Confident Obama lays out battle plan as he launches second term

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A confident President Barack Obama kicked off his second term on Monday with an impassioned call for a more inclusive America that rejects partisan rancor and embraces immigration reform, gay rights and the fight against climate change.Obama’s ceremonial swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol was filled with traditional pomp and pageantry, but it was a scaled-back inauguration compared...

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Harbaugh brothers take 49ers, Ravens to Super Bowl

This Super Bowl will be filled with firsts — and one significant last.The Harbaughs, San Francisco's Jim and Baltimore's John, will be the first pair of brothers to coach against each other in the NFL title game.Quarterbacks Colin Kaepernick of the 49ers and Joe Flacco of the Ravens each will be playing in his first Super Bowl — where success is the ultimate measure of elite QBs.It'll be Baltimore's...

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How Obama made opportunity real

STORY HIGHLIGHTSLZ Granderson: Specifics of Obama's first term may not be rememberedHe says his ability to win presidency twice is unforgettableGranderson: Obama, the first black president, makes opportunity real for manyHe says it makes presidency a possibility for people of all backgroundsEditor's note: LZ Granderson, who writes a weekly column for CNN.com, was named journalist of the year by the...

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Algeria says 37 foreigners died in siege led by Canadian

ALGIERS (Reuters) - A total of 37 foreigners and an Algerian died at a desert gas plant and five are still missing after a four-day hostage-taking coordinated by a Canadian gunman, Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal said on Monday. Sellal also told a news conference that 29 Islamists had been killed in the siege, which Algerian forces ended by storming the plant on Saturday, and...

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Euro zone surveys to offer hope as Japan eases

LONDON (Reuters) - The prospect of stronger European manufacturing surveys and decisive monetary easing in Japan this week ought to bolster confidence that the global economy can look forward to better days. It is definitely not yet time to break open the champagne. The index derived from polls of purchasing managers across the euro zone, though recovering, is likely to remain...

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See Jupiter and Moon Shine Dazzlingly Close Together Monday

Stargazers looking up as darkness falls on Monday (Jan. 21) will notice an eye catching pairing-off between two of the brightest objects in the nighttime sky, weather permitting. The moon, appearing as a waxing gibbous phase, 78 percent illuminated, will appear to stand close below a very bright, non-twinkling, silvery “star.” But it won’t be a star that will be keeping the moon company on America’s...

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Djokovic plays another Australian Open marathon

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The opponent was different, the match three rounds earlier. Still, the result gave Novak Djokovic a familiar feeling, and another chance to rip off his shirt in celebration.Djokovic needed just over 5 hours to beat Stanislas Wawrinka 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 12-10 in a fourth-round match Sunday night at the Australian Open, on the same court where he needed 5:53 to beat...

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Obama's speech: Learn from Lincoln

STORY HIGHLIGHTSJulian Zelizer: Second term inaugural addresses are always a challengeHe says the public has had four years to make a judgment about the presidentObama can learn from second term speeches of Lincoln, Wilson, FDRZelizer says they did a good job of unifying America and sketching vision of the futureEditor's note: Julian Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton...

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Man shot at 22nd-floor party in Loop hotel

A man was shot in the historic Palmer House Hotel downtown. A 25-year-old man was shot in the leg early this morning during a...

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Veteran jihadist claims bloody Algeria siege for al Qaeda

ALGIERS/IN AMENAS, Algeria (Reuters) - A veteran Islamist fighter claimed responsibility on behalf of al Qaeda for the Algerian hostage crisis, a regional website reported on Sunday, tying the bloody desert siege to France's intervention across the Sahara in Mali. Algeria said it expected to raise its preliminary death tolls of 23 hostages and 32 militants killed in the four-day siege...

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