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Budget & health care. Obama Proposes $634 Billion Fund For Health Care "President Obama is proposing to begin a vast expansion of the U.S. health-care system by creating a $634 billion reserve fund over the next decade, launching an overhaul that most experts project will ultimately cost at least $1 trillion." Obama to Seek Higher Tax on Affluent to Pay for Health Care "President Obama will propose further tax increases on the affluent to help pay for his promise to make health care more accessible and affordable, calling for stricter limits on the benefits of itemized deductions taken by the wealthiest households." Obama plans 'down payment' on healthcare overhaul "Making good on populist rhetoric he has employed since he was a candidate, President Obama plans to begin paying for a healthcare overhaul with $634 billion in new taxes on wealthy Americans and by changing the way the government pays for some health services."
Economic threat. CIA Adds Economy To Threat Updates "The daily White House intelligence report that catalogs the top security threats to the nation has a grim new addition, reflecting the realities of the age: a daily update on the global financial crisis and its cascading effects on the stability of countries through the world." Obama begins getting daily CIA report on economic crisis "The CIA's role in producing the report underscores the level of anxiety within the administration over how rapidly the economic downturn is spreading, as well as its potential to hobble foreign governments and trigger instability overseas."
Church-state. City Can Reject Religious Display "The Supreme Court yesterday unanimously agreed that permanent monuments in public parks are a form of government speech and that a small town in Utah was within its rights to reject an offer from a little-known religious group to have its 'Seven Aphorisms' placed next to the Ten Commandments." Supreme Court rejects free-speech argument for 'Seven Aphorisms' display "The 1st Amendment's right to free speech does not require a Utah city to display a religious group's 'Seven Aphorisms' next to a monument featuring the Ten Commandments in a public park, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday."
Immigration. Review of Bellingham immigration raid ordered by Napolitano "Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has ordered a review of a Tuesday, Feb. 24, raid at Yamato Engine Specialists in Bellingham that resulted in the arrests of 28 workers believed to be in the country illegally." Supreme Court Hears Challenge to Identity-Theft Law in Immigration Cases "A federal identity-theft law that has become a favorite tool of the government in immigration prosecutions appeared imperiled on Wednesday after the Supreme Court heard arguments about it." Bill offers leeway on deportations "U.S. Rep. José Serrano, D-N.Y., asked for the study and is using its findings to push his bill, the Child Citizen Protection Act, which would allow immigration judges to use discretion and halt the deportation of a parent of a child who is a U.S. citizen."
Death penalty. O'Malley rallies against death penalty "Gov. Martin O'Malley took his campaign against Maryland's death penalty to the streets Wednesday, praying and marching with clergy in opposition to a punishment he called 'expensive, outdated and utterly ineffective.'"
Canadian economy. Flaherty warns of potential stimulus stumbles "Finance Minister Jim Flaherty acknowledged that Ottawa will foul up as it doles out $40-billion of stimulus spending, but said errors are acceptable because it's crucial to roll out cash quickly to counter the economic downturn."
Faith in public life-U.K. Some British Christians feel oppressed in the public square "High-profile cases involving Bible-sharing and prayer have raised concerns. But many say that reining in certain expressions of faith is a necessary compromise in a multicultural society."
Indigenous people-Canadian oil. Indigenous people in legal challenge against oil firms over tar sand project "British oil firms are facing a legal battle over exploitation of the huge Canadian tar sand fields with indigenous people who claim the industry is ruining their traditional lands."
Iran. Obama still crafting Iran policy "The board of governors of the world's nuclear watchdog meets next week in Vienna, Austria, to discuss Iran, but the Obama administration may not have much to say." Iran's reformers put hope in 'New Khatami' "Beleaguered reformers in Iran are repackaging their once-popular former president Mohamad Khatami to challenge the right-wing grip on politics in June elections." Iran says there will be no slowdown in its nuclear plan and urges U.S. to 'face reality' "Iran yesterday denied having slowed down its nuclear activities and said it planned to install 50,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium over the next five years after staging a dummy run of its Bushehr reactor, built with Russian help."
