President Barack Obama is weighing into the controversy over deflated footballs and says the National Football League should be considering how officials can control game balls.
	Obama says until the New England Patriots used deflated footballs in the AFC championship game, he didn't realize each team prepares its own footballs and brings them to the game.
	He says he's assuming the league is going to figure out how officials will be in charge of the footballs from start to finish.
	Obama made the remarks yesterday in an interview during NBC's Super Bowl pregame show.
	Obama says the Patriots would have won the game with the Indianapolis Colts regardless of how much the footballs were inflated.
	Asked if it was cheating, the president said: "If you break the rules then you break the rules.

Obama: NFL should consider officials controlling game balls

PTI Automatic

Ann Mara, the matriarch of the NFL's New York Giants for the past 60 years, has died. She was 85.
	Giants co-owner John Mara announced his mother's death on Super Bowl Sunday. Ann Mara slipped in front of her home in Rye, New York, during an ice storm two weeks ago and was hospitalized with a head injury the following day. While there were initial hopes for recovery, John Mara said, complications developed and she died early yesterday surrounded by her family.
	Ann Mara and her children owned 50 per cent of the Giants, one of the founding families of the league, since the death of her husband, Hall of Famer Wellington Mara, in 2005. While she was not active in daily operations, her opinion was valued greatly.
	"Mrs. Mara was a tower of strength, dignity and inspiration for her family and all of us in the NFL," Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. "Her family and the Giants organization have always reflected Mrs. Mara's competitive spirit, integrity, and wonderful sense of ..

New York Giants matriarch Ann Mara dies at 85

France's Socialist government has offered support for Greece's efforts to renegotiate debt for its huge bailout plan, amid renewed fears about Europe's economic stability.
	The backing was a victory for Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, striking a more conciliatory tone as he seeks new conditions on debt from creditors who rescued Greece's economy to save the shared euro currency.
	Worries have mounted that Greece's new far left government might not pay back its debts.
	Varoufakis is also visiting London and Rome and in a sign that his government may be trying to avoid a collision course with key creditors, he said yesterday that he would visit Berlin and Frankfurt as well.
	The German government has been particularly angry at the new Greek government's position and bluntly rejected suggestions that Greece should be forgiven part of its rescue loans.
	Varoufakis insisted that Greece wants to pay the money back, but said he wants new terms and new negotiating partners, arguing ..

France offers support for Greece amid bailout tensions

The best chance to save the life of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev might be to put his dead brother on trial.
	When Tsarnaev's case begins, his lawyers are likely to pin their hopes and the bombings themselves on his older brother, Tamerlan: an amateur boxer, college student, husband and father who also followed radical Islam and was named by a friend as a participant in a grisly 2011 triple slaying.
	"He was the eldest one and he, in many ways, was the role model for his sisters and his brother," said Elmirza Khozhugov, the former husband of Tamerlan's sister, Ailina.
	"You could always hear his younger brother and sisters say, 'Tamerlan said this,' and 'Tamerlan said that.' Dzhokhar loved him. He would do whatever Tamerlan would say," Khozhugov told The Associated Press in the weeks after the bombings.
	Three people were killed and more than 260 were injured when two homemade pressure-cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the iconic race on April 15, ...

Marathon bombing defense likely to focus on dead brother

Thousands of immigrants seeking legalization through the US court system have had their hearings canceled and are being told by the government that it may be 2019 or later before their futures are resolved.
	The increase in cancellations began late last summer after the Justice Department prioritized the tens of thousands of Central American families and unaccompanied children crossing the US-Mexico border.
	Immigration lawyers in New York, San Antonio, Los Angeles and Denver say they have had hearings canceled with little notice and received no new court dates. Work permits, green cards, asylum claims, and family reunifications now hang in the balance.
	Lauren Alder Reid, spokeswoman for the Justice Department body that oversees immigration courts, says hearings are being rescheduled for 2019, but most will likely be rescheduled again.

Immigrants could wait until 2019 to have cases resolved

US President Barack Obama's budget will propose an ambitious six-year, USD 478 billion public works program of highway, bridge and transit upgrades, half of it financed with a one-time mandatory tax on profits that US companies have amassed overseas, White House officials said.
	The proposal, one of the key components of the USD 4 trillion spending plan for the 2016 budget year that Obama will send to Congress tomorrow, attempts to tap into bipartisan support for spending on badly needed infrastructure repairs and construction.
	The tax on accumulated foreign profits would be set at 14 per cent and due immediately. Under current law, those profits only face federal taxes if they are returned, or repatriated, to the US where they face a top rate of 35 per cent. Many companies avoid US taxes on those earnings by simply leaving them overseas.
	The foreign earnings tax would be part of a broader administration plan to overhaul corporate taxes by ending certain tax breaks and lowering ...

