VA to reopen Gulf War vets’ files
By KIMBERLY HEFLING, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON – The Veterans Affairs Department will re-examine the disability claims of what could be thousands of Gulf War veterans suffering from ailments they blame on their war service, the first step toward potentially compensating them nearly two decades after the war ended.
VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said the decision is part of a “fresh, bold look” his department is taking to help veterans who have what’s commonly called “Gulf War illness” and have long felt the government did little to help them. The VA says it also plans to improve training for medical staff who work with Gulf War vets, to make sure they do not simply tell vets that their symptoms are imaginary – as has happened to many over the years.
“I’m hoping they’ll be enthused by the fact that this … challenges all the assumptions that have been there for 20 years,” Shinseki told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview.
After Canadian gold, cigars and champagne
The Associated Press
Friday, February 26, 2010; 2:34 AM
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The women of the Canadian hockey team politely accepted their gold medals and waved to an adoring crowd. And then the real celebration began.More than half an hour after they beat the United States 2-0 on Thursday, the players came back from the locker room and staged a party on ice – swigging from bottles of champagne, guzzling beer and smoking cigars.
In a sport that Canada invented, there was never an option besides gold, and with it finally in hand, the home team let loose.
Meghan Agosta and Marie-Philip Poulin posed wearing goofy grins. Rebecca Johnston actually tried to drive the ice-resurfacing machine. Haley Irwin poured champagne into the mouth of Tessa Bonhomme, gold medals swinging from both their necks.
USA
At health-care summit, Obama tells Republicans he’s eager to move ahead
By Shailagh Murray and Anne E. Kornblut
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 26, 2010
President Obama declared Thursday that the time for debate over health-care reform has come to an end, closing an unusual seven-hour summit with congressional leaders by sending a clear message that Democrats will move forward to pass major legislation with or without Republican support.
Democratic leaders face a heavy lift in reviving their stalled bill, a process that would involve intricate parliamentary maneuvering and carries no guarantee of success. But Obama signaled that if meaningful GOP cooperation does not materialize in the weeks ahead, he is ready to proceed without bipartisan support and risk the political consequences.
Toyota crisis puts spotlight on auto electronics
Cars of today are essentially a computer on wheels – and that’s a problem
Associated Press
DETROIT – Investigations into whatever is lurking behind Toyota’s crisis of quality have put a spotlight on all that can go wrong with auto electronics – the growing number of wires, sensors and computer chips that have profoundly changed the automobile in the last decade.Though no smoking circuit has been found so far, a picture is emerging that shows the automobile industry’s technology is racing ahead of quality-control testing and regulators. It’s troubling not only for Toyota owners but for drivers of any modern car that’s basically a computer on wheels.
Europe
Now Greece heads for junk status as crisis intensifies
EU inspectors doubt that Athens will be able to meet targets to cut its deficit
By Sean O’Grady, Economics Editor Friday, 26 February 2010
The crisis of confidence in Greece’s ability to tame its budget deficit deepened yesterday as Greek government sources confirmed that European Union inspectors now in Athens expect the country to miss its targets for deficit reduction.Surrounded by more mass protests against the Papandreou government’s austerity programme, EU officials believe that Greece’s contracting economy and rising debt costs will make it difficult for Greece to meet its obligations, according to Greek sources. It must roll over €25bn (£22bn) of debt in April and May.
George Papandreou was, in effect, placed out “on report” by fellow EU leaders at their last summit in Brussels, and he will be required to report monthly on his country’s progress. Such tight supervision is being demanded as the price for maintaining Greek membership of the euro and averting a potentially fatal crisis in the eurozone.
Court throws out David Mills bribery, clearing way for Silvio Berlusconi reprieve
From The Times
February 26, 2010
Richard Owen, Rome
Italy’s top court threw out a case against the British lawyer convicted of taking a bribe from Silvio Berlusconi, a verdict that could kill charges against the Italian Prime Minister in a related case.The ruling by the nine-man Court of Cassation came after a prosecutor had told judges that the charges against David Mills should be dropped under Italy’s statute of limitations because too much time had elapsed since the alleged bribe was paid. However, the court ordered Mr Mills to pay €250,000 (£220,000) to the Italian state for “damaging” its image.
