that a default could trigger a glob-al recession.

Also looming are deep automatic spending cutsexpected to take effect at the beginning of March that couldfurther erase fragile gains in the U.S. economy. Then onMarch 27, the temporary measure that funds governmentactivities expires, and congressional approval will be need-ed to keep the government running. It's one more chanceto fight over spending

Lawmakers said debt talks will consume Congress inthe coming weeks, likely delaying any consideration of anexpected White House proposal on gun restrictions in thewake of the Connecticut school shooting.

Republicans say they are willing to raise the debt ceil-ing but insist any increase must be paired with significantsavings from Medicare, Medicaid and other governmentbenefit programs. President Barack Obama has said he'swilling to consider spending cuts separately but won't bar-gain over the government's borrowing authority.

"One thing I will not compromise over is whether or notCongress should pay the tab for a bill they've alreadyracked up," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internetaddress.

Democrats said further tax increases for the wealthiestAmericans were still possible as Congress looks to closethe gap between revenues and expenditures. Democratspoint out that Obama has already agreed to significantspending cuts, and that the latest deal only gets the nationto about half of the revenue it needs to resolve the red ink.

"Trust me, there are plenty of things within that taxcode - these loopholes where people can park their money

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Circulated Weekly To Cities In Florida Volume 731 Issue 453 Established 1998 January 7, 2013

N O M O V E M E N T : L AW M A K E R S

D I G I N H E E L S O N D E B T C R I S I S

In The News This Week

in some island off-shore and not paytaxes. These arethings that need to beclosed. We can dothat and use themoney to reduce thedeficit," said IllinoisSen. Dick Durbin, thesecond - rank ingSenate Democrat.

H o u s eDemocratic leaderNancy Pelosi ofCalifornia said she,too, wants to put

"everything on the tablefrom the standpoint ofclosing loopholes."

But McConnell bluntly declared that the "tax issue isover" after last week's agreement.

"We don't have this problem because we tax too little;we have it because we spend too much," McConnell said.

Making the rounds on the Sunday talk shows,McConnell was asked repeatedly whether Republicanswere prepared to see the nation default on its spendingobligations. McConnell said that wouldn't be necessary, solong as Obama agrees to the spending cuts.

But at one point, when asked by NBC's David Gregorywhether the GOP strategy will be to hold the debt ceiling"ransom" in exchange for spending cuts, McConnell said itwas a "shame we have to use whatever leverage we have"to get the president's attention.

"None of us like using situations like the sequester(automatic across-the-board spending cuts) or the debtceiling or the operation of government to try to engage thepresident to deal with this," McConnell said.

Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., didn't dismiss the ideaof allowing a partial shutdown of government until anagreement can be reached. Texas Sen. John Cornyn andother Republicans have floated the idea of a shutdown asa way of winning deeper spending cuts.

"I believe we need to raise the debt ceiling, but if wedon't raise it without a plan to get out of debt, all of us shouldbe fired," Graham said.

Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the top Democrat onthe House Budget Committee, said the Republican strate-gy amounted to: "Give us what we want ... or we're goingto tank the United States economy."

Pelosi said she believes the president has enoughauthority under the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceil-ing without Congress' blessing. But the White House hassaid previously that it does not believe that the amendment- which says the "validity" of public debt shouldn't be ques-tioned - gives the president that power.

McConnell spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press," ABC"This Week" and CBS "Face the Nation." Pelosi was onCBS. Durbin and Graham appeared on CNN's "State ofthe Union" and Van Hollen was interviewed on "Fox NewsSunday."

NO MOVEMENT: LAWMAK-ERS DIG IN HEELS ON

DEBT CRISISCongressional leaders on Sunday showed no

signs of emerging from their corners to resolvethe next step in the financial crisis, Page 1

FDA: NEW RULES WILLMAKE FOOD SAFER

The Food and Drug Administration says its newguidelines would make the food Americans eatsafer and help prevent the kinds of foodbornedisease. Page 2

SALVORS READY SHELLDRILL SHIP FORTOW ATTEMPT

Royal Dutch Shell PLC will try to move itsgrounded drill ship out of the worst of the NorthPacific's fury with a towing attempt when con-ditions allow. Page 3

FLORIDA ACCIDENTSTATISTICS

Accident Statistics from Florida Departmentof Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Page 4

FLORIDA ACCIDENTREPORTS

This Weeks Accident Reports from Variouscountys in Florida. Page 5

HUGE GADGET SHOWGEARS UP IN VEGAS

At the biggest trade show in the Americas,which kicks off next week in Las Vegas, TVmakers will be doing their best to convinceyou that HDTVs are old hat. Page 6

ASSAD CALLS ON SYRIANSTO DEFEND THE COUNTRYPresident Bashar Assad called on Syrians todefend their country against religious extrem-ists seeking to destroy the nation. Page 7

SPACEPORT WANTSPROTECTIONS FROMTOURIST LAWSUITS

Spaceport America officials are urging legisla-tors to limit potential lawsuits from wealthyouter space tourists who take off from NewMexico. Page 8

1 IN 24 ADMIT NODDINGOFF WHILE DRIVING

And health officials behind the study think thenumber is probably higher. That's because somepeople don't realize it when they nod off for asecond or two behind the wheel. Page 8

WEEKLY NEWS DIGESTTHE

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. applauds after handing the gavelto House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio who was re-elected as HouseSpeaker of the 113th Congress, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013, on Capitol Hill inWashington.

