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Rice to be U.S. security adviser

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Susan Rice to replace Tom Donilon as national security adviser

By Jessica Yellin and Tom Cohen, CNN

June 5, 2013 — Updated 1821 GMT (0221 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

  • NEW: President Obama announces changes in his national security team
  • Columnist John Avlon says Obama made a “fascinating, decisive move”
  • Obama will nominate Samantha Power as U.N. ambassador
  • GOP opposition forced Rice to withdraw from consideration to be secretary of state

Washington (CNN) — President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced he was bringing longtime confidante Susan Rice, the U.N. ambassador caught up in political controversy over the Benghazi terrorist attack, to the White House to succeed Tom Donilon as national security adviser.

Donilon had been widely expected to step down in Obama’s second term, and the president thanked him for his service in announcing the change in the White House Rose Garden.

Obama also announced he will nominate Samantha Power as Rice’s successor at the United Nations. Power is a former special assistant to the president and senior director for multilateral affairs and human rights at the National Security Council.

Rice became the focus of Republican criticism after last year’s terrorist attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

Five days after the assault on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Rice appeared on U.S. Sunday news shows to say it was a spontaneous development during a protest, rather than a terrorist strike.

She had been considered a top contender to succeed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the start of Obama’s second term, but Republican opposition over the erroneous CIA talking points she delivered forced her to withdraw her name from consideration in December.

Biden on Susan Rice: She speaks for the president

Obama ultimately nominated former U.S. Sen. John Kerry for the post.

As national security adviser, Rice will play a key role in developing and guiding the administration’s foreign policy. Unlike a Cabinet post, the appointment requires no Senate confirmation, allowing Obama to avoid a showdown with Republicans in giving a new job to one of his most public foreign policy voices during the 2008 presidential campaign.

“Susan Rice is not on the Republicans’ Christmas card list, but this appointment, which doesn’t need Senate confirmation, is being read as a slap in the face,” said columnist John Avlon, a CNN contributor. “President Obama says he doesn’t much care. He is rewarding Susan Rice for her loyalty to his administration and moving her into the White House. She can have more influence now than she ever did on White House policy.”

He called it a “fascinating, decisive move” by a president “who is apparently liberated by a second term, who is not worried about burning bridges with Republicans and Congress who are already his critics.”

Republicans criticized Obama’s choice Wednesday, with conservative GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah tweeting: “Judgement is key to national security matters. That alone should disqualify Susan Rice from her appointment.”

Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a leading Republican voice on foreign policy, tweeted that he disagreed with Obama’s appointment but added that he would “make every effort to work” with Rice on important issues.

Obama picked Donilon — then deputy national security adviser — to replace retired Marine Gen. Jim Jones for the influential national security adviser post in October 2010. Donilon was heavily involved in the raid to kill Osama bin Laden in 2011, as well as the administration’s strategic shift of foreign policy focus to Asia.

Donilon, who also was chief of staff to Secretary of State Warren Christopher in the Clinton administration, is married to Cathy Russell, whom Obama recently nominated to be the State Department’s ambassador at large for global women’s issues.

Rice also was considered a possible candidate for the national security adviser job when Jones stepped down in 2010.

Obama nominates three to bench, courts political fight

CNN’s Jim Acosta and Adam Aigner-Treworgy contributed to this report.

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Rice to be U.S. security adviser

Arias asks jury to give her life in prison

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Jodi Arias points to her family as a reason for the jury to give her a life in prison sentence instead of the death penalty on Tuesday, May 21, 2013, during the penalty phase of her murder trial at Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix. Arias was convicted of first-degree murder in the stabbing and shooting to death of Travis Alexander, 30, in his suburban Phoenix. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Rob Schumacher, Pool)

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PHOENIX (AP) — Jodi Arias asked jurors Tuesday to give her life in prison, saying she “lacked perspective” when she told a local reporter in an interview that she preferred execution to spending the rest of her days in jail.

Standing confidently but at times her voice breaking, she told the same eight men and four women who found her guilty of first-degree murder that she planned to use her time in prison to bring about positive changes, including donating her hair to be made into wigs for cancer victims, helping recycle trash and designing T-shirts that would raise money for victims of domestic abuse.

Arias admitted killing boyfriend Travis Alexander and said it was the “worst thing” she had ever done. But she stuck to her story that the brutal attack — which included stabbing and slashing Alexander nearly 30 times, shooting him in the head and nearly decapitating him — was her defense against abuse.

Her testimony came a day after her attorneys asked to be removed from the case because they felt the five-month trial had become a witch hunt that prompted death threats against a key witness in the penalty phase. They also argued for a mistrial. The judge denied both requests.

Arias acknowledged the pain and suffering she caused Alexander’s family, and said she hoped her conviction brought them peace.

“I loved Travis, and I looked up to him,” Arias said. “At one point, he was the world to me. This is the worst mistake of my life. It’s the worst thing I’ve ever done.”

She said she considered suicide, but didn’t kill herself after Alexander’s death because of her love for her own family. She displayed a handful of pictures from her childhood, including photos of her family and former boyfriends.

Arias said she regretted that details of her sex life with Alexander came out during the trial, and described a recorded phone sex call played in open court as “that awful tape.”

“It’s never been my intention to throw mud on Travis’ name,” she said, adding that she had hoped to reach a deal with prosecutors before the case ever went to trial.

“I was willing to go quietly into the night,” Arias said.