Middle East
Turkish leaders meet to dispel coup plot tensions
Turkish leaders met to dispel coup plot tensions after the country increased the number of senior military officers charged with planning a coup in 2003 to 20.
By Scott Peterson Staff writer / February 25, 2010
Istanbul, Turkey
The three most powerful men in Turkey met on Thursday in a bid to defuse political tensions, as the Islamic-leaning government increased to 20 the number of top-level military figures charged with plotting to topple the government.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met for three hours with Gen. Ilker Basbug-head of the once-untouchable military in Turkey-and with President Abdullah Gul, in the aftermath of the arrests of 50 senior sitting and retired military officers accused of planning in 2003 to overthrow Mr. Erdogan’s months-old government.The arrests and accusations that elements within the Turkish military had aimed to violently provoke the government’s downfall have shaken Turkey’s political establishment and further widened the chasm between civilian and military leaders.
Haaretz probe: Dubai assassins’ passport photos were doctored
26/02/2010
By Avi Issacharoff, Danna Harman and Liel Kyzer
The passport photographs of the agents who assassinated Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai were doctored so the agents would not be identified, a Haaretz probe has discovered.The discovery casts doubt on claims that the espionage agency that carried out last month’s hit on the senior Hamas operative committed grave errors.
Various features of the people in the photographs, such as eye color or the line of a lip, were changed – slightly enough so as not arouse suspicion at passport control, but still enough that the real agent could not be recognized.
According to the Dubai police, only a few of the agents were caught on security cameras without their disguises. However, it had been assumed until now that publication of the photos of the 26 agents had blown their cover. Now it appears that the Dubai police still do not have viable information about their real appearance.Mabhouh was known for his disguises and for using various passports to run weapons into the Gaza Strip, according to an associate who lived in Gaza and later spent two years abroad with Mabhouh.
Asia
Suicide bombers strike in heart of Kabul
Reuters
Friday, 26 February 2010
Foreigners were among at least nine people killed and 18 wounded in Taliban attacks in Kabul today, officials said, the latest audacious assault in the Afghan capital despite a renewed push against the insurgents.The attack came as Nato-led foreign troops and Afghan forces press ahead with an offensive against the Taliban in their stronghold in southern Helmand province, a key element of Washington’s new strategy to put down a growing insurgency.
Police said a suicide bomber blew himself up near the entrance to Kabul’s biggest shopping centre soon after daybreak. At least two blasts and gunfire were reported in the area, which includes a hotel, guest house and some government buildings.
Thailand on edge for Thaksin Shinawatra ‘Judgement Day’
From Times Online
February 26, 2010
Sian Powell in Bangkok
Thailand will be glued to radio, television and internet news sources today to listen to a crucial verdict concerning the seized assets of exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.The increasingly shrill Thai media have been counting down to the moment later today when Supreme Court judges will hand down their decision on whether Mr Thaksin has a right to any of the 76 billion baht (nearly £1.5 billion) that has been frozen in a series of bank accounts since shortly after he was ousted in a military coup in 2006.
Dubbed “Judgement Day” by local media, the looming verdict has prompted the government to deploy tens of thousands of security forces across the country amid warnings of potential violence by Thaksin’s supporters.
Latin America
Mexico puts its drug suspects on parade
Critics of the media events say human rights are also on the line, along with the country’s efforts to establish the rule of law. But Mexico wants to show victories in its drug war.
By Ken Ellingwood
February 26, 2010
Reporting from Mexico City – The manhunt was over. Raydel “Crutches” Lopez Uriarte, the alleged top enforcer for a vicious Tijuana drug gang that dissolved victims in lye, would now have to face justice.First, though, he would have to face the press.
A day after his arrest, Lopez found himself standing woodenly with his hands cuffed behind him as news photographers snapped away at him and three others arrested in the same raid.
The 30-year-old Lopez, one of the most dreaded figures on the border, had a trim goatee and combed hair, and wore a sensible checkered shirt and dark jeans that looked like they were meant for someone half a head taller. He appeared more annoyed than menacing, like a sullen student summoned for an unwelcome yearbook picture.