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U.S. President Barack Obama talks with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit leaders plenary session in Kapolei, Hawaii on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
U.S. President Barack Obama talks with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit leaders plenary session in Kapolei, Hawaii on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
U.S. President Barack Obama talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit leaders plenary session in Kapolei, Hawaii on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, middle, shakes hands with Russia President is Dmitry Medvedev as U.S. President Barack Obama looks on as they take part in a plenary session at the 2011 APEC Summit in Kapolei, Hawaii on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011. Asia-Pacific leaders held their annual summit Sunday, having claimed progress on a U.S.-backed free trade bloc that received praise from American businesses and labor, but drew a less enthusiastic response from China and Russia. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Sean Kilpatrick)
U.S. President Barack Obama addresses the leaders plenary session during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Kapolei, Hawaii on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama speaks at a luau after the leaders dinner at the APEC Summit in Honolulu, Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
KAPOLEI, Hawaii (AP) ? President Barack Obama on Sunday tied the hopes of a faster American economic recovery to the booming Pacific Rim region, saying "we're not going to be able to put our folks back to work" unless the Asia-Pacific region is successful as an engine for the world.
"We consider it a top priority," Obama said of the region where his administration is pouring in time and political capital to expand exports and business ties.
The president spoke as he dove into a day of summit diplomacy, proudly using his home state of Hawaii as the American foothold to the Pacific. He gathered with leaders of 20 other nations of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, whose nations span from Chile to China and account for roughly half the world's trade and economic output.
In the midst of a hard re-election bid, Obama kept his message on jobs, even as he privately lobbied for help on containing the Iranian nuclear threat.
He was to cap the summit with a solo news conference in which topics on and off his scripted agenda were likely to emerge.
Born in Hawaii, Obama reveled in having the world stage on his home turf, while back east the Republicans seeking to oust him from the White House assailed his foreign policy record.
Obama used his moment to signal to business executives and Asian leaders that the United States has shifted from a post-9/11 war focus to re-engagement all across the Pacific.
"We represent close to 3 billion people, from different continents and cultures," Obama told his APEC partners on Saturday, ahead of some luau entertainment. "Our citizens have sent us here with a common task: to bring our economies closer together, to cooperate, to create jobs and prosperity that our people deserve so that they can provide for their families."
The president is on a 9-day venture away from Washington's daily political gridlock. He will visit Australia and Indonesia before returning to the White House on Nov. 20.
On Saturday, largely a day of sideline meetings here, Obama prodded the skeptical leaders of Russia and China for support in dialing back Iran's nuclear ambitions, but without winning endorsement from either man. Neither Russian President Dmitry Medvedev nor Chinese President Hu Jintao publicly echoed Obama's push for solidarity over Iran.
Obama did announce the broad outlines of an agreement to create a transpacific trade zone encompassing the United States and eight other nations before going into meetings with Hu and Medvedev where he raised a new report from the U.N. atomic agency. The report asserted in the strongest terms to date that Iran is conducting secret work to develop nuclear arms.
Russia and China remain a roadblock to the United States in its push to tighten international sanctions on Iran. Both are veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council and have shown no sign the new report will change their stand.
Alongside Medvedev, Obama said the two "reaffirmed our intention to work to shape a common response" on Iran.
Shortly after, Obama joined Hu, in a run of back-to-back diplomacy with the heads of two countries that have complicated and at times divisive relations with the United States, occasional partners in joint international endeavors, but also frequent rivals or adversaries on more difficult issues, especially those with strategic implications.
Obama said that he and the Chinese leader want to ensure that Iran abides by "international rules and norms."
Obama's comments were broad enough to portray a united front without yielding any clear indication of progress.
Medvedev, for his part, was largely silent on Iran during his remarks, merely acknowledging that the subject was discussed. Hu did not mention Iran at all.
White House aides insisted later that Russia and China remain unified with the United States and other allies in preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, and that Obama, Hu and Medvedev had agreed to work on the next steps. Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said the new allegations about Iran's programs demand an international response.
"I think the Russians and the Chinese understand that," he said. "We're going to be working with them to formulate that response."
As the president held forth on the world stage, Republicans vying to compete against Obama for the presidency unleashed withering criticism in a debate in South Carolina. It was a rare moment in which foreign policy garnered attention in a campaign dominated by the flagging U.S. economy.
"If we re-elect Barack Obama, Iran will have a nuclear weapon. And if you elect Mitt Romney, Iran will not have a nuclear weapon," said Romney, a former Massachusetts governor.