Obama ties foreign profits tax to public works

Jordan remains "as committed as ever" to a US-led military coalition against the Islamic State group, the kingdom's foreign minister said today, amid heightened fears for the life of a Jordanian fighter pilot held by the militants.
	Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh spoke a day after another Islamic State hostage, Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, was purportedly beheaded by the militants. The fate of the two captives had been linked but a video of Goto's purported slaying made no mention of the pilot.
	The killing of 47-year-old Goto shocked Japan which until now had not been directly embroiled in the battle against extremists.
	"I feel indignation over this immoral and heinous act of terrorism," said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In a phone call with Abe, Jordan's King Abdullah II condemned the killing as a "criminal act."
	Japan responded to new threats from the militants by ordering tighter security at airports and at Japanese facilities overseas, including embassies and schools. .

Jordan committed to anti-IS coalition, despite hostage drama

Thai police say two explosions at a transit hub near major downtown shopping malls were caused by small improvised explosive devices, but no one was hurt and damage was minor.
	The explosions occurred around 8 pm today at the Siam Square station of Bangkok's Skytrain system, which serves several shopping centers including the upmarket Paragon mall.
	The incident comes at a time of slightly raised political temperatures in Thailand, as the country's ruling junta has tightened its clampdown on critics of its rule.
	Police initially said the explosions were caused by a transformer, but National Police spokesman Lt Gen Prawut Thawornsiri later said they were caused by devices that were probably not meant to hurt anyone.

No one hurt as small blasts rattle Bangkok mall shoppers

A downtown Los Angeles mosque that forbids men from attending may be the first of its kind in the United States.
	The Los Angeles Times reports that more than 100 women gathered Friday at the interfaith Pico-Union Project for the inaugural prayer marking the launch of the Women's Mosque of America, a nonprofit hoping to create space where Muslim women can learn and connect with other women.
	"Muslim women haven't had a forum," Yasmeen Ruhge, a cardiologist from Pasadena, said as she waited for the service to begin. "When we go to the mosque, we have to sit on one side. Not that we aren't equal, but this gives us a freedom to talk as all women and create an independent role."
	Female-only mosques exist in China, Chile and India, but Muslim leaders say this could be a first for the United States.
	A 2011 study says about two-thirds of American mosques use a divider to separate men and women during morning prayers. The number may be higher for Friday prayers.
	Such mosques allow women ...

Los Angeles female-only mosque may be first in US

Nigerian troops today repelled Islamic extremists who attacked from four fronts on Maiduguri, the biggest city in northeast Nigeria, with several civilians killed by aerial bombs and grenades and mortar shells on the ground.
	Soldiers said hundreds of insurgents died.
	Terrified residents fled homes shaking from five hours of heavy artillery fire and streamed in from the outskirts of the besieged city of 2 million, already crowded with another 200,000 refugees from the fighting.
	For weeks Boko Haram has been closing in on Maiduguri, the groups spiritual birthplace, and if it were able to plant its Islamic State-style flag there, even briefly, it would give them a major boost as the group loses ground in remoter areas, said Jacob Zenn, author of a book about the insurgents.
	Its third attack in a week on Maiduguri came as Chadian forces launched a winning offensive, acting on an African Union directive for Nigeria's neighbors to help fight the spreading Islamic uprising by Nigeria's ..

Extremists attack biggest city in northeast Nigeria

Cold temperatures are suspected of killing some 150 sea turtles found in a lagoon of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula.
	Investigators with the federal environmental protection agency said Saturday the green sea turtles were found in the Ojo de Liebre lagoon, on the Pacific side of Baja California Sur state. The agency said it would be difficult to determine the exact cause of death due to the advanced state of decomposition of the remains.
	The agency said a cold front that lowered temperatures in the region may have caused the deaths but investigators also would try to determine whether some sort of contamination might have played a role.
	In mid-January, federal inspectors found the bodies of 14 gray whales at the lagoon, as well as 16 other sea turtles.

