GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli planes carried out air strikes against targets in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, injuring seven Palestinians, Palestinian medical workers said.
An army spokesman said the strikes, which occurred after a rocket fired from the Hamas-run enclave landed in Israel, had targeted two factories in the central and northern Gaza used to make weapons and a smuggling tunnel under the border with Egypt.
Palestinian witnesses and medical workers said the targets included a metal foundry in the central Gaza Strip, a caravan in the north and smuggling tunnels in the south.
The attacks occurred one day after Hamas said it had reached an agreement with smaller armed groups in the territory to halt sporadic rocket fire towards Israel, which often responds with air strikes.
The army spokesman said the air strikes were in response to a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip on Saturday. It landed near the city of Sderot, causing no injuries or damage, he said.
Calm along the Israel-Gaza frontier has been largely maintained since Israel ended a 22-day war against Hamas in the territory in January with the aim of halting daily rocket fire.
The Israeli military usually responds to sporadic rocket attacks by launching air strikes against tunnels under the Egyptian border used to smuggle goods and weapons into Gaza.
Egypt has been trying to mediate a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas that would include the release of a captured Israeli soldier held in Gaza since 2006 in return for hundreds of Palestinians jailed in Israel.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
China mine death toll rises to 87
The death toll from a coal mine explosion in north-east China has risen to 87.According to Chinese state media, 21 other miners are still trapped underground.
Officials say hopes are fading of finding any more survivors in the country's latest coal mine disaster.
According to rescue official Zhang Fucheng, dense gas and collapsed tunnels have hampered rescue efforts.
The accident was caused yesterday by a huge underground gas explosion which rocked the Xinxing mine in Heilongjiang near the Russian border.
A total of 528 workers were in the mine at the time and hundreds escaped.
The mine's general manager and chief engineer have been sacked, according to Chinese media reports.
China has an appalling work safety record in mines, with hundreds of workers dying each year.
Explaining cost savings in the Senate bill
Reporting from Washington - Some reader questions about the healthcare legislation in Congress:
If the Senate bill is estimated to cost $848 billion over the next decade, how can Democrats say it will cut the federal budget deficit by $130 billion?
The Congressional Budget Office says that the government will take in more in revenues from taxes and fees -- and save money by trimming the fat out of Medicare -- than it will spend extending health coverage to more Americans.
Under the Senate plan, a tax on high-cost insurance plans is expected to generate about $150 billion over the next decade. Fees on drug companies, medical device makers and insurers are expected to bring in about $100 billion. The bill also raises the payroll tax on high-income workers who receive Medicare.
At the same time, it projects extracting about $436 billion in cost savings in Medicare over the next 10 years, mainly by changing the way doctors and hospitals are paid.
Does that mean my Medicare benefits will be slashed?
Payments would be reduced to Medicare Advantage plans, a popular private alternative to standard Medicare.
The bill also would establish a commission that would be charged with finding other sources of savings.
The Congressional Budget Office says it is likely that the commission will focus on reducing payments for benefits that are not required under Medicare but that are often offered by Medicare Advantage plans.
What about the tax on cosmetic surgery?
The Senate bill imposes a 5% tax on elective cosmetic procedures or surgeries. It would apply if the procedure is "not necessary to ameliorate a deformity arising from, or directly related to, a congenital abnormality, a personal injury resulting from an accident or trauma, or disfiguring disease." That likely includes such procedures as nose jobs, breast implants and Botox injections.
If the bill becomes law, the tax could start as soon as January and raise an estimated $5 billion over the next decade to pay for the healthcare overhaul.
Are there differences in the way the House and Senate bills treat abortion coverage?
Both attempt to prevent federal funds from being used to pay for abortions, but the Senate language is less sweeping than the amendment adopted by the House.
The House bill expressly prohibits insurers from offering abortion coverage to anyone who receives federal subsidies, and prohibits the government-run insurer -- the "public option" -- from offering abortion coverage.
The Senate bill requires insurers, whether public or private, to segregate federal money from premium revenues in separate accounts to ensure that only private funds are used to cover abortions.
It is likely that Republicans and moderate Democrats will use the Senate floor debate to push for language that more closely resembles the House bill's.
If the Senate bill is estimated to cost $848 billion over the next decade, how can Democrats say it will cut the federal budget deficit by $130 billion?
The Congressional Budget Office says that the government will take in more in revenues from taxes and fees -- and save money by trimming the fat out of Medicare -- than it will spend extending health coverage to more Americans.
Under the Senate plan, a tax on high-cost insurance plans is expected to generate about $150 billion over the next decade. Fees on drug companies, medical device makers and insurers are expected to bring in about $100 billion. The bill also raises the payroll tax on high-income workers who receive Medicare.
At the same time, it projects extracting about $436 billion in cost savings in Medicare over the next 10 years, mainly by changing the way doctors and hospitals are paid.
Does that mean my Medicare benefits will be slashed?
Payments would be reduced to Medicare Advantage plans, a popular private alternative to standard Medicare.
The bill also would establish a commission that would be charged with finding other sources of savings.
The Congressional Budget Office says it is likely that the commission will focus on reducing payments for benefits that are not required under Medicare but that are often offered by Medicare Advantage plans.
What about the tax on cosmetic surgery?
