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Watch list: Indianapolis Colts at crossroads?
10/12/2010 11:26Usually, TV networks want winners in their games. But the NFL Network tonight (8:20 p.m. ET) lucked out in having a 6-6 team on-air -- because that team is led by one of the NFL biggest stars. UGG Boots Tonight's TV listings Peyton Manning, whose Indianapolis Colts are playing Tennessee, is a big story as he's struggles. CBS' BillCowher, in an online chat on USATODAY.com today, calls Manning's play the biggest surprise so far in the NFL season: "His decision-making. That to me is the most surprising thing. I think the Colts are in trouble. Jacksonville -- they're in control. I think Tennessee is going to give the Colts all they can handle tonight." For all the talk of integrity, the Heisman, like everything else in college sports, rewards winners.Air Yeezy Why else does O.J. Simpson's name still rest beside 1968 and 2005 is vacant? One important question voters should have asked themselves is what will they remember about Cam Newton in 10 years? His dad or that classic 28-27 rally win against Alabama? "I still think people are going to be talking about [his dad] 10 years down the road," said Prince Amukamara, a Jim Thorpe nominee. "But I think that Alabama game was a classic just coming down from 24-0 and just him being his first year back after transferring from JuCo and how he just made an impact for Auburn and turned that program around. I think that's going to be talked about a lot, too. Especially if they win the national championship."Is this the end of the road? It's possible that repeal could be brought up again as a stand-alone bill, the aide tells me. But this is unlikely, the aide adds, because such a move would be ripe for all sorts of procedural shenanigans. And there you have it. UPDATE, 5:08 p.m.: Harry Reid will co-sponsor a free-standing DADT repeal bill to be introduced during the lame duck session by Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins, an aide confirms. A second aide says the hope is that Scott Brown, Richard Lugar and Lisa Murkowski will then support it, as it would in theory be voted on after the tax issue is resolved.Air Jordan 2010
Supreme Court appears divided over state laws against illegal immigration
09/12/2010 11:30The Supreme Court's showdown over whether states can aggressively enforce laws against illegal immigrants may have ended in a draw Wednesday. Shox R3 If so, Arizona's 3-year-old law that cracks down on employers who knowingly hire illegal workers will stand. It could serve as a model for other states and cities that seek to adopt stricter enforcement measures. But if Justice Anthony M. Kennedy joins with his more liberal colleagues, as he did for part of Wednesday's argument, it could signal trouble in the future for other laws targeting illegal immigrants. They include Arizona's law that requires police to check the immigration status of suspicious people who are lawfully stopped, which could reach the court during its next term. At issue Wednesday was the fate of the Legal Arizona Workers Act, which imposes the so-called business death penalty on employers who are caught twice knowingly hiring illegal workers. Lower courts upheld the law, but the Obama administration and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce joined in arguing that the state law should be voided because it conflicts with the federal government's authority over immigration. Shox R2 But those challenging the law were at a disadvantage Wednesday because new Justice Elena Kagan, who came from the Obama administration, announced she would not participate in the decision. That set the stage for a possible 4-4 split, which would uphold Arizona's law but set no legal precedent. The stakes were high, as it has been more than 30 years since the Supreme Court ruled on a clash between a state and the federal government over immigration. Such clashes have become common in recent years as states and cities consider new enforcement measures to target illegal immigrants. Kennedy, who often casts the deciding vote in close cases, did not say definitively how he would decide. But near the end of the argument, he said he agreed with criticisms voiced by the three liberal justices. Arizona's strict requirements on employers seem to be "an almost classic example of a state doing something that is inconsistent with a federal requirement," he said. If Kennedy follows that view, he could cast a fourth vote to strike down Arizona law — one short of a majority, but potentially a fifth vote with Kagan the next time. Justice Antonin Scalia took Arizona's side throughout the argument. He said the state was forced to adopt strict measures of its own because of the lack of federal enforcement. "That's the only option" the state had, he said. Arizona faced "serious trouble financially because of unrestrained immigration.... The federal government has simply not enforced the immigration restrictions" in federal law, he said.Shox OZ Scalia's fellow conservatives sounded as though they would join him in support of Arizona's law. In challenging Arizona, Acting Solicitor Gen. Neal Katyal said Congress passed a "comprehensive" immigration law in 1986 that did not allow states to go their own way. It "broadly swept away state and local