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NEWS THURSDAY,
MAY 17, 2012 NEWS
White
House Under Fire For Adding Obama Policy Plugs To Past Presidents' Bios
The Obama White House is drawing ridicule for appending the official
online biographies of nearly every president over the last century in order
to link President Obama's accomplishments to the former commanders in chief.
The Obama team went into the pages of U.S. presidents dating back to Calvin
Coolidge to add friendly looking "Did you know?" fact boxes to the end
of their bios. Those additions were used to plug a host of Obama administration
initiatives, ranging from the health care overhaul to the so-called "Buffett
Rule" to his green-energy policies. For instance, the following line was
added to the official bio of the late President Ronald Reagan: "In a June
28, 1985, speech, Reagan called for a fairer tax code, one where a multimillionaire
did not have a lower tax rate than his secretary. Today, President Obama
is calling for the same with the Buffett Rule." Fox
News
VOA VIEW: Obama is a shameless lowlife.
Hillary:
‘Government Cannot And Should Not Control Any Individual's Life’
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, told an assemblage of human rights
and “civil society” activists gathered at the State Department Wednesday
that “government cannot and should not” control the lives of individuals.
“(T)o make the case for civil society is really quite simple because government
cannot and should not control any individual’s life – tell you what to
do, what not to do,” Clinton said, taking part in a “Global Dialogue of
Civil Society.” Clinton said that any “sustainable society” must have three
“legs” to stand on: an accountable government, a free-market economy, and
civil society. CNS
News
Overwhelming
Rejection Of Obama Budget A ‘Gimmick,’ White House Says
As President Barack Obama’s budget was poised to fail overwhelmingly
in the Senate for the second year, the White House dismissed the vote entirely
as a gimmick. Already, Obama’s $3.6 trillion tax and spending plan for
fiscal year 2013 was defeated in the House by a vote of 414-0 on March
28. Last year, the Senate defeated Obama’s fiscal year 2012 plan by a vote
of 97-0. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has refused to allow
a budget vote in the Senate, while the House approved a GOP budget, spearheaded
by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) that passed the House mostly along party lines.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney seemed prepared for another bipartisan
vote against the president’s vote, even as he repeatedly praised Obama’s
plan as a “balanced approach.” CNS
News
VOA VIEW: Obama's budget is the real gimmick.
Federal
Reserve Concerned About Fiscal Cliff
The Federal Reserve is worried about indecision in Congress. At its
last meeting in April, the central bank's top officials discussed how coming
tax increases and spending cuts could weigh on the recovery, and debated
whether the Fed should provide additional stimulus to spur consumer spending.
"Participants expected that the government sector would be a drag on economic
growth over coming quarters. They generally saw the U.S. fiscal situation
also as a risk to the economic outlook; if agreement is not reached on
a plan for the federal budget, a sharp fiscal tightening could occur at
the start of 2013," the minutes from the meeting said. CNN
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Judge
Grants Class Action Status To NY Frisk Challenge
A judge on Wednesday granted class-action status to a lawsuit challenging
the New York Police Department's controversial crime-fighting tactic known
as "stop and frisk." District Judge Shira Scheindlin in Manhattan said
that the lawsuit, filed in 2008 by four black men claiming they were improperly
targeted by police because of their race, had established their cases were
emblematic of a city-wide problem. The NYPD has strongly defended the tactic,
arguing it has been critical in taking guns off the streets and achieving
an historic drop in crime rates. The police deny that race or quotas motivate
stops and say they are stopping people considered suspicious. Reuters
6
Cups A Day? Coffee Lovers Lower Death Risk
Coffee drinkers who worry about the jolt of java it takes to get them
going in the morning might just as well relax and pour another cup. That’s
according to the largest-ever analysis of the link between coffee consumption
and mortality, which suggests that latte lovers had a lower risk of death
during the study period. “I would say it offers some reassurance to coffee
drinkers,” said Neal Freedman, a nutritional epidemiology researcher at
the National Cancer Institute. “Other studies have suggested a higher risk
of mortality with coffee drinking and we didn’t see that in our study.”
