President Hugo Chavez told U.S. officials to "Go to hell, gringos!" and called Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "missy" on his weekly radio and TV show Sunday, lashing out at Washington for what he called unacceptable meddling in Venezuelan affairs. The tirade came after Washington raised concerns about a measure to grant the fiery leftist leader broad lawmaking powers. The National Assembly, which is controlled by the president's political allies, is expected to give final approval this week to what it calls the "enabling law," which would give Chavez the authority to pass a series of laws by decree during an 18-month period.
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down California's sentencing law Monday, a decision that could mean shorter sentences for thousands of state prisoners. The 6-3 ruling in Cunningham v. California effectively shaves four years off the 16-year sentence of former police officer John Cunningham, who was convicted of sexually abusing his son.
CEOs of 10 major corporations have urged President Bush to support mandatory reductions in climate-changing pollution and establish reductions targets. "We can and must take prompt action to establish a coordinated, economy-wide market-driven approach to climate protection," the executives from a broad range of industries said in a letter to the president. The officials include the chief executives of Alcoa, BP America, DuPont, Caterpillar, General Electric and Duke Energy.
Pfizer Inc., the world's largest drug-maker, announced Monday it will cut 10,000 jobs as it seeks to cut costs by up to $2 billion a year amid fierce competition from generic drugs. The company plans to close three research sites in Michigan and two manufacturing plants in New York and Nebraska. It may also sell another manufacturing site in Germany and close research sites in Japan and France.
More than a foot of snow fell on parts of northern Arizona, and several more inches were possible Monday, while children as far south as Tucson got a rare chance to play in the snow. Sunday's storm, one of the strongest of the winter, came amid a wave of storms that have brought snow, ice and strong winds to the Plains region, and also to the Southwest, including Arizona, Texas and New Mexico.