The jury paid close attention to Arias as she spoke, their gaze turning to the large screen behind her as she ticked through family photos and explained the stories behind each image. Arias retained her composure throughout much of her statement, pausing occasionally as she apparently cried, but no tears were visible.

Alexander’s family sobbed throughout her speech as Arias’ mother and father looked on from the other side of the gallery.

After she finished speaking, the judge told jurors they can consider a handful of factors when deciding what sentence to recommend, including the fact that Arias has no previous criminal record. They also can weigh defense assertions that Arias is a good friend and a talented artist.

Judge Sherry Stephens also explained to jurors that their decision would be final, emphasizing the fact that Arias’ life is literally in their hands.

“You will determine whether the defendant will be sentenced to life in prison or death,” Stephens told the panel. “Your decision is not a recommendation.”

The jury will hear closing arguments Tuesday afternoon, then begin deliberating Arias’ fate for the June 2008 killing of Alexander in his suburban Phoenix home.

Arias initially claimed she knew nothing about the slaying. Then she blamed masked intruders before eventually arguing self-defense. Prosecutors contend she killed Alexander in a jealous rage because he wanted to end their relationship and go to Mexico with another woman.

Arias’ attorneys also tried without success to withdraw from the case after Arias gave her post-conviction TV interview.

“Longevity runs in my family, and I don’t want to spend the rest of my natural life in one place,” a visibly shaken Arias told Fox affiliate KSAZ from a holding cell inside the courthouse. “I believe death is the ultimate freedom, and I’d rather have my freedom as soon as I can get it.”

Last week, Alexander’s brother and sister tearfully described for the jury how Alexander’s death has torn apart their lives. Defense attorneys had planned to call witnesses, including a female friend and ex-boyfriend of Arias, to speak on her behalf. But after the judge denied all their motions on Monday, they said Arias would be the only one speaking to jurors.

Defense attorneys claimed the female friend had received death threats and refused to testify. They then argued Arias could not receive a fair trial in the penalty phase without the witness, but the judge disagreed.

Instead, Stephens simply told jurors the woman was supposed to testify about Arias’ “abusive environment she grew up in and abuse as an adult,” but was now unavailable to appear in court.

Arias told jurors the friend and her young son had been “threatened and harassed.”

Associated Press

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Arias asks jury to give her life in prison

Jurors in Arias case weigh death penalty option

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Jodi Arias looks at the family of Travis Alexander as the jury arrives on Wednesday, May 15, 2013, during the sentencing phase of her trial at Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix. If the jury finds aggravating factors in her crime, Arias could be sentenced to death. Jodi Arias was convicted of first-degree murder in the stabbing and shooting death of Travis Alexander, 30, in his suburban Phoenix home in June 2008. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Rob Schumacher, Pool)

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PHOENIX (AP) — Prosecutors on Wednesday tried to convince jurors that Jodi Arias should be eligible for the death penalty, saying Travis Alexander suffered tremendous pain as he fought for his life while Arias stabbed and slashed him nearly 30 times.

The trial resumed with a new phase to decide whether Arias should be eligible for the death penalty.

After about two hours of arguments and testimony, the same jurors who convicted Arias a week ago began deliberations to decide whether Alexander died an especially cruel, depraved and heinous death. If they agree that standard has been met, the penalty portion of the trial will begin to decide whether the 32-year-old Arias should get a life sentence or death.

Alexander’s family sobbed in the front row as prosecutor Juan Martinez took the jury through the killing one more time. He described how blood gushed from Alexander’s chest, hands and throat as he stood at the sink in his master bathroom and looked into the mirror with Arias behind him.

“The last thing he saw before he lapsed into unconsciousness … was that blade coming to his throat,” Martinez said. “And the last thing he felt before he left this earth was pain.”

The “aggravation phase” of the trial played out in quick fashion, with only one prosecution witness and none for the defense. The most dramatic moments occurred when Martinez displayed photos of the bloody crime scene for the jury and paused in silence for two minutes to describe how long he said it took for Alexander to die at Arias’ hands on June 4, 2008.

Arias, wearing a silky, cream-colored blouse, appeared to fight back tears most of the morning. She spent the weekend on suicide watch before being transferred back to an all-female jail where she will remain until sentencing.

“She made sure she killed him by stabbing him over and over and over again,” Martinez said.

The defense didn’t have much of a case given how many times Alexander was stabbed, the defensive wounds on his hands, the length of the attack, and the sheer amount of blood found at the scene. Defense lawyers said Alexander would have had so much adrenaline rushing through his body that he might not have felt much pain.

The only witness was the medical examiner who performed the autopsy and explained to jurors how Alexander did not die calmly and fought for his life as evidenced by the numerous defensive wounds on his body.

Minutes after her first-degree murder conviction last Wednesday, Arias granted an interview to Fox affiliate KSAZ, only adding to the circus-like environment surrounding the trial that has become a cable TV sensation with its graphic tales of sex, lies and violence.

“Longevity runs in my family, and I don’t want to spend the rest of my natural life in one place,” a tearful Arias said. “I believe death is the ultimate freedom, and I’d rather have my freedom as soon as I can get it.”

However, Arias cannot choose the death penalty. It’s up to the jury to recommend a sentence.

If jurors find Arias’ crime deserves consideration of the death penalty, the trial will move into the final phase. Prosecutors will call witnesses, including members of Alexander’s family, aimed at convincing the panel she should face the ultimate punishment. Arias’ attorneys will also call witnesses, likely members of her family, in an attempt to gain sympathy from jurors so they give her life in prison.

