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NEWS SATURDAY,
MARCH 13, 2010 NEWS
EARLY EDITION
Stupak
Claims Committee Chairman Wants Government To Fund Abortions
The pro-life Democrat leading the charge in the House against passage
of the Senate health insurance reform bill said Friday that a key committee
chairman told him that Democrats want abortions to be paid by a federally-funded
nationalized health insurance system. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., who's
been so far out in front of the debate about abortion coverage that he
earned himself a primary challenger over it, said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.,
told him he wants to change current law that bans federal funding for abortion.
Fox
News
FAA
Urges $787,500 In Fines For American Airlines
The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday proposed $787,500 in
fines against American Airlines for maintenance violations. The airline
said it would review the proposed penalties and meet with the FAA to discuss
them. "American Airlines is very proud of our safety record and our employees'
commitment to safety every day," the company said in a statement issued
Friday. "Safety is fundamental to the American Airlines culture and to
our success." CNN
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States
Tap Stimulus As More U.S. Families Seek Aid
Many states have used funds from the $863 billion U.S. economic stimulus
plan to help give a rising number of poor families emergency cash assistance,
the Government Accountability Office said on Thursday. From June 2008 to
June 2009, the number of families receiving Temporary Assistance to Needy
Families rose in 12 of the 21 states the GAO reviewed and dropped in six
states. But, it said, the magnitude of those taking the direct cash grants
varied widely, with Nevada experiencing a 22 percent increase in need and
Texas seeing a 9 percent drop. The economic stimulus plan passed last year
included the largest transfer of funds from the U.S. government to states
in U.S. history and the GAO found states used some of the money to help
citizens living in the deepest poverty. Reuters
Young
Veterans Returning Home To Few Jobs
The unemployment rate last year for young Iraq and Afghanistan veterans
hit 21.1 percent, the Labor Department said Friday, reflecting a tough
obstacle combat veterans face as they make the transition home from war.
The number was well above the 16.6 percent jobless rate for non-veterans
of the same ages, 18 to 24. As of last year, 1.9 million veterans had deployed
for the wars since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Some have struggled
with mental health problems, addictions, and homelessness as they return
home. Difficulty finding work can make the adjustment that much harder.
MSNBC
Obama Urged To
Establish An Office Of Maternal Health
The government must do something beyond the pending health care bill
to reduce the “appalling” U.S. death rate for women having babies, Amnesty
International says. It is asking President Obama to establish an Office
of Maternal Health to rectify “systemic failures and shocking disparities
in maternal health care.” The left-leaning human rights group says the
health care bill pending in Congress does not address the “crisis” of maternal
health care, because even if it passes, it will still leave millions of
people with out access to affordable care. CNS
News
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House
Will Attach Student Loan Reform To Health Care Bill
House Democrats plan to attach reform of the federal student loan system
to the health care overhaul legislation, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
said today. Folding student loan legislation into the reconciliation bill
for health care reform “fixes” could allow the Obama administration to
pass two of their top domestic priorities with a simple Senate majority
vote. ABC
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Schwarzenegger
Orders Review Of Sex Offender Case
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants a review of the way the state handled
a molestation case involving a man who is now charged with murdering one
California teenager and under investigation for another killing. The order
came Friday, a day after The Associated Press disclosed John Albert Gardner
III could have been sent back to prison in 2007 for parole violations and
evaluated for possible commitment to a state mental hospital as a sexually
violent predator. Schwarzenegger also told the state Sex Offender Management
Board to seek policy changes to better protect the public from sexual predators.
Las
Vegas Sun
Calif.