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(AP) -- The Food andDrug Administration saysits new guidelines wouldmake the food Americanseat safer and help preventthe kinds of foodbornedisease outbreaks thatsicken or kill thousands ofconsumers each year.

The rules, the mostsweeping food safetyguidelines in decades,would require farmers totake new precautionsagainst contamination, toinclude making sure work-ers' hands are washed, irri-gation water is clean, andthat animals stay out offields. Food manufactur-ers will have to submitfood safety plans to thegovernment to show theyare keeping their operations clean.

The long-overdue regulations could cost businesses close tohalf a billion dollars a year to implement, but are expected toreduce the estimated 3,000 deaths a year from foodborne illness.The new guidelines were announced Friday.

Just since last summer, outbreaks of listeria in cheese and sal-monella in peanut butter, mangoes and cantaloupe have been linkedto more than 400 illnesses and as many as seven deaths, accordingto the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Theactual number of those sickened is likely much higher.

Many responsible food companies and farmers are alreadyfollowing the steps that the FDA would now require them to take.But officials say the requirements could have saved lives and pre-vented illnesses in several of the large-scale outbreaks that have hitthe country in recent years.

In a 2011 outbreak of listeria in cantaloupe that claimed 33lives, for example, FDA inspectors found pools of dirty water onthe floor and old, dirty processing equipment at Jensen Farms inColorado where the cantaloupes were grown. In a peanut butteroutbreak this year linked to 42 salmonella illnesses, inspectorsfound samples of salmonella throughout Sunland Inc.'s peanut pro-cessing plant in New Mexico and multiple obvious safety prob-lems, such as birds flying over uncovered trailers of peanuts andemployees not washing their hands.

Under the new rules, companies would have to lay out plansfor preventing those sorts of problems, monitor their own progressand explain to the FDA how they would correct them.

"The rules go very directly to preventing the types of out-breaks we have seen," said Michael Taylor, FDA's deputy commis-sioner for foods.

The FDA estimates the new rules could prevent almost 2 mil-lion illnesses annually, but it could be several years before the rulesare actually preventing outbreaks. Taylor said it could take theagency another year to craft the rules after a four-month commentperiod, and farms would have at least two years to comply - mean-ing the farm rules are at least three years away from taking effect.Smaller farms would have even longer to comply.

The newrules, which comeexactly two yearsto the dayPresident BarackObama's signedfood safety legisla-tion passed byCongress, werealready delayed.The 2011 lawrequired theagency to proposea first installmentof the rules a yearago, but the Obamaadministration heldthem until after theelection. Foodsafety advocatessued the adminis-tration to win theirr e l e a s e .

The producerule would mark the first time the FDA has had real authority toregulate food on farms. In an effort to stave off protests from farm-ers, the farm rules are tailored to apply only to certain fruits andvegetables that pose the greatest risk, like berries, melons, leafygreens and other foods that are usually eaten raw. A farm that pro-duces green beans that will be canned and cooked, for example,would not be regulated.

Such flexibility, along with the growing realization that out-breaks are bad for business, has brought the produce industry andmuch of the rest of the food industry on board as Congress andFDA has worked to make food safer.

In a statement Friday, Pamela Bailey, president of the GroceryManufacturers Association, which represents the country's biggestfood companies, said the food safety law "can serve as a role modelfor what can be achieved when the private and public sectors worktogether to achieve a common goal."

The new rules could cost large farms $30,000 a year, accord-ing to the FDA. The agency did not break down the costs for indi-vidual processing plants, but said the rules could cost manufactur-ers up to $475 million annually.

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said the success ofthe rules will also depend on how much money Congress gives thechronically underfunded agency to put them in place. "Resourcesremain an ongoing concern," she said.

The farm and manufacturing rules are only one part of thefood safety law. The bill also authorized more surprise inspectionsby the FDA and gave the agency additional powers to shut downfood facilities. In addition, the law required stricter standards onimported foods. The agency said it will soon propose other overduerules to ensure that importers verify overseas food is safe and toimprove food safety audits overseas.

Food safety advocates frustrated over the last year as the rulesstalled praised the proposed action.

"The new law should transform the FDA from an agency thattracks down outbreaks after the fact, to an agency focused on pre-venting food contamination in the first place," said Caroline SmithDeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

photo shows the sign leading to the Jensen Farms near Holly, Colo. The U.S. Foodand Drug Administration on Friday proposed the most sweeping food safety rules indecades, requiring farmers and food companies to be more vigilant in the wake ofdeadly outbreaks in peanuts, cantaloupe and leafy greens

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Street News Monday, January 7,2013 3

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- RoyalDutch Shell PLC will try to move itsgrounded drill ship out of the worst of theNorth Pacific's fury with a towing attemptwhen conditions allow.

