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8A Daily News – Wednesday, October 30, 2013 WORLD BRIEFING Obama official blames insurers for policy cancellations WASHINGTON (AP) — Move over, website woes. Lawmakers confronted the Obama administration Tuesday with a difficult new health care problem — a wave of cancellation notices hitting individuals and small business who buy their own insurance. At the same time, the federal official closest to the website apologized for its dysfunction in new sign-ups and asserted things are getting better by the day. Medicare chief Marilyn Tavenner said it's not the administration but insurers who are responsible for cancellation letters now reaching many of the estimated 14 million people who buy individual policies. And, officials said, people who get cancellation notices will be able to find better replacement plans, in some cases for less. The Associated Press, citing the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, reported in May that many carriers would opt to cancel policies this fall and issue new ones. Administratively that was seen as easier than changing existing plans to comply with the new law, which mandates coverage of more services and provides better financial protection against catastrophic illnesses. While the administration had ample warning of the cancellations, they could become another public relations debacle for President Barack Obama's signature legislation. This problem goes to the credibility of one of the president's earliest promises about the health care overhaul: You can keep your plan if you like it. LASSEN MEDICAL FLU SHOT CLINICS Red Bluff Location November 9th 9am-1pm 2450 Sister Mary Columba Drive Red Bluff, Ca 96080 527-0414 Lassenmedical.com www.lassenmedial.com US intel chief defends spying on friends as routine WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing lawmakers who suggested U.S. surveillance has gone too far, the national intelligence director on Tuesday defended spying on foreign allies as necessary and said such scrutiny of America's friends — and vice versa — is commonplace. He also said the collection of phone records that prompted outrage across the Atlantic actually was conducted with the help of European governments. Top intelligence officials testified that news reports that the National Security Agency had swept up millions of phone records in France, Spain and elsewhere were inaccurate and reflected a misunderstanding of ''metadata'' that was in fact collected by NATO allies and shared with the United States. The nation's post-Sept. 11 surveillance programs are coming under increased criticism at home and abroad, capped by recent revelations that the NSA monitored German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cellphone and those of up to 34 other world leaders. Those reports relied on documents provided by former NSA analyst Edward Snowden. Congressional leaders who have been staunch supporters of the NSA programs are now saying it is time for a close examination. The White House said Tuesday that President Barack Obama had ordered a full review of the programs and was considering changes. National Intelligence Director James Clapper defended the secret surveillance that sweeps up phone records and emails of millions of Americans as vital to protecting against terrorists. UN officials confirm polio outbreak in Syria DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The U.N. confirmed an outbreak of polio in Syria for the first time in over a decade on Tuesday, warning the disease threatens to spread among an estimated half-million children who have never been immunized because of the civil war. The grim finding added another layer of misery to a brutal conflict that has already killed more than 100,000 people and uprooted millions. The aid group Save the Children urged a ANNUAL SPARTAN HALL OF FAME BOOSTER FALL BONANZA Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013 Social Hour: Tri-Tip Dinner: 5:30pm 6:30pm Red Bluff Community Center Tickets: $20 (available from a Red Bluff Spartan Athlete or at Re/Max Top Properties or by emailing us at spartanboosters@sbcglabal.net) NEW THIS YEAR Red Bluff Spartan's Hall of Fame Honorees for 2013 Bob Grim - Male Athlete Kathy Long Brandt - Female Athlete Bill Jacobs - Coach Silent Auction and Raffle Prizes! 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Nearly all Syrian children were vaccinated against polio before the civil war began. WHO spokesman Oliver Rosenbauer said the U.N. agency was awaiting lab results on another 12 suspected cases, mostly children under 2. Beaten but not broken by Sandy NEW YORK (AP) — A year after Superstorm Sandy deluged coastal communities with seawater, many people still can't believe they're not back in their homes. Others are thankful for small victories in the long, arduous recovery process. Devastated residents on Tuesday recalled the help they got from strangers in the days and months after Sandy. Some have mostly recovered from the storm, while others are still homeless or living without heat. In one touching moment, mothers sang ''Happy birthday'' to their 1-year-old babies who were rescued from darkened hospitals at Sandy's peak. Sandy came ashore on Oct. 29, 2012, sending floodwaters pouring across the densely populated barrier islands of Long Island and the Jersey shore. In New York City, the storm surge hit nearly 14 feet, swamping the city's subway and commuter rail tunnels and knocking out power to the southern third of Manhattan.