Iran has insisted its nuclear work is in the peaceful pursuit of energy and research, not weaponry.
More broadly, Obama is seeking while in Hawaii to position the United States as a key player among economies that already account for 44 percent of world trade, a figure the administration believes will grow.
For businesses, Obama said, "this is where the action's going to be."
On the Pacific trade pact, Obama said details must still be worked out, but said the goal was to complete the deal by next year.
The eight countries joining the U.S. in the zone would be Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Obama also spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda about Japan's interest in joining the trade bloc.
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LAS VEGAS ? Her hips don't lie and neither do her massive album sales.
International pop star Shakira was honored as the 2011 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year in Las Vegas Wednesday night during a star-studded tribute dinner that saw the Colombian singer share an intimate moment with her father and close the night in a burst of song dedicated to her hometown of Barranquilla.
A parade of Latin music's biggest stars paid homage to the 34-year-old "Hips Don't Lie" singer during the concert at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip. They performed hits such as "La Tortura" and "Estoy Aqui" in a two-hour salute to a career that has spanned decades and continents.
Shakira gleefully took in the performances, occasionally bouncing in her chair to show her appreciation, or standing up to dance amid a maze of banquet tables. After each song, Shakira climbed on stage and embraced the performers that included Venezuelan singer Franco De Vita, Mexican rocker Alejandra Guzm?n and salsa legend Gilberto Santa Rosa.
But it was a performance from her father, William Mebarak, that marked the emotional crescendo of the night. Mebarak, who sat next to Shakira for most of the show, took to the stage mid-way through the celebration and sang "Mi Nina Bonita" to his daughter. The song, which translates to "My Pretty Girl," is a staple father-daughter tribute often heard at Hispanic weddings and birthday parties.
As Mebarak sang, pictures of the father and daughter flooded a screen hanging along the back of the stage. Shakira, visibly moved, buried her face in a tissue.
"Thank you, daddy, for that song," she told him later in Spanish.
Puerto Rican crooner Marc Anthony presented Shakira with a crystal plaque to mark the honor. He called her a close friend and a humanitarian. Shakira's Pies Descalzos Foundation has raised millions of dollars to fight poverty and educate the poor.
"We are in the presence of one of the most special human beings, one of the most talented human beings you will ever meet," Anthony said.
Shakira, who has sold more than 60 million albums in Spanish and English, is the youngest person to receive the Latin Recording Academy's most prestigious award. Previous honorees include Carlos Santana, Gloria Estefan and Ricky Martin.
"I'll carry this night with me always," she said in Spanish after receiving the award. "It's an honor that I am not sure I deserve, but you've made me very happy."
She ended the night with a performance of "En Barranquilla me Quedo," an opus celebrating her hometown that was originally performed by the late Colombian salsa star Joe Arroyo. During the performance, Shakira lifted up the skirt of her sea foam-colored ball gown, revealing her twisting feet as she salsa danced across the stage. It was the only time the singer famous for her rotating hips busted a move on stage.
The celebration came amid a red-letter week for Shakira, who was honored with her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles Tuesday. She is also up for three awards, including album of the year, at the 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards Thursday night in Las Vegas.
Shakira, who recently ended an international tour for her "Sale el Sol" album, said it has been a "year of passion."
"I've been able to harvest the efforts of the past," she told The Associated Press.
Shakira, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, was only 14 when she released her first album, "Magia." She rose to fame in Latin America and Spain in 1995 with the release "Pies Descalzos" and the 1998 release of her Spanish rock album "Donde Estan los Ladrones?"
She made her name in the English-language world with the hit single "Whenever, Whereever" in 2001, selling more than 13 million copies worldwide of the album "Laundry Service."
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By IAN JAMES and JORGE RUEDA
updated 5:27 p.m. ET Nov. 10, 2011
CARACAS, Venezuela - The government sent top investigators Thursday to hunt for Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos, whose abduction has shaken Venezuela's elite athletes and focused attention on the nation's sharp rise in kidnappings for ransom.
The 24-year-old player, who had returned to Venezuela after his rookie season, was just outside the front door at his home in the town of Santa Ines on Wednesday night when an SUV approached, armed men got out "and they took him away," said Ramos' agent, Gustavo Marcano.
It was the first known kidnapping of a Major League Baseball player in Venezuela, though the relatives of some ballplayers have previously been held captive for ransom.