Shell incident commander SeanChurchfield said at a press conferenceSaturday that naval architects have pro-nounced the Kulluk fit to be towed. Theattempt will depend on weather, tides andreadiness, he said.

"I can't offer you firm times. Right now, thepreparation for the tow depends on theweather and operational constraints,"Churchfield said. "We will be looking tomove the vessel as soon as we are readyand able."

If the drill ship can be pulled from therocks off Sitkalidak Island, it will be towed30 miles to shelter in Kodiak Island'sKiliuda Bay, a cove about 43 miles south-east of the city of Kodiak.

The Kulluk is a circular barge 266 feet indiameter with a funnel-shaped, reinforced steel hull thatallows it to operate in ice. One of two Shell ships thatdrilled last year in the Arctic Ocean, it has a 160-foot der-rick rising from its center and no propulsion system of itsown.

The tow attempt will be made by the same vessel thatlost the Kulluk last month while attempting to move it toSeattle. A line between the 360-foot anchor handler, theAiviq, and the Kulluk broke Dec. 27. Four re-attachedlines between the Aiviq or other vessels also broke instormy weather.

The attempt to rein in the drill ship was complicated byengine failure experienced by the Aiviq's four engines. Apreliminary investigation pointed to bad fuel but that isnot conclusive, Churchfield said. The Edison ChouestOffshore crew has treated fuel and changed filters.

"Thus far, we have not seen a repeat of those problems,"he said.

Fuel tanks remain intact on the Kulluk and there are noplans to remove an estimated 150,000 gallons of diesel

from the Kulluk, which would present a different set ofrisks, Churchfield said. Other cargo also will remain.

Coast Guard Capt. Paul Mehler, the federal on-scenecoordinator, said no divers have been in the water butsoundings from small Coast Guard boats and discus-sions with local fishermen indicate the vessel rests on arocky bottom.

Not every piece of equipment was in place Saturdayafternoon, he said.

"The two that I know, we have a large generator and wehave a piece of a tow connection. It's actually an expand-able piece that would do the gig. That's the key piecewe're missing right now," Mehler said.

More than 600 people were working on the recovery.

Dan Magone, who has worked on other major ground-ings in Alaska, a day earlier expressed skepticism thatthe vessel could simply be towed.

"I'd really be shocked if this thing is so lightly aground

and so lightly damaged that theycan just go pull this thing off rightaway," said Magone, president ofMagone Marine, in a telephoneinterview from his headquarters inDutch Harbor.

Magone is not working on the sal-vage of the Kulluk but has experi-ence with other major groundings,including the Selendang Ayu, acargo ship wrecked in December2004 on Unalaska Island. SmitSalvage, the Dutch companyhired to salvage the Kulluk, alsoworked on that wreck.

Magone's company is under con-tract for two other wrecks - fishingboats from which fuel has beenremoved - but he's waiting untilspring to finish the job. That'soften the routine for wintergroundings in the region, he said.

"The insurance company doesn'twant to pay any more money than

they have to to get the wrecks out of there, so why riskour equipment and our crew and spend a thousand per-cent more money playing around in the wintertime whenyou can just wait until the weather's good and do it then?"Magone said.

"That's pretty normal. Of course with a big fiasco like this,there's all kinds of pressure and everything. But there's alimit to what you can do," he said.

Shell has reported superficial damage above the deckand seawater within that entered through open hatches.Water has knocked out regular and emergency genera-tors, but portable generators were put on board Friday.

The condition of the hull will be key in determiningwhether the Kulluk can be refloated.

The Coast Guard must review and sign off on a salvageplan. Brian Thomas of the Coast Guard's salvage engi-neering response team in Washington, D.C., said theteam's marine engineers give technical advice andassess risks.

In this image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows two life rafts sit on the beach adjacent as the conical drilling unitKulluk sits grounded 40 miles southwest of Kodiak City, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2012. The Kulluk grounded after many effortsby tug vessel crews and Coast Guard crews to move the vessel to safe harbor during a winter storm

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) --Suspected American drones fired severalmissiles into three militant hideouts nearAfghan border on Sunday, killing ninePakistani Taliban fighters, intelligence offi-cials said.

The strikes targeted the group's hideouts inthe South Waziristan tribal region, the threeofficials said, speaking on condition ofanonymity because they were not authorizedto talk to the media. The identity of the killedmilitants was not immediately known yet, buttwo important commanders of the PakistaniTaliban may be among them, they said.

It was the third suspected U.S. drone strikein five days. A strike late Wednesday nightkilled a top Pakistani militant commander,Maulvi Nazir, whose fighters focus onattacks against U.S. and allied NATO troopsin Afghanistan. It was followed close on by

another attack on Thursday.