laws" that punished employers for hiring illegal workers, he said. He pointed to a disputed provision that says states and localities may not impose criminal or civil sanctions on employers for immigration violations, other than through licensing laws. If Arizona can adopt its own sanctions for employers for hiring illegal workers, Katyal said, then "40,000 localities can do it.... It would permit all the states to have their own laws." The liberal justices agreed Arizona was imposing extra sanctions on employers. But Arizona's solicitor general, Mary O'Grady, emphasized that the 1986 law allowed states to enforce licensing laws, and that Arizona enforces its law by taking away a business license. The conservative justices picked up her argument and said the state was free to do that under the federal law. Shox NZ
Senate Votes One-Year 'Doc Fix'
09/12/2010 11:28The Senate has passed a $15 billion bill that would block the impending 25% cut in the Medicare payment rate to physicians and instead keep rates steady through 2011. Coach handbags 2010 The cut was scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2011. If the House passes the bill -- which is likely -- it would be the fifth and longest extension of Medicare physician payment rates enacted this year. And it essentially puts doctors back in the yearly "last-minute-extension" cycle Congress has followed for most of the past decade.Coach Classic Handbags What the bill does not do is fix the sustainable growth rate (SGR) problem, and doctors would be subject to a cut of more than 25% for treating Medicare patients in 2012 unless Congress figures out a long-term solution in the meantime. Senate leaders reached a deal Tuesday evening on how to pay for the one-year fix in exchange for Republican support of the measure. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), people who make up to four times the federal poverty level will receive federal subsidies starting in 2014 to help them purchase the insurance that law mandates they have. Under the "doc fix" deal, that bill increases the amount a person would have to pay the federal government if he or she received too large of a federal subsidy. Under the law, if a person receiving the credit doesn't accurately state his or her income, or if the person's income increases during the year, he or she would have to pay the government back $250 or $400 for a family. The SGR bill would replace the flat-rate with a sliding scale, requiring those with low incomes to pay less, and requiring those with higher incomes to pay much more -- between $600 and $3,500 depending on income. Coach Classic bags The bill wouldn't change the income requirements for receiving the subsidies in the first place. Democrats weren't excited about making major changes to the ACA, especially while they still have control of Congress, but Republicans wouldn't vote for the longer-term SGR bill unless it is paid for. Republicans have been talking since last week about using the "doc fix" bill as the vehicle to start chipping away at reform. The bill passed Wednesday would also extend a payment mechanism that adjusts for geographic differences in the cost of providing medical care, provide exceptions for caps in cases where additional therapy services are deemed to be medically necessary, extend increased rates for ambulance services, and provide a 5% increase in payments for certain mental health services. Nike Shox
Traditionalist GOP Lawmakers to Lead Key Panels .
08/12/2010 10:48House Republican leaders cleared the way for two longtime traditionalist lawmakers to head two powerful congressional committees over the objections of some tea-party and conservative activists. Rep. Hal Rogers (R., Ky.), who has sought earmarks throughout his career, is set to become chairman of the Appropriations Committee, which oversees all federal spending. Rep. Fred Upton (R., Mich.), criticized by some conservatives for votes in support of some Democratic initiatives, was chosen to lead the Energy and Commerce Committee. Mr. Rogers, 70 years old, has served in Congress for 30 years, and Mr. Upton, 57, for 24 years. Air Jordan 7 Messrs. Rogers and Upton were officially backed Tuesday by the Republican Steering Committee, a 34-member panel that makes committee assignments. The full complement of House Republicans will consider the choices on Wednesday, and approval is likely. These chairmanship battles were particularly contentious because of the enormous power wielded by the two committees in areas of keen interest to conservatives who energized the Republican surge in the midterm elections—federal spending, health-care policy, environmental regulation and energy policy. The Appropriations battle was especially close. Both major candidates, Mr. Rogers and Rep. Jerry Lewis (R., Calif.), are among Congress's longtime pursuers of earmarks, the special items that lawmakers insert into spending bills. Earmarks are a big target of the tea-party activists who helped fuel the GOP takeover. Critics say the use of earmarks essentially means spending priorities are determined by deal-making, while defenders say the Constitution gives lawmakers the job and duty of making spending decisions this way. Mr. Rogers over the past three years obtained 135 earmarks worth $246.4 million, according to the Taxpayers for Common