In fact, men who drank at least six cups of coffee a day had a 10 percent
lower chance of dying during the 14-year study period than those who drank
none. For women, the risk was 15 percent lower, according to Freedman’s
work, published in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
MSNBC
Higher
Taxes On Wealthy Unite Democrats
Even with signs of an economic recovery feeding optimism about President
Obama’s reelection chances, congressional Democrats continue to run highly
individual reelection campaigns independent of the president’s record and
agenda. Except on the issue of higher taxes for the wealthy, where they
appear solidly unified across the political spectrum. After many months
of fighting over tax and debt negotiations with Republicans in 2011, President
Obama and Democratic allies in Congress have found common ground on an
“economic fairness” agenda that has emerged as the single, most unifying
Democratic idea of the election season. In its simplest form, it says millionaires
should pay more taxes. Washington
Post
VOA VIEW: Democrats and their less achieving
followers love to mooch on the financial pillars of society.
Myanmar
Foreign Minister Meeting Clinton Thursday
Military-dominated Myanmar's international rehabilitation is getting
another boost as its foreign minister meets with Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton and looks for progress in U.S. plans to ease economic sanctions.
Myanmar's political reforms over the past year or so have seen it emerge
from decades of diplomatic isolation, and Foreign Minister Wunna Maung
Lwin's visit Thursday has intensified debate in Washington on how and at
what pace the U.S. should ease policies that have long punished the impoverished
country for rights abuses and suppression of democracy. Boston
Globe
GOP
Senate Hopes Once Again Rest On Insurgents
For Senate Republicans, 2012 is starting a lot like 2010. They have
a shot at taking control away from Democrats as long as insurgent conservatives
who are defeating the party's more establishment candidates in primaries
don't frighten too many independent voters like they did two years ago.
Deb Fischer, a little-known state senator, became the latest unexpected
Senate GOP nominee Tuesday, rallying late to upset the favored — and better
funded — choices of both the party's mainstream and tea party establishments:
Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning and state Treasurer Don Stenberg.
Her victory occurred just a week after tea party and other conservative
groups embraced Indiana state Treasurer Richard Mourdock, who scored an
arguably bigger upset — knocking off six-term Sen. Richard Lugar, the Senate's
longest-serving Republican. Houston
Chronicle
Sparks
Fly In Debt Brawl Redux At White House Meeting
President Obama’s meeting with a bipartisan group of congressional
leaders Wednesday, during which he planned to lecture them on his five-point
to-do list of economic priorities, quickly devolved into a redux of last
year’s showdown over the federal budget. After the gathering, the first
that congressional leaders have had with the president since February,
both sides were squarely at odds over how to handle an upcoming debt-limit
increase and repeated the same rhetoric that led to last summer’s budget
brawl and a downgrade of the nation’s credit rating, which each side blamed
on the other. Washington
Times
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US
Veterans To Return War Medals In Protest
Iraq war veteran Steven Acheson will engage in the rarest of protests
this weekend: He will hand back his military service medals at the NATO
summit in Chicago, an act one veteran calls "disgraceful." Acheson, who
served for five years in the Army, including more than a year in Iraq that
he says left him with PTSD and nightmares, is taking this step to protest
the "war on terror" and the force leading it, NATO. He will be joined by
a few dozen veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who are concerned
about the wars' fallout on veterans and civilians alike. “I feel like this
is a really good way for me to kind of, not clear my conscience, but just
make a step in the direction of healing and kind of reconciling with the
Afghan people and the Iraq people,” said Acheson, a 27-year-old college
student from Wisconsin and a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, which
includes soldiers who served in any of the post- 9/11 conflict zones, “…
and let them know that we’re standing by their side and we’re not standing
with NATO anymore. We don’t agree with the policies that are driving these
wars.” MSNBC
No
Budget, No Pay, Some House Lawmakers Say
A group of Democratic and Republican House members say it’s time to
punish themselves if Congress keeps failing at its basic duty of passing
an annual budget — and they want to hit where it hurts: their own paychecks.