Islamabad opposes the use of U.S. droneson its territory, but is believed to have tacitlyapproval some strikes in past. Washingtonwants Pakistan to launch a military operationin North Waziristan, but Islamabad had been

P A K I S T A N I O F F I C I A L S

S A Y U S D R O N E S K I L L 9

refusing to do so, saying it does not haveenough troops and resources to do that.

In absence of such an operation, the U.S.relies more on drone strikes to take out mili-tants. The program has killed a number oftop militant commanders including AbuYahya al-Libi, who was al-Qaida's No. 2when he was killed in a June strike.

The dead of Nazir was likely to be seen inWashington as affirmation of the necessityof its controversial drone program. But itcould also cause more friction in alreadytense relations with Pakistan because Nazirdid not focus on Pakistani targets. Nazir wasbelieved to have a nonaggression pact withthe Pakistani army.

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4 Legal Street News Monday January 7, 2013

Data From the Official Website of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. www.flhsmv.gov

______________________________________Legal Street News Monday, January 7, 2013 5THIS WEEK

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Man killed in Orlando carcrash after speeding away

from police

January 3, 2013ORLANDO -- Two suspects wanted over a murder inOrlando died Thursday evening when the car theywere traveling in raced away from police andcrashed into a canal.

Five people were traveling in the car when it left theroad, before over-correcting and crossing the medi-an, narrowly missing oncoming traffic and coming torest in a drainage canal

The two murder suspects died and their three com-panions were in critical condition.

Neither of the suspects, nor their alleged victim,have been named. Details of the initial crime werenot available.

Two lanes shut on NB I-95near 54th Street after

crash

A crash on northbound Interstate 95 south ofNorthwest 79th Street in Miami-Dade is blocking tworegular lanes.

A man from the Pasco County town of Land O'Lakes died Monday evening after having a medicalemergency while driving on Alligator Alley, accordingto the Florida Highway Patrol.

Casey Alan Brown, 40, was airlifted to ClevelandClinic in Weston and later died there, according toFHP.

The accident happened around 6 p.m. on eastboundInterstate 75 at mile marker 37, FHP Sgt. MarkWysocky said.

Brown was driving eastbound on I-75 in a 2011Buick Enclave when he had the medical emergency,causing him to cross the median and enter the west-bound lanes, according to FHP.

The SUV Brown was driving did not hit any othervehicles. But traffic was stopped to allow a rescuehelicopter to land in order to transport Brown to thehospital.

Crash, Boca Raton

The vehicle crashed into wall that leads into thedevelopment causing major structure damage. Thedemolished wall blocked traffic heading west forseveral hours. He says parts of the damaged vehi-cle were found at the scene like a headlight whichshows the vehicle appears to be a 2011 DodgeDurango.

Pasco County man diesafter medical emergency

on I-75

January 4, 2013

January 5, 2013

January 5, 2013

Lady Killed in FloridaHit-and-Run

Serious crashes on I-95 inMiami-Dade and Broward

January 6, 2013

A 19-year-old Bulgarian has died after being hit by acar on a recognized bicycle lane in Florida, localmedia reported.

Galina Bumbalova was riding a bicycle on the southside of US 98 near Hidden Dunes Drive in southWalton County on Monday night. She died after theimpact from the accident propelled her into a utilitypole.

The young Bulgarian was in the United States on astudent brigade.

Aaron Shipes, 22, of Santa Rosa Beach was drivingeastbound on US 98 at 9:40 p.m. when his 2005Nissan Extara for some unknown reason suddenlyveered to the right and into the bicycle lane, collidingwith the rear of Bumbalova's bicycle.

Shipes' vehicle reentered the roadway and left thescene.

Bumbalova was transported to Sacred HeartHospital of the Emerald Coast near Destin, whereshe was declared deceased.

The Highway Patrol report stated that Shipes wasnot under the influence of alcohol.

Charges are pending further investigation

January 6, 2013Several serious crashes are causing havoc on theroads Friday morning.

In Miami-Dade:A serious accident with injuries is blocking the west-bound ramp on Interstate 395 to Interstate 95 inMiami.

The ramp to Florida’s Turnpike on northbound I-95 is

The four vehicles were traveling in the southboundlanes when the accident occurred shortly before11:30 p.m. All southbound lanes were closed until3:10 a.m., Wysocky said.According to a press release issued by Wysocky,the chain-reaction crash played out like this: Rojowas driving a 2005 Volkswagen Jetta when heslowed for a crash and was rear-ended by a 2003Chevrolet van driven by Anthony Burke Taylor, 52,of Lauderhill.Rojo's Jetta spun so that it was facing north in thesouthbound lanes and was struck by a Ford F-150truck driven by Richardson N. Sid, 28, of BoyntonBeach.