The Senate bill imposes a 5% tax on elective cosmetic procedures or surgeries. It would apply if the procedure is "not necessary to ameliorate a deformity arising from, or directly related to, a congenital abnormality, a personal injury resulting from an accident or trauma, or disfiguring disease." That likely includes such procedures as nose jobs, breast implants and Botox injections.
If the bill becomes law, the tax could start as soon as January and raise an estimated $5 billion over the next decade to pay for the healthcare overhaul.
Are there differences in the way the House and Senate bills treat abortion coverage?
Both attempt to prevent federal funds from being used to pay for abortions, but the Senate language is less sweeping than the amendment adopted by the House.
The House bill expressly prohibits insurers from offering abortion coverage to anyone who receives federal subsidies, and prohibits the government-run insurer -- the "public option" -- from offering abortion coverage.
The Senate bill requires insurers, whether public or private, to segregate federal money from premium revenues in separate accounts to ensure that only private funds are used to cover abortions.
It is likely that Republicans and moderate Democrats will use the Senate floor debate to push for language that more closely resembles the House bill's.
Australia issues "catastrophic" alerts as fires rage
SYDNEY: "Catastrophic" alerts have been issued in Australia after record-breaking temperatures and wild lightning storms sparked more than 100 fires across the country, officials said Saturday.The unseasonably hot and dry weather combined with strong winds have led to blazes breaking out in the country's south eastern states.
In New South Wales (NSW) a total fire ban - preventing people from doing such things as burning rubbish or having barbecues - was issued, while the Blue Mountains National Park was closed Saturday.
And in Tasmania, Australia's southernmost island state, three homes were razed Friday at Dolphin Sands, a beachside town.
More than 60 fresh blazes were sparked by the lightning storms, which mostly hit New South Wales, while the states of Victoria South Australia were also affected.
"Temperatures have been quite elevated so the fuel is very dry, and add those winds and it doesn't take much for fires to run very, very quickly indeed," a NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) spokesman said.
"Basically it's very hot and very dry... it will be a trying day. It doesn't look like there will be any reprieve until Sunday."
A Catastrophic, or Code Red, alert urging residents to abandon their homes was issued on Friday in New South Wales.
The warning was issued for the first time ever in South Australia on Tuesday, under a new national system developed in response to February's devastating "Black Saturday" wildfires.
Code Red conditions are considered on a par with those experienced ahead of Black Saturday, Australia's worst disaster of modern times, which killed 173 in Victoria and destroyed more than 2,000 homes.
Residents cannot be forcibly evacuated but are strongly advised to leave their property on a Code Red day, which signifies a high risk of death or injury and destruction.
Australia is facing its worst fire danger in four years, with hotter and windier conditions and earlier than normal outbreaks forecast, according to government analysis published this week.
- AFP/yb
WHO says mutation found in H1N1 flu virus in Norway
GENEVA - The World Health Organisation said Friday that a mutation had been found in samples of the H1N1 flu virus taken following the first two deaths from the pandemic in Norway.However, it stressed that the mutation did not appear to cause a more contagious or more dangerous form of A(H1N1) influenza and that some similar cases observed elsewhere had been mild.
"The Norwegian Institute of Public Health has informed WHO of a mutation detected in three H1N1 viruses," the WHO said in a briefing note.
"The viruses were isolated from the first two fatal cases of pandemic influenza in the country and one patient with severe illness," it said, although it added that no further instances were found in tests.
"Norwegian scientists have analysed samples from more than 70 patients with clinical illness and no further instances of this mutation have been detected.
This finding suggests that the mutation is not widespread in the country," the UN health agency explained.
WHO spokesman Gregory Haertl told AFP that the global health watchdog did not believe "that this has any significant impact for the time being."
However, the agency revealed that a similar mutation had been observed in Brazil, China, Japan, Mexico, Ukraine, and the United States, as early as April.
"The mutations appear to occur sporadically and spontaneously. To date, no links between the small number of patients infected with the mutated virus have been found and the mutation does not appear to spread," the statement said
Some of those cases also produced mild symptoms, Haertl noted.
The WHO also underlined that there was no evidence of more infections or more deaths as a result, while the antiviral drugs used to treat severe flu, oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza), were still effective on the mutated virus.
"Studies show that currently available pandemic vaccines confer protection," it added, as mass vaccine campaigns were slowly gaining ground in the northern hemisphere amid signs of public skepticism in several European nations.
Scientists fear that mutations in flu viruses could cause more virulent and deadly pandemic flu. The global health watchdog reiterated a call for close monitoring.
The WHO was still assessing the significance of the latest observation, but it stressed that many such changes in the flu virus do not alter the illness it causes in patients.
"Although further investigation is under way, no evidence currently suggests that these mutations are leading to an unusual increase in the number of H1N1 infections or a greater number of severe or fatal cases," it added.
Norwegian authorities reported the country's first H1N1 flu death on September 3, a 52 year-old Danish truck driver who died just over a week earlier.
On Friday, WHO data showed reported that around 6,750 people had died from H1N1 flu since the virus was first uncovered in Mexico and the United States in April.
That represented an increase of about 500 more than a week ago, as the pandemic took hold in the northern hemisphere during the cold season.
The WHO estimates that some 250,000 to 500,000 people die every year from standard seasonal variants of H1N1 flu.
- AFP /ls
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