Even though House Speaker John A. Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor
haven’t been keen on the idea in the past, Virginia Republican Scott Rigell
and a bipartisan group of lawmakers urged them Wednesday to advance legislation
suspending members’ pay if Congress doesn’t pass a budget on time. The
goal may seem relatively simple — except that Congress hasn’t passed a
budget in more than 1,000 days, instead relying on short-term funding bills
often approved at the eleventh hour after contentious partisan gridlock
over whether to raise taxes or cut spending. Washington
Times
John
Edwards' Defense Team Rests
John Edwards' defense team rested Wednesday without calling the two-time
Democratic presidential candidate or his one-time mistress to the witness
stand, a sign of confidence after presenting little more than two days
of testimony and evidence. The defense had called a series of witnesses
aimed at shifting the jury's focus from the lurid details of a political
sex scandal to the legal question of whether the Edwards' actions violated
federal campaign finance laws. Prosecutors spent nearly three weeks trying
to convince a jury that Edwards masterminded a conspiracy to use nearly
$1 million secretly provided by two wealthy donors to help hide his pregnant
mistress, Rielle Hunter, as he sought the White House in 2008. CBS
Minorities
Now Surpass Whites In US Births
For the first time, racial and ethnic minorities make up more than
half the children born in the U.S., capping decades of heady immigration
growth that is now slowing. New 2011 census estimates highlight sweeping
changes in the nation's racial makeup and the prolonged impact of a weak
economy, which is now resulting in fewer Hispanics entering the U.S. "This
is an important landmark," said Roderick Harrison, a former chief of racial
statistics at the Census Bureau who is now a sociologist at Howard University.
"This generation is growing up much more accustomed to diversity than its
elders." Tampa
Tribune
VOA VIEW: The minority birth increases
are also increasing subsidies and welfare.
Data
Suggests Drug Treatment Can Lower U.S. Crime
U.S. crime statistics show illegal drugs play a central role in criminal
acts, providing new evidence that tackling drugs as a public health issue
could offer a powerful tool for lowering national crime rates, officials
said on Thursday. An annual drug monitoring report, released by the White
House Office of National Drug Control Policy, also showed a decline in
the use of cocaine since 2003, a sign that drug-interdiction efforts and
public education campaigns may be curtailing the use of the drug's powder
and crack forms. The rate of overall illegal drug use in the United States
has declined by roughly 30 percent since 1979. Sun
Sentinel
96%
Of Restaurant Entrees Exceed USDA Limits
A whopping 96% of main entrees sold at top U.S. chain eateries exceed
daily limits for calories, sodium, fat and saturated fat recommended by
the U.S. Department of Agriculture, reports the 18-month study conducted
by the Rand Corp. and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "If
you're eating out tonight, your chances of finding an entree that's truly
healthy are painfully low," says Helen Wu, assistant policy analyst at
Rand who oversaw the study. It examined the nutritional content of 30,923
menu items from 245 restaurant brands across the USA. "The restaurant industry
needs to make big changes to be part of the solution," she says. USA
Today
4.3
Magnitude Earthquake Rattles East Texas
A moderate earthquake rattled an area in east Texas near the Louisiana
border. National Earthquake Information Center geophysicist Amy Vaughan
says the quake happened at 3:12 a.m. Thursday and had a magnitude of 4.3.
It was centered near Timpson, Texas. Shelby County Sheriff's dispatcher
Jacob Allen says the only injury reported they've received is an elderly
woman who fell out of her bed and cut her arm. Allen says the quake caused
broken windows and fallen dishes, but no major damage has been reported.