If the panel finds no aggravating factors exist, jurors will be dismissed and the judge will determine whether Arias should spend the rest of her life in prison or be sentenced to 25 years with the possibility of release.

Arias acknowledged killing Alexander at his suburban Phoenix home. She initially denied any involvement then later blamed masked intruders. Two years after her arrest, she said it was self-defense when the victim attacked her after a day of sex.

She stabbed and slashed Alexander nearly 30 times, shot him in the forehead and slit his throat from ear to ear, leaving the motivational speaker and businessman nearly decapitated before she dragged his mutilated body into his shower where friends found him about five days later.

Prosecutors said Arias planned the killing in a jealous rage, as Alexander wanted to end their affair and planned to take a trip to Mexico with another woman.

Testimony in her trial began in early January. The jury reached its verdict after about 15 hours of deliberations over four days. All 12 jurors, eight men and four women, unanimously agreed the killing was premeditated.

Associated Press

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Jurors in Arias case weigh death penalty option

Arias trial postponed until next week

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Jodi Arias looks at her family after being found of guilty of first-degree murder in the gruesome killing of her one-time boyfriend, Travis Alexander, in their suburban Phoenix home, Wednesday, May 8, 2013, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Rob Schumacher, Pool)

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PHOENIX (AP) — The next phase of the Jodi Arias murder trial was postponed Thursday and will continue next week.

Court officials didn’t provide a reason for the delay. The trial will resume Wednesday.

The jury was scheduled to return to the courtroom to decide whether Arias should be eligible for the death penalty for killing her one-time boyfriend on June 4, 2008.

The jury convicted Arias on Wednesday of first-degree murder in Travis Alexander’s slaying at his suburban Phoenix home.

Despite Arias’ wish that she get death, the decision is only up to a jury at this point. Arias could choose not to testify at the penalty phase and not appeal her conviction if she were to get death, but such scenarios are rare and still take years to play out.

The sheer brutality of the attack and previous testimony from the Maricopa County medical examiner that Alexander did not die a quick death will be at the heart of the prosecution’s argument that Jodi should receive the ultimate punishment for her crime.

Alexander was stabbed and slashed nearly 30 times, shot in the forehead and had slit his throat from ear to ear, leaving the motivational speaker and businessman nearly decapitated. Friends found his decomposing body in his shower about five days later.

Arias spoke out about the verdict minutes after her conviction Wednesday, telling a TV station that she would “prefer to die sooner than later.”

“Longevity runs in my family, and I don’t want to spend the rest of my natural life in one place,” a tearful Arias told Fox affiliate KSAZ. “I believe death is the ultimate freedom and I’d rather have my freedom as soon as I can get it.”

Arias, 32, fought back tears as a court clerk read aloud the highly anticipated verdict after a four-month trial in which the jury heard 18 days of testimony from the defendant, saw a series of gruesome crime scene photos and heard a raunchy phone sex chat between Arias recorded with Alexander just weeks before he died.

The next portion of the trial is called the “aggravation phase,” and it will focus on whether the jury believes the crime was committed in an especially cruel, heinous and depraved manner. If jurors find the aggravators exist, the next step will be the penalty phase during which the panel will recommend either life in prison or death. The process could take several more weeks to wrap up.

The trial quickly became an Internet sensation and transformed Arias from a little-known waitress to a morbid curiosity and a star of a real-life true-crime drama that the public followed incessantly. The presence of cameras in the courtroom, the advance of Internet streaming video and social media, the salacious details of the case, and the attention it got on cable networks like HLN gave the trial the feel of a celebrity proceeding.

The jury heard all about the stormy relationship between Alexander and Arias after they met at a 2006 conference in Las Vegas and he persuaded her to convert to Mormonism. They began dating but broke up five months later, at which point prosecutors said she began stalking him and became increasingly obsessed with Alexander.

The 30-year-old victim was a rising star at a legal services company called Prepaid Legal, where he gave rousing motivational speeches to colleagues and was a beloved co-worker to people across the organization.

Arias sought to portray him as an abusive sexual deviant in her trial, hoping that the jury would buy her claims that she killed him in self-defense after being unable to take the abuse anymore. She claimed he attacked her and forced her to fight for her life. Prosecutors said she killed out of jealous rage after Alexander wanted to end their affair and planned to take a trip to Mexico with another woman.

Alexander’s family members wept and hugged each other after the verdict. They thanked prosecutor Juan Martinez and the lead detective on the case, but declined comment until after sentencing.

Alexander’s friend, Chris Hughes, said he was happy with the verdict, pointing out a bold proclamation Arias made in one of her jailhouse interviews that she wouldn’t be found guilty.

“She said, ‘No jury would convict me. Mark my words.’ This jury convicted her,” Hughes said. “Luckily, we had 12 smart jurors. They nailed it.”

When asked about Alexander’s family, Arias told the station, “I just hope that now that a verdict has been rendered, that they’ll be able to find peace.”

Arias seemed to cry silently when asked about her mother. With tears falling, she said her mom “has been a saint and I haven’t treated her very well.”

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said no more media interviews with Arias would be granted. She has been placed on suicide watch.

Outside court, more than 200 spectators and reporters watched for the verdict on their smartphones. A ripple of relief spread as people learned the result. The crowd cheered, with some people jumping, waving, high-fiving and dancing in approval.