Israel-Palestine. U.S. envoy to huddle with Israel's Netanyahu, discuss opposing views on peacemaking "The special U.S. envoy tasked with re-energizing stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians met Thursday with Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu, a vocal opponent of the negotiations." Hamas and Fatah meet in Egypt "Fatah and Hamas, the rival Palestinian groups, have held unofficial meetings in Cairo, Egypt's capital, ahead of a reconciliation conference scheduled for Thursday this week."
Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, U.S. mounts offensive in Taliban haven "Hundreds of U.S. troops pushed into a key Taliban stronghold Wednesday in a major operation to stop the insurgents from infiltrating the Afghan capital from the south and clear the way for the first sustained international aid effort in this remote valley." U.S. Plans Afghan Effort to Thwart Road Bombs "As part of its buildup in Afghanistan, the Pentagon plans to deploy billions of dollars in heavily armored vehicles, spy planes, jamming technology and even experimental ground-penetrating radar to defend troops from increasingly lethal roadside bombs."
Pakistan-politics. Pakistan court bans Nawaz Sharif from elective office "Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif may well be the most popular politician in Pakistan. So the Supreme Court's decision Wednesday banning him from holding elective office has set the stage for what could be a bitter showdown between his backers and the already shaky government of President Asif Ali Zardari." Pakistan's Sharif urges protests "Nawaz Sharif, a former Pakistani prime minister and leader of the biggest opposition party, has urged people to join him in what is expected to be a large anti-government rally next month by lawyers."
Pakistan-war. C.I.A. Pakistan Campaign Is Working, Director Says "Leon E. Panetta, the new director of the Central Intelligence Agency, said Wednesday that the agency's campaign against militants in Pakistan's tribal areas was the 'most effective weapon' the Obama administration had to combat Al Qaeda's top leadership." Drone Attacks Inside Pakistan Will Continue, CIA Chief Says; Panetta Calls Strikes 'Successful' at Disrupting Insurgents "CIA Director Leon Panetta said yesterday that U.S. aerial attacks against al-Qaeda and other extremist strongholds inside Pakistan would continue, despite concerns about a popular Pakistani backlash."
Iraq. Obama's Iraq Plan Has December Elections as Turning Point for Pullout "President Obama's planned Iraq troop drawdown would leave the bulk of American forces in place until early next year while some combat units would remain in place in new roles even beyond a declared August 2010 target for withdrawal." Falling Revenues Threaten Rebuilding and Stability in Iraq "In few nations around the globe are the consequences of the financial crisis as potentially sobering as they are in Iraq. Both oil revenues and American financial support have plummeted just as the country has the chance to take advantage of its increasing stability to improve basic services and upgrade its ruined infrastructure."
Tibet. Defiant Tibetans mark New Year with mourning "Encouraged by a message of admiration from the Dalai Lama, many Tibetans across China yesterday marked their new year in quiet defiance and mourning a year after a violent outburst of anti-Chinese feeling."
Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe's Rival Leaders Deploy Their Chess Pieces, With Political Power the Prize "Two weeks after Zimbabwe's opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, was sworn in as prime minister and joined President Robert Mugabe in governing, the archrivals are openly matching wits and wiles in a struggle to dominate the political landscape of a country whose people endure hunger, cholera and political repression." Zimbabwe seeks urgent African aid "Zimbabwe asks southern African countries for $2bn (£1.4bn) to save its collapsed economy, says a South African minister."
Editorial. Pasta is not a weapon (Haaretz) "The experience from the war in Lebanon and the territories should have taught the decision makers that collective punishment of the civilian population is not merely not moral, but also harmful. The residents do not turn their anger against Hamas but rather against those who prevent the food from reaching their children..."
Opinion. Cheerful givers, grumpy receivers (Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune) "God loves a cheerful giver, the Bible says, but what are we to make of grumpy receivers? Several Republican governors, mostly in the South, have roundly attacked President Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan." On Iran, an Apostle of Patience (David Ignatius, Washington Post) "If you ask White House officials whom President Obama listens to about Iran, they mention an interesting name -- Lee Hamilton, the former congressman from Indiana who co-chaired the 2006 Iraq Study Group that urged engagement with the Iranian regime." Africa's 'Obama' School (Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times) "Soon afterward, the refugees renamed the School No. 1 in this dusty camp the Obama School. It's a pathetic building of mud bricks with a tin roof, and the windows are holes in the walls, but it's caulked with hope that President Obama may help end the long slaughter and instability in Sudan."
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