Vaughan says the quake was felt within 75 miles of its epicenter. She also
said the same area was the site of a 3.9 magnitude quake on May 10. Atlanta
Journal
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Zithromax
Antibiotics Tied To Rare Heart Risks
An antibiotic widely used for bronchitis and other common infections
seems to increase chances for sudden deadly heart problems, a rare but
surprising risk found in a 14-year study. Zithromax, or azithromycin, is
more expensive than other antibiotics, but it's popular because it often
can be taken for fewer days. But the results suggest doctors should prescribe
other options for people already prone to heart problems, the researchers
and other experts said. Vanderbilt University researchers analyzed health
records and data on millions of prescriptions for several antibiotics given
to about 540,000 Tennessee Medicaid patients from 1992 to 2006. There were
29 heart-related deaths among those who took Zithromax during five days
of treatment. Their risk of death while taking the drug was more than double
that of patients on another antibiotic, amoxicillin, or those who took
none. CBS
Lower
Oil Prices Ease Load On Consumers And Obama
A threat that's been hanging over the economy is starting to look a
lot less menacing. Oil and gasoline prices are sinking, giving relief to
businesses and consumers who a few weeks ago seemed about to face the highest
fuel prices ever. President Barack Obama's re-election prospects could
also benefit, especially if prices keep falling as some analysts expect.
A majority of Americans disapproved of Obama's handling of gas prices in
an AP-GfK poll early this month. But that was before the full effect of
the recent drop had reached drivers. ABC
Kids'
Lead Poison Limit Drops
For the first time in 20 years, U.S. health officials have lowered
the threshold for lead poisoning in young children. The new standard announced
Wednesday means that hundreds of thousands more youngsters — including
nearly eight times more children in Michigan — could be diagnosed with
high levels of lead. Too much lead is harmful to developing brains and
can mean a lower IQ. The standard is for children younger than 6. Recent
research persuaded experts and government officials that young children
could be harmed from lead levels in their blood that are lower than the
old standard. Detroit
News
Merkel
Eases On Greece
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday that she was ready to
discuss stimulus programs to get the Greek economy growing again and that
she was committed to keeping Greece in the eurozone, signaling a softer
approach toward the struggling country. The fierce rhetorical salvos out
of Germany in the last week gave way to conciliatory gestures by Merkel,
who throughout the crisis has shown a propensity for managing through brinkmanship.
“I have the will, the determination to keep Greece in the eurozone,” she
said in an interview on CNBC on Wednesday, in what appeared to be an attempt
to relax an increasingly tense situation. Philadelphia
Inquirer
Romney
Surges Ahead In NC After Obama Backs Gay Marriage
Backing gay marriage may have helped fill President Obama’s campaign
coffers, but the move could cost him in North Carolina, a key swing state
where he is slumping in a newly released poll. Mitt Romney has surged to
a lead of 51 percent to 43 percent in a new Rasmussen poll of the Tarheel
state that was conducted after Obama announced last week that he supports
same-sex marriage. Last month, Romney’s lead over Obama was just two points,
46 percent to 44 percent, in the same state. In the intervening days, North
Carolina voters overwhelmingly voted for a state constitutional amendment
banning gay marriage — and Romney reaffirmed his position that marriage
is a relationship between “one man and one woman.” NY
Post
Army
Opens Wide Review Of PTSD
Army Secretary John McHugh on Wednesday announced a major review of
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other behavioral-health diagnoses
received by soldiers evaluated for medical retirement. The review will
look at diagnoses made at Army medical facilities as far back as Oct. 7,
2001, as the nation was launched into a period of prolonged warfare in
Afghanistan and then Iraq. The review team will identify problems with
the diagnostic program and find ways to fix them, according to an Army
statement. Seattle
Times
G.O.P.
‘Super PAC’ Weighs Hard-Line Attack On Obama
A group of high-profile Republican strategists is working with a conservative
billionaire on a proposal to mount one of the most provocative campaigns
of the “super PAC” era and attack President Obama in ways that Republicans
have so far shied away from. Timed to upend the Democratic National Convention
in September, the plan would “do exactly what John McCain would not let
us do,” the strategists wrote. NY
Times
VOA VIEW: McCain lost because Republicans
feared the stigma of being called racists for attacking a black candidate
- a major need in 2012.
