Democrats are moving forward with what they call “the most sweeping financial reforms since the Great Depression.” 

Senator Christopher Dodd, who sponsored the bill, says the financial meltdown that led to the collapse and subsequent bailouts of some of the largest U.S. firms shows the current regulations are inadequate. “We have learned the kind of condition we are in is because either we didn’t have regulation or that the regulators we had weren’t doing their job,” he said.

Dodd says the failures have hurt middle class Americans the most. “The far worse damage has been done to millions of American families who did nothing wrong at all.  A staggering 8.4 million jobs have been lost and the unemployment rate remains near double digits,” the senator noted.

To avert a future crisis, Dodd proposes an expansion of the Federal Reserve’s authority.  Besides giving the central bank the power to limit institutional risks, the proposal gives the Fed the ability to break up large institutions considered “too big to fail.”  It also creates a new consumer protection agency that will approve and enforce financial products.  But some are doubtful the reforms will work.

“At the end of the day, the investment bankers and the financial engineers still have the ability to go out and create products that nobody understands,” said Boston University School of Law professor Cornelius Hurley.

Banking lobbyists argue the bill will hurt families and businesses because it will force banks to tighten credit.  But Brookings Institution banking expert Doug Elliott says the trade off will be increased security. “It was so expensive to clean up after this crisis, we need more safety - even if it makes loans a little more expensive,” he said.

Republican Senator Bob Corker, who was involved in bipartisan negotiations before the talks broke down, said the plan faces a tough fight in the Senate. Among Republican concerns: that the new consumer watchdog will have too much authority to ban financial products. 

In a statement issued Monday, President Obama promised to work with Senator Dodd to defeat any efforts to weaken the bill. 

Dodd has pledged to pass the new regulations this year.

Source:  VOA News

Vice Admiral Greg Smith, the top U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, says U.S. troops serving in eastern Afghanistan as part of the Operation Enduring Freedom command will soon be integrated into the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates ordered the reorganization before traveling to Kabul last week, Smith said, adding the reorganization will not change the number of troops deployed in Afghanistan.

In another significant shift, NATO’s top commander, U.S. General Stanley McChrystal, said he has brought most U.S. Special Operations forces in the country under his direct command. 

Afghan officials have complained that Special Operations troops are responsible for a large number of civilian casualties, and they have pressed McChrystal to restrict their night-time combat missions.

In an interview published Tuesday in The New York Times, McChrystal said the realignment should improve coordination among all military units in Afghanistan. 

Meanwhile, officials say Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. President Barack Obama held a video conference to discuss prospects of peace with the Taliban.

A statement from Mr. Karzai’s office says the two men spoke for more than an hour Monday night, and that the Afghan leader briefed Mr. Obama on Afghan efforts to speed up the peace and reconciliation process and purge corruption.

U.S. commanders say reaching a political settlement between the Afghan government and Taliban fighters is critical for reducing violence.

The Afghan statement says Mr. Karzai told President Obama Afghans are concerned their country will be used for “proxy wars” between nations.  Last week, Mr. Karzai said he was concerned about the possibility that Afghanistan might become directly involved in potential conflict between Pakistan and India, or between the United States and Iran.

Source:  VOA News

General Petraeus says the recent operation in and around the town of Marjah in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province is just the beginning of a long, difficult effort to reverse the expansion of Taliban influence and establish security and stability.
 
“The civil-military campaign on which we have embarked in Afghanistan will unfold over the next 18 months, and as many of us have observed, the going is likely to get harder before it gets easier,” he said.

General Petraeus says the Taliban will fight hard to maintain control of key areas. And he warned senators not to expect a dramatic reduction of violence in Afghanistan this year. “2010 will be a difficult year, a year that will see progress and a reversal of Taliban momentum in important areas, but also a year in which there will be tough fighting and periodic setbacks,” he said.

Still, General Petraeus endorsed President Barack Obama’s decision to begin to transfer security responsibility to Afghan forces by July of next year. He said the expansion and training of the Afghan forces is a key to reaching that goal, and added that the United States is looking for ways to fill the gap in trainers left by the failure of NATO allies to provide as many as had been hoped for.

The general also called Pakistan’s recent operations against Taliban and al-Qaida elements “impressive,” and said coordination with U.S. forces on the Afghan side of the border has made it more difficult for the militants to move from one country to the other.

