1. OBAMA PRAISES HILLARY CLINTON IN JOINT 60 MINUTES INTERVIEW
President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sat side by side on CBS' 60 Minutes Sunday night, chuckling together and praising each other in a rare joint interview that they conceded would have seemed "improbable" when they were rivals in the 2008 primaries. Obama, who in one debate notoriously called Clinton "likable enough," now says "Hillary will go down as one of the finest secretaries of state we've ever had." Asked whether his kind words had "an expiration date" — in other words, whether he was endorsing a possible Clinton bid for the White House in 2016 — Obama replied: "You guys in the press are incorrigible. I was literally inaugurated four days ago, and you are talking about elections four years from now." [New York Times, Washington Post]
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2. SENATORS UNVEIL IMMIGRATION OVERHAUL PLAN
A bipartisan group of eight senators, including Florida Republican Marco Rubio, has hammered out an outline for broad immigration legislation. The lawmakers plan to unveil the essentials of their plan, such as creating a "tough but fair path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants" already living in the U.S., at a news conference on Monday. They hope to pass it this spring. On Tuesday, President Obama is giving a speech in Las Vegas to lay out his vision for comprehensive immigration reform. [Roll Call]
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3. BRAZIL MOURNS NIGHTCLUB FIRE VICTIMS
Brazil declared three days of national mourning for 231 people killed in a nightclub fire that reportedly started when a band member lit a flare on stage. In the southern city of Santa Maria, where the tragedy occurred, officials declared a month of mourning. The first funerals are expected Monday. Brazil postponed a ceremony that had been scheduled for Monday in the capital, Brasilia, to mark the 500-day countdown to its hosting of the 2014 World Cup. "It's a tragedy for all of us," said President Dilma Rousseff, who cut short a visit to Chile to visit survivors. [BBC]
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4. FRENCH AND MALIAN FORCES GAIN GROUND ON ISLAMIST REBELS
French-backed Malian troops have seized the airport in Timbuktu and entered the ancient Saharan city. Islamist rebels who had been holding the city were reportedly fleeing on Monday. The gains in Timbuktu, Mali's historic cultural center, came after Malian and French soldiers scored a key victory last week when they took back Gao. That city, east of Timbuktu, had for months been a stronghold for the militants who took over northern Mali last year in the confusion that followed a military coup. [CNN]
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5. MORSI DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY AFTER PROTESTS
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has declared a month-long state of emergency in three cities along the Suez Canal — Port Said, Suez, and Ismalia — after an outburst of street protests left some 50 people dead over the weekend. Morsi also called for a "national dialogue" meeting on Monday. The crisis began after a court sentenced 21 people to death for their roles in a deadly soccer riot in Port Said last year. [Reuters]
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6. BOEING DREAMLINER BATTERY 'NOT FAULTY'
Airline safety inspectors in Japan say they "have found no major quality or technical problem" with lithium-ion batteries used on Boeing's 787 Dreamliner. The battery was considered a possible source of problems, including a fire, on Dreamliners owned by two Japanese airlines. About 50 of the new jets have been delivered and put into use by airlines around the world, but all have been grounded while inspectors make sure the batteries and electrical systems are safe. [BBC]
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7. TOYOTA BACK ON TOP
Toyota is once again the world's largest automaker. The Japanese company announced Monday that it sold a record 9.75 million vehicles in 2012, beating out General Motors, which sold 9.29 million. GM held the crown for decades before losing it to Toyota in 2008, then reclaiming it in 2011 when its Japanese rival was hampered by supply disruptions caused by the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit northeastern Japan. Strong sales of new models in the U.S. helped Toyota bounce back. [USA Today, Financial Times]
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8. IRAN CRACKS DOWN ON JOURNALISTS AHEAD OF VOTE
Iranian authorities arrested more than a dozen journalists over the weekend in a possible crackdown on reformist media five months ahead of presidential elections. The Mehr news agency reported late Sunday that the reporters were being accused of cooperating with "anti-revolutionary" news outlets. Analysts believe Tehran's ruling Muslim clerics are trying to tighten control of the media to prevent a repeat of protests that broke out after a disputed 2009 election. [Reuters]
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9. PULITZER-PRIZE-WINNING HISTORIAN DIES
Stanley Karnow, who wrote one of the seminal histories of the Vietnam War, died Sunday at age 87. Karnow's Emmy-winning 13-part PBS series Vietnam: A Television History was among the most widely viewed public-television documentaries ever when it first aired in 1983. His companion book, Vietnam: A History, sold millions of copies. Karnow won the Pulitzer Prize for his history of U.S. relations with the Philippines. "It is hard to think of anyone in journalism who has done more, over a longer period, to help Americans understand East Asia," said Donald Emmerson, a senior fellow at Stanford's Institute for International Studies. [Washington Post]
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10. ARGO PILES UP MORE AWARDS
Ben Affleck's Argo is gaining momentum ahead of next month's Oscars. The film — about a CIA plot to rescue American hostages in Iran in 1980 — won the Screen Actors Guild Award for ensemble in a motion picture on Sunday night. A day earlier, Argo won the Producers Guild Award, a leading indicator for the Academy Awards. Two weeks ago, Argo took the Golden Globe for best dramatic motion picture. The film heads into the Oscars with seven nominations, including best picture, although Affleck wasn't nominated for best director, a prize he won at the Golden Globes. [Los Angeles Times]
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