Hughes said it was frustrating to hear the defense besmirch his friend’s reputation during the trial, but praised the jurors for the verdict. He said he and the Alexander family were shocked by the international attention the case had received.

“Travis was grandiose, so it’s interesting how this played out … it is a bit of a circus. We were all surprised that it’s like this,” he said.

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Brian Skoloff can be followed at https://twitter.com/bskoloff

Associated Press

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Arias trial postponed until next week

Senate committee takes up immigration bill

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FILE – In this April 18, 2013 file photo, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., center, and others Senators, participate in a news conference on immigration on Capitol Hill in Washington. From left are, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., Rubio, Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin of Ill., and Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. One of the legislation’s authors, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has already acknowledged that the bill will face a tough road to passage if the border security elements are not improved. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A bill to enact dramatic changes to the nation’s immigration system and put some 11 million immigrants here illegally on a path to citizenship is facing its first congressional test.

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday was to begin considering proposed changes to the 844-page legislation, with some 300 amendments pending on a wide range of issues that included border security and workplace enforcement, along with Democratic-authored measures to make the legislation more welcoming to immigrant families.

A focus throughout the committee session, expected to last about two weeks, will be on whether the four committee members who are among the so-called Gang of Eight senators who authored the legislation can stick together to protect against efforts to chip away at the bill’s core provisions.

The lawmakers in question are Democrats Chuck Schumer of New York and Dick Durbin of Illinois, and Republicans Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Jeff Flake of Arizona.

Their legislation aims to secure the border, provide new avenues for workers to come to the U.S. legally, crack down on employers who would hire people here illegally, and provide eventual citizenship to millions already in the country.

Although the bill allows citizenship to go forward only after certain border security goals have been met, those “triggers” haven’t proven convincing enough for many GOP lawmakers. Early fights in the committee session are likely to center around that issue, according to the schedule laid out by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the committee’s chairman.

Even one of the bill’s authors, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has said border measures need to be stronger, so some changes may be accepted. But measures offered by some Republican senators would dramatically change the bill’s delicately crafted compromises in a way its authors are unlikely to accept.

For example, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the top committee Republican, has filed an amendment to prohibit anyone from obtaining legal status until the Homeland Security Department has maintained “effective control” of the border for six months — a potentially arduous standard to reach, depending upon how it is defined.

Such measures are “designed to undermine critical components of the bill,” Mary Giovagnoli, director of the Immigration Policy Center, which supports the legislation, told reporters on a conference call Wednesday.

Associated Press

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Senate committee takes up immigration bill

Jodi Arias convicted of first-degree murder

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Defendant Jodi Arias looks to her family during closing arguments during her trial on Friday, May 3, 2013 at Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix. Arias is charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing and shooting death of Travis Alexander, 30, in his suburban Phoenix home in June 2008. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Rob Schumacher, Pool)

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PHOENIX (AP) — The jury has found Jodi Arias guilty of first-degree murder in the death of her one-time boyfriend in Arizona. Arias initially denied involvement and later blamed the killing on masked intruders. Two years after her arrest, she said she killed Travis Alexander in self-defense.

After a four-month trial that included graphic details of their sexual escapades and photos of Alexander just after his death, jurors began deliberating Friday afternoon.

This is what AP reporters on the scene Wednesday are learning about the events unfolding:

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REACTION, 1:53 p.m.

As the guilty verdict was read, Arias opened her mouth, licked her lips and swallowed hard, and then fought back tears with a look of disbelief. Alexander’s family smiled and hugged each other. Outside, people cheered and hugged, then began chanting “USA, USA, USA.”

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ARIAS GUILTY OF 1ST-DEGREE MURDER, 1:49 p.m.

Jury finds Arias guilty of 1st-degree murder.

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JUDGE ENTERS, JURY ENTERS, 1:48 p.m.

The judge and jury are in the courtroom.

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ARIAS IN THE COURTROOM, 1:46 p.m.

Arias is in the courtroom.

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WHISPERS INSIDE, SHOUTING OUTSIDE, 1:43 p.m.

As those in the courtroom wait for Arias to be brought in and things to start, people are whispering. Alexander’s family is sitting and staring straight ahead. Outside, the crowd is chanting “Justice for Travis.” The court had said the hearing would begin at 1:30 p.m. It’s not clear what’s causing the delay.

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AP IN THE COURTROOM, 1:38 p.m.

AP Reporter Brian Skoloff is in the courtroom, which is packed. Some members of the media didn’t get in. The families are in the front, and the proceedings should start any minute.

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“SHHHH”, 1:35 p.m.

Outside the courthouse, people are urging the crowd to be quiet as the time for the verdict approached. Reporters are being escorted into the courtroom.

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TWITTER TRENDS, 1:30 p.m.

In the minutes before the reading of the verdict, four of the top 10 trending topics on Twitter in the United States had to do with the trial: Nancy Grace, Jodi Arias, (hashtag)justicefortravis and (hashtag)verdictwatch.

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DIFFERING OPINIONS, 1:28 p.m.

The case has caused a rift between a Phoenix couple standing outside the courthouse. Forty-three-year-old Gilbert Morales, who thinks Arias is guilty, wants her put to death. His wife, 38-year-old Kassandra Morales has been trying to convince her husband that Arias was a victim. She says Arias was abused, and that “if it was premeditated she would have done things better and different.”

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FORMER JURORS, 1:25 p.m.

