Kim Jong Il Said to Make First Public Appearance Since Stroke Speculation Oct 5, 2008
Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) -- North Korea's reclusive leader watched a university soccer match, the state-run Korea Central News Agency said yesterday, in the first report of a public appearance by Kim since speculation arose that he had suffered a stroke. Kim, 66, who may have had surgery after suffering from cerebral hemorrhaging in August, according to South Korean and U.S. intelligence officials, ``enjoyed a student football match on the occasion of the 62nd anniversary of Kim Il Sung University,''... (Bloomberg -- Asia)
Bailout's Passed - Now What? Oct 5, 2008
"The consensus of economists that I've talked to are saying we are now at the beginning of what is probably going to be a deep recession for the next six months," said CBS News correspondent Anthony Mason ... After the climatic House vote on Friday, he said aides already were working out details and lining up advisers from outside the government so the money could start flowing ... "Congress took a big step in the direction of at least giving us the tools necessary to bring some stability into... (CBS News)
Dire economy steering Mich. voters to Obama Oct 5, 2008
Pledge to aid auto industry is taking hold. John McCain and Barack Obama have campaigned in Michigan in the past month, but last week McCain's camp said it will effectively cede the state to Obama ... McCain adviser Greg Strimple said Thursday that Michigan looked the "worst" of the battlegrounds, which made it a natural one to "come off the list.". (Boston Globe)
Up, Up, and Away! Oct 5, 2008
They ran campaigns with catchy slogans ("KnowHow2Go") to persuade young people and their parents that, with the right combination of loans and other aid, it's still possible to pay the skyrocketing price of college ... Asked for detailed examples of what they're doing to hold down costs, BU did not respond, while BC said it was reviewing its programs and courses with an eye toward eliminating some that are redundant - though it couldn't yet say which ones ... Former BU president Jon Westling,... (Boston Globe)
Zimbabwe unity cabinet talks fail Oct 5, 2008
Both sides said they would meet early next week to resume negotiations. A spokesman for Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said the discussions had been "frank and realistic" but that negotiations remained deadlocked ... Mr Mugabe's spokesman, George Charamba, said differences remained over who should hold the finance and home affairs portfolios. (BBC News)
Kim Jong-il 'at football match' Oct 5, 2008
Mr Kim attended a student football match in Pyongyang, state media said ... US and South Korean officials said he had suffered a stroke and undergone brain surgery ... North Korea agreed last year to give up its nuclear programme in return for aid and diplomatic concessions but the deal has floundered in recent months. (BBC News)
Bush warns challenges remain Oct 5, 2008
The president said it would take "time and determined effort to get through this difficult period" ... Mr Bush welcomed the approval of the bill, which he said was "essential to helping America's economy weather the financial crisis" ... He said he believed in intervention only when it was necessary but that "in this situation, action is clearly necessary". (BBC News -- Americas)
Disparity in Road Home distribution raises questions Oct 5, 2008
"This is discrimination based on the pre-storm value of a house," said Johnson, whose company serves mostly minority customers ... Looking solely at the average amount of Road Home grants by neighborhood also overlooks an important factor: The amount of money those homeowners originally paid to purchase homes in the city's more expensive locales ... "It's the upper-priced homes that had the biggest gaps in protection," said Arthur Sterbcow, president of the Latter real estate firm and someone... (Yahoo News -- Tropical Storms and Hurricanes)
Two men injured under trailer Oct 5, 2008
One man was able to get himself out from under the trailer before emergency teams arrived, but the second man was stuck and had to be dug out, Sycamore Fire Lt. Todd Turner said Saturday at the scene. We had to tunnel our way through the ground to get to him, and pulled him out, Turner said ... Crews from the DeKalb Fire Department stayed on the scene to stabilize the trailer, Sycamore Fire Chief Bill Riddle said at the scene. (DeKalb Daily Chronicle, IL)
