In the news

John Kerry told State Department employees on his first day at the agency that he has “big heels to fill,” as secretary of state, adding that the “big question after the last eight years,” after tenures by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Condoleezza Rice, is “can a man actually run the State Department.”

President Barack Obama signed legislation that suspends until May the $16.4 trillion limit on federal borrowing, averting a default by allowing the government to continue to borrow money to pay its obligations.

Syed Aqil Shah, sports and tourism minister in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said the government plans to build a recreation complex in the town where al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. commandos in 2011, adding that the project in Abbottabad will have a zoo, paragliding club and water sports facilities, as well as a cultural heritage park.

Tagg Romney, 42, the oldest son of Mitt and Ann Romney, said “the timing is not right for me,” as he ruled out a run for Secretary of State John Kerry’s now-vacant Senate seat in Massachusetts.

Victoria Nu land, spokesman of the U.S. State Department, questioned Iran’s contention that it sent and safely returned a monkey from space, saying: “The Iranians said they sent a monkey, but the monkey that they showed later seemed to have different facial features. He was missing a little wart.”

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who has criticized former Sen. Chuck Hagel’s nomination as defense secretary, said he does “not believe a filibuster is appropriate and I would oppose such a move,” but did not say whether he would vote for the Nebraska Republican’s confirmation.

Sgt. Jerry Parker of the Pittsburgh Police Department, said a 6-year-old girl didn’t hurt anyone when she crashed her mother’s car while trying to drive across town to visit her father, adding that while the child is tall for her age, “your guess is as good as mine” as to “how she knew how to operate a car.”

Chris Huhne, 58, Britain’s former energy minister and once one of the country’s leading politicians, resigned from Parliament after pleading guilty in London to obstruction of justice for persuading his then wife to take the blame for a 2003 speeding offense, a violation that could have seen him banned from driving.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 02/05/2013

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