Obama's budget proposal draws rapid fire from legislators

WASHINGTON: President Obama's proposed $3.8 trillion budget ran into immediate trouble in Congress on Monday among lawmakers who said it tries to do too much while cutting the deficit too little.

The quick response came as Obama sought to juggle his twin goals of creating jobs, which entails tax cuts and new spending, and cutting the deficit, which involves the opposite.

Republicans who spent the past year criticizing Obama's $862 billion economic stimulus package, said the president was being spendthrift by raising the overall budget 3%. They lambasted his plan to let President George W. Bush's tax cuts expire next year for families making more than $250,000.

Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., top Republican on the House Budget Committee, called the budget "a very aggressive agenda of more government spending, more taxes, more deficits and more debt — with just a few cosmetic budget maneuvers to give the illusion of restraint."

Liberal budget experts agreed that the plan didn't go far enough to reduce the deficit, despite $1.6 trillion in savings over 10 years. The $1.56 trillion deficit would be cut in half by 2014 but grow back to $1 trillion by 2020. The cumulative deficit over 10 years: $8.5 trillion.

"It falls well short of what will be needed to get deficits under control," said Robert Greenstein of the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "The budget probably goes as far in that area as today's toxic political environment will allow."

That's the problem facing Obama and Congress as the budget debate begins along with congressional election campaigns. For years, lawmakers have rejected presidents' budget proposals and reshaped them because they have the final power to approve spending.

WORLD CUP 2010.....WIN EGYPY

Egypt secured a record seventh Africa Cup of Nations title, after beating Ghana 1-0 in a tense final in Angola.

AFRICA. BBC:  Substitute Mohamed Gedo scored the only goal of the game, curling a beautiful shot past Richard Kingson in the Ghana goal six minutes from time.

Gedo's winner came against the run of play, after a sustained period of pressure from Milovan Rajevac's young Ghana side.

The striker finished as top scorer and earned Egypt a third title in a row.

Sri Lanka president wins re-election

COLOMBO:  Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has won a second term in office, a local news channel reported on Wednesday.

"The president has recorded a remarkable victory, with amore than 1.8 million vote majority," Rupavahini said. Official final results were not due for another three hours, but polling showed the incumbent with a powerful lead over his chief opponent, former army commander General Sarath Fonseka.

The two war victors turned to foes in a bloody campaign that culminated in a largely peaceful election on Tuesday, with turnout that independent observers placed at between 70 and 80 percent of the Indian Ocean island's 14 million registered voters.

Fonseka, a political neophyte, delivered an election day shock by admitting he was not registered to vote, after saying he may have done so but did not want to say where for security reasons.

The winner will take the reins of a $40 billion economy which has enjoyed a partial peace dividend, and is on the path to recovery with big Chinese and Indian investments into infrastructure and plans to put $4 billion into development.

London meeting to bolster Yemen in Qaeda fight

LONDON:  A high-level international meeting in London on Wednesday aims to bolster Yemen's fight against al-Qaeda by helping it tackle the poverty that can create a breeding ground for militants.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown hurriedly called the meeting after a Yemen-based al-Qaeda affiliate said it was behind a failed Dec. 25 attempt to blow up a U.S.-bound plane with 300 people on board.

The attack drove home how al-Qaeda could threaten Western interests from Yemen and highlighted the risk that the country could become a failed state, compounding security challenges already posed by lawless Somalia just across the Gulf of Aden. more

"Avatar" becomes highest-grossing movie

LOS ANGELES:  "Avatar" has surpassed "Titanic" as the highest-grossing movie worldwide, giving director James Cameron a remarkable double a week before his sci-fi spectacular is expected to rack up a slew of Oscar nominations.

Gregg Brilliant, a spokesman for the News Corp (NWSA.O)-owned studio 20th Century Fox, said on Tuesday the worldwide box office total for "Avatar" stands at $1.859 billion, beating the $1.843 billion racked up by Cameron's romantic drama "Titanic" in 1997-1998.

"Avatar" broke the record in a little over six weeks.

The film has enjoyed an unbroken reign in most countries, including the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Russia, Britain and Australia.

The data are not adjusted for inflation.

Ticket sales got an additional boost from premium prices for 3-D screenings. Fox said 72 percent of worldwide sales come from 3-D engagements.

The action-adventure movie, starring Sigourney Weaver, is set in 2154 and tells the tale of a disabled ex-Marine sent to Earth to infiltrate a race of 10-foot (3-metre) blue aliens and persuade them to let his employer mine their homeland for natural resources.

More than five years in the making, it was reportedly one of the most expensive films with a budget of at least $300 million, due partly to its high-tech special effects and the creation of a new language used by the extra-terrestrial Na'vi race.

Despite some industry skepticism last year, the movie was released in December to glowing reviews and went on to win a the Golden Globe for best drama earlier this month.

Tom O'Neil, an awards pundit at www.TheEnvelope.com, said "Avatar" was not just a sure bet for a best picture Academy Award nomination on Feb. 2, but a leading contender to win the top Oscar on March 7. It is also expected to dominate the technical categories.

"It is the Oscar front-runner," O'Neil told Reuters. "It won the Golden Globe, it has conquered the global box office and it has won universal praise."

"The only cliffhanger is, will the notorious snobs in the Academy finally appreciate sci-fi?," he said, noting that a science fiction movie has never won a best picture Oscar.