Organic idea not taking off as planned Oct 5, 2008
Even though he couldn't land it in Woodbury County, he said, there'd be spillover benefits for the Siouxland organic movement ... "There is nothing wrong with doing organics," Gard said ... In March 2005, brand new on the job, Marqusee said he planned to hit rural Woodbury County coffee shops to find out what types of business citizens wanted the county to pursue. (Sioux City Journal, IO)
Program helps keep abusers on the straight and narrow Oct 5, 2008
The Anchorage Domestic Violence Prevention Project was initiated in 2006 by the Municipality of Anchorage Department of Health and Human Services in partnership with APD, Department of Law, Information ology Department, State Department of Public Safety, and Abused Women's Aid In Crisis Inc. (AWAIC), the local women's shelter. This project has two objectives: to hold offenders more accountable, and to increase victim safety. (Anchorage Daily News)
Mars rover finds evidence of water Oct 5, 2008
The find has surprised and delighted researchers, who said it is among the most significant discoveries made by Spirit since it landed on Mars in January 2003 ... Steve Squyres of Cornell University in New York state, who leads the rover team, said: You could hear people gasp in astonishment ... Minerals of such purity require water to form, and one possible explanation is that it was laid down when volcanic acidic vapours interacted with water at the surface. (Yahoo News -- Mars Exploration)
Guatemala rights scientist honoured Oct 5, 2008
"We look for documents - anything that can aid in identification; we search for the graves, we excavate them, and exhume the remains. Then everything is taken to the laboratory for analysis.". From the remains, Mr Peccerelli's team tries to construct a picture of what happened at the time of death. (Yahoo News -- Guatemala)
Buying Eco-friendly Cabinets Brings Environmental Responsibility Closer to Home Oct 5, 2008
On top of conserving resources, these practices can reduce the emission of pollutants and greenhouse gases, and aid in reducing landfills. You may also want to consider whether the manufacturer is involved in its community and is doing its part to educate others about sound environmental practices. (Pekin Times, IL)
Concerns aired over trailer park safety (8) Oct 5, 2008
After taking a tour of Benson last week, officials of the Arizona Association of Manufactured Homes Owners said they are concerned about safety issues and whether or not tenants' rights are being violated. Ruben Montalvo, the District 4 Director of AAMHO, said they don't come to an area unless they are invited, and they received that invitation from Benson resident Niles Hansen ... Montalvo said after being invited to look into the matter, he and partner Constance O'Brien toured all the... (Benson San Pedro Valley News Sun, AZ)
Torture complaint filed against British agent Oct 5, 2008
A Greek lawyer said yesterday he had filed a criminal complaint against nine intelligence agents, including a Briton, for the alleged detention and torture of Pakistani immigrants in Greece after the July 7 London bombings. Frangiskos Ragoussis filed a complaint on Tuesday against the Briton and eight Greek agents. (Yahoo News -- Greece)
Cholera-hit Indians 'face hunger' Oct 5, 2008
They said they had seen no rice since last year ... Aid workers say years of neglect have helped fuel the spread of the disease ... Bratindi Jenna, ActionAid. (Yahoo News -- India)
County will discuss 2-1-1 non emergency service Oct 5, 2008
The service will be free to county residents, Chris Keathley, Sequoyah County Emergency Management director, said Monday ... The 2-1-1 system is a program of the Community Service Council of Greater Tulsa, and receives support from other agencies, Keathley said, including the Oklahoma Department of Human Services and the United Way ... The 2-1-1 system, he said, would help him as emergency management director, as much as it would help county residents. (Sallisaw Sequoyah County Times, OK)
Rejected by junta, US aid ships sail from Burma Oct 5, 2008
Now four US warships will sail away with their cargo of aid still aboard after the military junta repeatedly rejected their offers of help ... Admiral Timothy Keating, commander of US Pacific Command, said: It is time for the USS Essex group to move on to its next mission ... Aid agencies say the death toll could be much higher. (Yahoo News -- Myanmar)