Sense, which opposes earmarks and subsidies. Mr. Lewis and a third candidate, Rep. Jack Kingston (R., Ga.), also won millions in earmarks. Yet as they sought the chairmanship, each insisted he was best-positioned to fight earmarks. Some activists weren't persuaded. "The whole system has been go-along, get-along as far as spending," said Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense. "It's something they all grew up in. They are all recent converts."Air Jordan 6 Speaker-designate John Boehner (R., Ohio), in part to ward off such criticism, announced this week he was supporting a seat on the Appropriations Committee for Rep. Jeff Flake (R., Ariz.), a longtime earmark opponent. The fight over the Energy and Commerce Committee chairmanship was similarly bitter. That panel oversees enormous sectors of the economy, including health care and telecommunications. With Republicans in control, the committee could become a launching pad for efforts to repeal President Barack Obama's health-care law and for challenges to the administration's energy policies, including a move by the Environmental Protection Agency to curb greenhouse gases. Mr. Upton's candidacy came under siege from conservatives who disagreed with his votes in support of expanding a children's health program and his backing of energy conservation measures, such as a phase-out of the 100-watt incandescent light bulb. Congressional offices were deluged in recent days with calls from activists opposing Mr. Upton's bid. Seeking to tap into that frustration was Rep. Joe Barton, a Texan who had led the committee before the Democrats' claimed the majority in 2006. Mr. Barton was rebuked by leaders of both parties earlier this year when he apologized to BP PLC executives during a hearing on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Mr. Barton's candidacy also was complicated by other political baggage. Like Mr. Lewis, he would have needed a waiver to become chairman, since GOP party rules prohibit any lawmaker from holding the top slot on a committee for more than six years. Many of the more than 80 newly elected Republicans made it clear they didn't want to circumvent that rule. "Consistently the freshman class thinks that the rule, which doesn't allow waivers, is a good one," said Rep.-elect Tim Scott of South Carolina. Mr. Upton has played up his conservative bona fides in recent weeks, vowing more vigorous oversight of Mr. Obama's special assistant for energy and climate policy, Carol Browner, a longtime nemesis of coal producers and oil companies. Air Jordan 5 A more immediate challenge for Mr. Upton may be preserving his panel's turf. Rep. Doc Hastings (R., Wash.), the likely chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, is lobbying House leaders to give his panel jurisdiction over energy. But such maneuvers are common when power shifts on Capitol Hill, and it isn't clear how much support Mr. Hastings's proposal has among Republican leaders. The steering committee also backed Rep. Spencer Bachus (R., Ala.) to head the Financial Services Committee, over Rep. Ed Royce (R., Calif.) As chairman, Mr. Bachus could play a central role in determining the future of mortgage- guarantee agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Mr. Bachus has called for taxpayer exposure to Fannie and Freddie to be capped and for the two troubled agencies to compete in the private market or be placed into liquidation. Aides to the lawmaker said he would also conduct rigorous oversight of the Obama administration as officials implement the sweeping Dodd-Frank financial regulatory law. Air Jordan Q4
Lake-fed storm leaving big snow totals in NY, Pa
08/12/2010 10:46Bands of snow blasting off the Great Lakes buried one western New York town under four feet of snow and caused a pileup that left motorists stranded for hours on a stretch of Interstate 80 in northwestern Pennsylvania.cheap ugg boots The lake-effect storms were whipped by gusty winds, closing schools and disrupting travel as far north as the Lake Ontario shore. In Randolph, N.Y., a rural town 50 miles south of Buffalo, motorists were banned from driving Tuesday after the area received 40 inches officially, with some seeing even more. "I think my arm pits are higher than that so I'd say 4 feet," Town Supervisor Dale Senn told The Associated Press over the phone. Forecasters say this blast isn't over, with bands of heavy snow expected to continue into Wednesday. The snow was being fed by Lake Erie, which borders western New York, northwestern Pennsylvania and northern Ohio, and Lake Ontario along New York's northwestern edge. More was forecast for Thursday, though in lesser amounts.UGG Boots Senn said the driving conditions were made worse by high winds that caused poor visibility along local roads, where drifting snow pinched vehicles down to one lane. Snow-removal efforts were hampered when two of his town's four snowplows broke down, he said. "You can't see over the banks," he said, "so it's better if people stay home." The snow piled the highest in the small towns and sparsely populated areas south of Buffalo, N.Y., and Erie, Pa. In Bradford, Pa., a foot of snow fell Monday and at least six inches more was expected Tuesday. About eight inches fell farther south in Somerset, with more reported in the Laurel Highlands east of