Kansas.com: Nation and World

Obama calls for digital delay

JOELLE TESSLER — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:40 CST

President-elect Barack Obama is urging Congress to postpone the Feb. 17 switch from analog to digital television broadcasting, arguing that too many Americans who rely on analog TV sets to pick up over-the-air channels won't be ready.

In a letter to key lawmakers Thursday, Obama transition team co-chairman John Podesta said the digital transition needs to be delayed largely because the Commerce Department has run out of money for coupons to subsidize digital TV converter boxes for consumers. People who don't have cable or satellite service or a TV with a digital tuner will need the converter boxes to keep their older analog sets working.

Obama officials are also concerned the government is not doing enough to help Americans -- particularly those in rural, poor or minority communities -- prepare for and navigate the transition.

"With coupons unavailable, support and education insufficient, and the most vulnerable Americans exposed, I urge you to consider a change to the legislatively mandated analog cutoff date," Podesta wrote to the top Democrats and Republicans on the Senate and House Commerce committees.

Obama's request for a delay is a victory for Consumers Union, which had asked for the digital transition to be postponed.

U.N. aid truck attacked in Gaza

SHASHANK BENGALI — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:40 CST

The United Nations suspended relief deliveries to the beleaguered Gaza Strip on Thursday after Israeli soldiers opened fire on a truck that was attempting to deliver food, killing one U.N.-contracted truck driver and wounding two others, U.N. officials said.

Two other international aid convoys also came under fire, underscoring the increasingly dangerous conditions that relief workers face in Gaza as they try to sustain the 1.5 million Palestinians who are living there.

Nearly two weeks into its conflict with the militant Islamic group Hamas, Israel has come under a barrage of criticism for the worsening plight of civilians in Gaza. Relief agencies accused the military of failing to provide security for humanitarian teams and not coming to the rescue of killed or wounded civilians. Human rights groups voiced outrage at the collapse of water and sewage treatment systems, as raw sewage began to spill into the streets in sections of Gaza.

The escalating humanitarian crisis put pressure on top diplomats to find a solution. After three days of haggling at the United Nations, senior envoys, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, reached agreement Thursday on a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because negotiations continued, said the resolution could be put to a vote later Thursday or today.

U.S. anti-piracy patrols to begin

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:40 CST

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- A new international naval force under American command will soon begin patrols to confront escalating attacks by Somali pirates after more than 100 ships came under siege in the past year, the U.S. Navy said Thursday.

But the mission -- expected to begin operations next week -- appears more of an attempt to sharpen the military focus against piracy rather than a signal of expanded offensives across one of the world's most crucial shipping lanes.

The force will carry no wider authority to strike at pirate vessels at sea or specific mandates to move against havens on shore -- which some maritime experts believe is necessary to weaken the pirate gangs that have taken control of dozens of cargo vessels and an oil tanker.

EU negotiates gas supplies from Russia

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Union said Thursday that gas supplies should restart after it struck a deal with Russia on supervising the flow of gas through Ukraine.

Washington weather forces highway closings

RACHEL LA CORTE — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:40 CST

CENTRALIA, Wash. --Floods, mudslides and avalanches in the Pacific Northwest kept tens of thousands of people from their homes Thursday, brought freight trains to a standstill and stranded hundreds of trucks along the major highways that link Seattle's busy ports with markets around the country.

The flooding -- some of the worst on record in Washington state -- was touched off by a combination of heavy rain of 6 inches or more and a warm spell in the mid-40s that rapidly melted the snow in the Cascade Range.

A 20-mile stretch of I-5, the state's major north-south freeway, was shut down between Olympia and the Oregon line, with one area under 3 feet of water. Avalanches closed I-90, which cuts east from Seattle through the Cascades, along with the two other routes through the mountains. Amtrak service and most freight trains were stopped as well.

Hundreds of truckers pulled their rigs off onto the shoulders or packed truck stops as the bad weather bottled up nearly all freight in and around Seattle, costing the economy untold millions of dollars of day.

"You can't go north, you can't go east, you can't go south. What are my options?" said Jon Amerman, a trucker from White Hall, Mont., who had planned to head east to Yakima to pick up apples after delivering a load of goods to Seattle. Instead, he pulled over to the side, and figured his company was losing more than $1,000 a day every day that he was idle.

Panel calls for Blagojevich's impeachment

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:40 CST

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. --A key panel unanimously recommended impeachment for Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Thursday, setting up a vote that could make him the first governor to face such fate in Illinois' political history.

Blagojevich should lose his job for abusing power, mismanaging government and committing possible criminal acts, including federal allegations he tried to sell off a U.S. Senate seat, the special committee concluded.

The governor's office issued a statement calling the panel's proceedings flawed and biased.

The full House could vote as early as this morning. A vote for impeachment would trigger a Senate trial to decide whether the second-term Democrat should be removed from office.

Salmonella outbreak strikes in 42 states

Police shooting at center of protest

TERRY COLLINS AND TERENCE CHEA — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:40 CST

In grainy cell-phone videos played over and over on the Internet, police officers force an unarmed black man to the ground and hold him face-down on a crowded train platform. Suddenly one of the officers draws his gun and fatally shoots the man in the back -- then looks up.

The New Year's Day death of 22-year-old Oscar Grant has led to violent street protests amid allegations from the family's attorney that some of the officers used racial slurs.

The officer remains free and has not been charged with any wrongdoing. And some experts have questioned whether he fired his gun deliberately or mistakenly believed he was using his stun gun instead.

