Obama, Republicans clash as new Congress convenes

US President Barack Obama and his Republican rivals who took control of Congress Tuesday immediately clashed over the controversial Keystone pipeline project, setting the tone for a bruising two years on Capitol Hill. The new Republican leadership sought quick victories, pledging to approve the construction of the pipeline from Canada to refineries on the US Gulf Coast, as they moved to counter Obama's Democratic agenda ahead of the 2016 presidential election. "I would not anticipate t