Myanmar Aid Workers Say Delta Needs Are `Critical' Oct 5, 2008
May 30 (Bloomberg) -- Myanmar's southern is in ``critical'' need of aid after this month's cyclone, and access for international teams trying to help 2. 4 million survivors is slow, relief workers said ... We have seen an improvement in terms of access to the delta'' with a small number of workers reaching the area, Veronique Terasse of Without Borders said yesterday in Bangkok, according to the United Nations' IRIN news. (Yahoo News -- Myanmar)
Talk of the Town: Let’s hear it for the girls! Oct 5, 2008
Cozette informed me that four-time Grammy winner Olivia Newton-John has joined forces with Curves, the world s largest fitness franchise for women, to launch an international campaign to distribute one million units of the Liv Aid, a breast self-exam aid that assists women to exercise breast self-exams correctly ... With the wonderful support of Curves, an organization whose mission statement is strengthening women, I hope that this campaign will be the beginning to have the Liv Aid available to... (Green Valley News & Sun, AZ)
* End of an era and into the unknown Oct 5, 2008
In such a domestic situation, North Koreas leaders may adopt more hostile policies to obtain economic aid from both South Korea and the US.. Recently, South Korea made it clear that it would continue to engage North Korea, but in a more principled way than previous administrations. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
Home delivery pharmacies seen to boost generic use Oct 5, 2008
Express Scripts, a pharmacy benefit manager that has a home delivery prescription drug business, said its study showed that a letter alerting consumers to the availability of a cheaper alternative led to significantly greater generic use among those who the utilized home delivery services. The study involved the popular sleep aid Ambien, sold by Sanofi-Aventis, after a cheaper generic version sold as zolpidem became available last year ... "Financial incentives are important but not enough to... (Yahoo News -- Pharmaceutical Industry News)
Obama’s plan is better Oct 5, 2008
so sad wrote on Oct 3, 2008 7:47 AM:" I get e-mails all the time that turn out to be a bunch of bull. If anybody belives every e-mail they get then they need to sign up for some of these UK money offers they e-mail people. They send you an e-mail saying you have won thousands of UK dollars and all you have to do is put your information in there and call them and receive your money. That's bull. Nobody should belive every e-mail they get especially videos that can be doctored up to appear the way... (Rockingham Daily Journal, NC)
Thousands displaced in the DRC Oct 5, 2008
Kakule Kambale of ANAMAD, a local ActionAid partner organisation, said: "The bombs were coming from the hill. They destroyed our office. About 15 women from ANAMAD were hit by stray bullets." ... "With this heavy fighting, we fully expect a high number of rape victims to turn up at the centre once the situation has quietened down," a doctor at the hospital said ... ActionAid has highlighted an urgent need for funds to provide immediate aid to the thousands of new Internally Displaced Persons... (AlertNet)
LETTERS: NCT, Oct. 4, 2008 Oct 5, 2008
The green shirts they wore said "Save Our State Parks." ... But the issue Dems miss by a mile is the fact that they laid the foundation for this mess in an effort to be "inclusive." Blathering leftists blame everything on conservatives if they were honest, they would acknowledge that social engineering is dangerous ... chuck wrote on Oct 4, 2008 9:25 AM:The news is reporting that the push to register felons to vote could aid Obama. (North County Times)
Blindness: Rests uneasily between art and thriller Oct 5, 2008
As he sits, thoroughly panicked, people come to his aid. McKellar, playing a good Samaritan, comes to assist the blind man (Yusuke Iseya), offering to drive him home. (Toronto Star)
Empowering the deaf Oct 5, 2008
Some deaf children may be over-protected at home and there is a need to expose them, said Wan ... The workshops include financial planning for senior citizens, Social Security Organisation (Socso) benefits, employer and employee expectations, workers rights, employment support, taxation, insurance, health and wellness, AIDS awareness and menopause ... Professionals from government departments like the Inland Revenue Board and health organisations conduct these workshops with the aid of a sign... (The Star Online, Malaysia)