Obama
Requesting Help To Pay For Afghan Army
Mapping the way out of an unpopular war, the United States and NATO
are trying to build an Afghan army that can defend the country after 130,000
international troops pull out. The alliance's plans for arm's-length support
for Afghanistan will be a central focus of the summit President Barack
Obama is hosting Sunday and Monday in Chicago. The problem with the exit
strategy is that someone has to pay for that army in an era of austerity
budgets and defense cutbacks. The problem for the United States is how
to avoid getting stuck with the check for $4.1 billion a year. "This has
to be a multilateral funding effort," said Pentagon spokesman George Little.
"We think there should be contributions from other countries." Charlotte
Observer
Joe
Biden Lays Into Romney, GOP: ‘They Don’t Get Who We Are!’
At a campaign stop in Youngstown, Ohio, today, Vice President Joe Biden
lit into Republicans and their presumed presidential nominee Mitt
Romney for what he described as a failure to understand the plight of the
middle class. “I resent when they talk about families like mine that I
grew up in. I resent the fact that they think we’re talking about
envy: it’s job envy, it’s wealthy envy; that we don’t dream,” an impassioned
Biden told a crowd of manufacturing workers. ABC
Oil,
Gold Slide As Dollar Gains On Greece; Stocks Retreat
Oil slid to a six-month low and gold declined as the Dollar Index extended
a record-long rally amid concern Greece’s financial crisis is worsening.
U.S. stocks fell, while Treasuries erased losses after Federal Reserve
policy makers said more monetary easing may become necessary. Crude for
June delivery fell 1.2 percent to settle at $92.81 a barrel while gold
approached a bear-market drop of 20 percent from last year’s record. The
S&P 500 slipped 0.4 percent to close at 1,324.80 at 4 p.m. in New York.
The Dollar Index, a measure of the currency against six major peers, increased
for a 13th straight day. Ten-year Treasury yields slipped one basis point
to 1.76 percent after climbing five points earlier. Bloomberg
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US
Judge Blocks Indefinite Military Detention Provision
A judge on Wednesday blocked enforcement of a recently enacted law's
provision that authorizes indefinite military detention for those deemed
to have "substantially supported" al Qaeda, the Taliban or "associated
forces." District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan ruled in favor of
a group of civilian activists and journalists who said they feared being
detained under a section of the law, which was signed by U.S. President
Barack Obama in December 2011. "In the face of what could be indeterminate
military detention, due process requires more," the judge said. Reuters
Housing
Starts Join U.S. Factories Topping Forecasts
Housing starts and industrial production exceeded forecasts in April,
pointing to strength in the U.S. economy at the start of the second quarter.
Starts rose 2.6 percent to a 717,000 annual rate from March’s revised 699,000
pace that was stronger than previously reported, Commerce Department figures
showed today in Washington. Industrial production climbed 1.1 percent,
the most since December 2010, the Federal Reserve said. The reports indicate
the world’s largest economy is withstanding the fallout from the European
debt crisis. Borrowing costs kept low by the Fed and labor-market gains
are spurring consumer demand for autos and housing, lifting sales at companies
from PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) to Chrysler Group LLC. Bloomberg
US
Clears Drugs Faster Than Europe, Canada
Researchers say the U.S. approved more new medicines in less time than
Europe and Canada in the last decade, challenging long-standing criticisms
that the Food and Drug Administration lags behind its peers in clearing
important new drugs. Between 2001 and 2010, the FDA's typical review of
a new drug was about 15 percent faster than those by the European Medicines
Agency and Health Canada, its counterparts abroad, according to a study
published Wednesday by the New England Journal of Medicine. The analysis
by researchers at Yale and the Mayo Clinic is the first to compare the
FDA's recent drug review performance to similar agencies around the world.