Two of the jurors removed from the case during the trial are in the courtroom to see the verdict.

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FAMILIES ARRIVE, 1:20 p.m.

The families of Alexander and Arias have entered the courtroom, as has prosecutor Juan Martinez.

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EXPERT OPINION, 1:15 p.m.

Phoenix defense attorney Julio Laboy is providing analysis to the AP about the case and the upcoming verdict. He said it’s a fast verdict. He said deliberations mark the first-ever discussion about the evidence and testimony, since juries are admonished by the judge not talk about the case all through the trial.

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SCENE OUTSIDE COURTHOUSE, 1:10 p.m.

The streets leading to the courthouse are lined with TV crews, media trucks and reporters. Outside the building entrance TV cameras are waiting. Spectators include families with kids in strollers. Margaret Fernandez, 68, retired, of Phoenix, has been following the case from home but came to catch sight of the prosecutor she admires and the other lawyers. “I just want to make sure the justice system works,” said Fernandez, who wants Arias to get life in prison. “I’m a mother. I have a son. I don’t know what I would do in that situation.”

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VICTIM’S FAMILY, 1:00 p.m.

Family and friends of Alexander are at courthouse wearing blue ribbons and wristbands with the words “Justice For Travis.”

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FIRST-DEGREE MURDER, 12:45 p.m.

If the jury convicts Arias of first-degree murder, the trial will move into what’s called the “aggravation” phase. Both sides may call witnesses and show evidence during a mini trial of sorts. The jurors are the same. OPTION 1: The panel doesn’t find the presence of aggravating factors, so the judge dismisses them and sentences Arias to either the rest of her life in prison or life in prison with the possibility of release after 25 years. OPTION 2: Jurors find there were aggravating factors, and the case moves into a penalty phase. The jury decides whether Arias should be executed or get life in prison. Additional witnesses could be called by both sides. If jurors don’t reach a unanimous agreement on the death penalty, the judge sentences Arias to either the rest of her life in prison or life in prison with the possibility of release after 25 years.

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POSSIBLE VERDICTS, 12:18 p.m.

If Arias is convicted of first-degree murder, she faces either life in prison or a death sentence. Jurors also have the option of convicting her of second-degree murder if they believe she didn’t premeditate the killing but still intentionally caused Alexander’s death. If convicted of that charge, she could be sentenced to 10 to 22 years in prison. Manslaughter is an option if the panel believes Arias didn’t plan the killing in advance and the attack occurred in the heat of passion after “adequate” provocation from Alexander. A conviction on this charge carries a sentence of seven to 21 years in prison. If they believe she killed Alexander in self-defense, Arias would be acquitted and would walk out after being incarcerated for more than four years.

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VERDICT REACHED, 11:30 a.m.

Court system sends out an email: “The jury has reached a verdict in the State v Jodi Arias. The verdict will be read today at 1:30 p.m.” That triggered a flurry of people rushing to the courthouse and live TV shots and Web feeds by the numerous news outlets covering the trial.

Associated Press

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Jodi Arias convicted of first-degree murder

Closing arguments in Jodi Arias murder trial

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Defendant Jodi Arias sits in the courtroom during her trial at Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix on Wednesday, May 1, 2013. Arias is charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing and shooting death of Travis Alexander, 30, in his suburban Phoenix home in June 2008. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Mark Henle, Pool)

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PHOENIX (AP) — A prosecutor portrayed Jodi Arias as a manipulative liar who killed her boyfriend in grisly fashion and sought out the media spotlight for attention.

Prosecutor Juan Martinez delivered his closing arguments to a packed courtroom, including people who lined up at 2 a.m. Thursday to get a seat in the gallery for the highly anticipated event. He said Arias is a person who “will lie at every turn” to get what she wants.

Arias showed no emotion during the closing arguments, scribbling notes with a pencil the whole time.

The judge earlier provided instructions to the jury that allowed them to consider the lesser charge of manslaughter, along with first-degree and second-degree murder.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

The prosecutor in Jodi Arias’ murder trial was set to present closing arguments Thursday in a case that has captured headlines worldwide with lurid tales of sex, lies and a bloody killing.

Arias faces a potential death sentence if convicted of first-degree murder in the June 2008 killing of her one-time boyfriend in his suburban Phoenix home. Authorities say she planned the attack on Travis Alexander in a jealous rage after he wanted to end their tawdry affair. Arias initially denied any involvement in the killing then later blamed it on masked intruders. Two years after her arrest, she said she killed him in self-defense.

Her lies and peculiar behavior, meticulously creating an alibi to avoid suspicion within hours of Alexander’s death, have been at the heart of the prosecution’s case. Arias said she was too scared and ashamed to tell the truth at the time and didn’t want to sully Alexander’s name by revealing their raunchy sex and his violent episodes. Alexander was a Mormon, and portrayed himself to friends and family as a virgin and devout follower of the faith who was saving himself for marriage.

Arias says Alexander had grown physically abusive in the months before she killed him, once even choking her into unconsciousness, but she kept seeing him because she was in love.

However, there has been no evidence or testimony during the trial to corroborate her stories that Alexander was violent or owned a gun — the very gun she used to shoot him.

The defense has portrayed Alexander as a cheating womanizer who used Arias for sex and abused her physically and emotionally.

Prosecutors have depicted Arias as an obsessed ex-girlfriend who couldn’t come to grips with the ending relationship and Alexander’s desire to see other women.