Lawsuit Claims Toyota Hid Defect Evidence
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said his office along
with private attorneys sued the U.S. sales arm of Toyota, charging that
the world's top-selling automaker has endangered the public with defective
vehicles, and engaged in deceptive business practices. "Against this backdrop
of fraud and concealment, Toyota has for decades touted its reputation
for safety and reliability and knew that people bought its vehicles because
of that reputation and yet purposefully chose to conceal and suppress the
existence and nature of defects," said the 18-page lawsuit filed on Friday
morning. Reuters
Paying
For Seats Loathsome
Paying for extras has become routine for airline passengers but it
doesn't mean they like it, with a poll showing more than half all travelers
hate having to fork out to choose their seat. The online poll of nearly
2,000 people by Web site Airfarwatchdog.com, asked respondents which airline
fees they despised the most. Paying for the privilege of picking their
seat was the biggest bugbear for 52 percent of respondents, followed by
paying to change flights — something which irked a third of passengers.
MSNBC
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Oral
Contraceptives May Decrease Death Risk
Taking "the pill" won't increase a woman's risk of death -- in fact,
oral contraceptive users may live longer, researchers say. How birth control
pills may affect our ability to find a proper mate. In a population-based
study of women in the U.K., death from any cause was 12 percent lower among
birth control pill users than among those who never took the drugs, Dr.
Philip Hannaford of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland and colleagues
reported online in BMJ. ABC
Recalls
This Week: Machetes, Nail Guns, Heat Packs
The need for caution should be obvious to anyone using products like
machetes and nail guns. But what about microwaveable heat packs? All three
products are included in this week's list of recalls. The machetes can
get stuck in wood while in use, creating the risk that the user's hand
slips forward across the blade. There have been five reports of people
needing stitches after cutting themselves. The nail guns could have a faulty
feeder mechanism allowing nails to be ejected sideways. Fifteen injuries
have been reported. The heat packs can overheat in a microwave, creating
a risk of fires or burns. No injuries have been reported. Las
Vegas Sun
AIG
Was Unprepared For Crisis
American International Group Inc. was unprepared for the financial
crisis that forced the insurer to accept a $182.3 billion bailout from
the U.S. government, the company’s former general counsel said. AIG didn’t
have the “infrastructure to call upon to respond,” Anastasia Kelly said
today at a corporate law conference at Georgetown University Law Center
in Washington. Because the company was so diverse and global, “there was
no one in charge,” she said. Mark Herr, a spokesman for New York- based
AIG, declined to comment. Bloomberg
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Pelosi:
We'll Take "As Long As It Takes" To Pass Health Care Bill
House speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Friday that "we'll take whatever
time is required for us to pass" health care legislation. "We stand ready
to stay as long as it takes to pass a bill," she said. Pelosi sent somewhat
mixed messages, however, stating that "I'm delighted that the president
will be here for the passage of the bill, it's going to be historic." The
White House announced Friday morning that President Obama will delay his
trip to Asia, which had been scheduled for March 18th, to March 21st. The
White House had been pressing for health care legislation by the 18th,
and the delay was an acknowledgment that deadline would not be met. CBS
Geithner
Says U.S. To Recover Faster, Stronger Than Others
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, offering his most optimistic
outlook on the economic recovery to date, predicted the U.S. will rebound
from the recession faster and more vigorously than other advanced economies.
“We’re going to come out of this stronger than the other major economies
and we’re going to come out more quickly,” Geithner said in remarks today
at the Export-Import Bank in Washington. Global growth is expected to be
4 percent this year and next, and “those forecasts seem to be going up,”
he said. Bloomberg
North
Korea Must Resume Talking
North Korea needs to rejoin talks on ending its nuclear programs if
it wants concessions from the international community, diplomats say. Nuclear
negotiators from Japan and South Korea urged North Korea to return to the
six-nation talks, last held in December 2008, the Yonhap News Agency reported
Friday. North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan, the United States and Russia
have been involved in the negotiations. UPI
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Catholic
School Rejects Children Of Lesbian Parents
"What would Jesus do?" That's what many people in Boulder, Colo., are
asking after a Catholic elementary school in the city expelled two children
because their parents are lesbians. The conflict in the Roman Catholic
Church over homosexuality has come to loggerheads in the community, with
the church standing by its belief that marriage is a pact between a man
and a woman while opponents accuse it of failing to live up to Jesus’ mission
of love and acceptance. Fox
News
Left
Pushes Back On Wall Street Reforms
In the U.S. Senate, the progressives are restless. A handful of them
are making it known that Democratic leaders shouldn't take their votes
for granted when it comes to Wall Street reform. "I won't vote for a bill
if the banks have control of it," Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, told CNN.
