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Obama to resign Illinois Senate seat

CHICAGO, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- President-elect Barack Obama said Thursday he will resign his U.S. Senate seat, effective Sunday.

"It has been one of the highest honors and privileges of my life to have served the people of Illinois in the United States Senate," Obama said in a statement.

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, is responsible for naming a successor to Obama, the only African-American in the Senate, The Chicago Tribune reported.

Blagojevich said he expects to make a decision by year's end and is "not interested" in naming himself to the post.

Aides to Obama said he would not return to Washington to vote on Senate matters this fall, in advance of his being sworn in as the nation's 44th president Jan. 20. .

"In a state that represents the crossroads of a nation, I have met so many men and women who've taken different journeys, but hold common hopes for their children's future," Obama said. "It is these Illinois families and their stories that will stay with me as I leave the United States Senate and begin the hard task of fulfilling the simple hopes and common dreams of all Americans as our nation's next president."

Those who expressed interest or are being considered to succeed Obama include U.S. Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Jesse Jackson Jr.; Illinois Veterans' Affairs head Tammy Duckworth; state Attorney General Lisa Madigan; state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias; and state Senate President Emil Jones Jr.

Sen. Dodd chastises bailout beneficiaries

WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., ripped the beneficiaries of the $700 billion U.S. economic bailout, warning against cavalier action in the midst of the crisis.

"If you believe that you would be no worse off than you are today, then I invite you to return to the Treasury the billions of dollars in taxpayer investments, guarantees and discounts that you currently receive," Dodd said at the opening of a Senate Banking Committee hearing Thursday on the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, "and I wish you well as you try to make it on your own."

Dodd, the committee chairman, said the root of the financial instability was the housing foreclosure crisis "and the root of the foreclosure crisis, of course, was bad lending practices, which many of the well known lending institutions engaged," he said.

He said he appreciated the efforts lenders have begun to address toxic mortgage loans, adding that more must be done. Dodd said recipients of public money should use the funds for loans.

"(Hoarding) capital and acquiring healthy banks are not, I repeat not, reasons why Congress authorized $700 billion in emergency funding," he said. "The core purpose of this law and the purpose of virtually every other action taken during this crisis is to get lenders back into the business of lending."

At a time when Americans are cutting back while shouldering the Wall Street bailout, "it would be regrettable if some carried on as if they do not owe a duty of restraint and modesty" to U.S. taxpayers.

Palin says Obama capable of greatness

MIAMI, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- If Barack Obama governs "with the greatness of which he is capable," the United States will be fine, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said Thursday.

"I wish Barack Obama well as the 44th president of the United States," Palin said during an address before the Republican Governors Association conference in Miami. "And if he governs with the skill and the grace and the greatness of which he is capable, we're going to be just fine."

The election of the first African-American as president is "a shining moment" in American history, the Republican vice presidential nominee said. "Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for our country."

Once he is installed Jan. 20, Palin said governors must reach out to Obama "so that he'll understand our perspective as experienced chief executives," responsible for billions of dollars, thousands of employees and "policies and projects that do affect the lives of our constituents every single day."

Protests follow ban on same-sex marriage

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Gay rights activists say a number of protests are occurring in California in opposition of a new ban on same-sex marriage statewide.

Evan Wolfson, Freedom to Marry executive director, said many gay rights supporters are frustrated regarding the ban that was passed as Proposition 8 on Election Day and have begun speaking out about its possible discriminatory effects, the Los Angeles Times said Thursday.

"The protests are an important vehicle for expressing a community's feelings and I applaud that," AIDS Healthcare Foundation President Michael Weinstein said.

"Too many of us … gay and not gay, didn't get engaged enough in the conversations … about the real harm that discrimination inflicts."

Other same-sex marriage supporters have filed lawsuits in an attempt to have Proposition 8 overturned by the state's court system, the Times said.

Meanwhile, University of California, Berkeley political science Professor Bruce Cain warns that those taking part in the ongoing protests must be careful not to alienate the members of the public whose support they are attempting to earn.

U.S. asked to cease arms flow into Mexico

TIJUANA, Mexico, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- U.S. officials should increase their efforts to prevent weapons from being exported into Mexico, Baja California Gov. Jose Guadalupe Osuna Millan says.

The governor told hundreds of political and business officials from across the Mexican state that the United States should take more of an aggressive approach to preventing southbound arms trafficking across the border, the San Diego Union-Tribune said Thursday.

"The United States also has a responsibility here to put things into balance," Osuna said as part of Wednesday's gathering to discuss regional violence. "Who's causing greater harm to whom? Is it the migrants who with great pains come to work in that country, or is it the tens of thousands of weapons that cross the border, from north to south?"

The gathering of regional leaders, including the five mayors in Baja California, included the signing of the "Accord for Security, Justice, and Social Harmony in Baja California," which the Union-Tribune said was oriented toward uniting the state to ensure public safety.

Al-Qaida resumes attacks in Algeria

ALGIERS, Algeria, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Al-Qaida militants have resumed lethal attacks in Algeria after a two-month lull, security sources say.

The al-Qaida Organization in the Islamic Maghreb has renewed strikes in the Boumerdes province, the Med Basin Newsline said, setting up roadblocks and targeting people connected to the military and police.

Stepped-up weapons smuggling from neighboring Niger also was reported.

At least three people were reported killed in AQIM attacks in Boumerdes this month. The victims included the mayor of a provincial village in the Berber region.

Another victim was a driver who delivered bread to the Algerian army in Boumerdes.

The army has resumed helicopter strikes on suspected insurgency mountain strongholds. At least three militants have been killed in the military operation.