Lake Mary man arrested onhit-and-run charges in fatal

motorcycle crash

According to the Highway Patrol, Spates was driv-ing southbound on I-95, just south of the GriffinRoad exit in Hollywood, about 11:30 a.m. when shesaw a vehicle ahead of her hit some debris in theroadway.

The debris "was kicked up in the wind" by the othervehicle, and it pierced the Range Rover's glass,Wysocky said. The pair were wearing their seatbelts during the accident, the Highway Patrol said.Given vehicles' high speed on I-95, the pole essen-tially became "a projectile" on the highway, saidMark Steele, division chief for Hollywood FireRescue.

January 1, 2013

Newlyweds unhurt as I-95debris pierces windshield

January 2, 2013

January 3, 2013

A motorcyclist died and sixpeoplewere injured crashon Interstate 95 north of

Sample Road.

A Lake Mary doctor was arrested on hit-and-runcharges after he hit a motorcyclist in VolusiaCounty and then left the scene, authorities said.

The Florida Highway Patrol said Dr. Kevin Wynnehit 50-year-old Sabra Vocaturo with his SUV inFebruary on State Road 415 and never stopped tohelp. Vocaturo was thrown from her bike intooncoming traffic.

Authorities said two drivers ran over Vocaturo.They stopped to help but told officers there wasnothing they could do.

Wynne was arrested at his Heathrow home onThursday by the Florida Highway Patrol.

His lawyer contacted FHP the day after the crash,telling them where to find Wynne's Infiniti SUV,which had a part missing.

Wynne is being held on $50,000 bail.

anuary 2, 2013MARION COUNTY -- The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a crashthat killed a man late Friday night.

Officials said 22-year-old Daniel Lee Hunt was driv-ing southbound US-27, south of Southeast 80Street at high rate of speed at about 11:25 p.m.Hunt lost control of his Chevy Camaro, causing itrotate onto the grass shoulder and collide with twotrees.

A 29-year-old Sarasotawoman is in critical

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blend the boundaries. They havetouch screens that twist, foldback or detach from the key-board. None of these seems tobe a standout hit so far, but wecan expect more experiments tobe revealed at the show.

"All the PC manufacturers recog-nize that they have to do thingsdifferently," Accenture's Puri said.

--- ATTENTIVE COMPUTING

CES has been a showcase inrecent years for technologies thatfree users from keyboards, miceand buttons. Instead, they rely oncameras and other sophisticatedsensors to track the user and

interpret gestures and eye movements. Microsoft'smotion-tracking add-on for the Xbox 360 console,the Kinect, has introduced this type of technologyto the living room. Startups and big TV makers arenow looking to take it further.

For example, Tobii Technology, a Swedish compa-ny, will be at the show to demonstrate "the world'sfirst gaze interaction computer peripheral" - basical-ly a camera that tracks where the user is lookingon the screen, potentially replacing the mouse.

PointGrab, an Israeli startup, will be showing offsoftware that lets a regular laptop webcam interprethand movements in the air in front of it.

Assaf Gad, head of marketing at PointGrab, saidthat CES is usually full of hopeful companies withspeculative interaction technologies, "but this year,you can actually see real devices."

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Think your high-definition TV is hot stuff (AP) -- assharp as it gets? At the biggest trade show in theAmericas, which kicks off next week in Las Vegas,TV makers will be doing their best to convince youthat HDTVs are old hat, and should make room for"Ultra HDTV."

It's the latest gambit from an industry strugglingwith a shift in consumer spending from TVs, PCsand single-purpose devices such as camcorders tosmall, portable do-it-all gadgets: smartphones andtablets. The Consumer Electronics Association esti-mates that device shipments to U.S. buyers fell 5percent in dollar terms last year excluding smart-phones and tablets, but rose 6 percent to $207 bil-lion if you include those categories.

The trends suggest that the International CES (for-merly the Consumer Electronics Show) is losing itsstature as a start-of-the-year showcase for thegadgets that consumers will buy over the next 12months. It started out as a venue for the TV andstereo industries. Later, PCs joined the party.

But over the last few years, TVs and PCs havedeclined in importance as portable gadgets haverisen and CES hasn't kept pace. It's not a majorvenue for phone and tablet launches, though somenew models will likely see the light of day therewhen the show floor opens on Tuesday. Thebiggest trendsetter in mobile gadgets industry,Apple Inc., stays away, as it shuns all events itdoesn't organize itself.

Apple rival Microsoft Corp. has also scaled back itspatronage of the show. For the first time since1999, Microsoft's CEO won't be delivering the kick-off keynote. Qualcomm Inc. has taken over thepodium. It's an important maker of chips that gointo cellphones, but not a household name.

None of this seems to matter much to the industrypeople who go to the show, which is set to be big-ger than ever, at least in terms of floor space.

Gary Shapiro the CEO of the organizing ConsumerElectronics Association, expects attendance closeto the 156,000 people who turned out last year.That's pretty much at capacity for Las Vegas, whichhas about 150,000 hotel rooms. The show doesn'twelcome gawkers: the attendees are executives,purchasing managers, engineers, marketers, jour-nalists and others with connections to the industry.