Brown sits on the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and is
among a group who are worried Democrats have given away too much to woo
Republican support for the bill. "Republicans are doing the bidding of
their benefactors, the banks," he said. CNN
Clinton State
Department Working With 'Advocacy Groups' To Prepare 'Human Rights' Report
On U.S. To Give To U.N.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday that the State
Department is soliciting comments from citizens, advocacy groups and other
non-governmental organizations on the human rights record of the United
States. “Human rights are universal, but their experience is local. This
is why we are committed to holding everyone to the same standard, including
ourselves,” Clinton told a press briefing at the State Department, where
she
unveiled the “2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.” CNS
News
Vaccine
Doesn't Cause Autism
The vaccine additive thimerosal is not to blame for autism, a special
federal court ruled Friday in a long-running battle by parents convinced
there is a connection. While expressing sympathy for the parents involved
in the emotionally charged cases, the court concluded they had failed to
show a connection between the mercury-containing preservative and autism.
"Such families must cope every day with tremendous challenges in caring
for their autistic children, and all are deserving of sympathy and admiration,"
special master George Hastings Jr., wrote. CBS
U.S.
Urged To Talk To Taliban Leader
The United States should talk face to face with the leader of the Taliban
in Afghanistan if it wants to bring about peace, a former Pakistani general
says. Retired Gen. Hamid Gul helped the CIA train the Afghan Jihad in their
battles with the Soviet Union in the 1980s. Many of them went on to become
the Taliban, governing Afghanistan under the leadership of Mullah Omar,
CNN reported Friday. UPI
Clinton
Calls PM, Slams J'lem Plan
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday delivered a
stinging rebuke to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu over the government's
announcement this week of new Jewish housing in east Jerusalem, calling
it "a deeply negative signal." The US State Department said Clinton spoke
to Netanyahu by phone for 43 minutes to vent US frustration with Tuesday's
announcement that cast a pall over a visit to Israel by US Vice President
Joe Biden and endangered the indirect peace talks with the Palestinians
that the Obama administration had announced just a day earlier. Jerusalem
Post
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IAF
Bombs Gaza Tunnel, Arms Factory
Following a Kassam rocket attack on southern Israel, the IAF bombed
targets in the Gaza Strip overnight Thursday, hitting an arms smuggling
tunnel in Rafah and a weapons factory in Khan Yunis. The military said
the attack was conducted by the air force in cooperation with the Shin
Bet (Israel Security Agency), and that the aircraft returned to their bases
unharmed. Palestinian sources reported several casualties, although their
conditions were unclear. The sources claimed a medicine factory was damaged
in the attack. Jerusalem
Post
Chile Puts
Quake Damage At $30BN
Speaking on his first full day in office, he said loans and budgetary
savings would be used to rebuild infrastructure, homes and industry. Other
nations would be asked to help, Mr Pinera told reporters in Santiago. The
8.8 magnitude quake on 27 February killed nearly 500 people, with hundreds
others missing and 1.5m homes damaged. A 6.9-magnitude aftershock rattled
the country as Mr Pinera's inauguration was being held. BBC
Sarkozy
And Brown Attack US Over 'Protectionism'
The two leaders staged a show of unity at a joint press conference,
hailing co-operation between the UK and France. A European-led consortium
pulled out of bidding for an Air Force refuelling tanker contract saying
the Pentagon was favouring rival American bidder Boeing. A top Pentagon
official dismissed any suggestion of protectionism. BBC
London
Link To $50BN Lehman Cover-Up
Britain's financial centre faced fresh embarrassment yesterday after
it emerged that London played a crucial role in Lehman Brothers concealing
debts of up to $50.4bn (£33.2bn) in the run-up to its collapse. The
failed investment bank approached a London law firm over plans to use a
controversial accounting trick – known internally as "Repo 105" – to temporarily
conceal the liabilities. Independent
Greece
Debt: EU Agrees Bailout Deal
The eurozone has agreed a multibillion-euro bailout for Greece as part
