10 March 2010

Bomb kills 5 as Gates, Ahmadinejad visit Afghanistan (AFP)

US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates inspects troops at Camp Blackhorse training ground in Kabul. A car bomb has killed five people in Afghanistan as the Iranian president and the US defence secretary pay duelling visits to the war-torn country.(AFP/File/Jim Watson)AFP - A car bomb killed five people in Afghanistan on Wednesday, as the Iranian president and the defence secretary of Iran's arch-foe, the United States, paid duelling visits to the war-torn country.


10 March 2010

Iceland opposition toughens on new "Icesave" talks (Reuters)

Reuters - Iceland's opposition turned up the heat on the center-left government on Wednesday to hold out for a tough new "Icesave" debt accord with Britain and the Netherlands, after a referendum rejection of its previous deal.

10 March 2010

Gates: Some troops could leave Afghanistan early (AP)

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, center, greets U.S. troops as he tours the training grounds of Camp Blackhorse, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Wednesday, March 10, 2010. Gates raised the possibility Wednesday that some of the U.S. forces involved in the Afghanistan surge could leave the country before President Barack Obama's announced July 2011 date to begin withdrawal.  (AP Photo/Jim Watson, Pool)AP - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates raised the possibility Wednesday that some of the U.S. forces involved in the Afghanistan surge could leave the country before President Barack Obama's announced July 2011 date to begin withdrawal.


10 March 2010

Runaway Prius driver: Brakes were 'almost burned' (AP)

Driver James Sikes talks about his experiences in his Toyota Prius during a news conference held at Toyota of El Cajon Tuesday, March 9, 2010, in El Cajon, Calif. Sikes' 2008 Toyota Prius raced out of control on a San Diego freeway Monday. A California Highway Patrol officer helped him stop the car.  (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)AP - Before he called 911, James Sikes says he reached down with his hand to loosen the "stuck" accelerator on his 2008 Toyota Prius, his other hand on the steering wheel. The pedal didn't move.


10 March 2010

Biden's West Bank tour clouded by settlement plans (AP)

U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden, left, and his wife Jill, second from left, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and his wife Sara, second from right, pose for photographers ahead of their joint dinner the Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem, Tuesday, March 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)AP - Israel's new plan to build 1,600 apartments for Jews in Palestinian-claimed east Jerusalem overshadowed Vice President Joe Biden's visit to the West Bank on Wednesday.


10 March 2010

UK proposes tougher steps on disclosing bankers' pay (Reuters)

Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown smiles as he prepares to greet Jordan's King Abdullah (not pictured) on the steps of 10 Downing Street in central London March 9, 2010. REUTERS/Andrew WinningReuters - Britain will on Wednesday propose to force banks to reveal how many of their staff earn top wages, in steps that go further than previous proposals, financial services minister Paul Myners said.


10 March 2010

Israeli minister apologizes to Biden over homes plan (Reuters)

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden arrive at Ben Gurion International airport near Tel Aviv, March 8, 2010. REUTERS/Ronen ZvulunReuters - An Israeli cabinet minister apologized on Wednesday after Israel embarrassed visiting Vice President Joe Biden by announcing plans to build 1,600 more homes for Jewish settlers.


10 March 2010

Osmonds return to stage after death of Marie's son (AP)

AP - Marie Osmond told a Las Vegas Strip audience as she returned to the stage less than two weeks after her son's apparent suicide that she has relied on her spirituality to cope with his death

10 March 2010

Obama pushing on health care end game (AP)

US President Barack Obama speaks on healthcare and health insurance reform at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania. Obama has launched a populist assault on price-gouging American insurance firms, escalating his last-ditch bid to pass a historic health reform bill.(AFP/Saul Loeb)AP - President Barack Obama has chosen a suburban St. Louis high school to make his closing argument for a health care overhaul, pushing a new anti-fraud plan as he cranks up the pressure on skittish Democratic lawmakers to act fast.


10 March 2010

Senate to pass jobless aid, business tax breaks (AP)

Job seekers during a career fair in San Diego, California, in January 2010. The United States lost fewer jobs than expected in February and the unemployment rate held at 9.7 percent, the government said Friday, cautioning the data may be skewed by winter storms.(AFP/Getty Images/File/Sandy Huffaker)AP - Legislation blending help for the jobless with popular tax breaks for businesses and individuals is slated to pass the Senate Wednesday over protests from conservatives who say it adds too much to the $12.5 trillion national debt.


10 March 2010

How the AP-GfK poll on Obama was conducted (AP)

AP - The Associated Press-GfK Poll on President Obama, the direction of the country and health care was conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media from March 3-8. It is based on landline and cell phone telephone interviews with a nationally representative random sample of 1,002 adults. Interviews were conducted with 702 respondents on landline telephones and 300 on cellular phones.

10 March 2010

Behind the scenes, crafting the US no-fly list (AP)

AP - It starts with a tip, a scrap of intelligence, a fingerprint lifted from a suspected terrorist's home.

10 March 2010

Taliban claim suicide attack on NATO-Afghan base (AP)

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, second left, tours through the town of Now Zad, Afghanistan, on Tuesday March 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Jim WATSON, Pool)AP - The Taliban claimed responsibility Wednesday for a suicide bombing inside a U.S.-Afghan base in eastern Afghanistan that killed two NATO service members.


10 March 2010

Indonesia confirms Bali bomber killed in raid (AFP)

Tourists are seen near the site of the major bomb blast that hit Kuta in Bali in October 2002 in which 202 people were killed.(AFP/File/Darma)AFP - Indonesia's leader Wednesday confirmed that a suspected Bali bombing mastermind was killed in a Jakarta raid and vowed to keep hunting extremists in a landmark address to Australia's parliament.


10 March 2010

Pelosi faces biggest test on healthcare vote (Reuters)

Reuters - The leader of the House of Representatives -- a persuasive arm-twister and deal maker -- faces her toughest challenge yet in the coming weeks: getting 216 votes to pass final legislation revamping the U.S. healthcare system.