World/Nation February 21, 2015
Obama team weighs strategy to blunt Netanyahu's visit
WASHINGTON - In what is becoming an increasingly nasty grudge match, the White House is mulling ways to undercut Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's upcoming trip to Washington and blunt his message that a potential nuclear deal with Iran is bad for Israel and the world.
There are limits. Administration officials have discarded the idea of President Barack Obama himself giving an Iran-related address to rebut the two speeches Netanyahu is to deliver during his early March visit. But other options remain on the table.
Among them: a presidential interview with a prominent journalist known for coverage of the rift between Obama and Netanyahu, multiple Sunday show television appearances by senior national security aides and a pointed snub of America's leading pro-Israel lobby, which is holding its annual meeting while Netanyahu is in Washington, according to the officials.
The administration has already ruled out meetings between Netanyahu and Obama, saying it would be inappropriate for the two to meet so close to Israel's March 17 elections. But the White House is now doubling down on a cold-shoulder strategy, including dispatching Cabinet members out of the country and sending a lower-ranking official than normal to represent the administration at the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the officials said.
Vice President Joe Biden will be away, his absence behind Netanyahu conspicuous in coverage of the speech to Congress. Other options were described by officials, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal deliberations.
New woes for HealthCare.gov: Nearly 1 million receive wrong info
WASHINGTON - In a new setback for the health care law and the people it's supposed to help, the government said Friday it made a tax-reporting error that's fouling up the filings of nearly a million Americans.
After a successful sign-up season, the latest goof could signal new problems with the complex links between President Barack Obama's health care overhaul and the nation's income tax system.
Officials said the government sent the wrong tax information to about 800,000 HealthCare.gov customers, and they're asking those affected to delay filing their 2014 returns. The issue involves a new government form called a 1095-A, which is like a W-2 form for health care for people who got subsidized private coverage under Obama's law.
People can find out whether they're affected by logging in to their accounts at HealthCare.gov, where they should find a message indicating whether they were affected or not. They also can check by phoning the federal customer service center at 800-318-2596.
Separately, California announced earlier that it had sent out inaccurate tax forms affecting about 100,000 households. The state is not part of the federal market but runs its own insurance exchange.
High-rise tower in Dubai's Marina district catches fire
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - One of the world's tallest residential towers caught fire early Saturday in Dubai's Marina district, sending bright yellow flames several stories high, but there were no reports of casualties, civil defense officials said.
The fire broke out at about 2 a.m. in the 86-story Torch tower on the northeastern end of the densely populated district, which is packed with multi-story skyscrapers. Debris from the fire cluttered nearby streets after the blaze appeared to be extinguished. High winds whipped through the area.
The civil defense officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there were no reports of deaths or injuries.
The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.
The Marina area is home to dozens of towering apartment blocks and hotels, many of them built over the past decade. The apartments are popular with Dubai's large number of expatriate professionals.
Vegas road-rage suspect told friends he fired over 22 shots
LAS VEGAS - The teenage neighbor arrested in what has been described as the road-rage slaying of a Las Vegas mother boasted about the shooting and told friends that he emptied several clips from his semi-automatic handgun during the gunbattle, according to a police report released Friday.
The documents depict a fierce shootout last week involving 19-year-old Erich Milton Nowsch Jr., victim Tammy Meyers and her 22-year-old son.
Police said Nowsch bragged of firing more than 22 shots at them that night - first, a few blocks from their home, then in the cul-de-sac outside their house.
According to investigators, Nowsch portrayed the Meyers family as the aggressors, saying he saw someone in their car waving a gun out the window at him.
"Got those kids. They were after me, and I got them," he was quoted as telling friends.
NJ's Chris Christie aims to right ship amid '16 jockeying
WASHINGTON - As the nation's governors convened in Washington, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and his team worked quietly Friday to right a nascent presidential bid struggling to build momentum.
The often-outspoken governor has no public appearances planned at the weekend gathering of the National Governors Association. Instead, he arranged an aggressive schedule of private meetings aimed at boosting his positon among the major donors and Republican activists he'll need to fuel a successful White House campaign.
Aides and Christie loyalists tried to project a sense of calm in the face of news that many longtime backers, both in New Jersey and across the country, are signing on with other likely candidates - most notably former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who has assembled a mammoth fundraising operation far earlier than many expected.
Christie's team doesn't expect to match Bush's fundraising, but they're confident they will have the money needed to compete in the race. They've also started to frame Christie as an underdog fighting against Bush, the son and brother of former presidents, and his family's longstanding network of donors.
"This is a marathon, not a sprint," said Ray Washburne, the finance chairman of Christie's political action committee and the former finance chief at the Republican National Committee.
- The Associated Press