“This is not a case of who done it,” Prosecutor Juan Martinez told jurors during opening statements in January. “The person who done it, the person who committed this killing sits in court today, the defendant, Jodi Ann Arias.”

Martinez went on to describe the couple’s steamy relationship and how Arias was clearly more into Alexander than he was into her, and said she had described him as one of the greatest blessings in her life.

“And this love, well, she rewarded that love for Travis Alexander by sticking a knife in his chest. And . he’s a good man . And with regard to being a good man, well, she slit his throat as a reward for being a good man,” Martinez told the jury.

“And in terms of these blessings,” he continued, “well, she knocked the blessings out of him by putting a bullet in his head.”

Martinez then described in detail the stabbing, Alexander’s fight for his life, the slitting of his throat and the gunshot to his head.

“Mr. Alexander did not die calmly,” Martinez told jurors in January.

Alexander suffered nearly 30 knife wounds, was shot in the forehead and had his throat slit. Arias’ palm print was found in blood at the scene, along with nude photos of her and the victim from the day of the killing.

She said she recalls Alexander attacking her in a fury after a day of sex. She said she ran into his closet to retrieve a gun he kept on a shelf and fired in self-defense but has no memory of stabbing him.

Arias’ grandparents reported a .25-caliber handgun stolen from their Northern California home about a week before the killing — the same caliber used to shoot Alexander — but Arias said she didn’t take it. Authorities believe she brought it with her to kill the victim.

Arias has acknowledged trying to clean the scene of the killing, dumping the gun in the desert and working on an alibi, even attending a memorial service for Alexander before her arrest in July 2008.

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Brian Skoloff can be followed at https://twitter.com/bskoloff

Associated Press

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Closing arguments in Jodi Arias murder trial

Immigration debate creates dilemma for Obama

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President Barack Obama answers questions during his new conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, April 30, 2013. The president strongly suggested Tuesday he’d consider military action against Syria if it can be confirmed that President Bashar Assad’s government used chemical weapons in the two-year-old civil war. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s prospects for a sweeping legislative victory this year now rest almost solely on the immigration overhaul working its way through Congress. But immigration’s tricky politics have created a dilemma for a president fighting for an issue he considers central to his legacy.

If Obama is too closely aligned with the legislation, it could scare away Republicans wary of appearing to hand the president a win. But if he stays on the sidelines and the overhaul runs into trouble on Capitol Hill, Obama likely will be criticized for not using his presidential powers to fight for votes, as he was following the recent failure of gun control measures he championed.

In the coming weeks the White House will test whether Obama can take on a more public role in the immigration debate after largely ceding the issue to Congress for much of the year. The president will ramp up his immigration-related travel this spring and summer, including a trip this week to Mexico and Costa Rica. The White House also is planning to use Spanish-language media to bolster public support for a comprehensive bill.

Still, Obama signaled during a White House news conference Tuesday that his primary talking point will be that he’s backing a bill drafted by the Senate’s so-called Gang of Eight, a group of four Democrats and four Republicans.

“I’ve been impressed by the work that was done by the Gang of Eight,” Obama said. “The bill that they produced is not the bill that I would have written — there are elements of it that I would change — but I do think that it meets the basic criteria that I laid out from the start.”

Immigration reform gained little traction in Congress during Obama’s first term, in part because of opposition from GOP lawmakers. But the November election changed the political calculus for some Republicans, who watched Hispanic voters overwhelmingly side with Obama and Democrats as they increased their share of the national electorate.

At the request of the Gang of Eight, Obama kept a low-profile as the Senate working group set about the delicate task of crafting a draft bill earlier this year. The potential damage caused by White House involvement was underscored when a copy of Obama’s own draft bill was leaked in February, raising suspicions among Republicans about his motivations and threatening to upend the effort.

But now that the Gang of Eight bill is public and is winning some Republican support, White House advisers say there’s less risk in Obama taking on a larger public role in the debate too.

The focus on immigration in the capital comes as rallies are expected in dozens of cities around the country Wednesday in what has become an annual cry for easing the nation’s immigration laws.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a favorite of conservatives and potential GOP presidential candidate in 2016, is one if the bill’s architects, as is Arizona’s Republican Sen. John McCain. And even in the Republican-led House, where an immigration overhaul faces a steeper challenger, the Gang of Eight measure has won praise from House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.

The bill would strengthen border security, allow tens of thousands of new high- and low-skilled workers into the country, require all employers to check their workers’ legal status and provide an eventual path to citizenship for some 11 million immigrants now here illegally.

The measure is similar to the immigration principles Obama outlined in January during a visit to Las Vegas, his only immigration-focused trip of the year, though there are key differences. For example, the Senate bill makes the pathway to citizenship contingent on securing the border, which Obama opposes, and does not recognize gay couples, which Obama supports.

Many immigration advocates say they support Obama getting more involved in the debate as the draft bill weaves its way through the Senate Judiciary Committee, and likely to the Senate floor.

“He needs to be an advocate and push for the bill in the Senate to make sure this gets done,” Eliseo Medina of the Service Employees International Union said of the president. “We need continued sustained pressure from all facets.”

McCain also welcomed the prospect of a more proactive Obama, saying the president is committed to being heavily engaged. But the Arizona Republican, who has spoken with Obama about the immigration negotiations several times in recent weeks, added that the president “doesn’t want to harm the passage of the bill either. And I believe him.”