Blacks flock to Ga. voter rolls Oct 5, 2008
The GAO confirmed Ohio was stolen in 2004 and Diebold s CEO said it would happen long before ... NOW WHAT IF WE SAID WHITE PEOPLE WOULD VOTE FOR McCAIN NO MATTER HOW SIMPLE PALIN IS ... What if McCain were still married to the first woman he said I do to. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
HH helps Mary fulfil dream Oct 5, 2008
HH came to her aid when the Sungai Buloh Indian Association made known her plight to its national director for Malaysia Dr Nestor M. Pestelos ... I did not have the money to build it and had to live with my sisters and brothers, said Mary, who is single and the last among her siblings to build a house on the land her father gave ... Mary said her family members had also volunteered to build the house next to their house where she currently lives. (The Star Online, Malaysia -- News)
Pellet shooting a random attack: police Oct 5, 2008
A passing motorist stopped to give aid and all three were treated for their injuries at Gold Coast Hospital and have since been released ... He said the attack, in a residential area on a family taking a walk before dinner, was very concerning ... "We're going to investigate this round the clock until we get a lead," Snr Sgt Gray said. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
Lawsuits may aid Hispanic voters Oct 5, 2008
The San Francisco-based advocacy group is focused on the Valley because Hispanics are a majority in the area but have low representation on public boards, said legal director Robert Rubin. "At-large elections have long shut out the Latino community," he said ... White voters control elections because many minorities don't vote, aren't registered or are too young, Rubin said. (Fresno Bee -- Local)
Tiny village hits El Gordo lottery jackpot Oct 5, 2008
"I don't know what everybody is going to do with it," said Mayor Jos Mara Garca, who admitted to being several hundred thousand euros richer after the prize draw ... That number pays out 15,000 times the money paid for shares in it, meaning that most of those holding the winning number will have won 300,000 for a 20 share ... Some of the prize money went to the eastern resort town of Benidorm, where lottery officials said British tourists could be among the winners. (Yahoo News -- Gambling & Lottery)
Peru quake hit rural areas hard Oct 5, 2008
Everyone is pitching in to help out, said Victor Ramirez, a village elder in this isolated agricultural hamlet ... From the beginning, there was a lot of attention on Pisco, but as humanitarian teams have gotten out there we have begun to see the broad scope of the damage throughout the region, said Allen Clinton of CARE, a U.S.-based group among the dozens of aid organizations pitching in ... More than 1,000 schools also suffered serious damage, the government said, leaving tens of thousands of... (Yahoo News -- Peru)
Quake aid has pro-Chavez message Oct 5, 2008
One has to ask who is behind this, President Alan Garcia said after a Lima newspaper reported that the polemical tins were being distributed in the quake-ravaged region south of the capital ... The Venezuelan ambassador to Peru denied his government was to blame and said the whole affair was probably part of a dirty-tricks campaign to discredit the fiery socialist leader ... This is a damaging manipulation, a vile manipulation because Venezuela has brought humanitarian aid, not party politics,... (Yahoo News -- Peru)
Post-quake Peru runs out of tents Oct 5, 2008
Aid agencies said many survivors in the Ica region were living on the streets in unhygienic conditions, and were desperately in need of basic supplies. French agency Medecins San Frontieres said it was as if the earthquake had struck just a day before ... Peru's civil defence agency said it desperately needed at least 40,000 further tents, and that its emergency stock of tents had been almost used up during a recent cold snap. (Yahoo News -- Peru)
Cash guarantees for banks is a no-brainer Oct 5, 2008
Crucially, forcing the banks to pay a fee for their own rescue allows the state to argue cogently in Brussels that the rescue plan is not state aid. There has been much media comment about the huge exposure involved in the bailout but Cowen and Lenihan figured that anyone with an ounce of intelligence could see that the 400 billion would never equal the net cost of the rescue, unless the asset base of the six banks currently in excess of 500 billion proves to be entirely worthless. (Times Online)
