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 Friday, March 19, 2010 
 
    
 
reuters International News [ASIA]

End in sight, health care battle tilts Obama's way (AP)

Clinic workers hold signs and chant during a rally in support of US President Barack Obama's health care reform package in Oakland, California, on March 17. US President Barack Obama on Thursday scrapped a planned trip to Asia in favor of making an 11th-hour drive to see his historic health care overhaul through a cliffhanger Sunday vote.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Justin Sullivan)AP - One by one, House Democratic fence-sitters began choosing sides Friday, and the long, turbulent struggle over landmark health care legislation tilted unmistakably in President Barack Obama's direction




Final health bill omits some of Obama's promises (AP)

President Barack Obama delivers remarks on health insurance reform during his event at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va, Friday, March 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)AP - It was a bold response to skyrocketing health insurance premiums. President Barack Obama would give federal authorities the power to block unreasonable rate hikes.




World diplomats urge resumption of Mideast talks (AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton seen during talks  in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 19, 2010. Clinton is participating in a meeting of the Quartet of Middle East peace mediators — the U.S., Russia, the EU and the United Nations. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)AP - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton suggested Friday that the United States and Israel have found a way around the worst disagreement the two allies have faced in years while international diplomats set goals for new U.S.-backed peace talks aimed at establishing an independent Palestinian state.




7th anniversary of Iraq War passes, little noticed (AP)

FILE - In this March 21, 2003 file photo, a government building burns during heavy bombardment of Baghdad, Iraq by U.S.-led forces. Almost seven years after the first bombs in the war to oust Saddam Hussein, Iraqis went about their business Friday with little observance of the anniversary, looking to the future with a mixture of trepidation and hope. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)AP - It was a day like any other day — except that it was the seventh anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. And, for the most part, that was forgotten.




Pope's Irish letter faces critical Catholic world (AP)

FILE - The Dec. 30, 2009 file photo shows Pope Benedict XVI during his weekly general audience in the Paul VI hall at The Vatican. Pope Benedict XVI's former diocese in Munich said Friday, March 19, 2010 it is facing new allegations of physical and sexual abuse on a daily basis.   Last week, the diocese confirmed the case of a priest who was transferred in 1980 to Munich. That came after three sets of parents alleged he had abused their children in the northwestern city of Essen, the diocese there said. The priest underwent therapy, but then returned to work with youngsters. He was convicted of abuse in 1986.  Pope Benedict, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was Archbishop of Munich and Freising at the time of the priest's transfer from Essen to Munich. The diocese has said Ratzinger knew about the transfer but not about the priest's continued work in Bavarian congregations after he assumed his duties at the Vatican.  Erwin Wild, then spokesman of the diocese's council of priests, said he and his colleagues were not informed by Ratzinger that the priest was an offender, which he thinks was wrong.  (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)AP - Pope Benedict XVI addresses Ireland on Saturday in a letter apologizing for the sex abuse scandal here — a message being watched closely by Catholics from Boston to Berlin to see if it also acknowledges decades of Vatican-approved cover-ups.




Testing overseas may explain big drop in TB cases (AP)
AP - An unexpected big drop in new U.S. tuberculosis cases is probably because of stepped up screening and treatment of immigrants before they leave their native countries, health officials say.

Court: Anna Nicole Smith gets none of oil fortune (AP)

** CORRECTS DATE OF PICTURE TO FEB. 28, 2006 ** FILE - In this Feb. 28, 2006 file photo, Anna Nicole Smith leaves the U.S. Supreme Court  in Washington. A federal appeals court says Anna Nicole Smith's estate will receive none of the more than $300 million that she claimed her late billionaire husband had promised her. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the latest stop in the 15-year legal battle over the $1.6 billion estate that oil magnate J. Howard Marshall left after his 1995 death at age 90. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta,File)AP - The elderly Texas billionaire who married Anna Nicole Smith in the last year of his life never intended to leave the former stripper any portion of his vast fortune, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.