Venezuelan authorities later said Ramos was still alive.
Police found the kidnappers' vehicle abandoned in the nearby town of Bejuma on Thursday morning, Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami said. He said anti-kidnapping units led by "the best investigators we have" were dispatched to the area in central Carabobo state.
He vowed to rescue Ramos and capture his abductors.
"We're taking on this investigation with everything we've got," El Aissami said.
Major League Baseball and the Nationals said the leagues' Department of Investigations was working with authorities.
"Our foremost concern is with Wilson Ramos and his family and our thoughts are with them at this time," the team and the MLB said in a joint statement, adding there would be no further comment.
Ramos was outside with his father and two brothers when the SUV pulled up with four men inside, three of whom got out and seized the player, Marcano said.
"The abductors haven't made contact with the family or with anyone," said Domingo Alvarez, vice president of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. "We're worried."
Ramos is a key young player for the Nationals. As a rookie in 2011, he hit .267 with 15 home runs and 52 RBIs in 113 games. He also threw out 19 of 67 runners attempting to steal a base, a 28 percent success rate that ranked third among qualifying catchers in the National League.
Washington acquired Ramos from the Minnesota Twins in a trade for All-Star relief pitcher Matt Capps in July 2010.
He is one of dozens of Venezuelans in professional baseball, and security while at home has increasingly become a concern for the players and their families as a rising wave of kidnappings has hit the wealthy as well as the middle class.
Venezuelan police said 618 kidnappings were reported in 2009, and the numbers have grown rapidly in recent years. In 1998, when President Hugo Chavez was elected, just 52 kidnappings were reported. Security experts say the real number of kidnappings today is much higher because many cases aren't reported to authorities.
The wealthy have taken steps to protect themselves. Sales of armored cars have soared in the past several years. Bodyguards typically shadow major leaguers when they return to their homeland to play in the winter league.
"Every major league player has his own security, but we don't know if he had his security there at that time," Alvarez said.
Former Boston Red Sox slugger Tony Armas, who lives in Venezuela, said young players have been taking additional security measures due to the risk of kidnappings.
"But many of them are careless sometimes. No one seriously thinks that this can happen to us, and much less in a country like ours where people love baseball," Armas said in a telephone interview.
"Most of us came from humble families. We still have relatives who live in poor areas; we frequent those places and unfortunately the criminals are getting more soulless all the time," he said.
In November 2009, the 56-year-old mother of Victor Zambrano, who retired after a seven-year Major League career, was rescued in a commando-style operation three days after she was kidnapped. The former pitcher's cousin, Richard Mendez Zambrano, had been kidnapped a few days earlier, and was later killed.
In June 2009, Colorado Rockies catcher Yorvit Torrealba's 11-year-old son and brother-in-law were kidnapped and released a day later.
The mother of former player Ugueth Urbina, who was a two-time All-Star pitcher, spent more than five months in captivity until she was rescued in early 2005.
Venezuela has one of Latin America's highest murder rates, and violent crime has worsened in recent years. As ransom kidnapping has soared, the government passed a revised law in 2009 that stiffened prison sentences for kidnapping and also allows authorities to freeze the banks accounts of victims' families to prevent them from paying ransom.
Ramos had been training and planned to start playing with his Venezuelan team next week. Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Melvin Mora, also a Venezuelan, proposed that the Venezuelan league ought to call off its games "until he appears."
But league president Jose Grasso said that won't happen. "Turning out the stadium lights isn't a solution," Grasso said, calling Ramos' abduction "an isolated event."
AP Sports Writers Howard Fendrich in Washington and Ron Blum in New York contributed to this report.
? 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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More newsGetty ImagesGetty ImagesCSN: Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos, who was abducted from his home last night by four armed gunmen, is alive, the Venezuelan intelligence police confirmed this afternoon.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45238841/ns/sports-baseball/
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GENEVA ? Russia cleared a major hurdle toward opening up its huge oil-driven economy Thursday, with negotiators agreeing to final terms that would allow it to join the World Trade Organization after an 18-year effort.
The deal is expected to quickly inject 4 billion euros a year into the ailing European economy by boosting European Union exports.
The 27-nation bloc is Russia's biggest trading partner. EU nations imported euro158.6 billion worth of goods ? mostly oil and gas ? from Russia last year, while exporting some euro86.1 billion worth of machinery, automobiles and farm products.
Under the deal, Russians would be able to buy European-made cars and trucks, furniture, clothes and all sorts of consumers goods and industrial machinery at far lower prices than before.