World's Oldest Leisure Activity May Hold Key to Modern Health Oct 5, 2008
The very qualities that make sex so healthful can aid arousal and enhance mood. Viapren, Pharmazonelabs' successful aid, uses a fast-dissolving edible film strip to deliver a euphoric stimulant that acts on brain chemicals typically related to relaxation and positive feelings. (Canton Daily Ledger, IL)
Volunteers Fill Void for Seniors Needing Aid, Companionship Oct 5, 2008
Canton Daily Ledger - Ara. for more local weather conditions. (Canton Daily Ledger, IL)
Summer fun relies on staying safe Oct 5, 2008
By taking precautions, such as wearing helmets on bikes, using sunscreen and keeping first aid items on hand, people can enjoy a safer summer. Dr. Ann Jurani-Suarez, a family practice physician with The Corvallis Clinic s Albany Family alty Medicine, said being prepared is one of the best ways to stay safe, even if you re just out for a walk in the woods ... When you re out for a family hike, make sure the kids wear long pants and hiking shoes with good tread, Jurani-Suarez said. (Corvallis Gazette Times, OR)
More people turn to charity as economy continues to dive Oct 5, 2008
Donations once earmarked for charitable organizations, food pantries, church groups, state aid programs, shelters and independently funded social services are now being reallocated for basic expenses. Those suffering from unemployment, underemployment, job loss, medical crisis, natural disasters, substance abuse, or domestic violence are even more hard-pressed to get the help needed to tide them over in difficult circumstances. (Hudson Register Star, NY)
No-show at anniversary parade raises questions over Kim Jong-Il's health Oct 5, 2008
According to the Associated Press news agency, a western official said there was reason to believe Kim Jong Il had suffered "a serious health setback", possibly a stroke ... The South Korean government said it had been unable to confirm the rumours ... "He may also not wanted to appear because international aid is drying up and the country might have had trouble giving out presents to its people to mark the anniversary," he cautioned. (Yahoo News -- North Korea)
NKorea's Kim signals he is back in control: analysts Oct 5, 2008
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, rumoured to have suffered a stroke, has sent a signal he has recovered and is back in control with his first reported public outing in 51 days, analysts said Sunday ... South Korean officials have said Kim underwent brain surgery after a stroke but was recovering well, while North Korean officials have denied any illness ... But the official Korean Central News Agency said late Saturday 66-year-old Kim had attended a student football match to mark the anniversary... (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
Answer schools' cry for aid Oct 5, 2008
An MPS board member said last week that the district will be broke in about three years under the current law. What we have is the result of a compromise between former Gov. Tommy Thompson and the Legislature. (Racine Journal Times, WI)
The bailout bill passes, but the meltdown continues Oct 5, 2008
It must include bolstered food stamps and aid to states and cities, so that they can continue to provide health care and keep paying for construction and other projects that provide desperately needed jobs. The meltdown on Wall Street is only part of a larger meltdown, and the bailout bill is only one attempt at a fix. (International Herald Tribune -- Ed/Op)
The complexities of terror; Capitalism trumps socialism Oct 5, 2008
Foreign aid should do more to. Today in Opinion. (International Herald Tribune -- Ed/Op)
Death toll from Haiti storms nearly 800 Oct 5, 2008
United States has provided more than $30 million in humanitarian aid ... Jean Pierre Guiteau, the group's executive officer, said they suspected the numbers may climb further because many people were still missing ... Heavy rains from Hurricane Gustav, considered a major hurricane, caused destructive mudslides after it made landfall in Haiti on August 26, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. (CNN -- World)
Calm in the storm Oct 5, 2008
And although it is very new, a few African governments are beginning to look beyond getting money through taxation or foreign aid and are starting to issue sovereign bonds. Ghana was one of the pioneers, and their issue did fairly well. (BBC News -- Africa)