Las
Vegas Sun
Bain
Capital Defends Record In Light Of Criticism
Facing new attacks from Democrats, the private equity firm Mitt Romney
helped create is defending its record. In a statement released Tuesday,
Bain Capital says its record will be distorted and oversimplified during
the presidential campaign. The Massachusetts-based firm notes that Romney
retired more than 13 years ago. President Barack Obama's re-election campaign
launched an attack ad this week across five states targeting Romney's tenure
at the firm, which one former worker likened to a vampire. Bain says it
helped improve companies' bottom lines more than 80 percent of the time.
Las
Vegas Sun
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Push
To Name Navy Vessel After Harvey Milk Sparks Criticism From Gay Community
A California Democratic congressman is asking the Navy to name a ship
after the late San Francisco lawmaker and gay activist Harvey Milk, but
some of the strongest opposition appears to be from the gay community.
Rep. Bob Filner has written a letter to the heads of the Navy and Defense
Department saying he “wholeheartedly” agrees with local efforts in San
Francisco and his San Diego district to honor Milk, a Navy diver better
known for his term as San Francisco city supervisor. Milk was gunned down
in 1978 by a former city supervisor. "This action would be a fitting tribute
to Mr. Milk's support for equality, an ideal exemplified in the military's
recent repeal of its former 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy," Filner also
said in the widely reported letter to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and Defense
Secretary Leon Panetta. Fox
News
FBI
Opens JPMorgan Investigation
The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation said Wednesday
that the agency has opened an investigation into JPMorgan Chase, the nation's
largest bank. "All I can say is that we have opened a preliminary investigation,"
Robert Mueller said in response to questions at an FBI oversight hearing
on Capitol Hill. Last week JPMorgan disclosed it had suffered a $2 billion
trading loss on a series of complex bets on credit default swaps, a kind
of derivative sometimes used to hedge against risk. It remains unclear
what potential crimes the FBI may be investigating, and Mueller declined
to answer questions on that topic Wednesday, saying only that the agency
had opened a preliminary investigation. CNN
Romney:
Obama Didn't Start Crisis But Made It Worse
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney acknowledged Wednesday
that President Obama is not responsible for accumulating the nation's massive
debt. Campaigning in Florida, the former Massachusetts governor said while
Obama may not be responsible for the nation's economic crisis, he is responsible
for making it worse, the Los Angeles Times reported. "It's true you can't
blame one party or the other for all the debts this country has, because
both parties in my opinion have spent too much and borrowed too much when
they were in power," Romney said at a campaign stop. UPI
Mitt
Romney Picks Up $2 Million During Florida Swing
Mitt Romney swung through Florida on Wednesday, picking up more than
$2 million in political contributions while bashing President Barack Obama
as an ineffective leader. Romney pointed out that, earlier in the day,
the Senate scuttled the president’s budget. “The number of Senators who
voted for the Obama budget was zero. He has shown a remarkable lack of
leadership,” Romney said during an evening fundraiser at the Biltmore Hotel
in Coral Gables. “This is an individual who has not been in a leadership
capacity before and is learning on the job,” Romney said. “This vote is
another example of people in Washington seeing that this president can
not get the job done.” McClatchy
Skechers
Deceived Consumers With Shoe Ads
The government wants you to know that simply sporting a pair of Skechers'
fitness shoes is not going to get you Kim Kardashian's curves or Brooke
Burke's toned tush. Skechers USA Inc. will pay $40 million to settle charges
by the Federal Trade Commission that the footwear company made unfounded
claims that its Shape-ups shoes would help people lose weight and strengthen
their butt, leg and stomach muscles. Kardashian, Burke and other celebrities
endorsed the shoes in Skechers ads. Wednesday's settlement also involves
the company's Resistance Runner, Toners, and Tone-ups shoes and claims
of deceptive advertising for those shoes as well. Indy
Star
France's
New Socialist Govt Gets Down To Work
Members of France's new Socialist-led government are taking office
and preparing for their first Cabinet meeting with President Francois Hollande.
New Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, a moderate longtime legislator valued
for his knowledge of Germany, named the Cabinet on Wednesday night. The
ministers are taking office Thursday in ceremonies bidding farewell to
their conservative counterparts who served under former President Nicolas
Sarkozy. The new Cabinet meets later Thursday. It is half-male, half-female
and includes allies, veterans and some new faces. SF
Gate
Activist:
China To Have Passports Ready In 2 Weeks
The activist who was at the center of a diplomatic tussle between Beijing
and Washington said Thursday that Chinese officials have told him the passports
that he and his family just applied for should be ready within two weeks.
A rights group, meanwhile, described more retaliation by authorities against
his family. From a Beijing hospital room where he remains under virtual
house arrest, Chen Guangcheng said in a phone interview with The Associated
Press that it remained unclear if he, his wife and their two children would
be able to leave China shortly after getting their passports. Miami
Herald
U.S.
Says Most Oil, Gas Acreage Is Idle
More than two-thirds of the onshore and offshore acreage leased for
oil and natural gas exploration remains idle, the U.S. Department of Interior
said. The Department of Interior found of the 36 million acres leased offshore,
only 10 million acres are under active development. Onshore, about 56 percent
of the leased areas, or roughly 20.8 million acres, is idled. "These lands
and waters belong to the American people, and they expect those energy
supplies to be developed in a timely and responsible manner and with a
fair return to taxpayers," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement.
"We will continue to encourage companies to diligently bring production
online quickly and safely on public lands already under lease." UPI
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Iran
Flouts UN Sanctions, Sends Arms To Syria
Syria remains the top destination for Iranian arms shipments in violation
of a UN Security Council ban on weapons exports by the Islamic Republic,
according to a confidential draft report by a UN panel of experts seen
by Reuters on Wednesday. Iran, like Russia, is one of Syria's few allies
as it presses ahead with a 14-month old assault on opposition forces determined
to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad. The report, which the expert panel
has submitted to the Security Council's Iran sanctions committee, said
there were three seizures of large shipments of Iranian weapons investigated
by the panel over the past year. Jerusalem
Post
IDF
Chief Gantz Set To Make Historic Visit To China
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz will make a historic visit
to Beijing next week for high-level talks with the Chinese defense establishment.
Gantz will leave Israel on Saturday night. He will be the guest of Gen.
Chen Bingde, chief of the General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army,
who visited Israel last August. It was the first time that a Chinese military
chief visited the country. Barak discusses terror, Iran with Chinese military
chiefDuring the trip, Gantz will meet with senior Chinese military officers
and visit a number of bases. The visit was approved by Defense Minister
Ehud Barak and Israel has also updated the United States. Jerusalem
Post
Ratko
Mladic Led Ethnic Cleansing, War Crimes Trial Told
Former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic intended to "ethnically
cleanse" Bosnia, the opening day of his war crimes trial has heard. Gen
Mladic faces 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including
genocide, in connection with the brutal 1992-95 Bosnian war. Prosecutors
in The Hague said they would show his hand in the crimes. He has called
the accusations "monstrous" and the court has entered a not guilty plea
on his behalf. Gen Mladic is accused of orchestrating the massacre of more
than 7,000 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) boys and men at Srebrenica in 1995.
