Archive for May 21st, 2009
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US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to visit China (AP)
AP – China’s leadership will play host next week to one of its fiercest human rights critics Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi in a visit that symbolizes the complex and deepening relations between the two countries. -
Obama: 50 Gitmo detainees cleared for transfer (AP)
AP – Forty-eight terror suspects currently held at Guantanamo Bay are waiting to be released to other nations, the Obama administration said Thursday. The detainees are among 50 detainees whose cases President Barack Obama said Thursday have already been reviewed. The detainees would be the first to be released to other nations under the Obama administration’s effort to empty the Cuba-based prison without bringing all its inmates to the United States. -
Begala health memo rebuts Luntz’s (Politico)
Politico – Democratic strategist Paul Begala is circulating a point-by-point rebuttal of GOP consultant Frank Luntz’s widely read strategy memo on health care – with Begala urging congressional Democrats to push back hard against “Republican Orwellian rhetoric.”
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US vice president Biden to visit Beirut (AFP)
AFP – US Vice President Joe Biden arrives in Beirut on Friday on the first such high-level US visit in nearly three decades, in a show of support for Lebanese independence just two weeks before a crucial election. -
House panel advances global warming bill (AP)
AP – Legislation imposing the first nationwide limits on the pollution blamed for global warming advanced in the House late Thursday, clearing a key committee despite strong Republican opposition.
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Senate passes $91.3 billion war funding bill
The Senate has passed a $91.3 billion war spending bill that would fund stepped-up military operations in Afghanistan but deny the president money to close the Guantanamo Bay prison. -
Astronauts get ‘Hubble hug’ from US lawmakers (AFP)
AFP – Astronauts on the shuttle Atlantis were beamed live into Congress after winning praise from US President Barack Obama for helping to renew wonder in the mysteries of space. -
Climate bill clears House committee (Politico)
Politico – A controversial climate-change bill cleared a key hurdle on Thursday night, passing the House Energy and Commerce Committee by a 33-25 vote.
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NOAA forecasts 9 to 14 tropical storms this season (AP)
AP – Hurricanes will strike the United States this season and Americans must be prepared, federal forecasters said Thursday. They predicted nine to 14 named tropical storms this year.
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Senate approves $91.3 billion war funds bill (Reuters)
Reuters – The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved a $91.3 billion measure that President Barack Obama sought to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, meeting some of his priorities but leaving out funding to close the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