But some Republicans remain suspicious of the president’s efforts and say he’s trying to sink the bill in order to use the legislative failure for political gain.

“I think the president wants to campaign on immigration reform in 2014 and 2016,” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said in an interview with CBS News. “I think the reason the White House is insisting on a path to citizenship for those who are here illegally is because the White House knows that insisting on that is very likely to scuttle the bill.”

Obama advisers insist he would rather be able to claim victory on the immigration overhaul that has eluded him than use a failure as leverage in the midterm elections — a proposition that has no guarantee of working in his favor.

___

Associated Press writer Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.

___

Follow Julie Pace on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jpaceDC

Associated Press

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Immigration debate creates dilemma for Obama

Gun control loses: No expanded background checks

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Neil Heslin, father of Newtown victim Jesse Lewis, left, and former Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Ariz., stand with President Barack Obama as he pauses while surrounded by Newtown families and speaking about measures to reduce gun violence, in the Rose Garden of the White House, in Washington, Wednesday, April 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans backed by a small band of rural-state Democrats scuttled the most far-reaching gun control legislation in two decades Wednesday, rejecting tighter background checks for buyers and a ban on assault weapons as they spurned pleas from families of victims of last winter’s school massacre in Newtown, Conn.

“This effort isn’t over,” President Barack Obama vowed at the White House moments after the defeat on one of his top domestic priorities. Surrounded by Newtown relatives, he said opponents of the legislation in both parties “caved to the pressure” of special interests.

A ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines also fell in a series of showdown votes four months after a gunman killed 20 elementary school children and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary.

A bid to loosen restrictions on concealed weapons carried across state lines was rejected, as well.

That last vote marked a rare defeat for the National Rifle Association on a day it generally triumphed over Obama, gun control advocates and many of the individuals whose lives have been affected by mass shootings in Connecticut and elsewhere.

Some of them watched from the spectator galleries above the Senate floor. “Shame on you,” shouted one, Patricia Maisch, who was present two years ago when a gunman in Tucson, Ariz., killed six and wounded 13 others, including former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Vice President Joe Biden gaveled the Senate back into order after the breach of decorum.

Gun control advocates, including Obama, had voiced high hopes for significant action after the Newtown shootings. But the lineup of possible legislation gradually dwindled to a focus on background checks, and in the end even that could not win Senate passage. Chances in the Republican-controlled House had seemed even slimmer.

By agreement of Senate leaders, a 60-vote majority was required for approval of any of the provisions brought to a vote.

The vote on the background check was 54-46, well short of the 60 votes needed to advance. Forty-one Republicans and five Democrats voted to reject the plan.

The proposed ban on assault weapons commanded 40 votes; the bid to block sales of high capacity ammunition clips drew 46.

The NRA-backed proposal on concealed carry permits got 57.

In the hours before the key vote on background checks, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., bluntly accused the National Rifle Association of making false claims about the expansion of background checks that he and Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., were backing.

“Where I come from in West Virginia, I don’t know how to put the words any plainer than this: That is a lie. That is simply a lie,” he said, accusing the organization of telling its supporters that friends, neighbors and some family members would need federal permission to transfer ownership of firearms to one another.

The NRA did not respond immediately to the charge, but issued a statement after the vote that restated the claim. The proposal “would have criminalized certain private transfers of firearms between honest citizens, requiring lifelong friends, neighbors and some family members to get federal government permission to exercise a fundamental right or face prosecution,” said a statement from Chris Cox, a top lobbyist for the group.

Said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, “Expanded background checks would not have prevented Newtown. Criminals do not submit to background checks.”

Even before the votes, the administration signaled the day’s events would not be the last word on an issue that Democratic leaders shied away from for nearly two decades until Obama picked up on it after the Newtown shootings.

Biden’s presence was a purely symbolic move since each proposal required a 60-vote majority to pass and he would not be called upon to break any ties. Democratic aides said in advance the issue would be brought back to the Senate in the future, giving gun control supporters more time to win over converts to change the outcome.

Obama, standing near Giffords and relatives of other shooting victims, said at the White House public opinion was strongly behind expanded background checks. Despite that, opponents of the legislation were “worried that the gun lobby would spend a lot of money” at the next election, he said.

“So all in all this was a pretty shameful day for Washington,” he added.

The day’s key test concerned the background checks, designed to prevent criminals and the seriously mentally ill from purchasing firearms. Under current law, checks are required only when guns are purchased from federally licensed firearms dealers. The proposal by Manchin and Toomey called for extending the requirement to other sales at gun shows and on the Internet.

On the vote, Democratic Sens. Mark Begich of Alaska and Max Baucus of Montana joined Pryor and Heitkamp in voting against the proposal. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a supporter of the plan, switched his vote to the prevailing “no” side to permit him to call for a revote in the future.

Begich, Pryor and Baucus are all seeking re-election next year. In an indication of the intensity of the feelings on the issue, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a liberal group, swiftly announced it would seek to defeat them in 2014.

Among Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Mark Kirk of Illinois, John McCain of Arizona and Toomey sided with Democrats.

Numerous polls in recent months have shown support for enhanced gun control measures, including background checks, though it may be weakening.

An Associated Press-GfK poll this month showed that 49 percent of Americans support stricter gun laws, down from 58 percent in January. In that recent survey, 38 percent said they want the laws to remain the same and 10 percent want them eased.