Extra police were posted Thursday at Bay Area Rapid Transit stations after a group of angry demonstrators smashed storefronts late Wednesday, set fire to cars and clashed with officers equipped with riot gear and tear gas in downtown Oakland. More than 100 people were arrested and about 300 businesses were damaged.

At the mayor's request, the Oakland Police Department launched an investigation into the shooting Thursday. Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff, whose office also is investigating, said he probably would decide within two weeks whether to file charges.

Obama to Congress: Act quickly on stimulus

STEVEN THOMMA AND DAVID LIGHTMAN — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:40 CST

President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday urged Congress to act swiftly on his upcoming proposal to jump-start the economy or risk dooming the country to a diminished future.

"We should have an open and honest discussion about this recovery plan in the days ahead," Obama said in a half-hour speech before an invitation-only audience at George Mason University in suburban Washington.

"But I urge Congress to move as quickly as possible on behalf of the American people. For every day we wait or point fingers or drag our feet, more Americans will lose their jobs. More families will lose their savings. More dreams will be deferred and denied. And our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse."

His stark message marked an extraordinary move, coming from a man who hasn't yet taken office and has yet to offer any details of his plan. However, he also noted that these are extraordinary times, a rare turning point.

"I don't believe it's too late to change course, but it will be if we don't take dramatic action as soon as possible," he said.

Israel briefly halts Gaza attacks

DION NISSENBAUM AND AHMED ABU HAMDA — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

For three hours Wednesday afternoon, a surreal calm settled over the Gaza Strip as the 12-day-old Israeli military campaign to destabilize the militant Islamist group Hamas came to a temporary halt.

Palestinians who'd been huddling for days in their chilly, powerless homes rushed out in search of scarce food, clean water, cooking gas, warm blankets and supplies to get them through the deepening crisis.

Then, as abruptly as the firing stopped, the Israeli attacks resumed with renewed force. Gaza militants fired more than two dozen rockets into southern Israel on Wednesday. Four Israelis were killed by rockets in the past 12 days, but on Wednesday no one was seriously injured.

Nearly 700 Palestinians have died in the Israeli attacks, including a rapidly rising number of women and children.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said late Wednesday that its teams, which the Israeli military allowed into the Zaytun neighborhood of Gaza City for the first time, found at least 15 corpses in several houses.

Here's a way out ofphone-system maze

RICK BARRETT — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

Press 1 if you've ever been trapped in phone-system purgatory. Press 2 if you've ever yelled at an automated phone system or given up in frustration before reaching a real person.

To help consumers escape the bonds of automated phone systems, a couple of Web sites -- www.get2human.com and www.dialahuman.com -- list hundreds of company phone numbers and ways to reach a real person when calling them.

Some companies are praised for their automated phone systems, while others are criticized for things such as long waits.

Mostly, the Web sites are a cheat-sheet offering tips for getting around automated phone systems. After that, you're on your own.

Just because you reach a real person on the phone doesn't necessarily mean they can help you, said Walt Tetschner, the project leader for get2human.com.

Venezuela to give U.S. poor free heating oil

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

CARACAS, Venezuela -- The Venezuelan government reversed course on Wednesday, announcing that its U.S. oil subsidiary will continue to provide free home heating oil to poor Americans.

Critics of President Hugo Chavez had pummeled him for suspending a program that he had milked for its maximum publicity as a champion of the poor, even in the U.S.

In the wake of Monday's announcement of the program's suspension, analysts had predicted this was only the first of Chavez's ambitious foreign assistance programs that would disappear, given the sharp drop in oil prices and the Venezuelan government's dependence on oil export income.

Venezuelan government officials wasted no time in reinstating the program, which saved about 180,000 U.S. households around $260 apiece in 2008. That covered about one month's heating bill.

U.S. gives Mexico funds for drug fight

An elite club welcomes Obama

BEN FELLER — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

Confronting a grim economy and a Middle East on fire, Barack Obama turned Wednesday to perhaps the only people on the planet who understand what he's in for: the four living members of the U.S. presidents' club.

Every living U.S. president came together at the White House on Wednesday to hash over the world's challenges with the president-elect. There they stood, shoulder-to-shoulder in the Oval Office: George H.W. Bush, Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.

"This is an extraordinary gathering," Obama said, looking plenty at ease in the humbling office that will soon be his.

"All the gentlemen here understand both the pressures and possibilities of this office," Obama said. "And for me to have the opportunity to get advice, good counsel and fellowship with these individuals is extraordinary. And I'm very grateful to all of them."

Bush, blistered without mercy by Obama during the campaign season, played the role of gracious host.

Rain, wind and floods pummel Washington

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

SNOQUALMIE, Wash. --Rain and high winds lashed Washington state Wednesday, causing widespread avalanches, mudslides, flooding and road closures as the heavy snowfall that has buried parts of the state began to rapidly melt.

More than 30,000 people were told to leave their homes in flood-endangered areas across western Washington as authorities warned of heavy flooding.

Fire trucks rolled through Orting, about 10 miles southeast of Tacoma, with loudspeakers advising everyone to leave the town and surrounding valley, home to about 26,000 people. Sandbags were placed around many downtown homes and businesses as the Puyallup River neared record levels. It was forecast to crest today.

Throughout the state, about 60 highways were closed, including all east-west passes across the Cascade Mountains. A 20-mile stretch of Interstate 5 in southwestern Washington was also closed.

Wildfires break out around Boulder, Colo.