Pittsburgh. Nearly two feet of snow was dumped on parts of northeast Ohio, with more than 20 inches on the ground by Tuesday afternoon in Pierpont, about 70 miles east of Cleveland. Winds were gusting up to 25 mph along Lake Erie, dropping temperatures into the teens and single digits, according to the National Weather Service. Pennsylvania State Police blamed the weather for a Monday afternoon multi-car crash that backed up traffic for several miles on Interstate 80 near the Ohio border, and for dozens of other crashes. There were no reports of serious injuries. Air Yeezy Some communities along Lake Ontario, meanwhile, have seen more than two feet of snow in the last few days. More than 17 inches had fallen since Sunday in Rochester, causing dozens of fender-benders during the city's morning commute Tuesday. Another foot was expected by Wednesday, blown around by strong winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts of up to 35 mph. Intense lake-effect snowstorms are typical for late fall and early winter, when cold air rushes over warmer water. The threat is lessened later in the season when ice forms on the lakes. Lake-effect snow advisories or warnings were in effect until Tuesday evening in Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Bradford, Pa., and Batavia, until Wednesday morning in Rochester, Olean and Binghamton and through Wednesday evening in Cattaraugus and Chautauqua Counties.Air Jordan 2010
Senator Mitch McConnell: Julian Assange is ‘high-tech terrorist’
07/12/2010 10:16Speaking on Meet the Press, Kentucky U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell said Wikileaks founder Julian Assange should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, terming him a “high-tech terrorist.” UGG Boots Classic Mini The Republican U.S. Senator said Mr. Assange, who continues to be pursued by international police organizations, should be held accountable for a trove of documents released through his website, Wikileaks. Earlier this week, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates noted that he considers the latest batch of released documents to be ”significantly overwrought.”UGG Boots Classic Cardy He added that, ”The fact is, governments deal with the United States because it’s in their interest, not because they like us, not because they trust us, and not because they believe we can keep secrets.” Mr. McConnell’s terming of Mr. Assange as a “terrorist” comes just days after a number of U.S. Senators said they plan to present a bill aimed at preventing similar releases. Massachusetts U.S. Senator Scott Brown, amongst others, said he plan to support the bill, which would strengthen laws against leaking classified documents. The U.S. Department of Justice continues to consider possible avenues for prosecuting Mr. Assange, who many believe remains in hiding in the U.K. Lebron James 4.5
Lawyer: WikiLeaks' Assange Arranging to Meet Police
07/12/2010 10:14A lawyer for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says they are making arrangements with British police to meet and discuss an arrest warrant that Sweden has issued for his client. Mark Stephens told reporters in London Monday that police called him to say they had received the warrant for Assange, who is wanted in Sweden for questioning about allegations of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion. The lawyer was also quoted by British media as saying Assange has not been charged with anything. Basketball Shoes Assange, whose WikiLeaks website has released some 250,000 secret U.S. diplomatic cables over the Internet, has denied the Swedish allegations. Earlier, WikiLeaks released what it said was a secret U.S. government list of infrastructure and resource sites around the world that the United States considers critical to its interests. U.S. and British officials said the publication of the list puts lives at risk. The leaked list of U.S. critical interests, which appears in U.S. diplomatic cables dating from 2008, includes the locations of vaccine manufacturers across Europe, undersea cables, ports, and key mineral and power resources from Asia to Brazil. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Monday described the release of the cables as "illegal," saying it poses real concerns and even potential damage to the United States' friends and partners around the world. Clinton said this theft of U.S. government information and its publication without regard to consequences are deeply distressing. Air Force Ones Mid U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder condemned the release Monday "in the strongest terms" and said the national security of the United States has been put at risk. Holder also said an active criminal investigation remains under way. British Foreign Secretary William Hague called the publication of the list "particularly reprehensible," saying it opened the door for terrorist attacks against vital targets. The cables listing the sites say their destruction would have a debilitating impact on U.S. national security, including public health and economic stability. As government outrage mounts against the WikiLeaks releases and Assange, the website is finding it increasingly difficult to function. On Monday, the Swiss postal system closed a bank account used for WikiLeaks donations, following the lead taken by the U.S.-based payment service PayPal, which on Friday blocked financial transfers to the controversial site. The financial squeeze follows the website being shut out from major servers, forcing it to go to new servers. WikiLeaks is also trying to fend off repeated hacker attacks. In an attempt to fight back, WikiLeaks is informing readers of 350 mirror sites - websites that host exact copies of the information on its site. It also has threatened to publish a new cache of secret material said to be of an extremely sensitive nature if any legal action is taken against Assange or anything happens to the website. Air Force Ones High