150 sea turtles found dead in Mexican Pacific lagoon

Iran's former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has launched a website ahead of parliamentary elections next year in a sign he may be eyeing a political comeback despite a recent corruption scandal.
	The website, ahmadinejad.Ir, was launched Sunday with a big smiling photo of Ahmadinejad and the slogan: "We will come soon."
	Ahmadinejad effectively disappeared from Iran's political landscape after his second term ended in 2013. The hard-line leader's eight-year rule was marked by hostility towards the West and inflammatory rhetoric calling for the destruction of Israel and casting doubt on the Holocaust.
	His reputation even among hard-liners took a hit earlier this month after his former senior vice president was sentenced to five years in jail and ordered to pay a USD 300,000 fine for corruption.

Iran's Ahmadinejad launches website ahead of vote

Appalled and saddened by news of journalist Kenji Goto's purported beheading by Islamic State extremists, Japan today ordered heightened security precautions and said it would persist with its non-military support for fighting terrorism.
	The failure to save Goto raised fears for the life of a Jordanian fighter pilot also held by the militant group that controls about a third of both Syria and Iraq.
	Unlike some earlier messages delivered in the crisis, the video that circulated online late yesterday purporting to show a militant beheading Goto did not mention the pilot.
	Jordan renewed an offer today to swap an al-Qaida prisoner for the pilot, Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, who was seized after his F-16 crashed near the Islamic State group's de facto capital, Raqqa, Syria, in December.
	Government spokesman Mohammed al-Momani told The Associated Press that "we are still ready to hand over" Sajida al-Rishawi, who faces death by hanging for her role in triple hotel bombings in Jordan in ...

Horror in Japan as video purports to show hostage beheaded

Jordan today renewed an offer to swap an al-Qaida prisoner for a fighter pilot held captive by the Islamic State group, a day after a video purportedly showed the militants beheading a Japanese hostage.
	The fates of the pilot, Lt Muath al-Kaseasbeh, and Japanese journalist Kenji Goto previously had been linked. The video of the beheading made no mention of the pilot, raising fears for the lieutenant's life.
	Islamic State group last week demanded the release of Sajida al-Rishawi, an al-Qaida prisoner who faces death by hanging for her role in triple hotel bombings in Jordan in 2005.
	Jordan offered last week to release her for the pilot, but the militants didn't say at the time if they were considering such a deal. An audio message last week, purportedly from the Islamic State group, only said the pilot would be killed if al-Rishawi was not released on Thursday.
	The deadline passed after Jordan said it cannot free her without proof the pilot is alive. Late yesterday, the video ...

Jordan renews swap offer to free pilot held by Islamic State

The United Nations mission to Iraq said today that violence in the country amid the war against the extremist Islamic State group killed at least 1,375 people in January.
	The UN Assistance Mission in Iraq, known as UNAMI, put the number of civilians killed at 790, while identifying the rest as security forces members. It said at least 1,469 civilians and 771 security forces members were wounded.
	It said the worst affected city was the capital, Baghdad, with 256 civilians killed and 758 wounded.
	According to UNAMI figures, last year was the deadliest in Iraq since 2006-2007, with a total of 12,282 people killed and 23,126 wounded.
	However, the UN says its numbers "have to be considered as the absolute minimum" as they do not include territories held by the Islamic State group, which is about a third of Iraq, and of those who lost their lives due to "secondary effects of violence ... (like) exposure to the elements, lack of water, food, medicines and health care."
	The Islamic State 

UN says violence in Iraq kills at least 1,375 in January

Whether in tsunami-stricken northeastern Japan or conflict-ridden Sierra Leone, the stories of the vulnerable, the children and the poor drove the work of journalist Kenji Goto.
	The news of his purported killing by Islamic State militants sent Japan into shock and mourning early this morning, days after his plight as a hostage in Syria united many people in praying for his release.
	"I want to cuddle with the people. That's the best way to express my approach," Goto, 47, said about his work. "By cuddling with them, I can talk with the people. I can hear their views their pain and their hopes."
	A pony-tailed man with a friendly, carefree laugh, Goto was a veteran freelance reporter, working often with other filmmakers and Japanese TV producers. His comments were sometimes featured on Japanese mainstream media.
	The 2005 book he wrote about the suffering of children in Sierra Leone was titled "We Want Peace, Not Diamonds." But Goto had always stressed he was not a war reporter. He had 