Regarding General Petraeus’ other main responsibility, the continuing U.S. military effort in Iraq, he said there has been substantial progress, and he cited the mostly peaceful election earlier this month as evidence. But the general warned that insurgents still have the ability to create significant problems. “As always, however, the progress in Iraq is still fragile, and it could still be reversed,” he said.

Still, General Petraeus said his forces are on track to reduce their presence from the current level of 96,000 to 50,000 by the end of August, as President Obama has ordered. But the general confirmed he may decide to keep an additional command center in the country to help the Iraqis deal with tensions with the Kurds. Still, he said that would be within the 50,000 overall number and within the new ‘advise and assist’ mission.

General Petraeus also expressed continuing concern about militant activities in Yemen, although he said recent operations by the country’s military have improved the situation.

And he called Iran “the major state-level threat to regional stability,” accusing its leaders of supporting violent groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza and, to a lesser extent, Afghanistan. The general said he believes Iran is working to develop a nuclear weapon, but he does not expect the process to be completed this year.

Source:  VOA News

A senior State Department official says Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has asked Israel to act to restore confidence in U.S.-led peace efforts in the region, which were upset by last week’s housing decision.

Israel announced last week that it is building 1,600 new Jewish housing units in East Jerusalem, which Palestinians want as the capital of their envisaged state.

The announcement, during an Israel visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, prompted an angry American response, including a telephone complaint to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by Secretary of State Clinton, who said the move undermined U.S. regional interests and trust in the peace process.

The senior State Department official, who spoke to reporters on terms of anonymity, said the United States wants Israel to rescind the housing decision or take alternate steps to “show its level of commitment to the peace process.”

While expressing regret over the timing of Israel’s announcement, Mr. Netanyahu has defended his government’s housing policy in East Jerusalem, which Israel says is part of its indivisible capital.
 
At a news briefing, State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley said the United States is awaiting Israel’s response to Clinton’s request.

“She did outline for Prime Minister Netanyahu some specific things that we wanted to see from the Israeli government,” said P.J. Crowley. “I’m not going to go into the specific detail.  They involve not only specifics about the project that was announced last week, but really more so about the willingness of the parties to engage seriously in this process and jointly create conditions for its success.”

Crowley said the United States is also concerned about what he said was anti-Israeli incitement by some Palestinians over Israel’s rededication this week of a historic synagogue in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem’s old city.

“We’re deeply disturbed by statements made by several Palestinian officials mischaracterizing the event in question, which can only serve to heighten the tensions that we see,” he said. “And we call upon Palestinian officials to put an end to such incitement.”

Crowley said U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell plans to visit the region this week, despite the differences with Israel, although he suggested that a final decision to go might depend on Israel’s reply to Clinton.

He added that Mitchell will join Clinton late this week for a meeting in Moscow of the international diplomatic “quartet” on the Middle East that consists of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.

Last Friday, the quartet issued a statement condemning Israel’s housing decision and saying that unilateral actions by either party that prejudge the outcome of negotiations will not be recognized by the international community.

Source:  VOA News

Mitchell had planned to leave Washington Monday for the Middle East, but delayed his departure, leaving the timing of his trip unclear.

The U.S. State Department says it is waiting for a formal Israeli response to U.S. demands for gestures to demonstrate Israel’s commitment to revive peace talks with the Palestinians.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discussed the unspecified demands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call Friday.

In that conversation, Clinton rebuked Israel for approving a housing project for Jews in east Jerusalem, an area claimed by Palestinians as a future capital.

Mr. Netanyahu said Monday the government will keep building in Jerusalem as it has for the past 42 years.  Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast War and declared the territory part of its eternal capital in a move not recognized internationally.

U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Monday Washington maintains an “unshakable” commitment to Israel’s security despite their dispute about the housing plan.

Israel announced the project when U.S. Vice President Joe Biden visited the country last week to help launch indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks through U.S. mediation.  U.S. officials called the timing of the announcement insulting.

The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank says Israel must scrap the housing project before it enters indirect peace talks.

Crowley also said Washington is “deeply disturbed” by comments from Palestinian officials condemning Israel’s rededication of a historic synagogue Monday in east Jerusalem’s walled Old City.

Rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas denounced the Israeli move as a provocation and urged their supporters to come to the Old City to defend its Muslim shrines.  Hamas declared Tuesday a “day of rage.”

Crowley accused Palestinian officials of mischaracterizing the synagogue consecration and, called on them to “put an end to such incitement,” as he put it.

