Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/24909
Thursday, February 10, 2011 – Daily News – 3B WORLD BRIEFING Strikes in Egypt after protests CAIRO (AP) — Thousands of workers went on strike Wednesday across Egypt, adding a new dimension to the uprising as public rage turned to the vast wealth President Hosni Mubarak’s family reportedly amassed while close to half the country struggled near the poverty line. Protests calling for Mubarak’s ouster have been spreading since Tuesday out- side of Cairo’s Tahrir Square, where demonstrators have been concentrated for the past two weeks. On Wednesday, protest- ers also gathered at parliament, the Cabinet and the Health Min- istry buildings, all a few blocks from the square, and blocked Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq from his office. Strikes erupted in a breadth of sectors — among railway and bus workers, state electrici- ty staff and service technicians at the Suez Canal, in factories manufacturing textiles, steel and beverages and at least one hospital. In one of the flashpoints of unrest Wednesday, some 8,000 protesters, mainly farmers, set barricades of flaming palm trees in the southern province of Assiut. They blocked the main highway and railway to Cairo to complain of bread shortages. They then drove off the gover- nor by pelting his van with stones. Hundreds of slum dwellers in the Suez Canal city of Port Said set fire to part of the gov- ernor’s headquarters in anger over lack of housing. Giffords speaking more 1 month after shooting PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords spoke for the first time since she was shot in the forehead, her spokesman said Wednesday, yet another significant milestone in cuts in hundreds of others, tar- geting education and the envi- ronment, food safety and law enforcement. In a blunt challenge to Presi- dent Barack Obama, the plan calls for eliminating a high- speed rail program the adminis- tration has ticketed for a multi- billion-dollar expansion. It also recommends ending federal sup- port for the Corporation for Pub- lic Broadcasting, family plan- ning services and AmeriCorps. The government’s principal nutrition program for pregnant women would be cut 6 percent below last year’s level. her recovery from a traumatic brain injury. Giffords first spoke within the past few days and is speak- ing ‘‘more and more,’’ spokesman C.J. Karamargin said Wednesday. He didn’t know what her first words were, but said that at breakfast one morning she asked for toast. ‘‘She’s working very hard and it’s paying off,’’ he told The Associated Press. ‘‘We’re elated at this. We always knew Gabby is a fighter and that she’s not going to let this thing win. And you know, every day is proof of that.’’ Six people, including a 9- year-old girl and a federal judge, were killed in the attack outside a grocery store where Giffords was meeting with con- stituents. Thirteen people, including Giffords, were injured. Other news organizations, including Politico, earlier reported that Giffords had asked for toast and was able to speak. Republicans outline sweeping cuts WASHINGTON (AP) — Eager to take a quick, $35 bil- lion bite out of government, House Republicans called for termination of at least 60 feder- al programs Wednesday and The proposal marks an initial attempt by newly empowered Republicans to cut spending and reduce the size of the feder- al government. Yet it sets the stage for weeks of political combat as Democrats seek to blunt the cuts while tea party- backed conservatives demand more of them. Republicans are ‘‘keeping our pledge to the American people that we will cut spend- ing,’’ said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, after details were outlined for the rank and file at a closed-door meeting. Blizzard howls through, drops 2 feet of snow OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Another powerful blizzard howled through the nation’s midsection Wednesday, piling up to 2 feet of new snow on parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas still struggling to clean up from last week’s epic storm. The blowing snow brought traffic to a halt, and the National Guard was sum- moned to rescue stranded motorists. Subzero wind chills forced ranchers to work desperately to protect their herds. As the storm barreled out of the Plains, it took aim at the Deep South, which was expected to get up to five inches of snow. At least two traffic deaths were blamed on the system. About 200 truck drivers sought shelter at a truck stop at the intersection of Inter- state 44 and U.S. Highway 69, about 60 miles northeast of Tulsa. ‘‘We have a 20-acre park- ing lot,’’ said owner Katrina Franks. ‘‘But it’s just utter chaos trying to get them start- ed and keep them moving.’’ Independence of conservatives catch GOP leaders off guard WASHINGTON (AP) — The clout of tea party advo- cates and other hard-line con- servatives in Congress has caught top Republicans by surprise, raising questions about whether GOP leaders can impose enough discipline in their House majority to pass tough measures, such as raising the debt ceiling. Within 24 hours this week, House Speaker John Boehn- er’s team had to pull a trade bill from the chamber floor, suffered an embarrassing set- back on a USA Patriot Act vote, and failed to recoup money paid to the United Nations. And in electoral politics, the tea party’s threat to Republican incumbents came more into focus. Three GOP senators up for re-election in 2012 could be looking at challenges for their party nominations. One of them, five-term Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, crossed town Tuesday to tell the tea party’s national town hall that he has support- ed its budget-balancing, smaller-government agenda for decades. Democrats and Republi- cans said the events show that GOP leaders have yet to gauge the full extent of liber- tarianism and independence in their newly swollen ranks. Republicans gained control of the House thanks to sweep- ing victories last fall, many involving tea party loyalists. ‘‘If they’re divided on an issue like the Patriot Act, it’s a bad omen for things to come regarding unity on their side,’’ said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. ‘‘It’s only going to get tougher for them when it comes to budget issues.’’ Strokes rising among young LOS ANGELES (AP) — Strokes are rising dramatically among young and middle-aged Americans while dropping in older people, a sign that the obesity epidemic may be start- ing to reshape the age burden of the disease. The numbers, reported Wednesday at an American Stroke Association conference, come from the first large nationwide study of stroke hospitalizations by age. Gov- ernment researchers compared hospitalizations in 1994 and 1995 with ones in 2006 and 2007. The sharpest increase — 51 percent — was among men 15 through 34. Strokes rose among women in this age group, too, but not as fast — 17 percent. ‘‘It’s definitely alarming,’’ said Dr. Ralph Sacco, Ameri- can Heart Association presi- dent and a neurologist at the University of Miami. ‘‘We have worried for a while that the increased prevalence of obesity in children and young adults may take its toll in car- diovascular disease and stroke,’’ and that appears to be happening, he said. Stroke still takes its highest toll on older people. For those over 65, there were nearly 300 stroke cases among 10,000 hospitalizations in the more recent period studied. For males 15 to 34, there were about 15 stroke cases per 10,000, and for girls and women in that age group there were about 4 per 10,000. 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