Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Tuesday News Headlines

Posted by Unknown at 5:34 AM Labels: ,
These are some headlines prepared today for WBAI 99.5 FM's Wake Up Call. Support listener-funded radio and keep free speech alive!

Asif Ali Zardari, the husband of Pakistan's assassinated former leader Benazir Bhutto was sworn in as the country's new president today during a brief ceremony. The Guardian reports that dignitaries at the packed ceremony cheered "Bhutto is alive!" as the inauguration came to a close. Among the guests were Zardari's son Bilawal - co-chairman of the Pakistan People's party (PPP), his two daughters and Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai. The swearing in of Zardari, 53, completes Pakistan's return to civilian rule nearly nine years after then-army chief Musharraf seized power in a bloodless military coup.

President Bush will announce today his plan to keep the same number of U.S. forces in Iraq through the end of the year and pull about 8,000 troops home by February. Bush says more forces could withdraw in the first half of 2009 but has mainly deferred any further decisions about troop withdrawals to his successor, according to a copy of his speech released by the White House. At the same time, Bush will preside over further increases in the number of U.S. troops fighting the resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan, including a new Marine battalion in November and an additional Army brigade in January.

President Dmitry Medvedev Monday said Russia's military will withdraw from parts of Georgia within a month but keep troops in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Medvedev met Monday in Moscow for talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, European Union foreign policy coordinator Javier Solana, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. He also agreed to allow 200 observers from the European Union to monitor the conflict, a step that Russia had resisted. But Medvedev said Russia would stand by its decision to recognize the two breakaway regions as independent nations. Georgia President, Saa-ka-sh-vili had received written assurances from the European Union that it would protect Georgia's territory.

A weakened but deadly Hurricane Ike skimmed along Cuba's coast ahead of an expected landfall on the western side of the island, forecasters said. Eastern Cuba saw storm surges, flooded neighborhoods and destroyed homes after Ike passed through on Monday.
Cuban officials reported four deaths as of late Monday and more than 1.2 million people were evacuated. Forecasters are watching its path closely to see if it will pick up energy in the Gulf before hitting the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The McCain campaign released a new ad in which it calls the Republican McCain/Palin ticket the “new mavericks.” It credits Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin for “stopping Ted Steven’s controversial pork-barrel Bridge to Nowhere” project. Obama’s camp countered that Palin actually supported during her run for governor and then canceled the bridge project after Congress cancelled the earmarked federal funding. Although she has only done major interviews with People Magazine up to this point, Palin is scheduled to do her first major TV interview with ABC’s Charles Gibson set to air this Thursday. In contrast, Democratic Senator Hilary Clinton hit the campaign trail at a rally of 500 people in Kissimmee, Florida, near Orlando, emphasizing that this election be decided on issues, not the historical significance of the candidates, and that John McCain and Sarah Palin "are not the change that we need." Polls show McCain and Obama in a statistical tie.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that California’s powerful prison guards' union launched a recall campaign against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, charging that his "catastrophic leadership failings" have left the state "in far worse shape" than before his election. Officials from the California Correctional Peace Officers Association planned to deliver on Tuesday. The governor has seven days to respond, after which the union will file the petition with the Secretary of State to begin a signature drive for a special recall election, said Lance Corcoran, a spokesman for the union. The recall drive would eventually need 1,041,530 valid signatures to qualify for a statewide ballot. Governor Schwarzenegger, faces a political, legal and administrative battles over his efforts to close a $17.2 billion budget gap and enact a budget that is now 70 days late. The prison guards were among the biggest political benefactors of his ousted predecessor Governor Gray Davis, who negotiated contracts widely perceived as favorable to the union, while Schwarzenegger has not accepted their contributions. He said he would negotiate with the union but would not give in to its demands for excessive salaries and changes in working conditions such as sick leave and job assignments, which he argued would hamper the state's ability to manage the prisons.

Newsday reports that a federal judge in Brooklyn is questioning whether the law should permit race to have as much weight as it does in calculating life expectancy, particularly in deciding how much a black Staten Island Ferry crash victim deserves for his injuries. Judge Jack B. Weinstein will ultimately decide how much money the crash survivor, James McMillan, 44, who was rendered a quadriplegic as a result of the accident, will get for his future life expectancy and medical care. Dr. Michael DeVivo, a city expert who specializes in spinal cord injuries, introduced race as one factor in determining McMillan's life span, opening questions about disparities that might exist among the races on longevity. Judge Weinstein seemed skeptical that race should have much weight but DeVivo testified last week that a survey of 42,000 spinal cord victims showed that blacks like McMillan have a life expectancy of about 16 years to 23 years. He also said white spinal cord injury victims have a greater life expectancy than black victims, a trend reflected in the general population. In 2004 federal data shows, black men lived on average 69 years, while white men lived until 75. DeVivo may be recalled to address Weinstein's questions. Neither McMillian nor city attorneys would comment. An attorney for other ferry crash victims, said race often crops up in personal injury cases because courts reference these life expectancy tables.

A city Department of Health report released Monday found that nearly half of all women murdered in the city between 2003 and 2005 were killed by their partners. Partner violence also accounted for nearly 4,000 visits to hospital emergency rooms in 2005. Officials say poor women and Black and Hispanic women suffer the highest rates and a growing number of teens are reporting instances of violence, with one in 10 public high school girls saying they've been assaulted in the past year. Researchers analyzed data from city hospitals, medical examiner records, and surveys by the health and police departments. The city has set up a special hotline where victims of abuse or worried family members can seek help, 1-800-621-HOPE.
Today is the primary so get out and vote for your local officials! Polls will be open until 9 p.m. tonight. For more information or to find your polling place, call the New York City Board of Elections at 866-VOTE-NYC.

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