Update 7am:  Stories Making Headlines Today

CAROLINE KENNEDY
    Kennedy confirms she won’t bid for NY Senate seat

Caroline Kennedy says she is dropping out of
a bid to win appointment to the U.S. Senate seat once held by her
slain uncle, Bobby Kennedy.
    In a statement released early Thursday, she says she told Gov.
David Paterson that she is abandoning her attempt to succeed
Hillary Rodham Clinton for personal reasons.
    Her uncle, Sen. Edward Kennedy, suffered a seizure on
Inauguration Day.
    Spokesmen for Caroline Kennedy and for Paterson, who will make
the appointment to fill the seat, wouldn’t comment.
    The decision capped several hours of mixed signals. Kennedy’s
effort began late last year with popular support that withered
after she drew criticism and questions about her finances.

OBAMA-ECONOMY
    NEW: Obama recovery plan advancing through House panels

President Barack Obama’s plan to award a $500
tax credit to most workers is expected to advance through a key
House panel today.
    Democrats are preparing his $825 billion economic recovery plan
for a floor vote next week.
    Plans to extend and boost unemployment benefits, give states $87
billion to deal with Medicaid shortfalls and help unemployed people
retain health care will also advance.
    Republicans are turning against Obama’s economic stimulus
program, despite promises by both Obama and Capitol Hill
Republicans to work together.
    At the same time, Timothy Geithner, Obama’s nominee to become
treasury secretary, was expected to win approval by the Senate
Finance Committee today, despite acknowledging “careless
mistakes” in failing to pay $34,000 in payroll taxes. His
confirmation by the full Senate is expected soon.

OBAMA-FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
    Obama instructs agencies to be more open to FOIA requests

President Barack Obama is instructing federal
agencies to be more responsive to requests made under the Freedom
of Information Act by erring on the side of making material public.
    In a memo to agency heads, Obama says the government shouldn’t
keep information secret “because public officials might be
embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be
revealed.“ Instead, he says when in doubt, “openness prevails.“
    Obama also says agencies should actively seek ways to publicly
release information, such as on Web sites that post frequently
requested documents.
    It’s a major departure from the days of the Bush administration,
which actively sought to prevent disclosure on grounds of national
security.

OBAMA-BUSH REGULATIONS
    Unions, wolves, others may benefit as rules frozen

President Barack Obama’s first official act
has been to freeze all proposed federal rules changes left
unfinished by George W. Bush’s administration.
    Obama’s order took effect when he was sworn in Tuesday. It gives
his administration a chance to review numerous pending actions
affecting the environment, labor relations and other fields, and to
decide whether to block them.
    Among the rules on hold is one from the Interior Department,
which would remove gray wolves from Endangered Species protections
in much of the northern Rocky Mountains. The Natural Resources
Defense Council calls the move a “stay of execution.“
    Other pending rules would limit overtime pay for some groups of
workers, and let employers not disclose some pension plan expenses.

CLINTON-CONFIRMATION
    Clinton is new secretary of state

Hillary Rodham Clinton is now Secretary of
State.
    After Senate confirmation late this afternoon, Clinton was sworn
in as the nation’s 67th secretary of state in her office in the
Russell Senate Office Building. Attending the private ceremony were
her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and her Senate staff.
    According to her office, Clinton used the Bible that belonged to
her late father. To assume the office, she submitted her
resignation as senator in twin letters to Vice President Joe Biden,
as president of the Senate, and to New York Gov. David Paterson.
    The former first lady plans to be on the job at the State
Department Thursday. It’s expected she’ll address employees in the
main lobby in the morning. That’s become a tradition of sorts for
secretaries of state on their first day on the job.

OBAMA-INTELLIGENCE
    Obama’s intel chief testifying Thursday on Hill
   
President Barack Obama’s choice for national
intelligence director will get his first test in Congress this
morning.
    Retired Adm. Dennis Blair will testify before the Senate
Intelligence Committee. A swift confirmation is expected.
    Blair would oversee a work force of nearly 100,000 that’s seen
its reputation tarnished by allegations of torture, bungled
intelligence on Iraq and secret eavesdropping on American phone and
computer lines.
    Obama is promising to reverse that.
    In the past Blair has won high marks for countering terrorism in
southeast Asia after the 9-11 attacks.
    But he’s also expected to be asked about a Pentagon conflict of
interest investigation from two years ago, as well as his role in
U.S. efforts to rein in Indonesia’s military during a brutal
crackdown on civilians.