"We don't want to be over 160,000," Shapiro saidin an interview. "We do everything we can not to betoo crowded."

Nor do the shifting winds of the technology industryseem to matter much to exhibitors. Though somebig names are scaling back or missing, there aremany smaller companies clamoring for boothspace and a spot in the limelight for a few days.For example, while Apple doesn't have an officialpresence at the show, there will be 500 companiesdisplaying Apple accessories in the "iLoungePavilion."

Overall, the CEA sold a record 1.9 million square

feet of floor space (the equivalent of 33 footballfields) for this year's show.

These are some of the themes that will be in evi-dence next week:

--- SHARPER TVs

Ultra HDTVs have four times the resolution ofHDTVs. While this sounds extreme and unneces-sary, you've probably already been exposed to pro-jections at this resolution, because it's used in digi-tal movie theaters. Sony, LG, Westinghouse andothers will be at the show with huge flat-panel TVsthat bring that experience home, if you have aspare $20,000 or so.

While the sets are eye-catching, they will likely beniche products for years to come, if they ever catchon. They have to be really big - more than 60 inch-es, measured diagonally - to make the extra reso-lution really count. Also, there's no easy way to getmovies in UHDTV resolution.

"While there's going to be a lot of buzz aroundUltra HDTV, we really think what's going to be rele-vant to consumers at the show is the continuedevolution of 3D TVs and Internet-connected TVs,"said Kumu Puri, senior executive with consultingfirm Accenture's Electronics & High-Tech group.

--- BIGGER PHONES

Unlike TVs, new phones are launched throughoutthe year, so CES isn't much of a bellwether forphone trends. But this year, reports point to severalsuper-sized smartphones, with screen bigger thanfive inches diagonally, making their debut at theshow. These phones are so big they can be awk-ward to hold to the ear, but Samsung's GalaxyNote series has shown that there's a market forthem. Wags call them "phablets" because they'realmost tablet-sized.

--- ACROBATIC PCs

Microsoft launched Windows 8 in October, in anattempt to make the PC work more like a tablet.PC makers obliged, with a slew of machines that

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This undated publicity image provided by Sony shows an ultra-HD 4K TVset. At the biggest trade show in the Americas, which kicks off next week inLas Vegas, TV makers will be doing their best to convince you that HDTVsare old hat, and should make room for "Ultra HDTV."

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) -- Two suicide bomberspenetrated a government compound in the country'ssouth Sunday, killing three people, Afghan officials said.

The district chief of Spin Boldak said the two militantswere targeting a meeting of local officials at a compoundin a district of Kandahar province near the Pakistani bor-der. There were no reports of foreign troops or civiliansat the site.

Mohammad Hashim said the two attackers arrived in acar, killed a guard and entered the facility firing weaponsbefore blowing themselves up along with their vehicle.The compound houses offices of the district chief anddistrict council as well as other government buildings.

The spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province,Javeed Saisal, gave the casualties as three dead and atleast 15 wounded.

Kandahar is one of Afghanistan's most violent provinces.Spin Boldak district is a major infiltration corridor forTaliban fighters from Pakistan as well as a smugglingroute for weapons and narcotics.

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T O D E F E N D T H E C O U N T R Ypart of a political solution wouldrequire regional powers to stop fund-ing and arming (the rebels), an endto terrorism and controlling the bor-ders."

He said this would then be followedby dialogue and a national reconcili-ation conference and the formationof a wide representative governmentwhich would then oversee new elec-tions, a new constitution and generalamnesty.

However, Assad made clear his offerto hold a dialogue is not open tothose whom he considers extremistsor carrying out a foreign agenda,essentially eliminating anyone thathas taken up arms against theregime.

"We never rejected a political solu-tion ... but with whom should wetalk? With those who have anextremist ideology, who only under-

stand the language of terrorism?" he said. "Orshould we with negotiate puppets whom theWest brought?"

"We negotiate with the master not with theslave," he said.

As in previous speeches and interviews, heclung to the view that the crisis in Syria was aforeign-backed agenda and said it was not anuprising against his rule.

"Is this a revolution and are these revolutionar-ies? By God, I say they are a bunch of crimi-nals," he said.

BEIRUT (AP) -- PresidentBashar Assad called onSyrians to defend their countryagainst religious extremistsseeking to destroy the nation,dismissing any prospect of dia-logue with the "murderouscriminals" he says are behindthe uprising even as he out-lined his vision for a peacefulsettlement to the civil war.

In a one-hour speech to thenation in which he appearedconfident and relaxed, Assadstruck a defiant tone, ignoringinternational demands for himto step down and saying he isready to hold a dialogue butonly with those "who have notbetrayed Syria."

He offered a national reconcili-ation conference, elections anda new constitution but demand-ed regional and Western countries stop fundingand arming rebels trying to overthrow him first.