In Interview, Bernanke Backs Tax Code Shift
06/12/2010 10:58The Federal Reserve chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, said in an interview broadcast on Sunday evening that rising inequality was eroding social cohesion and that Congress could help economic growth by making the tax code more efficient. UGG Boots Classic Short The statements, in an interview with “60 Minutes” on CBS, were a rare foray outside the strict boundaries of the Fed’s mandate, to which Mr. Bernanke has typically confined his remarks. In the interview, which was taped last week during a visit to the Ohio State University, Mr. Bernanke was unusually blunt in defending the Fed’s decision last month to inject $600 billion into the banking system to jolt the flagging recovery. “This fear of inflation, I think, is way overstated,” Mr. Bernanke said. “We’ve looked at it very, very carefully. We’ve analyzed it every which way.” On fiscal policy, a topic he has largely avoided, Mr. Bernanke repeated his point that the government should avoid an immediate contraction that could jeopardize the fragile recovery, while at the same time starting to address “the long-term structural budget deficit.” But he went slightly further when asked how Congress might help the economy grow. “The tax code is very inefficient — both the personal tax code and the corporate tax code,” Mr. Bernanke said. “By closing loopholes and lowering rates, you could increase the efficiency of the tax code and create more incentives for people to invest.” UGG Boots Classic Mini That statement seemed to be an endorsement of one proposal from the fiscal commission appointed by President Obama. Among the ideas it put forward last week was reducing personal income tax rates but eliminating a number of popular deductions. When asked about rising inequality in the United States, Mr. Bernanke offered a response that was likely to be embraced by liberals. “It’s a very bad development,” he said. “It’s creating two societies. And it’s based very much, I think, on educational differences. The unemployment rate we’ve been talking about. If you’re a college graduate, unemployment is 5 percent. If you’re a high school graduate, it’s 10 percent or more. It’s a very big difference.” Mr. Bernanke added: “It leads to an unequal society, and a society which doesn’t have the cohesion that we’d like to see.” During the interview, Mr. Bernanke reiterated his view that a double-dip recession was unlikely, but added, “We’re not very far from the level where the economy is not self-sustaining.” The chairman also left open the option of going beyond the $600 billion of Treasury securities the Fed plans to buy through June 2011. “It’s certainly possible,” Mr. Bernanke said, adding: “It depends on the efficacy of the program. It depends on inflation. And finally, it depends on how the economy looks.” Mr. Bernanke offered a retort to critics, saying, “We’re not printing money . The amount of currency in circulation is not changing. The money supply is not changing in any significant way.” Mr. Bernanke’s remarks suggested that the Fed was highly unlikely to change course when it meets on Dec. 14 for the final time this year. The Fed has made it clear that its implicit long-run target for inflation is around 2 percent or slightly less, and Mr. Bernanke said that “we’ve been very, very clear that we will not allow inflation to rise above” that level. Lebron James 4.5 UGG Boots Classic Cardy
Mexican state will try boy accused of beheadings
06/12/2010 10:55A 14-year-old boy accused of participating in four beheadings for a Mexican drug cartel will be tried under a state juvenile law and will receive only three years in prison if convicted, a judge said Sunday. Air Force Ones The judge in the state of Morelos made the ruling after a daylong hearing on whether the federal government should handle the case because of the gravity of the allegations against the boy, known as "El Ponchis." Authorities say they arrested him Thursday at an airport south of Mexico City with a 19-year-old sister who is accused of helping him dump bodies. Mexican officials allege the boy was working for the Cartel of the South Pacific, a branch of the splintered Beltran Leyva gang.Women Air Max Classic BW Many youths have been used by drug cartels in their bloody battles against the government and each other, but the story of El Ponchis may be the most shocking. A YouTube video that emerged a month ago sparked talk of a child hit man — said by some to be as young as 12. "I participated in four executions, but I did it drugged and under threat that if I didn't, they would kill me," the boy said when he was handed over to the federal prosecutor Friday morning. Authorities identified the curly-haired suspect by his first name only — Edgar. He told reporters early Friday he was kidnapped at the age of 11 and forced to work for the cartel. Morelos Gov. Marco Adame Castillo said the boy was born in San Diego, California, and Mexican officials were researching whether he has dual nationality. A U.S. Embassy official who spoke on condition of anonymity due to embassy policy said American officials had not yet confirmed his citizenship. Women Air Max 95
