More Americans opt for high-deductible health insurance plans
Rising costs lead to a nearly threefold increase in the number of workers covered by the policies since 2006. Health experts worry about consumers who forgo preventive care.
By Duke Helfand, Los Angeles Times
November 9, 2010
Looking to save money in a weak economy, Americans increasingly are turning to health insurance plans with low premiums and high deductibles – prompting doctors and health experts to worry that consumers may be skipping routine care that could head off serious ailments.Nationally, the number of workers with individual deductibles of at least $1,000 has nearly tripled over the last four years, reaching about 20 million, according to a recent survey of employers.
Some have pushed their deductibles as high as $10,000, and, to keep medical bills low, are forgoing colonoscopies, blood tests and other preventive procedures.
The five most dangerous countries for journalists
The brutal beating of Russian journalist Oleg Kashin outside his apartment building Nov. 6 draws renewed attention to the dangers that reporters face in many countries – including death, violence, imprisonment, exile, and threats to their families.
Ariel Zirulnick, Correspondent
5. MexicoMexico is becoming one of the most dangerous places for journalists to work because of the ongoing drug war between the Mexican authorities and drug traffickers. Some 22 journalists have been killed and dozens have disappeared, been kidnapped, or exiled since President Felipe Calderon took office in 2006 and declared war on the traffickers, according to a September 2010 report by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
USA
Tax Cut Timing Is Proving Problematic for Democrats
POLITICAL MEMO
By JACKIE CALMES
Published: November 8, 2010
WASHINGTON – When one party controls the White House and Congress, it controls the calendar for what gets done and when. So how is it that Democrats ended up in such a fix over what to do about the expiring Bush-era tax cuts?
That is what many Democrats are asking.By dint of calculation and miscalculation, after mixed messages and missed signals, President Obama and Congressional Democratic leaders delayed debate until before the midterm elections. They dared Republicans to fight for extending the tax cuts for the rich and, in so doing, “hold hostage” those for the middle class. But it was Democrats who blinked as their ranks splintered in the heat of a worsening electoral climate, and they delayed any vote until after the elections.
Some judges chastise banks over foreclosure paperwork
By Ariana Eunjung Cha
Washington Post Staff Writer
EAST PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – A year ago, Long Island Judge Jeffrey Spinner concluded that a mortgage company’s paperwork in a foreclosure case was so flawed and its behavior in negotiations with the borrower so “repugnant” that he erased the family’s $292,500 debt and gave the house back for free.
The judgment in favor of the homeowner, Diane Yano-Horoski, which is being appealed, has alarmed the nation’s biggest lenders, who say it could establish a dramatic new legal precedent and roil the nation’s foreclosure system.
Europe
Stockholm to investigate US embassy surveillance
Swedish prosecutor to look into alleged surveillance by embassy without Sweden’s knowledge
Associated Press
The Guardian, Tuesday 9 November 2010
A Swedish prosecutor is to investigate surveillance allegedly carried out by the US embassy in Stockholm without Sweden’s knowledge.Prosecutor Tomas Lindstrand said he would determine whether intelligence laws were violated by the US actions, including what officials described as photographing and gathering information about individuals in Sweden.
Swedish officials have said they knew the US embassy applied security measures in its immediate neighbourhood, but not that Swedish citizens were monitored. The embassy has denied the activities were secret.
Berlin excavation uncovers trove of sculptures confiscated by Nazis
The Irish Times – Tuesday, November 9, 2010
DEREK SCALLY in Berlin
ELEVEN SCULPTURES branded “degenerate” and confiscated by the Nazis were unveiled in Berlin yesterday, seven decades after they were presumed lost in the second World War.The sculptures, by artists such as Edwin Scharff and Karl Knappe, were unearthed in front of Berlin town hall during excavation work for an underground train line. After undergoing extensive cleaning, the works will go on display in Berlin’s Neues Museum this morning.
“Archaeology, as you can see, is always good for a surprise or two,” said Dr Hermann Parzinger, president of the Prussian Culture Foundation, which manages Berlin’s cultural institutions.