Syria's opposition swiftly rejected the proposal.Those fighting to topple the regime, includingrebels on the ground, have repeatedly said theywill accept nothing less than the president'sdeparture, dismissing any kind of settlementthat leaves him in the picture.

"It is an excellent initiative that is only missingone crucial thing: His resignation," said KamalLabwani, a veteran secular dissident and mem-ber of the opposition's Syrian National Coalitionumbrella group.

"All what he is proposing will happen automati-cally, but only after he steps down," Lawani toldThe Associated Press by telephone fromSweden.

On top of that, Assad's new initiative is reminis-cent of symbolic changes and concessions thathis government made earlier in the uprising,which were rejected at the time as too little toolate.

Speaking at the Opera House in centralDamascus, Assad told the hall packed with sup-porters - who frequently broke out in cheers andapplause - that "we are in a state of war."

"We are fighting an external aggression that ismore dangerous than any others, because theyuse us to kill each other," he said. "It is a warbetween the nation and its enemies, betweenthe people and the murderous criminals."

Assad has rarely spoken since the uprisingagainst his rule began in March 2011, andSunday's speech was his first since June. Hislast public comments came in an interview inNovember to Russian TV in which he vowed todie in Syria.

On Sunday, he seemed equally confident in histroops' ability to crush the rebels fighting his

rule, even as they edge in closer than ever tohis seat of power, Damascus.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague saidAssad's speech was "beyond hypocritical." In amessage posted on his official Twitter feed,Hague said "empty promises of reform fool noone."

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton's officesaid in a statement that the bloc will "look care-fully if there is anything new in the speech butwe maintain our position that Assad has to stepaside and allow for a political transition."

Wearing a suit and tie, Assad spoke before acollage of pictures of what appeared to beSyrians who have been killed since March2011. At the end of his speech and as he wasleaving the hall, he was mobbed by a group ofloyalists shouting: "With our blood and souls weredeem you, Bashar!"

The president waved and blew kisses to thecrowd on his way out.

Assad acknowledged the enormous impact ofthe conflict, which the United Nations recentlyestimated had killed more than 60,000 people.

"We meet today and suffering is overwhelmingSyrian land. There is no place for joy in any cor-ner of the country in the absence of securityand stability," he said. "I look at the eyes ofSyria's children and I don't see any happiness."

The Internet was cut in many parts ofDamascus ahead of the address, apparently forsecurity reasons.

As in previous speeches, Assad said his forceswere fighting groups of "murderous criminals"and jihadi elements and denied that there wasan uprising against his family's decades-longrule.

He stressed the presence of religious extrem-ists and jihadi elements among those fighting inSyria, calling them "terrorists who carry the ide-ology of al-Qaeda" and "servants who knownothing but the language of slaughter."

He said Syria will not take dictates from anyone- a reference to outside powers - and urged hiscountrymen to unite to save the nation.

Outlining his peace initiative, he said: "The first

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In this image taken from video obtained from Syrian State Television, which has been authenticated basedon its contents and other AP reporting, Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks at the Opera House in cen-tral Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013. Syrian President Bashar Assad on Sunday outlined a newpeace initiative that includes a national reconciliation conference and a new government and constitutionbut demanded regional and Western countries stop funding and arming rebels first.

A House oversight panel wants to review a pro-posed settlement between 14 banks and federalregulators over improper foreclosure practices.

The Committee on Oversight and GovernmentReform, which has conducted hearings on foreclo-sure abuses, wrote a letter Friday to Fed ChairmanBen Bernanke and the Office of the Comptroller ofthe Currency asking to see any proposed settle-ment before it is agreed to. In the letter, the com-mittee asks for more information about how thesettlement amount is to be determined. A comptrol-ler spokesman declined to comment, and a FederalReserve spokesman did not return a message.

The settlement had been expected as early as thisweekend and total $10 billion. The agreement isdesigned to hold mortgage lenders responsible forwidespread abuses such as processing foreclo-

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) --Spaceport America officials are urginglegislators to limit potential lawsuitsfrom wealthy outer space tourists whotake off from New Mexico, saying sucha bill is crucial to the future of the proj-ect.

Legal experts, however, say there isno way to know whether the so-calledinformed consent laws will offer anyprotection to spacecraft operators andsuppliers in the event something goeswrong.

"Since this has never happened yet,we have no precedent," said JoanneIrene Gabrynowicz, director of the spacelaw program at the University ofMississippi.

Such measures are being pushed bystates trying to compete in the fledglingcommercial space travel arena, andSpaceport America officials say thatNew Mexico risks losing out on a project that was intended toboost the economy in the mostly rural state.

They say New Mexico needs to pass a bill to retain anchortenant Virgin Galactic and to recruit new space business to thestate.

At issue is liability for passengers who pay to take space-flights - like those planned by Richard Branson's VirginGalactic for $200,000 a head - from the spaceport near the cityof Truth or Consequences.

