JULY 6, 2010 The Monitor, www.themonitor.com 3A THE MONITOR BEYOND THE VALLEY TODAY'S FEATURED INTERACTIVE WWW.THEMONITOR.COM/APNEWS: THEY SAID IT "Their relationship it's strained. But he still loves his brother." MICHAEL ETTINGER, attorney for ROB BLAGOJEVICH, on the ties between his client and brother ROD BLAGOJEVICH, right, the former governor of.Illinois who is currently facing corruption charges. Full story on page 5A "I think when you put them in the (ground), that's goodbye, goodbye. In this way I could touch her and look at her and talk to her." JEAN STEVENS, of Wyalusing, explaining why she dug up the embalmed corpses of her husband and twin sister and kept the bodies in her house. Full story on page 4A TAKE A LOOK AT EXTREMIST ATTACKS ON THE U.S.
GOVERNMENT Health overhaul's first provisions start to kick in 30 million people will eventually gain coverage under the legislation. RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR uninsured, but THE ASSOCIATED PRESS economy, experts table. WASHINGTON The first stage of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul is expected to provide coverage to about 1 million uninsured Americans by next year, according to government estimates. That's a small share of the Israel eases Gaza blockade, but limits remain Most travel and exports are still banned; more commercial imports are now allowed. BY KARIN LAUB THE ASSOCIATED PRESS KEREM SHALOM CROSS- ING, Israel Israel is easing its blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza to allow in virtually all consumer goods, but the new rules are unlikely to restore the territory's devastated economy or allow rebuilding of all that was destroyed in last year's war.
The White House welcomed the changes that were announced Monday as Israeli Prime Minister Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew Washington for a meeting with President Barack Obama. International Mideast envoy Tony Blair said Israel's measures "should have a dramatic influence on the daily lives of the people of Gaza and on the private sector." The new blockade rules come in response to an outcry following a deadly Israeli raid on a blockade busting flotilla at the end of May. The changes will improve Gazans'access to goods from household cleaners to timber, but Israel will continue to ban most travel and exports from Gaza and restrict the import of desperately needed construction materials. Gaza business leaders and rights activists said the measures are far short of what Gaza needs. Israeli officials said the remaining restrictions, including on exports, are essential for maintaining security.
On Monday, goods dropped off at Kerem Shalom included washing machines, which were previously banned from import. Aid supplies that had been transported on the intercepted flotilla also found their way to the crossing. Israel started restricting movement, of people and goods in and out of Gaza after the 2006 capture of an Israeli soldier, Sgt. Gilad Schalit, by Hamas-allied militants. A year later, when the Islamic militant Hamas overran Gaza, Israel backed by Egypt -imposed a fuller closure, allowing in only a few dozen types of humanitarian goods like basic.
foods and medicine. Many others more than 100 million people are getting new benefits that improve their existing coverage. Overall costs appear mod- emerge from the patchwork est at this point, split among of news releases. taxpayers, employers and in- In 2014, government tax dividuals who directly ben- credits will help uninsured in a shaky efit, although the biggest part workers and their families say it's no- of the health care expansion pay premiums, and Medicis still four years away. aid will take in many more For weeks, the White low- income people.
EventuHouse has been touting ally, more than 30 million will the new law's initial benefit gain coverage, sharply reducchanges, even as Obama ing the number of uninsured dares Republicans to make and putting the nation on a good on their threat to re- path to coverage for all citipeal his signature social zens and legal immigrants. policy achievement. Now, a Political salesmanship and Obama clearer picture is starting to an attempt to address some 'SYNERGY' OF TERROR ANALYSIS: WITH AL-QAIDA BY KIMBERLY DOZIER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON U.S. officials boast that al-Qaida has never been weaker, its upper ranks decimated because of the stepped-up drone attacks in Pakistan and special operations raids in Afghanistan. At the same time, they warn, in seeming contradiction: An even greater number of well-trained terrorists are setting their sights on the United States.
Across the remote tribal lands between Afghanistan and Pakistan where terror groups hide, U.S. officials say they've seen a fusion of al-Qaida and others targeted by U.S. forces, including the Haqqani group and the Pakistani Taliban, who formerly focused only on their local areas. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the groups have become a "synergy of terrorist groups" with "an expanding desire to kill Americans." He was speaking last week at the Aspen Institute security forum in Colorado.