JAPAN-SONY
    Sony to further cut costs to ride out slump

Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer says he will
take a pay cut along with other executives and managers while more
jobs will be cut in an effort to reduce costs and return to profit.
    In a hastily called news conference Thursday at Sony Corp.‘s
Tokyo headquarters, Stringer acknowledged past restructuring
measures including job cuts and plant closures aren’t going to be
enough.
    He says Sony faces intense competition from rivals like Samsung
Electronics, Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. not only in gadgets but
also in network services.
    Sony slashed its annual earnings forecast earlier in the day,
projecting its first net loss in 14 years on slumping sales, a
strong yen and restructuring costs.

FIAT-CHRYSLER
    Mixed reviews in Congress for Fiat-Chrysler deal

While it could strengthen the U.S. automaker,
there are mixed reviews in Congress about Fiat’s proposed deal to
take a 35 percent stake in Chrysler.
    In exchange, Chrysler would get access to a lineup of more
fuel-efficient cars. But one lawmaker suggests it could raise
questions among taxpayers.
    Chrysler has been given a federal bailout loan and Republican
Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee says that creates “an interesting
dilemma for U.S. taxpayers.“ He says taxpayers would essentially
finance a partnership between Chrysler and a foreign automaker.
    Despite the concerns, Corker says the agreement could strengthen
Chrysler’s viability plan and be “the best thing that could happen
with Chrysler.“

WORLD MARKETS
    UPDATE: World stocks in cautious rise

International stock markets rose today with
Tokyo’s index up nearly 2 percent.
    Gains on Wall Street a day earlier offset alarming new signs
global economies were slowing faster than expected amid plummeting
demand for their goods.
    European shares were higher in early trading and Wall Street
futures pointing to opening gains in the U.S. today.
    Trade was relatively cautious in Asia amid a maelstrom of bad
news about the region’s biggest economies.
    China’s economic slump deepened in the fourth quarter, with
growth sliding to a seven-year low of 6.8 percent.
    In Japan, exports plunged at a record pace of 35 percent in
December. South Korea’s economy shrank in the fourth quarter,
contracting from the previous year for the first time in a decade.
    The data highlighted the damage being inflicted on Asia as
demand for cars, electronics, clothes and other goods evaporates in
the U.S. and Europe.

CHENEY-WYOMING
    Wyo. greets Cheney’s return with standing ovation

Former Vice President Dick Cheney is back
home in Wyoming.
    Cheney and his wife, Lynne, were greeted by a standing ovation
at the state Capitol yesterday, where he began his political career
as a legislative intern.
    Cheney, who recently strained his back moving boxes, sat in a
wheelchair and carried a cane in his lap. He briefly spoke to
lawmakers, telling them his experience in Cheyenne’s Capitol was
his “first exposure to politics and public policy.“
    The Senate passed a resolution welcoming the Cheneys home and
inviting them to “lay their heavy burdens down, and fish and write
to their hearts’ content.“
    The former vice president has said he is thinking about writing
a book. Lynne Cheney, who has already written several books, has
another in the works on James Madison set to be published in 2011.
    The Cheneys have a home in Jackson and also plan to live part of
the time in a new home in McLean, Va., just outside Washington.

AUSTRIA-CAPTIVE DAUGHTER
    Austria father’s incest-rape trial opens March 16

A court official says the trial of a man
who allegedly held his daughter captive for 24 years and fathered
her seven children will begin March 16.
    Franz Cutka, a court official in the eastern Austrian city of
St. Poelten, said Thursday he is hopeful Josef Fritzl’s trial will
be over within a week.
    Prosecutors charged Fritzl in November with murder for refusing
to arrange medical treatment for the seventh child, who died in
infancy. He also faces charges of rape, incest, false imprisonment
and enslavement.
    Investigators say Fritzl has confessed to imprisoning and raping
his daughter Elisabeth - now in her 40s - in soundproofed,
windowless cellar rooms he built beneath his home starting in 1984,
shortly after she turned 18. The crime became known in April.