New Mexico lawmakers several years ago passed a billthat exempts Virgin Galactic from being sued by passengers inthe event of an accident provided they have been informed ofthe risks. Officials have refused, however, to follow a handfulof other states in expanding that exemption to suppliers.

Spaceport America Executive Director ChristineAnderson has blamed New Mexico's refusal during the last twolegislative sessions to expand the law as the reason the space-port has been passed over by companies in favor of states suchas Texas and Florida.

Virgin Galactic, meanwhile, has hinted it will leave NewMexico if an expansion isn't passed this year.

"I understand the impetus to try to match other states, butright now there is no guarantee it's enforceable," said GuigiCarminati with the Weil Law Firm in Houston. "That really isthe bottom line."

She and Gabrynowicz said the only comparable lawscover adventure sports or amusement parks - and their effec-tiveness varies.

If someone gets hurt on a roller coaster, for example,Gabrynowicz said, the operator generally is not exempt fromliability just because a posted sign says passengers at their ownrisk.

Those "don't hold up" in court, she said.

She added that while there is "lot of case law regardingthose kinds of activities. There is none yet for state law forspace launches."

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NEW YORK (AP) -- This could give you night-mares: 1 in 24 U.S. adults say they recently fellasleep while driving.

And health officials behind the study think thenumber is probably higher. That's because somepeople don't realize it when they nod off for asecond or two behind the wheel.

"If I'm on the road, I'd be a little worried about theother drivers," said the study's lead author, AnneWheaton of the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention.

In the CDC study released Thursday, about 4percent of U.S. adults said they nodded off or fellasleep at least once while driving in the previousmonth. Some earlier studies reached a similarconclusion, but the CDC telephone survey of147,000 adults was far larger. It was conductedin 19 states and the District of Columbia in 2009and 2010.

CDC researchers found drowsy driving was morecommon in men, people ages 25 to 34, those whoaveraged less than six hours of sleep each night,and - for some unexplained reason - Texans.

Wheaton said it's possible the Texas survey sampleincluded larger numbers of sleep-deprived youngadults or apnea-suffering overweight people.

Most of the CDC findings are not surprising tothose who study this problem.

"A lot of people are getting insufficient sleep," saidDr. Gregory Belenky, director of Washington StateUniversity's Sleep and Performance ResearchCenter in Spokane.

The government estimates that about 3 percent offatal traffic crashes involve drowsy drivers, butother estimates have put that number as high as33 percent.

Warning signs of drowsy driving: Feeling very tired,not remembering the last mile or two, or driftingonto rumble strips on the side of the road. That sig-nals a driver should get off the road and rest,Wheaton said.

Even a brief moment nodding off can be extremelydangerous, she noted. At 60 mph, a single secondtranslates to speeding along for 88 feet - the lengthof two school buses.

To prevent drowsy driving, health officials recom-mend getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night,treating any sleep disorders and not drinking alco-hol before getting behind the wheel.

The effectiveness of laws protect-ing extreme and adventure sports oper-ators is harder to know, said Carminati.

"Nobody has sat down and actual-ly looked at the nitty gritty of whatdoes immunizing legislation that workslook like," she said.

There are also many questions,Gabrynowicz said, about whether fed-eral law pre-empts state law in thisarea, whether state law would stillapply if the accident happened overanother state or country and whether itwould cover passengers from countriesthat don't allow such exemptions.

Federal law exempts spacecraftoperators from liability, requiring themto warn passengers in writing of associ-ated risks.

Gabrynowicz said that states arenow trying to create an even more

advantageous position for operators "so they can promote theindustry."

In New Mexico, the strong trial lawyer lobby has beensuccessful in persuading the Democrat-controlled legislatureagainst expanding the exemption.

Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez says he is hope-ful an agreement can be reached this year, but he emphasizes"you always have to be careful about precluding someone frombeing able to file an action."

Despite the uncertainty, aerospace consultant Patti GraceSmith, a former FAA official responsible for regulating theU.S. commercial space transportation industry, says that sinceother states have extended the liability exemption to suppliers,New Mexico must do the same to remain competitive.

"The whole sector is an evolving sector," she said, notingthe legal frameworks are needed "enable the industry to go for-ward in a positive way.

BREVARD, N.C. (AP) -- Authorities in south-ern North Carolina have made one arrestfollowing the theft of 100 meteorites from ascience education center and are searchingfor a second suspect.

The Asheville Citizen-Times (HTTP://AVLNE.WS/VRUNOI ) reports that29-year-old Brian Koontz of Balsam Grove ischarged with breaking and entering, larcenyand injury to personal property. He's beingheld at the Transylvania County jail.

Video surveillance shows two thieves break-ing into the Pisgah Astronomical ResearchInstitute near Rosman around 3 a.m. onChristmas Eve.

The thieves took meteorites that were onloan to the institute. They also took televi-sion monitors, overhead video projectors, amicroscope and other scientific instruments.

Sheriff's detective Wade Abram says most ofthe stolen items were recovered from one ofthe suspect's homes. He declined to saywhich suspect.

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