1. Gay rights bill clears first hurdle in Senate
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate pushed a major anti-bias gay rights bill past a first, big hurdle Monday, a clear sign of Americans’ greater acceptance of homosexuality nearly two decades after the law prohibiting federal recognition of same-sex marriage.
The vote of 61-30 essentially ensured that the Senate has the votes to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that would prohibit workplace discrimination against gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.
A final passage, possibly by week’s end, would cap a 17-year quest to secure Senate support for a similar discrimination measure that failed by one vote in 1996, the same year Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act.
Reflecting the nation’s shifting views toward gay rights and the fast-changing political dynamic, seven Senate Republicans joined with 54 Democrats to vote to move ahead on the legislation.
“Rights are sometimes intangible but, boy if you’ve ever been discriminated against, seeking employment or seeking an advancement, it’s bitter,” Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., the only openly gay member of the Senate, said after the vote. “And it’s been a long, long fight, but I think its day has come. And that’s just very exciting to witness.”
The legislation would be the first significant gay rights legislation since Congress ended the ban on gays serving openly in the military in December 2010. The Supreme Court in June affirmed gay marriage and granted federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples while same-sex marriage is legal in 14 states and the District of Columbia.
2. Tehran rally shakes fist at America and outreach
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — In Tehran’s largest anti-U.S. rally in years, tens of thousands of demonstrators joined Monday in chants of “death to America” as hard-liners directed a major show of resolve against President Hassan Rouhani’s outreach to Washington more than a generation after crowds on the same streets stormed and occupied the U.S. Embassy.
Such American-bashing protests occur every year outside the former embassy compound to mark the anniversary of the 1979 takeover following the Islamic Revolution. But the latest demonstration had a dual purpose of sending the boldest warning yet to Rouhani’s government over whether it can expand dialogue with the U.S. or offer the concessions needed to possibly settle the nuclear impasse with the West.
“Fighting the global arrogance and hostile policies of America is the symbol of our national solidarity,” said Saeed Jalili, who lost to Rouhani in June’s election and later was replaced as the country’s top nuclear negotiator.
The choice of Jalili as the main speaker to the crowd showed how high the rifts reach in Iran.
Jalili is a leading voice of dissent over Rouhani’s overtures to Washington, but he is also a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has given critical support to Rouhani’s initiatives. The growing tensions have left Khamenei — the ultimate decision-maker in Iran — in the unusual role of domestic diplomat.
He had stood by Rouhani in apparent hopes that the nuclear talks and outreach can ease Iran’s isolation from the West and roll back painful sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program. At the same time, he cannot ignore Rouhani’s critics and seeks a middle ground built around his comments that American remains untrustworthy but Iran is strong enough to pursue talks and exchanges.
3. U.S. government: Hedge fund giant SAC Capital to pay $1.8B
NEW YORK (AP) — SAC Capital Advisors will plead guilty to criminal fraud charges, stop investing money for others and pay $1.8 billion — the largest financial penalty in history for insider trading — to resolve criminal and civil claims against the hedge fund giant, the government announced Monday.
The government said in a letter to judges presiding over Manhattan cases that the “proposed global resolution” of the criminal and civil cases against SAC Capital Advisors and related companies also includes an agreement that SAC will cease operating as an investment adviser and will not accept any additional funds from third-party investors.
The company will pay a $900 million fine and forfeit another $900 million to the federal government, though $616 million that SAC companies have already agreed to pay to settle parallel actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will be deducted from the $1.8 billion.
The government called the penalties “steep but fair” and “commensurate with the breadth and duration of the charged criminal conduct.”
Early in the afternoon, SAC Capital said in a statement: “We take responsibility for the handful of men who pleaded guilty and whose conduct gave rise to SAC’s liability. The tiny fraction of wrongdoers does not represent the 3,000 honest men and women who have worked at the firm during the past 21 years. SAC has never encouraged, promoted or tolerated insider trading.”
Later, the company revised and softened its statement, subtracting “tiny fraction” and replacing the last sentence with a more remorseful tone: “Even one person crossing the line into illegal behavior is too many and we greatly regret this conduct occurred.”
4. Egypt’s Morsi defiant as his trial begins
CAIRO (AP) — Ousted President Mohammed Morsi refused to wear a prison jumpsuit, entering the caged dock in a dark business suit as his co-defendants applauded. He defiantly questioned the legitimacy of the court and proclaimed himself still Egypt’s leader. His fellow Muslim Brotherhood members chanted, “Down with military rule!”
Morsi’s long-awaited trial got off to a chaotic start Monday, with outbursts and interruptions, and it was quickly adjourned until Jan. 8.
The dramatic first public appearance for Morsi since the July 3 military coup that removed him from power was meant to be a step toward due process. Instead, it highlighted the challenges facing Egypt’s interim authorities as they attempt to close a chapter of his presidency, while his Islamist supporters seek to disrupt the effort.
Morsi and 14 co-defendants — seven of whom are still at large — are charged with inciting the killing of protesters who massed outside the presidential palace in December 2012 and demanded that he call off a referendum on a new Islamist-drafted constitution. Brotherhood members attacked a sit-in by the protesters, sparking clashes that left 10 people dead.
Before Monday’s session began, silent video broadcast on state TV showed Morsi arriving in a minibus outside the makeshift courtroom at a police academy in eastern Cairo. He wore the dark suit, light shirt and no tie, flanked by burly policemen.
A smiling Morsi later walked into the cage in the court — still in the same garb, unlike his co-defendants in white prison jumpsuits. They stood in two lines like a presidential honor guard, applauding and raising their hands in a four-fingered gesture — commemorating the hundreds of his supporters killed when security forces moved to clear protest encampments in August. Another defendant — an aide held with him in the secret military location — also was in a suit.
Feisty and healthy-looking after four months of secret detention, the 62-year-old Morsi immediately started talking even before Judge Ahmed Sabry Youssef gave him the floor.
“What is going on now is a cover for a military coup,” Morsi shouted in a voice that echoed through the courtroom. “I warn everybody. … I wish that the Egyptian judiciary would not become one day a cover for the military coup.”
He rejected the proceedings and said he had been forced to attend.
“I am here by force and against my will” he said. “The coup is a crime and treason.”
5. Voters to decide elections coast to coast Tuesday
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — From rural Iowa to urban New York, voters across America will render judgment in a slate of political contests Tuesday, including in New Jersey and Virginia where gubernatorial race outcomes could highlight the Republican Party division between pragmatists and ideologues.
Elsewhere, Colorado voters will set a tax rate for marijuana.
New York City will elect a new mayor for the first time in 12 years, while Boston’s mayoral race pits white collar against blue collar, and Detroit’s spotlights the city’s bankruptcy — just three of the many mayoral contests from coast to coast.
Republican and Democratic strategists alike said Tuesday’s contests are more defined by candidate personalities and region-specific issues than political trends likely to influence next year’s larger fight for control of Congress. Turnout is expected to be low across the country, typical for elections hosted in years when the White House and Congress aren’t up for grabs.
Candidates across the country made their last pitches to voters as local elections boards made their final preparations.
“We can’t take anything for granted. We are Republicans in New Jersey,” incumbent Gov. Chris Christie told supporters Monday, although polls suggest he likely will cruise to a second term over his little-known Democratic opponent, state Sen. Barbara Buono. A potential presidential candidate, Christie could become the state’s first Republican to exceed 50 percent of the vote in a statewide election in 25 years.
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