Top Stories: Worldwide
27/11/2010 11:04The following are the day's top general news stories: Air Jordan Fusion 1. U.S. Aircraft Carrier Group Enters Korean Seas as War Talk Rattles Market 2. Obama Gets 12 Stitches After Being Elbowed in Lip During Basketball Game 3. South American Leaders Pledge to Isolate Coup Regimes, Fight Drug Traffic 4. Russian Lawmakers Blame Stalin for 1940 Katyn Massacre of Polish Officers 5. Djokovic Reaches ATP Semifinals Against Federer; Nadal to Meet Murray Next 1. U.S. Aircraft Carrier Group Enters Korean Seas as War Talk Rattles Market The aircraft carrier USS George Washington and four smaller warships tomorrow begin exercises with South Korean vessels in a show of force that North Korea warned will take the peninsula to the "brink of war." The drills follow North Korea′s Nov. 23 attack on a South Korean fishing community and military base that killed four people, including two civilians. Shells shattered windows of a school and set houses ablaze on Yeonpyeong island in disputed waters about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) from the North Korean mainland. While the U.S. has called the drills "defensive in nature," Kim Jong Il′s regime warned that any infringement of North Korea′s sovereignty would spark another attack. Japan′s Prime Minister Naoto Kan ordered the Cabinet yesterday to stay in Tokyo in case of "unexpected" developments. The shelling of Yeonpyeong escalated tensions that flared after North Korea torpedoed the South Korean warship Cheonan in March, killing 46 sailors. President Barack Obama, along with Kan and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, have called on China to use its influence to temper North Korean acts of aggression, while Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has reiterated calls for stability, without ascribing any blame to North Korea. Air Jordan 9 2. Obama Gets 12 Stitches After Being Elbowed in Lip During Basketball Game President Barack Obama got 12 stitches in his lip after being injured during a basketball game, spokesman Robert Gibbs said. "After being inadvertently hit with an opposing player′s elbow in the lip while playing basketball with friends and family, the president received 12 stitches today administered by the White House medical unit," Gibbs said in a statement. The president played basketball for about 90 minutes at a gym at Fort McNair in Washington. Obama played basketball regularly during the 2008 presidential campaign and had a basketball court installed on the South Lawn of the White House. In addition to playing at Fort McNair, he plays at other local sites, including the Interior Department. Today, the president played with family members and friends in town for Thanksgiving, as well as with his personal aide, Reggie Love, a former college basketball player at Duke University. 3. South American Leaders Pledge to Isolate Coup Regimes, Fight Drug Traffic Presidents from the Union of South American Nations, known as Unasur, agreed to coordinate efforts to fight drug trafficking and to isolate governments that emerge from coups, Ecuador′s President Rafael Correa said. Unasur members met today during the fourth summit in Georgetown, Guyana, where Correa passed on the temporary presidency to that country′s President, Bharrat Jagdeo. The bloc didn′t propose names for a new secretary general to replace Nestor Kirchner, Argentina′s former president who died last month. The 12-nation Unasur, formed two years ago in a bid to bolster regional integration, adopted a charter today that calls for sanctions on non-democratic regimes. The charter is more substantial than a similar protocol adopted by the Organization of American States, Correa told reporters in Georgetown. "We didn′t limit ourselves to rhetoric," Correa said. "The main difference is not in the writing of the document, it is in the credibility." Air Jordan Q4 4. Russian Lawmakers Blame Stalin for 1940 Katyn Massacre of Polish Officers Breaking news, story to follow 5. Djokovic Reaches ATP Semifinals Against Federer; Nadal to Meet Murray Next Novak Djokovic beat Andy Roddick to set up a semifinal at the ATP World Tour Finals against four- time champion Roger Federer. Djokovic, the third-ranked Serb, defeated Roddick, the lone American man in the tennis tournament field, 6-2, 6-3 in the final match in Group A at the O2 arena in east London. "Definitely a great achievement reaching the semfinals," Djokovic, a runner-up at the U.S. Open, said in a televised courtside interview. "We′ve played so many times against each other, let′s see. The best will win." Djokovic, who has been beaten by Federer 12 times out of 18 meetings. Djokovic overcame two match points against the Swiss Grand Slam record holder in the semifinals of the U.S. Open in September. Air Yeezy