Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/18261
4B – Daily News – Saturday, October 23, 2010 WORLD BRIEFING Insurers tepid to health law repeal WASHINGTON (AP) — Health insurers flirted with Democrats, supported them with money and got what they wanted: a federal mandate that most Americans carry health care coverage. Now they’re backing Republicans, hoping a GOP Congress will mean friendlier regulations. They may get more than they’re wishing for. The so-called individual mandate has provoked tea party conservatives, who see it as an example of big government interference in personal deci- sions. Now Republican candi- dates are running on platforms that include repealing the broader health care law. And attorneys general from some 20 states — mainly Republicans — are challenging the mandate as unconstitutional. ‘‘If you ended up repealing that one provision, the whole thing blows up,’’ said Bill Hoagland, the top lobbyist for Cigna Corp. ‘‘It doesn’t work. The cost would explode.’’ Still, Cigna, which early last year had been funneling money to Democrats from its political action committee, has shifted from a 50-50 split between the parties to around 70-30 in favor of Republican candidates. Democrats implore former President Bill Clinton to help WASHINGTON (AP) — Bill Clinton, out of the Oval Office for nearly a decade and once considered a political lia- bility, is campaigning for Democratic candidates at a pace no one can match, drawing big crowds and going to states that President Barack Obama avoids. If the Republican wave on Nov. 2 ends up a bit weaker than many now predict, at least some of the credit will have to go to the former president, the most sought-after surrogate for dozens of anxious Democratic congressional and gubernatorial nominees. Always an intuitive cam- paigner who could slap backs and dissect policy with equal ease, Clinton has another appealing quality in these eco- nomic hard times: He left office amid high employment and a government surplus. Some peo- ple attending his rallies wear buttons saying ‘‘I miss peace, prosperity and Clinton.’’ Clinton’s staff says he has campaigned this year for more than 65 candidates at nearly 100 events. Many of the appear- ances took place in the past few weeks, when Clinton slowed his work on charitable projects, such as fighting AIDS and malaria, to focus on the elec- tion’s final sprint. The pace would tax anyone, not just a 64-year-old who had major heart surgery in 2004. Consider the past few days. WikiLeaks plans announcement as Pentagon braces for leak LONDON (AP) — The Wik- iLeaks website is poised to release what the Pentagon fears is the largest cache of secret U.S. documents in history — hundreds of thousands of intel- ligence reports that could amount to a classified history of the war in Iraq. U.S. officials condemned the move and said Friday they were racing to contain the damage from the imminent release, while NATO’s top official told reporters he feared that lives could be put at risk by the mam- moth disclosure. NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said any release would create ‘‘a very unfortu- nate situation.’’ ‘‘I can’t comment on the details of the exact impact on security, but in general I can tell you that such leaks ... may have a very negative security impact for people involved,’’ he told reporters Friday in Berlin fol- lowing a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. In a posting to Twitter, the secret-spilling website said there would be a ‘‘major Wik- iLeaks announcement in Europe’’ at 0900 GMT (5 a.m. EDT) Saturday. The group has revealed almost nothing pub- licly about the nature of the announcement. French Senate OKs retirement reform in vote PARIS (AP) — The French Senate, pushed into an early vote, approved on Friday a hotly contested bill raising the retirement age to 62, hours after riot police forced the reopening of a strategic refinery to help halt growing fuel shortages amid nationwide strikes and protests. In tense balloting after 140 hours of debate, the Senate voted 177-153 for the pension reform. The measure is expect- ed to win final formal approval by both houses of parliament next week. President Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservative government, keen to get the measure passed and quell increasingly radicalized protests, cut short the debate and voting process using a spe- cial procedure. Critics on the left dubbed the use of Article 44-3 of the Constitution a denial of democracy. The tough stance by the gov- ernment extended to strikes as French riot police forced a strategic refinery to reopen Fri- day, aiming to halt growing fuel shortages that have emptied gas pumps around the country and risked hurting industry. The refinery at Grandpuits had been a bastion of resistance to President Nicolas Sarkozy’s bid to raise the retirement age to 62. Despite the government’s efforts to conquer union resis- tance, the prime minister said it will take several more days to end gasoline shortages that are taking a toll on France’s econo- my. Cholera epidemic spreads in Haiti ST. MARC, Haiti (AP) — A cholera epidemic was spreading in central Haiti on Friday as aid groups rushed doctors and sup- plies to fight the country’s deadliest health crisis since Jan- uary’s earthquake. At least 150 people have died and more than 1,500 others are ill. The first two cases of the dis- ease outside the rural Artibonite region were confirmed in Arca- haie, a town that is closer to the quake-devastated capital, Port- au-Prince. Officials are concerned the outbreak could reach the squalid tarp camps where hun- dreds of thousands of quake survivors live in the capital. ‘‘It will be very, very danger- ous,’’ said Claude Surena, pres- ident of the Haitian Medical Association. ‘‘Port-au-Prince already has more than 2.4 mil- lion people, and the way they are living is dangerous enough already.’’ Scores of patients lay on the floor awaiting treatment at the St. Nicholas hospital in the sea- side city of St. Marc, some of them brushing away flies on mattresses stained with human feces. Hawaii island ditches Friday football to protect seabirds KAPAA, Hawaii (AP) — The tradition of Friday night football on the island of Kauai has been disrupted by an unusu- al culprit: Young seabirds migrating to the ocean mistake stadium lights for the moon and stars, causing them to become disoriented, drop from the sky and fall prey to cats. School officials canceled Friday night football for almost all of the season on Kauai and moved the games to Saturday afternoon, angering residents who are upset that their beloved fall tradition has been thwarted because of a bird. They have been showing up to games wearing T-shirts that disparage the policy, and occa- sionally voicing their displea- sure from the stands during games. ‘‘Because we’re in the mid- dle of the Pacific Ocean, we don’t have much to have to offer our kids. On a Friday night, this is what our kids would look forward to,’’ said Lori Koga, whose 17-year-old son is a Kauai High School var- sity linebacker and running back. ‘‘And then they took that away from us.’’ At issue is a bird called the Newell’s shearwater, which who was one of the four photogra- phers injured, Brand himself looked on during the assault as the photographers tried to defend themselves before being left stranded in the wild animal park. The photographers said they had been following about 330 feet (100 meters) behind two jeeps — one carrying Brand, an unidenti- fied woman, a man and two chil- dren, and the second carrying two men, one of whom was later described by police as Brand’s friend and wedding guest. The other apparently was a bodyguard. As the photographers from AP, Reuters, Agence France-Presse and the Hindustan Times newspa- per took photographs of Brand, the second car stopped and the man got out, approached their jeep, punched their driver in the face and snatched the vehicle’s keys, AP photographer Mustafa Quraishi said. Quraishi said he jumped out of the jeep to try to retrieve the keys, but the man then punched him repeatedly, breaking his glasses, smashing and then taking his cam- era flash and opening a cut on his arm. numbered about 80,000 in the mid-1990s. Its population has plunged 75 percent in recent years as Kauai grew in size and added more lights that confuse the birds. 100 million Americans could be diabetic by 2050 ATLANTA (AP) — As many as 1 in 3 U.S. adults could have diabetes by 2050, federal offi- cials announced Friday in a dra- matic new projection that repre- sents a threefold increase. The Centers for Disease Con- trol and Prevention estimate that 1 in 10 have diabetes now, but the number could grow to 1 in 5 or even 1 in 3 by mid-century if current trends continue. ‘‘This is alarming,’’ said Ann Albright, director of the CDC’s Division of Diabetes Transla- tion. The agency’s projections have been a work in progress. The last revision put the number at 39 million in 2050. The new estimate takes it to the range of 76 million to 100 million. An estimated 24 million Americans have diabetes cur- rently. Photographers say Brand’s guard, guest assaulted them RANTHAMBHORE NATIONAL PARK, India (AP) — Four news photographers Fri- day said that they were punched by two men accompanying British comedian Russell Brand when they were taking pictures of Brand at an Indian tiger reserve one day before his scheduled wedding to American pop singer Katy Perry. According to Associated Press photographer Mustaf Quraishi, Shark kills UC student VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE (AP) — Authorities say the victim of a deadly shark attack in Central California was a body boarder whose leg was bitten off. Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown tells the Lompoc Record that the man was attacked Friday morning at Surf Beach. Brown says a friend on a surf- board got him to shore but the man bled to death. The University of California, Santa Barbara, identifies the man as a student, 19-year-old Lucas Ransom from Romoland in River- side County. Surf Beach is on the property of Vandenberg Air Force Base but is open to the public. Vandenberg says the base closed the beach and two others through the weekend. Rehab ruling gives Lindsay Lohan time to work on herself BEVERLY HILLS (AP) — New year, new Lindsay Lohan? That appears to be the hope of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elden S. Fox, who on Friday ordered the starlet to remain in rehab until January. In doing so he ended any short-term plans for the actress’ comeback, but also followed the recommendations of medical pro- fessionals who say the ‘‘Mean Girls’’ star is only beginning to realize the depths of her addic- tion. He also slyly removed one potential source of temptation and relapse. ‘‘You’re staying past the New Year’s — there’s a reason for that,’’ Fox said. Lohan, who was in court for her fifth time since May, cried after hearing the sentence for fail- ing a recent drug test. Tehama County’s Personal/Professional Service Directory Bankruptcy Attorney Local Bankruptcy Attorney Jocelyn C. Olander 530-824-0288 Free Consultation Payment Plans Available Web: www.jcoattyatlaw.com email: mail@jcoatty atlaw.com A federally qualified Debt Relief Agency under 11 U.S.C. 101(12(A)) Clock Repair 530-736-7079 Grandpa’s Clocks Jim Paul 20910 Pebblestone Dr. Red Bluff Shelf & 31 Day Clocks Repaired Call for appt. 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