World Briefly

By The Associated Press | Clanton Advertiser

Published Friday, February 6, 2009

Senate Democrats, White House, seek GOP support for emergency stimulus as job losses soar

WASHINGTON (AP) — Amid stunning new job losses and the latest bank failure, key senators and the White House reached tentative agreement Friday night on an economic stimulus measure at the heart of President Barack Obama's recovery plan.

Two officials said the emerging agreement was for a bill with a $780 billion price tag, but there was no immediate confirmation.

The tentative agreement capped a tense day of back room negotiations in which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, joined by White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, sought to attract the support of enough Republicans to give the measure the needed 60-vote majority.

Officials strongly suggested that Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's vote would be needed to assure passage. The Massachusetts Democrat, battling a brain tumor, has been in Florida in recent days and has not been in the Capitol since suffering a seizure on Inauguration Day more than two weeks ago. The senator's office did not comment.

Reid met privately in the Capitol with members of his rank-and-file to present the proposed deal.

At $780 billion, the legislation would be smaller than the measure that cleared the House on a party-line vote last week. It also would mean a sharp cut from the bill that has been the subject of Senate debate for a week. That measure stood at $937 billion.

Beyond the numbers, though, any agreement would mark a victory for the new president and would keep Democratic leaders on track to fulfill their promise of delivering him a bill to sign by the end of next week.

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FDA says Georgia peanut processor knowingly shipped salmonella-tainted products

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Georgia peanut plant knowingly shipped salmonella-laced products as far back as 2007, at times sending out tainted products after tests confirmed contamination, federal health officials said Friday.

Food and Drug Administration officials earlier had said Peanut Corp. of America waited for a second test to clear peanut butter and peanuts that earlier had tested positive for salmonella. But the agency amended its report Friday, noting that the Blakely, Ga., plant actually shipped some products before receiving the second test and sold others after confirming salmonella.

In 2007 the company shipped chopped peanuts on July 18 and 24 after salmonella was confirmed by private lab tests.

The company has denied any wrongdoing in the salmonella outbreak linked to at least eight deaths and 575 illnesses in 43 states. The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation. More than 1,550 products have been recalled.

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Obama said to be considering Iraq withdrawal timetable that could keep troops there 2 years

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is considering at least two troop withdrawal options as it weighs a new Iraq strategy — one that would preserve President Barack Obama's campaign pledge to get all combat brigades out within 16 months and a second that would stretch it to 23 months, two officials said Friday.

A third, in-between option of 19 months is also being weighed, according to the officials, neither of whom would discuss the sensitive topic without being granted anonymity. One of the officials said the main focus appears to be on the 16-month and 23-month options; 23 months would run to the end of 2010.

Under either timeline, the U.S. would hope to leave behind a number of brigades that would be redesigned and reconfigured as multipurpose units to provide training and advising for Iraqi security forces, one official said. These brigades would be considered noncombat outfits and their presence would have to be agreed in advance by the Iraqi government, which under a deal signed late last year insisted that all U.S. forces — not just combat brigades — be out of Iraq by the end of 2011.

The concept of the stay-behind training and advising brigades has been well developed, the official said, although the details such as their size and composition are in an early stage of being sorted out.

At the White House's request, top military officials recently offered an assessment of the risks associated with the 16-, 19- and 23-month withdrawal timetables, without saying which is preferred. Obama's top two defense advisers, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, have not yet provided a formal recommendation to the president on a timetable, an official said.

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California Medical Board investigates doctor who helped woman become pregnant with octuplets

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The fertility doctor who helped a California woman have 14 children, including octuplets born last month, is now facing a state investigation on top of harsh criticism from medical ethicists.

The Medical Board of California did not identify the doctor who helped Nadya Suleman, 33, of Whittier, become pregnant with the six boys and two girls born on Jan. 26., even though she already had six other children.

"We're looking into the matter to see if we can substantiate if there was a violation of the standard of care," board spokeswoman Candis Cohen said Friday.

Suleman, a divorced single mother, told NBC's "Today" show that the same fertility specialist provided in vitro fertilization for all 14 children.

In the interview broadcast Friday, Suleman also said six embryos were implanted for each of her pregnancies. In her latest, two of Suleman's embryos split, resulting in two sets of twins among the octuplets.

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New Jersey judge says lesbian couple married in Canada can divorce in NJ

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Gay marriages performed outside New Jersey are recognized in the state for the purpose of divorce, according to a ruling Friday by a judge deciding whether a lesbian couple married in Canada can split.

State Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson said in an oral ruling that New Jersey, which doesn't allow gays to marry, has a long history of recognizing marriages that are valid where they were performed.

"To grant the divorce here is not against public policy," Jacobson said. "It's consistent with the strong marriage recognition principles that have been practiced since the 1800s."