Mom of octuplets may lose home to foreclosure (AP)

FILE - This Jan. 26, 2010 file phot shows an unidentified woman carrying eight balloons towards the home of Nadya Suleman on the day of the octuplets first birthday, in La Habra, Calif. Octuplets mom Nadya Suleman could be kicked out of her Southern California home. The mortgage holder Amer Haddadin says he is starting foreclosure proceedings on this $565,000 La Habra residence, according to a report Friday March 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)AP - Octuplets mom Nadya Suleman could be kicked out of her Southern California home.




Colo topless gardener complaints prompt new rules (AP)
AP - A woman gardening wearing only a yellow thong and pink gloves has brought neighborhood complaints and new rules from a housing authority in Colorado.

NCAA: Georgia Tech beats Oklahoma State 64-59 (AP)

Gonzaga's Demetri Goodson (3) blocks a shot by Florida State's Derwin Kitchen (22) during the first half of an NCAA first-round college basketball game in Buffalo, N.Y.,Friday, March 19, 2010. (AP Photo/ Mike Groll)AP - James Anderson lost the ball in the lane with about 20 seconds to go and Oklahoma State trailing 62-59, and the Cowboys didn't even get off a shot to tie the game. Anderson struggled all the way, going 3 for 11 from the field and missing all four of his 3-point tries.




House Democrats see momentum on health bill (Reuters)

A patient waits in the hallway for a room to open up in the emergency room at Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston, Texas, July 27, 2009. REUTERS/Jessica RinaldiReuters - Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives pushed undecided members for support and voiced growing confidence on Friday they will win a close vote on final passage of a sweeping healthcare overhaul.




Putin offers U.S. hints of support (Reuters)

U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton (R) and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin meet at the presidential residence Novo-Ogaryovo outside Moscow, March 19, 2010. REUTERS/RIA Novosti/Pool/Alexei NikolskyReuters - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin offered hints he could support the United States on two key issues -- an arms pact and Iran -- after a meeting on Friday with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.




Quartet hopes package will unlock Middle East talks (Reuters)

Catherine Ashton, EU foreign policy chief, attends the session of Middle East mediators in Moscow March 19, 2010. Middle East mediators from Europe, the United States, Russia and the U.N. met on Friday seeking to defuse the latest crisis in peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinians.  REUTERS/Alexander Natruskin  (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS)Reuters - Two members of the international quartet of Middle East mediators suggested on Friday that stalled indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians may be unblocked in coming days.




Judge in NY orders more talks on 9/11 deal (Reuters)
Reuters - A U.S. federal judge on Friday delayed a $657.5 million settlement for workers who suffered health problems after the September 11, 2001, attacks, saying the process must be transparent and lawyers fees should not be drawn from the funds.

Court orders Fed to release bailout documents (Reuters)
Reuters - In a significant victory for news media, a federal appeals court said the Federal Reserve must disclose records on emergency lending programs to banks bailed out by the government in the financial crisis.

British Airways battles cabin crew strike (Reuters)
Reuters - British Airways said it would fly more than 60 percent of passengers with flights booked for this weekend despite a three-day cabin crew strike that risks hurting the Labor government weeks before an election.

Pay czar trims salaries at top of GM exec ranks (Reuters)
Reuters - The U.S. pay czar will slash the number of top General Motors Co executives who will receive base salaries of more than $500,000 this year.

Sierra Leone minister denies mine collapse (Reuters)
Reuters - Sierra Leone's minister of mineral resources denied on Friday that at least 200 people were killed in the collapse of a gold mine, causing confusion after his own ministry had reported the disaster.

Quartet tells Israel to halt settlement activity (AFP)

L-R: The representatives of the Middle East Quartet former British premier Tony Blair, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton pose for a photograph after talks in Moscow. The Middle East Quartet urged Israel to stop building settlements.(AFP/Yuri Kadobnov)AFP - The Middle East Quartet on Friday urged Israel to stop building settlements and set a bold target for a final deal with the Palestinians by 2012 as it tried to kickstart the stalled peace process.




Nation on brink of history, Obama says, as health care vote looms (AFP)

US President Barack Obama delivers remarks on health insurance reform at George Mason University's Patriot Center in Virginia. Obama Friday hailed this weekend's AFP - President Barack Obama said Friday Democrats were poised to make history after a century struggling for health care reform, as party leaders claimed momentum ahead of a vital weekend vote.