Red Bluff Daily News

August 20, 2010

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Friday, August 20, 2010 – Daily News – 7A WORLD BRIEFING White House: Obama is Christian WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House insisted on Thursday that President Barack Obama is a Christian who prays daily as it looked to tamp down growing doubts among Americans about the president’s religion. White House spokesman Bill Burton made the remarks hours after a poll showed that nearly one in five people, or 18 percent, said they think Obama is Muslim. That was up from 11 per- cent who said so in March 2009. The survey also showed that just 34 per- cent said Obama is Chris- tian, down from 48 per- cent who said so last year. The largest share of peo- ple, 43 percent, said they don’t know his religion. As Obama headed out for a vacation, Burton told reporters aboard Air Force One that most Americans care more about the economy and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and ‘‘they are not reading a lot of news about what religion the president is.’’ Burton added, ‘‘The president is obviously a Christian. He prays every- day.’’ The survey, conducted by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center and its affiliated Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, is based on interviews con- ducted before the contro- versy over whether Mus- lims should be permitted to construct a mosque near the World Trade Cen- ter site. Obama has said he believes Muslims have the right to build an Islamic center there, though he’s also said he won’t take a position on whether they should actually build it. Spike in jobless claims points to weak market WASHINGTON (AP) — Layoffs are back, and that’s bad news for the fragile economic recov- ery. New applications for unemployment benefits hit a nine-month high last week — a spike that sug- gests private employers may shed jobs this month for the first time this year. Workers are losing construction jobs in Geor- gia and manufacturing jobs in Indiana. Some of the layoffs are coming as stimulus money dries up and public works projects come to a halt. Govern- ment employees are being let go, too, as states and cities grapple with budget crises. Without more jobs, consumers will not feel secure enough to spend much money, further slowing the economy. The grim outlook has econo- mists lowering their esti- mates for growth in the second half of the year. And on Thursday it led to a sell-off on Wall Street led by investors worried that the United States could tumble back into recession. ‘‘Today’s news on the economy has been noth- ing but awful,’’ Paul Ash- worth, an economist at Capital Economics, wrote in a note to clients. ‘‘The recovery is clearly slow- ing.’’ 2 detained in threat to SFO jetliner SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An American Airlines flight bound for New York City was halted just before takeoff Thurs- day after someone called in a threat, and two people were detained. American Airlines Flight 24 was grounded at San Francisco Interna- tional airport before its scheduled takeoff at 7:30 a.m. Thursday. Passen- gers were removed from the plane and taken by buses to a terminal where they were sent through security again. Passenger Michael Kidd told The Associated Press that he saw uni- formed police officers handcuffing a young man and a young woman sit- ting in the back row. They were taken off the plane. The FBI has confirmed Thursday that at least two people were being ques- tioned in the incident. ‘‘All passengers are safe and out of an abun- dance of caution, TSA requested the plane be moved to a remote loca- tion,’’ TSA spokeswoman Suzanne Trevino said in a statement. Oil plume under Gulf surface is big WASHINGTON (AP) — A 22-mile-long invisi- ble mist of oil is meander- ing far below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, where it will probably loi- ter for months or more, scientists reported Thurs- day in the first conclusive evidence of an underwa- ter plume from the BP spill. The most worrisome part is the slow pace at which the oil is breaking down in the cold, 40- degree water, making it a long-lasting but unseen threat to vulnerable marine life, experts said. Earlier this month, top federal officials declared the oil in the spill was mostly ‘‘gone,’’ and it is gone in the sense you can’t see it. But the chem- ical ingredients of the oil persist more than a half- mile beneath the surface, Attention Tehama County Teachers! You could win one of THREE $100 gift certificates at Raley’s. Just sign up to receive FREE copies of The Daily News to use as teaching aids in your classroom. Request by 5 PM Tuesday, August 31 Contest details and order form online at http://www2.redbluffdailynews.com/special_section/171 or call 527-2151 ext 128 for more information D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY researchers found. And the oil is degrad- ing at one-tenth the pace at which it breaks down at the surface. That means ‘‘the plumes could stick around for quite a while,’’ said study co-author Ben Van Mooy of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachu- setts, which led the research published online in the journal Science. Monty Graham, a sci- entist at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alaba- ma who was not involved in the study, said: ‘‘We absolutely should be con- cerned that this material is drifting around for who knows how long. They say months in the (research) paper, but more likely we’ll be able to track this stuff for years.’’ As Obama’s withdrawal nears, combat brigade leaves KHABARI CROSS- ING, Kuwait (AP) — A line of heavily armored American military vehi- cles, their headlights twinkling in the pre-dawn desert, lumbered past the barbed wire and metal gates marking the border between Iraq and Kuwait early Thursday and rolled into history. For the troops of the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, it was a Mark's Fitness -Private Personal Training -Public Fitness Classes (Spin & other classes TBD) Opening Sept. 1st WANTED: Fitness Instructors Call: (530) 941-2832 821 Walnut St. Thank you to all who donated to our Back To School Project. 529-4074 moment of relief fraught with symbolism but light- ened by the whoops and cheers of soldiers one step closer to going home. Seven years and five months after the U.S.-led invasion, the last Ameri- can combat brigade was leaving Iraq, well ahead of President Barack Obama’s Aug. 31 dead- line for ending U.S. com- bat operations there. Obama to Martha’s Vineyard CHILMARK, Mass. (AP) — Martha’s Vineyard is barely an hour’s flight from Washington, but it felt worlds away as President Barack Obama and his family began their summer vacation Thursday amid the island’s beaches and quaint farmhouses. Instead of politicians and polls, the Obamas encountered pony farms and ponds. Instead of fili- busters, the Vineyard offers fishing. And the only things getting hung out to dry were beach towels. Before escaping into all that, though, Obama had to dispatch one final duty at the White House. Underscoring the headaches he’s trying to escape, Thursday morn- ing brought the latest batch of grim economic news — another rise in jobless claims.

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