Obama has made enactment of greater curbs a priority on his domestic agenda in the months since the massacre at Newtown, making several trips outside Washington to try and build support. Last week, he traveled to Connecticut, and he invited several parents to fly back to Washington with him aboard Air Force One so they could personally lobby lawmakers.

To an unusual degree for professional politicians, some senators said afterward that they had not wanted to meet with the mothers and fathers of the dead, or said it was difficult to look at photographs that the parents carried of their young children, now dead.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said before Wednesday’s vote, “I think that in some cases, the president has used them as props, and that disappoints me.”

Without referring to Paul by name, Obama rebutted him firmly. “Do we really think that thousands of families whose lives have been shattered by gun violence don’t have a right to weigh in on this issue?” he said.

At the White House, press secretary Jay Carney said some of them had met earlier in the day with lawmakers, who he said should “consider who they’re representing.

“Ninety percent of the American people support expanded background checks,” he said.

The NRA told lawmakers it intended to keep track of how the votes were cast, and consider them in making decisions about its efforts in the midterm elections for Congress next year.

An opposing group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, funded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said it would do likewise.

The NRA has a long track record in electoral politics, and is viewed by lawmakers in both political parties as unusually effective. Bloomberg’s organization has yet to be tested.

In the AP-GfK poll, among independents, support for stricter gun laws dipped from 60 percent in January to 40 percent now. About three-fourths of Democrats supported them then and now, while backing among Republicans for looser laws about doubled to 19 percent.

The survey was conducted from April 11-15 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with 1,004 randomly chosen adults and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

___

Associated Press writer Laurie Kellman, AP Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta and news survey specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this story.

Associated Press

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Gun control loses: No expanded background checks

Western Wind gibt Einreichung von Formular 15F bekannt, um seine Berichtspflichten gegenüber der SEC zu beenden

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09.04.2013 | 23:42

Western Wind gibt Einreichung von Formular 15F bekannt, um seine Berichtspflichten gegenber der SEC zu beenden

Vancouver, British Columbia (ots/PRNewswire) -

Krzel TSX.V: "WND"
Krzel OTCQX: "WNDEF"
Ausgegebene und umlaufende Aktien: 73.272.748

Western Wind Energy Corp. (das “Unternehmen” oder “Western Wind”) (TSX Venture Exchange ?’ “WND”) (OTCQX ?’ “WNDEF”) gab bekannt, dass es heute bei der United States Securities and Exchange Commission (die “SEC”) ein Formular 15F einreichen wird, um nach Paragraph 12 Absatz (g) des United States Securities Exchange Act von 1934 in der aktuell gltigen Fassung die Registrierung seiner Stammaktien zu beenden.

Mit der Abgabe von Formular 15F wird die Berichtspflicht des Unternehmens gegenber der SEC mit sofortiger Wirkung ausgesetzt, darunter auch seine Verpflichtung zur Einreichung von Berichten auf Formular 40-F und zur Abfassung von Berichten auf Formular 6-K. Die Beendigung der Berichtspflichten des Unternehmens wird voraussichtlich sptestens 90 Tage nach Einreichung in Kraft treten, sofern die SEC keine Einwnde erhebt.

* * * * *

BER WESTERN WIND ENERGY CORP.

Western Wind Energy ist ein vertikal integriertes Unternehmen zur Stromerzeugung aus erneuerbaren Energien, das derzeit in den Bundesstaaten Kalifornien und Arizona Wind- und Solaranlagen mit einer Nennkapazitt von netto 165 MW betreibt. Western Wind verfgt ferner ber erhebliche Entwicklungsaktiva fr Solar- und Windenergie in den USA. Der Sitz des Unternehmens befindet sich in Vancouver, BC, Kanada; Niederlassungen werden in Scottsdale, Arizona und Tehachapi, Kalifornien, unterhalten. Western Wind wird an der TSX Venture Exchange mit dem Krzel “WND” und in den Vereinigten Staaten an der OTCQX mit dem Krzel “WNDEF” gehandelt.

Das Unternehmen besitzt und betreibt drei Windkraftwerke in Kalifornien und ein vollstndig integriertes Wind- und Solarkraftwerk in Arizona. Die drei in Betrieb befindlichen Windkraftwerke in Kalifornien sind die 120 MW-Windstar-Anlage, die 4,5 MW-Windridge-Anlage in Tehachapi und die 30 MW-Mesa-Windkraftanlage bei Palm Springs. Bei der Anlage in Arizona handelt es sich um die unternehmenseigene Kingman-Anlage, ein integriertes Solar- und Windkraftwerk mit 10,5 MW. Das Unternehmen entwickelt ferner Wind- und Solarprojekte in Kalifornien, Arizona und Puerto Rico.

Weder die TSX Venture Exchange noch deren Regulierungsdienstleister (gemss der Definition dieses Begriffs in den Richtlinien der TSX Venture Exchange) bernimmt die Verantwortung fr die Angemessenheit oder Richtigkeit dieser Pressemitteilung. 

Weitere Information erhalten Sie von:
Jeff Rosenthal
Chief Executive Officer
jeff.rosenthal@brookfieldrenewable.com
Tel.: +1-604-685-9463
 
Western Wind Investor Relations Kontakt:
Vanessa Pilotte
Investor Relations
E-Mail: vpilotte@westernwindenergy.com
Tel.: +1-877-470-3601

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Western Wind gibt Einreichung von Formular 15F bekannt, um seine Berichtspflichten gegenüber der SEC zu beenden