Japan mourns Kenji Goto as caring and courageous reporter

Worried relatives of a Jordanian fighter pilot asked their government today to be more open about negotiations for his release, after a second Islamic State group hostage was shown beheaded in a video purportedly from the militants.
	The fates of the pilot, Lt Muath al-Kaseasbeh, and Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, previously had been linked.
	The video of the beheading made no mention of the pilot, raising fears for his life.
	"We want the government to tell us the truth," said Yassin Rawashda, an uncle of the pilot.
	He said the family is not demanding a full briefing, but wants to hear if release efforts are headed "in a positive direction or not."
	The pilot's father, Safi al-Kaseasbeh, said he is worried, but still is putting his faith in the government.
	"Of course, I'm concerned," he said by telephone. "This is my son. I'm always concerned about him and any development makes me more concerned."
	Jordan is reportedly conducting indirect,behind-the- scenes negotiations through ...

Family of Jordanian pilot held by Islamic State demands word

The former head of Colombia's intelligence agency ended several years on the run and surrendered to face charges of spying on opponents of former President Alvaro Uribe.
	Maria del Pilar Hurtado late Friday turned herself over to authorities in Panama, where she fled in 2010.
	She was taken on a pre-dawn flight to Bogota, where a judge ordered her to be jailed at the chief prosecutor's office while charges are considered.
	Chief prosecutor Eduardo Montealegre said Hurtado was being processed for at least five offences that could bring 15 to 20 years in prison for a conviction.
	He said he would urge Hurtado to cooperate and reveal "who gave the order for the illegal wiretapping."
	The accusations against the spy chief threaten to further tarnish the legacy of Uribe, for years the United States' staunchest ally in Latin America and credited with crushing leftist rebels once dominant across large swaths of the country.
	Hurtado has never implicated the former president in any ...

Ex-spy chief wanted in Colombia for wiretaps surrenders

Tiger Woods, coming off an 82 for his worst round as a pro, will be out of the top 50 in the world ranking for the first time in more than three years.
     And if he doesn't turn his game around quickly, he will be ineligible for a World Golf Championship for only the second time in his career.
     Woods was No. 1 in the world eight months ago. But after missing most of last year recovering from back surgery, and playing poorly in the few times he did play, Woods made his 2015 debut in the Phoenix Open at No. 47 in the world. He missed the cut by 12 shots.
     Woods will be no better than No. 53 next week, and could fall even farther depending on what happens at the Phoenix Open and Dubai Desert Classic. Woods has not been lower than 58th in the world since winning the first of his 79 title on the PGA Tour at the Las Vegas Invitational in October 1996.
     He last was out of the top 50 on Nov. 27, 2011. Woods won the Chevron World Challenge the next week and moved up to No. 21.
   

Woods out of top 50 for 1st time in more than 3 years

Carl Djerassi, the chemist widely considered the father of the birth control pill, has died.
	Djerrasi died of complications of cancer in his San Francisco home, Stanford University spokesman Dan Stober said.
	He was 91.
	Djerassi, a professor emeritus of chemistry at Stanford, was most famous for leading a research team in Mexico City that in 1951 developed norethindrone, a synthetic molecule that became a key component of the first birth control pill.
	"The pill," as it came to be known, radically transformed sexual practices and women's lives.
	In his book, "This Man's Pill," Djerassi said the invention also changed his life, making him more interested in how science affects society.
	In 1969, he submitted a public policy article about the global implications of US contraceptive research, according to the Stanford News Service. In 1970, he published another article about the feasibility of a birth control pill for men.
	"The thoughts behind these two public policy articles had ...

Scientist considered father of birth control pill dies

A North Carolina-based firm says it employed the three military contractors who were shot to death earlier this week in Afghanistan.
	Praetorian Standard Inc of Fayetteville identified the men slain Thursday as Walter D Fisher of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Jason D Landphair of Fayetteville, North Carolina; and Mathew E Fineran of Summerville, South Carolina.
	The release issued yesterday by Thomas Lujan, an attorney for the company, says another employee, Bradley A James of Atlanta, was wounded but expected to survive.
	The company says it's meeting with the men's families.
	The Pentagon has said the three Defense Department contractors were killed at the Kabul airport by a man in an Afghan uniform.

AP

AP

Page 2337 - Ap/pti Reuters