NKorea's Kim sends signal he is back in control: analysts Oct 5, 2008
SEOUL (AFP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, rumoured to have suffered a stroke, has sent a signal he has recovered and is back in control with his first reported public outing in 51 days, analysts said Sunday ... South Korean officials have said Kim underwent brain surgery after a stroke but was recovering well, while North Korean officials have denied any illness ... But the official Korean Central News Agency said late Saturday 66-year-old Kim had attended a student football match to mark... (Yahoo! Asia News)
Race for life Oct 5, 2008
"He will win," Schickedanz said with conviction ... "It was pitch dark," he said of that night on Oct. 8, 1944 ... Schickedanz's mother placed her hand on her daughter's wound and held it there until they found a medical aid station, only to find that all of the doctors had fled. (Globe and Mail -- Sports)
Oregon Recreation Report (17) Oct 5, 2008
Other high lakes such as Maidu, Bull Pup, Connie, Skookum, Calamut, Fuller, Wolf, Cliff, Buckeye, Linda, and Big Twin Lakes are now accessible for brook trout fishing and have been stocked this year ... A good bird dog will aid greatly in bird retrieval ... The ODFW grant paid for 50 percent of the cost, and the Marine Board grant covered 50 percent. (Lebanon Express, OR)
Congress OKs Historic Bailout Bill Oct 5, 2008
"We all know that we are in the midst of a financial crisis," House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio, said shortly before casting his vote for government intervention in private capital markets that was unthinkable only a month ago ... said the bill was needed to "Begin to shape the financial stability of our country and the economic security of our people." ... The Labor Department said employers slashed 159,000 jobs in September, the largest cut in five years and further evidence of a... (W-USA News, DC)
Learn how to respond to trauma Oct 5, 2008
The training will focus on physiological first aid and posttraumatic stress management ... Ensuring the safety, wellbeing and development of our youth is one of the most important priorities of my administration, said Curtatone ... Research has found that the impact of losing a peer or any other sudden tragedy could have devastating and long-lasting impacts on children and their families, said Patricia Contente, clinical youth specialist and Trauma Response Network manager. (Somerville Journal, MA)
Body of missing diver recovered off La Jolla Oct 5, 2008
The man, who was in his 40s, and his 19-year-old son were diving for the first time after receiving their certification at a depth of about 150 feet at 9 a.m. when the father ran out of air, San Diego lifeguard Lt. John Greenhalgh said ... The son told authorities that he continued to ascend, but ran out of air himself about 40 feet below the surface, Greenhalgh said ... He was listed in stable but guarded condition Saturday afternoon, a nursing supervisor said. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
OUR VIEW: Medical clinic for uninsured sounds healthy Oct 4, 2008
It s to help people in Coles County who are otherwise slipping through the cracks in the health care system, said Mike Murray, president of the Coles Community Health Program initiative. This group of area health officials and social workers is developing a clinic to provide basic primary care services to residents of Coles County who rely on Medicaid, All Kids and Medicare, or who have no insurance ... The FQHC allows for enhanced reimbursements for public aid patients receiving primary care... (Mattoon Journal-Gazette, IL)
North Korea Talks in Pyongyang Were `Substantive,' U.S. Envoy Hill Says Oct 4, 2008
Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Talks in North Korea on its nuclear program were ``substantive,'' U.S. envoy said after a visit to Pyongyang, where he sought to persuade the regime to allow international inspections of its atomic sites ... There's been a lot of problems in the past couple of months regarding the six-party process, so we had a substantial review of activities,'' Hill said of his talks in North Korea ... signed the six-party disarmament accord in February 2007 and pledged to disable its... (Bloomberg -- Japan)
Cutting luxuries? A nightmare! Oct 4, 2008