Middle East
Hariri’s moment of truth nears
By Sami Moubayed
DAMASCUS – The situation in Lebanon is on the verge of a major explosion as a political tug-of-war continues between the March 14 coalition headed by Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri and the opposition, headed by Hezbollah, over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).Both sides are struggling either to maintain – or cancel – the tribunal into the 2005 murder of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri. Two weeks ago, Hezbollah was able to stop Lebanon’s state financing of the United Nations-backed court in parliament, claiming it had become politicized and was being used to target the arms, future and reputation of the Lebanese resistance.
his was a natural outcome to a massive public relations campaign carried out by Hezbollah in an attempt to expose the STL as “an Israeli project”. The court indictments, due anytime between late 2010 and early 2011, are expected to include senior members of Hezbollah.
Israel permits new settlement homes
Interior ministry gives go-ahead for construction of more than a thousand new settler homes in occupied East Jerusalem.
Last Modified: 09 Nov 2010
Israel has given the go-ahead for the construction of more than one thousand new settler homes in occupied East Jerusalem.The Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee on Monday published details of a programme that allows 978 housing units to be built in Har Homa, an illegal Jewish settlement south of the city centre.
An additional 320 units are planned for Ramot, which also lies beyond the Green Line that virtually separates the eastern and western part of Jerusalem.
The move was announced as Benyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, visits the United States, where he met with Joe Biden, the US vice president, to discuss the peace process..
Asia
After 40,000 years, recognition for Aboriginal people beckons
By Kathy Marks in Sydney Tuesday, 9 November 2010
About 40,000 years after Aboriginal people settled in Australia, a referendum is to be held on whether to amend the constitution to recognise them as the country’s original inhabitants. The move, announced by Prime Minister Julia Gillard, follows her predecessor Kevin Rudd’s apology to the “Stolen Generations” of Aboriginal children forcibly removed from their families. It comes nearly 223 years after the First Fleet arrived in Sydney, heralding the colonisation of Australia by European settlers.
Refugees flee Burma after poll violence
The Irish Times – Tuesday, November 9, 2010
CLIFFORD COONAN in Beijing
THOUSANDS OF refugees from Burma have fled into Thailand after fighting between ethnic rebels and Burmese government forces at the border following Sunday’s election.The poll has been widely dismissed as a sham to boost the ruling military junta. Rights groups and commentators had widely predicted that the elections would increase conflict and instability in Burma, and on Sunday, rebels from the Karen ethnic group seized a police station and a post office in the border town of Myawaddy. At least 10 people were wounded on each side of the frontier in the fighting.
Africa
Deaths in Western Sahara camp raid
Raid by Moroccan forces on a Western Sahara protest camp leaves four dead and scores injured, on the eve of peace talks.
Aljazeera
At least four people have been killed and 70 injured in a raid by Moroccan forces on a protest camp in the disputed region of Western Sahara, sources on both rival sides have said.The Gdaim Izik camp, which houses 12,000 Saharawi refugess, had sprung up outside Laayoune, the main town in Western Sahara, four weeks ago, in protest against the deterioration of living conditions in the area.
The violence, which later spread to the streets of Laayoune itself, comes on the eve of talks between Morocco and the Polisario Front movement, which seeks independence for the Western Sahara, in the US aimed at ending the conflict over the region.Protestors, including women and children, said security forces attempting to shut down the camp used tear gas and beat them with batons.
Opposition closes ranks in Côte d’Ivoire run-off vote
ABIDJAN, CôTE D’IVOIRE
Opposition leaders in Côte d’Ivoire closed ranks on Sunday behind the remaining challenger to President Laurent Gbagbo in the presidential race, after efforts to force a recount of the first round failed.Former president Henri Konan Bedie, who came third in the first round and was thus eliminated from the run-off, on Sunday called on his supporters to vote for former prime minister Alassane Ouattara in the second-round vote.
In a surprise move late on Saturday, the Constitutional Council had announced definitive results from the first round of polling on October 31 that placed Gbagbo ahead.
Latin America
Haiti tests for cholera in Port-au-Prince
At least 120 people in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, are being tested for cholera, health officials say.
Doctors have told the BBC the disease is “clinically” present in the city, but there is no official confirmation.The health ministry says 544 people have died in Haiti’s latest cholera outbreak. About 8,000 are being treated in hospitals.
There have been fears cholera would reach the crowded capital since the outbreak began to the north in October.
The water-borne disease has already spread to half of Haiti’s 10 regions, and the number of those killed has risen by more than 100 in less than one week.Authorities feared the outbreak could worsen after Hurricane Tomas brought heavy rains last week which triggered mudslidesand flooding.