In the News: Jan-14

U.S. Army chief expects rise in deployed troops - 14 Jan 2009 at 2:35pm - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army, already strained by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, will likely deploy more soldiers in the next 18 months, the service's top general said on Wednesday.

Israeli Rights Groups Call for War Crimes Inquiry - 14 Jan 2009 at 2:34pm - Nine human rights groups called for an investigation into whether Israel had committed war crimes in Gaza.

Judge hits White House with preservation order - 14 Jan 2009 at 2:24pm - WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has been hit with a last-minute court order to preserve electronic messages, the result of long problems with the White House's e-mail system.

EPA pick pledges to address toxic hot spots near schools - 14 Jan 2009 at 2:13pm - President-elect Barack Obama's choice to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency promised Wednesday that she would deploy federal regulators to check air quality around schools in response to a USA TODAY investigation that identified hundreds of schools that appeared in toxic hot spots. The nominee, Lisa Jackson, told members of the Senate Environment and Public Works committee that she would "send investigators and samplers out to verify the extent of the problem" and "mobilize" agency efforts within 30 days of her confirmation. Parents, she said, "have a right to know their children are safe in school."

Bill to regulate coal ash ponds introduced - 14 Jan 2009 at 1:21pm - WASHINGTON -- A West Virginia Democrat is introducing legislation that would set the first federal standards for coal ash ponds at power plants.

Veterans exposed to incorrect drug doses - 14 Jan 2009 at 11:07am - WASHINGTON -- Patients at Veterans Affairs health centers around the country were given incorrect doses of drugs, had needed treatments delayed and may have been exposed to other medical errors due to software glitches that showed faulty displays of their electronic health records.

House votes to expand health care for children - 14 Jan 2009 at 2:51pm - The House voted Wednesday to expand government-sponsored health care to 4 million more children of working families, making a down payment on President-elect Obama's promise to provide universal health care to all Americans who want it.

White House: Audiotape shows bin Laden is isolated - 14 Jan 2009 at 9:40am - WASHINGTON -- The White House said Wednesday that the recent audiotape believed to carry a message from Osama bin Laden reflects the "isolation" of the al-Qaida leader.

Isolated, perhaps, but still, as Bush says, "on the run". Remember when capturing bin Laden was "job #1"?

US official highlights Guantanamo torture - 14 Jan 2009 at 4:13am - A Saudi suspected of involvement in the September 11, 2001 attacks was tortured at the US detention site in Guantanamo Bay, the Washington Post has reported, citing a US official.

Thought for the day:
All ambitions are lawful except those that climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind. -Joseph Conrad (1857 - 1924)