I certainly like, "Ha! Rash Sarah!" and "Media harass Sarah? Aid 'em!" Duncan invokes the palindromist's motto - length isn't everything - and then submits the astonishing: "Put up SP? Won't I. Reviled to no. two? Veto VP, I. True! So Palin (a tundra-hard nut, a nil, a poseur) tip vote? Vow to not deliver it now. P.S. Put up!". Professor Stephen Morillo of Wabash College in Indiana co-authored a seemingly endless Palin-drome with Bob Binstock of Cambridge that rivals Duncan's for length, but I... (Boston Globe)
State faces $1.2 billion deficit, more job losses Oct 4, 2008
Everything is on the chopping block, Paterson said Friday at a meeting with legislative leaders in New York City, where he told every level of government to brace for the financial blow as lawmakers try to close a projected 1 ... He called for a special emergency session of the Legislature on Nov. 18 to make budget cuts that will likely hit every state agency, health care programs and even school aid, which the Democrat said he didn't want to change in the middle of the year but could be reduced... (Auburn Citizen, NY)
Somali rebels threaten two aid groups Oct 4, 2008
Somali rebels accuse two aid groups of crimes ... MOGADISHU, Somalia - Islamic insurgents in Somalia forced one Western aid group to suspend some operations and threatened another on Friday, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without basic health care ... Elisabeth Byrs, a spokeswoman for the U.N.'s humanitarian office in Geneva, also said Friday that more than 100 people were injured in the same period. (MSNBC -- International)
Review: 'Blindness' Oct 4, 2008
A handful of people come to his aid, including a car thief (Don McKellar), who drives him home and steals his car. Later that evening, the blind man's wife takes him to see Ruffalo's ophthalmologist, who's so oblivious to the world around him that he fails to notice that the dessert his wife has served him is a tiramisu, not a tart. (Los Angeles Times)
N Korea 'restoring nuclear plant' Oct 4, 2008
North Korea has continued to restore its disabled nuclear reactor, the US has said, despite the attempt of a top US envoy to persuade it not to do so. North Korea is moving equipment it had put into storage back to the Yongbyon reactor, the US State Department said ... North Korea has recently gone back on an aid-for-disarmament deal, saying the US has failed to meet its obligations. (BBC News)
Bancolombia S.A. Announces That It Has Signed a New Collective Bargaining Agreement Oct 4, 2008
Improved benefits for Bancolombia's covered employees, including increases in the amounts of individual housing loans, tuition aid funds, health insurance coverage, transportation and food assistance. With the execution of the Agreement, Bancolombia, Uneb and Sintrabancol continue to work on the consolidation of long-term labor relationships based on mutual trust and respect. (PR Newswire)
U.N. raises Islamabad security level Oct 4, 2008
Baghdad and Khartoum are the only other capitals where the U.N. is on a higher security level, said Amena Kamaal, a U.N. spokeswoman in Islamabad. About 20 families with children are affected by the order, and Kamaal said some can relocate to areas deemed safer, such as Lahore or Karachi ... A U.N. spokesman in New York, Farhan Haq, said the decision to relocate children was temporary. (CNN -- International)
Disparity in Road Home distribution raises questions Oct 4, 2008
"This is discrimination based on the pre-storm value of a house," said Johnson, whose company serves mostly minority customers ... Looking solely at the average amount of Road Home grants by neighborhood also overlooks an important factor: The amount of money those homeowners originally paid to purchase homes in the city's more expensive locales ... "It's the upper-priced homes that had the biggest gaps in protection," said Arthur Sterbcow, president of the Latter real estate firm and someone... (Yahoo News -- Tropical Storms and Hurricanes)
Will rescue hit Dem spending plans? Oct 4, 2008
At first blush, an era of constrained federal spending appears to be dead ahead: Every $1 billion going to the bailout and the tax provisions in the bill would be $1 billion less for highway construction or federal aid to public schools ... said shortly before the House voted that the cost of the bailout will not be $700 billion, but far less than that ... For that reason, he said, the bailout will not inhibit the ability of Congress to spend on roads, bridges, public education and other... (MSNBC -- Race)