Jacobson's decision clears the way for La Kia and Kinyati Hammond to be divorced after a hearing on March 2, and for La Kia Hammond to return to Canada to marry another woman.

Jacobson said her ruling does not mean that the state has to recognize same-sex marriages for other purposes.

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FDA OKs blood thinner made with milk from bioengineered goats, approval is a first for US

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration made history Friday as it approved the first drug made with materials from genetically engineered animals, clearing the way for a new class of medical therapies.

GTC Biotherapeutics said regulators cleared its drug ATryn, which is manufactured using milk from goats that have been scientifically altered to produce extra antithrombin, a protein that acts as a natural blood thinner.

The drug's approval may be the first step toward new kinds of medications made not from chemicals, but from living organisms altered by scientists. Similar drugs could be available in the next few years for a range of human ailments, including hemophilia.

The FDA cleared the drug to treat patients with a rare hereditary disorder that causes a deficiency of the protein, putting them at higher risk of deadly blood clots. The injectable treatment will be marketed in the U.S. by Deerfield, Ill.-based Ovation Pharmaceuticals

About 1 in 5,000 people don't produce enough antithrombin protein, according to Framingham, Mass.-based based GTC. As a result, their blood is more likely to stick together, occasionally causing clots that can travel to the lungs or brain, causing death. Pregnant women with the disorder are at higher risk of miscarriage or stillbirth, because of blood clots in the placenta.

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Gunmen open fire in Calif. coffee shop, killing man in suspected gang-related revenge attack

SAN GABRIEL, Calif. (AP) — Police on Friday sought two gunmen who opened fire inside a crowded coffee shop, killing one man and wounding six others, several critically, in a suspected gang-related revenge attack.

Sheriff Lee Baca said it appeared the masked gunmen were targeting a specific person.

"The manner in which it was done suggests it was a payback situation or a revenge situation," Baca said. "They had a specific person they were trying to shoot."

Sheriff's officials said it did not appear to be a robbery because the shooters opened fire immediately and did not demand money.

"The preliminary investigation would lead homicide detectives to believe this is gang-related," sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said.

The shop was crowded with at least 40 people when the attack occurred late Thursday, but deputies were having a hard time finding witnesses.

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NYC civil assault trial opens for 'Sopranos' actor Vincent Pastore, sued by ex-fiancee

NEW YORK (AP) — Vincent Pastore of "The Sopranos" is in a New York court to fight a lawsuit accusing him of assaulting his former fiancee.

A trial began Friday in 47-year-old Lisa Regina's civil assault suit against him. She is asking a Manhattan state Supreme Court jury for unspecified damages for what she calls physical and psychological injuries.

Pastore pleaded guilty in 2005 to attempted assault on Regina. He was sentenced to 70 hours of community service.

She says Pastore pulled her out of a car in Manhattan's Little Italy in April 2005, hit her, dumped her and her luggage on the street, and drove off.

Despite the plea, the 62-year-old actor denies the accusations and says she attacked him.

Pastore played gangster Sal "Big Pussy" Bompensiero on the HBO series.

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Man arrested, issued 50 traffic citations in one day after fleeing from Florida police

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Elvis has left the vehicle. A man was arrested on more than 50 traffic citations — all in one day.

Police said Elvis Alonzo Barrett, 46, fled from police trying to stop him for a traffic violation Thursday morning. Police said he ran through red lights, crashed into another car and a fence.

Police said they found crack cocaine and a crack pipe in his car.

Barrett faces several charges, including fleeing and eluding and reckless driving.

He was also issued more than 50 traffic citations on charges including speeding, running red lights, and not wearing a seat belt.

Police said Barrett has a lengthy criminal history and his driver license was suspended.

A phone number listed for him was not in service Thursday night.

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Michael Phelps says 3-month suspension is fair, eager to put pot photo fallout behind him

BALTIMORE (AP) — Michael Phelps says it's fair for USA Swimming to suspend him for three months, the latest fallout from a photo showing the Olympic great inhaling from a marijuana pipe.

Phelps was back training at his regular pool Friday, a day after his suspension.

"It's not my decision. It's theirs," Phelps said of USA Swimming's decision. "I have nothing to say, but if that's they want to do, that's their choice. It's something that USA Swimming came up with. It's fair. Obviously, for a mistake you should get punished."

Phelps won a record eight gold medals in Beijing and returned to America as one of the world's most acclaimed athletes. He made headlines of a different kind, however, in the wake of the photo, published Sunday by News of the World, a British tabloid.

"It was bad and stupid judgment, and something I'll always live with," Phelps said, minutes before diving into the pool at the Meadowbrook Aquatic Center, where he has trained since he was 7.

The latest fallout has been much greater than in 2004, when an underage Phelps was arrested for drunken driving three months after the Athens Olympics. He pleaded guilty and apologized to his fans, saying he wouldn't make the same mistake again.

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