He is also charged in connection with the 44-month siege of Sarajevo during
which more than 10,000 people died. BBC
Facebook
Boosts Number Of Shares On Offer By 25%
Facebook says it will sell 25% more shares than first planned in its
flotation in response to strong demand. The move comes one day after the
social networking giant said it would raise the price of the shares by
21% to between $34-$38 a share. It also comes despite doubts about the
profitability of the site, which is largely used for social updates. Car
giant General Motors added to those doubts by saying on Tuesday it would
no longer pay to advertise on the site. However, rival Ford said it would
continue its social media strategy. A spokesman said: "You just can't buy
your way into Facebook. You need to have a credible presence and be doing
innovative things." BBC
Cost
Of Greek Exit From Euro Put At $1tn
The cost of a possible Greek exit from the euro has emerged as Mervyn
King warned that Europe is ‘tearing itself apart’. The British government
is making urgent preparations to cope with the fallout of a possible Greek
exit from the single currency, after the governor of the Bank of England,
Sir Mervyn King, warned that Europe was "tearing itself apart". Reports
from Athens that massive sums of money were being spirited out of the country
intensified concern in Whitehall about the impact of a splintering of the
eurozone on a UK economy that is stuck in double-dip recession. One estimate
put the cost to the eurozone of Greece making a disorderly exit from the
currency at $1tn, 5% of output. Guardian
Syria's
Bashar Al-Assad Vows To Display Captured Foreign Mercenaries
Syria's president Bashar al-Assad has promised to display captured
foreign "mercenaries" who have been fighting his regime and denounced western
governments for failing to protest at the violence being perpetrated by
his enemies. In his first interview in many months, Assad told Russian
state TV that the Syrian opposition had shown itself to be insignificant
by calling for a boycott of the recent parliamentary elections – dismissed
as a sham by critics in Syria and abroad. "How can you boycott the people
of whom you consider yourself the representative?" the president asked.
"I don't think that they have any kind of weight or significance within
Syria." Guardian
Federal
Reserve Members Ready To Step Up Support For US Economy
Federal Reserve policymakers said on Wednesday that they were open
to further efforts to stimulate the US economy if growth falters or threats
escalate. Minutes of the central bank's April 24-25 meeting stated that
"several members" thought additional Fed support could be needed if the
recovery lost momentum or if the risks to the economy became great enough.
The minutes did not spell out what circumstances would trigger further
Fed efforts to lower interest rates to boost the economy. But they did
note some threats to the US economy. One is Europe's debt crisis. Another
is the risk that spending cuts and tax increases that could take effect
at year's end if Congress can't reach a budget agreement could slow growth
more than expected. Telegraph
All
Over 50s Should Be Taking Statins
Everyone over the age of 50 should be given statins because they reduce
the risk of a heart attack even in healthy people, a study has found. The
risk of a heart attack or stroke is cut by a fifth in those who have no
sign of heart disease, shows research by scientists at Oxford University.
Treatment guidelines should be reviewed in light of the findings, the experts
said, and the NHS should impose a blanket policy of prescribing up to 20?
million people statins at a potential cost of £240?million a year.
Currently, the only people considered at high risk, those with a one-in-five
chance of having a heart attack in the next 10 years, are given the cholesterol-lowering
drugs. Half of men aged 50 or over and almost a third of women qualify
for statin treatment. About five million people are thought to take them.
Telegraph
Hypertension
And Diabetes On The Rise Worldwide, Says UN Report
The number of people with high blood pressure and diabetes is drastically
increasing in both developed and developing countries, according to a United
Nations report released today. “This report is further evidence of the
dramatic increase in the conditions that trigger heart disease and other
chronic illnesses, particularly in low- and middle-income countries,” said
the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Margaret Chan.
“In some African countries, as much as half the adult population has high
blood pressure.” UN
News
Top
UN Officials Underscore Need To Combat Organized Crime In Central America
Senior United Nations officials today drew the world’s attention to
threats posed by transnational organized crime and drug trafficking in
Central America and called for concerted global efforts to combat the scourge,
which they said is spreading to other continents. “Countries in Central
America face a tide of violence, born of transnational organized crime
and drug trafficking,” the President of the General Assembly, Nassir Abdulaziz
Al-Nasser, said at the opening of the Assembly’s thematic debate on Security
in Central America as a Regional and Global Challenge – How to Improve
and Implement the Central American Security Strategy. UN
News
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