For their part, Russia would be able to sell its oil and gas more efficiently ? and its steel industry would no longer be subject to Europe's quotas imposed on some non-WTO members.
Europe already buys almost two-fifths of Russia's exports, including the fossil fuels that power the continent. And the third-biggest customer for EU exports is Russia, after the U.S. and China.
"That means, by definition, all aspects of market access. It's about a 5 percent increase in European exports, just because of WTO accession," Peter Balas, the European Commission's deputy director-general for trade, told The Associated Press. "In these difficult economic times, it's a substantive, positive effort."
Until now, Russia has been the only member of the Group of 20 leading economies still outside the WTO. A panel of WTO negotiators put their stamp of approval Thursday on a package of terms for Russian membership that is expected to be signed by trade ministers at a WTO high-level meeting in mid-December.
Once that is approved, Russia would become a WTO member 30 days after it notifies WTO that it has ratified membership ? presumably early next year.
Maxim Medvedkov, Russia's chief WTO negotiator, said joining the world trade body is important because his nation ? as the world's 7th biggest exporter ? already does 92 percent of its trade with WTO members.
"Our nation has plans for modernization of its economy based on foreign investment," he told reporters. "We do not feel any aggressive 'no' to (joining WTO) in the business community."
He predicted the Russian Duma would approve the deal early next year. Russia, whose high-end consumers enjoy Europe's fashionable clothing and other luxury products, has pledged no tariffs on cotton and information technology products.
As part of the deal, Russia has agreed to gradually lower its average tariff ceiling to 7.8 percent from its current 10 percent.
Tariffs on cars and trucks would drop to 15 percent from 25 percent now, while those on industrial machinery would fall to 10 percent from the current 12 percent.
Tariffs on agriculture products will drop to 10.8 percent from 13.2 percent, and tariffs on manufactured goods will be lowered to 7.3 percent from an average this year of 9.5 percent.
"It is good news for the gloomy economy," said Icelandic diplomat Stefan Johannesson, who headed the WTO panel that oversaw the talks with Russia and approved the terms. "It will make doing business in Russia more attractive for foreign businesses and producers."
Johannesson said the deal would mean lower prices and a greater selection of goods for Russia's 150 million consumers.
Foreign manufacturers had been closely watching what tariffs Moscow would accept, and whether it would cave to outside demands for tighter enforcement of intellectual property rights.
WTO's director general, Pascal Lamy, told reporters the deal creates new opportunities for members of WTO which, after the Russian deal, will cover 98 percent of global trade.
He said Russia is "about to cross the door" of WTO and take a big step by joining the Geneva-based international organization where nations agree to abide by trade rules, and hammer out their disputes in binding agreements.
"In acceding to the WTO, Russia embraces a series of rules and commitments that are the foundation of an open, transparent and nondiscriminatory global trading system," he said.
A day earlier at WTO headquarters in Geneva, Russia signed a deal with Georgia, its neighbor and one-time foe, that removed the last major obstacle to Moscow's membership.
The deal would essentially involve a neutral company monitoring all trade between the two nations, including the breakaway Georgian provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
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FILE - In this June 12, 2011 file photo, actor Norbert Leo Butz is shown at the 65th Annual Tony Awards in New York. Butz will co-star in Second Stage Theatre?s upcoming production of Paula Vogel?s Pulitzer Prize-winning play "How I Learned to Drive," opening Feb. 13 at Second Stage?s Tony Kiser Theatre in New York. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, file)
FILE - In this June 12, 2011 file photo, actor Norbert Leo Butz is shown at the 65th Annual Tony Awards in New York. Butz will co-star in Second Stage Theatre?s upcoming production of Paula Vogel?s Pulitzer Prize-winning play "How I Learned to Drive," opening Feb. 13 at Second Stage?s Tony Kiser Theatre in New York. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, file)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Norbert Leo Butz is getting behind the wheel of Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "How I Learned to Drive."
Butz will star opposite "Twilight" star Elizabeth Reaser in a Second Stage Theatre revival. He won a best actor Tony Award this summer playing a frumpy FBI agent hot on the heels of a con man in "Catch Me If You Can."
The play begins previews on Jan. 24 and officially opens on Feb. 13.
Butz also won a Tony in 2005 for "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels."
Vogel's play about the strained relationship between a young woman and her aunt's husband is returning to New York City for the first time since its world premiere 15 years ago.
___
Online: http://www.2ST.com
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