At the same forum, National Counterterrorism Center Director Michael Leiter warned that the "troubling alignment" extends all the way to Yemen and Africa. The dispersed glaring health insurance problems are key elements of the strategy to explain the initial changes resulting from the law. After battling for a year to pass the legislation, Democrats desperately wanted to have tangible accomplishments to point to in high-stakes congressional elections this fall. But they also have to deflect lingering questions, often stirred up by opposition candidates, and doubts about the effectiveness of the overhaul and its costs. "We've seen increasing numbers of people losing their health insurance, particularly in this recession," said Sara Collins, vice president of the Commonwealth Fund, a New York-based health research clearinghouse.
"Providing this early relief will help people who are particularly affected by the downturn." Collins reviewed coverage estimates in federal regulations for The Associated Press. Obama 6 IN SECONDS THE DAY'S BIGGEST NEWSMAKERS 1. CRASH HALTED IOWA HORSES' RAMPAGE BELLEVUE, lowa A pair of runaway horses in harness crashed into a Fourth of July parade float and collapsed, ending a rampage that injured nearly two dozen people and killed one, people at the parade said Monday. Mayor Virgil Murray said officials were working Monday to reconstruct exactly what happened at the parade, which he described as "bigger than Christmas" in the small Mississippi River town on the towa -Illinois border. The parade draws 3,000 to 4,000 people to the town of about 2,300.
The horses got spooked after they rubbed heads and one's bridle fell off, police said. MILITANT INTERACTION POSES NEW THREATS. network is making terror plots harder to spot and prevent, he said. The officials are speaking publicly in an effort to convince the American public and U.S. ally Pakistan that the time to hit harder is now, while al-Qaida is weakened.
Failure to do that means an even stronger enemy, they argue. A high-level U.S. counterterrorist delegation is headed to Pakistan this week to try to persuade Pakistan to keep the pressure on the militant groups that now operate almost as one with al-Qaida. The Pakistani government has denied news reports that it has reached out to its former ally, the Haqqani tribe, to secure its participation in talks with the Afghan government. U.S.
officials want to make sure that remains the case. The other part of that administration message, that the campaign has diminished the al-Qaida leadership, is aimed at an American public increasingly weary of the 9-yearold war. In June, at least 60 U.S. troops were killed in Afghanistan, making it one of the deadliest months of the conflict. Polls now find a majority of Americans no longer think the Afghanistan war is worth fighting.
See AL-QAIDA 4A 2. MINNEAPOLIS TEEN IS CITY'S 26TH VICTIM MINNEAPOLIS A Minneapolis teen who was shot and killed over the weekend is the city's 26th homicide victim of the year. The city had 19 homicides in all of last year. Police say the latest victim was Anthony Titus, 16. He was killed Sunday evening, about the time that some people were shooting off fireworks.
A couple who called 9-1-1 said they heard gunshots in front of their home and then heard someone run into their back yard. They looked out the window and saw Titus on the ground. 3. BIDEN TRIES TO BREAK IRAQI DEADLOCK BAGHDAD -'Vice President Joe Biden on Monday made a final effort to push Iraqi leaders to bridge their differences, which have created a dangerous political vacuum as U.S. troops head home.
The vice president met with senior Iraqi officials, including President Jalal Talabani, before wrapping up a Fourth of July visit designed to help Iraq overcome a four-month post-election stalemate in efforts to form a new government. 4. McCAIN: KANDAHAR IS KEY TO VICTORY KABUL, Afghanistan The ranking Republican on the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee said Monday that NATO and Afghan troops will prevail, in the war if they can succeed in securing and bolstering governance in the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar. Sen.
John McCain, who visited Afghanistan's largest city in the south on Monday with two other U.S. lawmakers, warned of tough fighting ahead and predicted that casualties would rise in the short-term. 5. STUDY: LATER SCHOOL DAY HELPS TEENS CHICAGO Giving teens 30 extra minutes to start their school day leads to more alertness in class, better moods, less tardiness, and even healthier breakfasts, a small study found. "The results were stunning.
There's no other word to use," said Patricia Moss, academic dean at the Rhode Island boarding school where the study was done. The results appear in July's Archives of Pediatrics Adolescent Medicine. 6. GOP BLASTS STEELE OVER WAR COMMENTS WASHINGTON Three top GOP senators on Sunday sharply criticized the chairman of the Republican National Committee, increasing the pressure on him to step down for his recent remarks that the war in Afghanistan was "a lost cause." The Republican senators, led by John McCain of Arizona, the party's presidential nominee in 2008, stopped short of calling for his resignation. But collectively their comments on the Sunday-morning TV talk shows signal a unified agreement that many in the GOP leadership no longer support the embattled chairman.
Compiled from Associated Press reports.
