Nasdaq, ICE seek support for bid for NYSE

Nasdaq and IntercontinentalExchange reached out directly to the shareholders of the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange in its unsolicited bid to acquire the exchange owner.

On Monday, Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. and IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE) issued a letter to NYSE Euronext shareholders saying that the NYSE board is rushing them to a vote without exploring better alternatives. The two exchanges hope that shareholders will put pressure on NYSE's board to consider Nasdaq and Intercontinental's bid for NYSE Euronext which is worth about $11 billion.

Automatic budget cuts have spotty record

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress and President Barack Obama are proposing ways to automatically trigger budget savings if they can't rein in deficits the old-fashioned way, by enacting laws to cut spending or raise taxes. Similar efforts in the past have a spotty record.

The last quarter-century has seen plenty of missed deficit and spending targets and inventive evasions of budget curbs. This is because the same legislators who put in place those budget constraints can pass laws to ignore them.

That history has convinced analysts that automatic triggers work best when lawmakers already have approved spending cuts, taxes increases or both. They're least effective when used as an incentive to force legislators into such agreements in the first place.

Analysis: Reimagining Obama after gutsy raid

WASHINGTON (AP) -- It was just a firehouse chat with the guys of Engine 54 in lower Manhattan. But President Barack Obama delivered a message he hopes will also hit home with every American in this week of national catharsis: "You're always going to have a president and an administration who's got your back."

In the denouement to the daring raid that brought down Osama bin Laden, the president has in effect been reintroduced to the nation.

While taking care to strike the right tone - trying to savor the success of the dramatic covert operation without appearing to gloat - Obama has offered himself as a decisive leader willing to take bold risks.

Migrants risk lives to reach, escape Libya

BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) -- Many risked their lives to get here. Now they're putting their lives on the line to get out.

Thousands of migrant workers, from an array of African countries, have been caught in the cross hairs of Libya's revolution. Their plight highlights the perils many confront in often-desperate quests for decent-paying work and the hope of a better life.

Bright Ighodero said only God and luck saved him when a rocket from Moammar Gadhafi's forces exploded into a Nigerian family he was chatting with as roughly 1,000 migrant workers waited to be evacuated this week from the besieged rebel port of Misrata in western Libya.

Cisco narrows focus with new business structure

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Cisco will undergo a number of structural changes following several challenging quarters as the networking behemoth attempts to become more efficient in bringing products to market.

Cisco Systems Inc., which last month killed off its Flip Video camcorder business, has tried to narrow its focus as competition intensifies. It said Thursday that it now wants to focus on five priorities: core routing, switching and services; collaboration; data center virtualization; architectures and video.