John Mccain

Well-known Harvard professor Niall Ferguson apologized Saturday for what he called “stupid and tactless remarks” suggesting sexual orientation influenced the polices of famed economist John Maynard Keynes. On Thursday, Ferguson suggested that the British economist lacked foresight about future generations because he was childless, and that he was childless because he was gay. Ferguson made the comments during a conference in Carlsbad, Calif., during a discussion on Keynes' famous line, “The long run is a misleading guide to current affairs.

The hawks are squawking. Congressional conservatives and the right-wing media are blasting President Obama for going soft on the Syrians. The president insists that there is a "game-changing" red line the Syrian government will have crossed if it is found to have used chemical weapons against its people, but he has bent the red line so far, the hawks say, that not only the Syrians, but the Iranians and North Koreans will conclude Obama is a...

Arnold Schwarzenegger uses his own improbable rise from bodybuilder to action hero to California governor as an argument for immigration reform. As a teenager in his native Austria, Schwarzenegger saw the United States as the only place he could achieve his outsized dreams. The 11 million immigrants now in the country illegally are not so different from his younger self, he told an audience Tuesday at the USC think tank that bears his name. "These are all very hardworking people.

Los Angeles firefighters responded Tuesday to a small fire in a USC office that was quickly extinguished, officials said. Firefighters were called to a fourth-floor office in Vivian Hall about 9:40 a.m., Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said. A sprinkler system held the fire in check, and crews were able to fully douse the flames in less than 10 minutes. USC staff had evacuated the building before the firefighters arrived, Humphrey said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or estimate of damage.

Comprehensive immigration reform will pass the House of Representatives if reluctant Republicans are convinced that it is a matter of political survival, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said at USC on Tuesday. In conversations with other lawmakers, McCain said, he appeals to their “better angels” in arguing that legal status be granted to the 11 million immigrants who are in the country without proper documentation. But he also appeals to his colleagues' “baser instincts” -- that is, the need to attract the Latino voters who abandoned the GOP in the last presidential election.

Customized TV Listings are available here: www.latimes.com/tvtimes Click here to download TV listings for the week of April 28 - May 4, 2013 in PDF format This week's TV Movies     SERIES Fix This Yard The season premiere of this landscaping series features pink house with a weed-filled front yard and a giant tree. 9:30 a.m. A&E Smash Ivy (Megan Hilty), Eileen (Anjelica Huston), and the "Bombshell" team go overboard to outshine the competition.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. lawmakers quickly called for action after the White House informed members of Congress on Thursday that American intelligence agencies now believe the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against rebels trying to topple President Bashar Assad. But many were not specific about what that action might be taken. President Obama has warned that Syria's use of chemical weapons would be a "red line," raising the possibility of military intervention to secure the country's large stockpile.

WASHINGTON -- Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa may be nearing the end of his term, but that isn't keeping him from traveling to the nation's capital to push two of his pet causes - an overhaul of immigration laws that would provide a path to legal status and citizenship for immigrants who are in the country illegally and increased federal funding for transportation projects. Villaraigosa, whose term ends June 30, said again that he would like to be California governor one day. "But the last time I looked, there is somebody in the job," he said during his visit Thursday.

WASHINGTON -- Two top senators predicted Thursday that gun legislation will come up again for a Senate vote - possibly before the end of the year - as public attitudes shift toward stricter controls. Their assessment comes after the defeat last week of a widely popular bipartisan background check measure that was drafted in response to the elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., after a gunman opened fire, killing 26 people, mostly children. “I think we're going to bring this bill back before the end of the year and I think you may find some changes,” said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.)

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen suspected of planting bombs at the Boston Marathon, was charged Monday with using a "weapon of mass destruction" against people and property, and he faces an aggressive prosecution and the possibility of the death penalty. But that's not good enough for Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.). Because Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan, "were not common criminals … but terrorists trying to injure, maim and kill innocent Americans," the two senators would rather see Tsarnaev plucked from the judicial system, classified as an enemy combatant, deprived of a lawyer and placed in military detention.