World / Nation briefs January 5, 2012
Obama appoints consumer watchdog
SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio - Defying Republican lawmakers, President Barack Obama on Wednesday barreled by the Senate and installed a national consumer watchdog on his own, provoking GOP threats of a constitutional showdown in the courts. Setting a fierce tone in the election-year fight for middle-class voters, Obama said: "I refuse to take 'no' for an answer."
Obama named Richard Cordray, a respected former attorney general of Ohio, to be the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, after giving up on hopes for a confirmation vote in the Senate. The appointment means the agency is able to oversee a vast swath of lending companies and others accused at times of preying on consumers with shady practices.
In political terms, Obama's move was unapologetically brazen, the equivalent of a haymaker at Republicans in the Senate who had blocked his nominee. Acting right after Tuesday's presidential caucuses in Iowa, which showered attention on his opponents, Obama sought to make a splash as the one fighting for the rights of the little guy.
Presidents of both parties long have gotten around a stalled confirmation by naming a nominee to a job when the Senate is on a break through a process known as a recess appointment.
But Obama went further by squeezing in his appointment during a break between rapid Senate sessions this week, an unusual move that the GOP called an arrogant power grab.
Police kill 8th-grader who had pellet gun
BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Police shot and killed an eighth-grader in the hallway of his middle school Wednesday after the boy brandished what looked like a handgun and pointed it at officers. It turned out to be a pellet gun that closely resembled the real thing.
Fifteen-year-old Jaime Gonzalez "had plenty of opportunities to lower the gun and listen to the officers' orders, and he didn't want to," Interim Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez said.
Shortly before the confrontation, the boy had walked into a classroom and punched a random boy in the nose for no apparent reason, police said. Investigators did not know why he pulled out the weapon.
"We think it looks like this was a way to bring attention to himself," the police chief said. He said the officers' actions were justified and no one else was hurt.
Landslide kills 25 at Philippines gold mine
MANILA, Philippines - A landslide buried dozens of people early Thursday at a small-scale gold mining site in the southern Philippines, leaving at least 25 dead months after government officials warned miners that the mountain above them was guaranteed to crumble.
The landslide struck around 3 a.m., when most residents were asleep. Aside from those confirmed dead, more than 100 people are believed to be buried in the rubble in Napnapan village in Pantukan township, Compostela Valley provincial Gov. Arturo Uy said.
Army Lt. Col. Camilo Ligayo said about 120 soldiers were heading to the area to help dig for survivors and bodies.
Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Ramon Paje said he had warned residents and local officials last year of a fissure on a ridge of the mountain that geologists said was "highly susceptible" to landslides that could occur any time.
Former advertising exec gets 70 years for abducting ex-wife
HARTFORD, Conn. - A prominent former advertising executive declared that he has hired an "assassin" to kill his ex-wife just before being sentenced Wednesday to 70 years in prison for holding her hostage for more than 13 hours and burning down the Connecticut home they once shared.
Richard Shenkman, 62, was sentenced in Hartford Superior Court, where a jury convicted him in October of 10 charges including kidnapping, arson, assault and threatening. He faced a potential of nearly 80 years in prison.
- The Associated Press