of a package to shore up the single currency after weeks of crisis, the
Guardian has learnt. Senior sources in Brussels said that Berlin had bowed
to the bailout agreement despite huge resistance in Germany and that the
finance ministers of the "eurozone" – the 16 member states including Greece
who use the euro – are to finalise the rescue package on Monday. The single
currency's rulebook will also be rewritten to enforce greater fiscal discipline
among members. Guardian
Putin
In Deal To Build Nuclear Reactors For India
India and Russia today signed a nuclear co-operation agreement, which
paves the way for the building of about a dozen nuclear reactors in India,
with Russian help, over the next few decades. The agreement came at the
end of talks between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Indian
counterpart, Manmohan Singh, in New Delhi. "We are building a strategic
partnership with India in the nuclear sector," Putin told business leaders
in a video conference earlier. Guardian
BA
Strikes To Hit Half A Million Getaways
A series of planned stoppages by 13,500 members of Unite will start
on March 20 and could extend into April unless a deal is reached. Although
timed to avoid the Easter weekend, the walkouts will cover the Easter school
holidays in some areas, potentially wrecking the getaways of thousands
of families. There had been fleeting hopes that a settlement could be reached
when Unite, Britain's biggest trade union, said that it would ballot members
on an offer tabled by BA earlier this week. Telegraph
Nazi
Victims' Mass Graves Found In Austria Under Football Pitch
Some of the remains may be the bodies of US pilots shot down and imprisoned
during the war. Police Col. Rudolf Gollia, an interior ministry spokesman,
said his ministry plans talks with the owners of the site to discuss exhumation.
The mass graves are located in bomb craters underneath the army sports
field in the southern city of Graz. Officials said they contain about 70
bodies of victims killed by the SS to eliminate witnesses to Nazi atrocities
shortly before Soviet troops arrived. Telegraph
Research
Reveals Early Signs Of Autism In Some Kids
Some infants headed for a diagnosis of autism, or autism spectrum disorder
as it’s officially known, can be reliably identified at 14 months old based
on the presence of five key behavior problems, according to an ongoing
long-term study described March 11 at the International Conference on Infant
Studies. These social, communication and motor difficulties broadly align
with psychiatric criteria for diagnosing autism spectrum disorder in children
at around age 3, said psychologist Rebecca Landa of the Kennedy Krieger
Institute in Baltimore. In her investigation, the presence of all five
behaviors at 14 months predicted an eventual diagnosis of autism spectrum
disorder in 15 of 16 children. Wired
China
Warns Google Over Search Censorship
China warned Google against flouting the country’s laws on Friday,
as expectations grow for a resolution to a public battle over censorship
and cybersecurity. The chief executive of Google, Eric Schmidt, said this
week he hoped to announce soon a result to talks with Chinese authorities
on offering an uncensored search engine in China. Wired
Ban
Hails US Secretary Of State Clinton For Her Work Towards Female Empowerment
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon paid tribute today to the long-running
efforts of United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to advocate
for the rights of women, saying her leadership on the issue should serve
as an inspiration to others. Mrs. Clinton’s “leadership and commitment
for gender empowerment” deserves credit, Mr. Ban said as the two officials
met today for talks at United Nations Headquarters in New York on a series
of issues, including the Middle East peace process and the relief and recovery
efforts in post-quake Haiti. UN
News
UN-Backed
Middle East Quartet Condemns Israeli Plans To Expand Settlements
The United Nations-supported diplomatic group seeking to promote peace
in the Middle East today condemned Israeli moves to expand settlements
in the occupied Palestinian territory of East Jerusalem. Earlier this week,
Israel’s Interior Ministry announced that it has approved plans to build
1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem. The Quartet, comprising of the UN, the
European Union (EU), the US and Russia, “condemns Israel’s decision to
advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem,” the group said
in a statement, agreeing to closely monitor developments in the region.
UN
News
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