Source:  VOA News

Days have passed since Israel announced its intention to build 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem during a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, but the Obama administration’s anger appears undiminished.

Senior White House advisor David Axelrod on NBC’s Meet the Press television program.

“This was an affront, it was an insult,” Axelrod said. “But most importantly, it undermined this very fragile effort to bring peace to that region.”

Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians view East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state under a “two-state” solution that has been the focus of on-again, off-again Middle East peace discussions promoted by the United States for years.  Axelrod said Israel’s construction announcement makes an elusive accord even harder to reach.

“We just now have started proximity talks - that is, shuttle diplomacy between the Palestinians and the Israelis,” Axelrod said. “And for this announcement to come at that time was very, very destructive.”

Israeli officials have expressed regret for the timing of the announcement, but not for its substance.  The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to defend its policy of expanding Jewish settlements.

For decades, Israel has been America’s closest ally in the Middle East and a top recipient of U.S. aid.  Asked whether the United States is demanding a halt to new Israeli construction in disputed territory, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had this to say.

“[U.S.] Secretary of State [Hillary] Clinton had a very clear conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu where she outlined some steps that we believe he should take,” Gibbs said. “I am not going to get into them here.  That was part of a private conversation.  I think the Israelis have a sense of what they need to do now.”

Gibbs was speaking on Fox News Sunday.

Meanwhile, Palestinians have threatened to cancel indirect negotiations, which they agreed to one week ago, before the Israeli announcement. 

U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell is scheduled to visit the region to lay groundwork for the indirect talks.

Source:  VOA News

Israeli troops and the Shin Bet security service caught Maher Uda overnight Saturday near the West Bank town of Ramallah.

Uda has been on Israel’s most wanted list since the 1990s.  He is considered a founding member of the Hamas military branch in the West Bank.  Israel blames him for the deaths of at least 70 Israelis.

Hamas has accused Palestinian security forces of helping Israel detain Uda. The Palestinian Authority has not commented on the case.

The Palestinian Authority runs the West Bank, while Hamas has control over the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Islamist group took control of Gaza in 2007, after battling forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Source:  VOA News

A sea of red clad protesters wave banners and cheer as a band plays music on stage.  The protesters have been pouring into Bangkok all weekend by bus, boat, and motorcycle, mainly from the rural north, and now number in the tens of thousands.

Lining the roads leading off from the performance are hundreds of tents providing demonstrators with shade and stalls selling cold drinks and snacks.

The anti-government demonstrations are occupying the main avenue leading up to Thailand’s government house and while festive, the protesters have a serious message.

They have set a deadline for the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, which they consider illegitimate, to step down and allow new elections.

Sean Boonpracong is the international spokesman for the red shirts. 

“The most important message of this hour is we are giving the government ultimatum, 24 hours ultimatum, to dissolve the government … dissolve the parliament, as we speak, 24 hours,” Sean said. “And if they don’t we’re going to up the ante — that means march around the city of Bangkok and we’ll make that final decision tonight what we’re going to do but we’re not going to move today.” 

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has said he will not give in to pressure but will allow for elections when the time is right.

Many of the red shirts are supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra because of his policies supporting the poor.

He was ousted in a 2006 coup and now lives in exile to avoid jail time for corruption charges.

The red shirts blame the elite in Bangkok for the coup and demonstrations in 2008 that overthrew a government friendly to Thaksin.

Ariwan Laripitak, a resident of Bangkok, was at the protest and says she is also unhappy with the current government.

“I want democracy and get Abhisit get out because Abhisit is a very bad man,” Ariwan said.

The protests in Bangkok are the largest since April, when red shirts clashed with security, sparking riots that left two people dead and a trail of burnt public buses and other damage.

Fifty-thousand security personnel have been deployed around government house and key areas of Bangkok to prevent violence and damage to property. 

The demonstrations have been peaceful and no violence has been reported.  But, tensions are expected to build as the deadline protest leaders have set is not likely to be met.  

Source:  VOA News

Israel sealed off the West Bank for 48 hours, saying police had intelligence information that Palestinian youths would cause disturbances after prayers for the Muslim Sabbath on Friday. This Palestinian was turned away by Israeli troops at the entrance to Jerusalem from Bethlehem.

“It’s surrounded by soldiers. And now we can’t reach Jerusalem to pray, and you know, to do the activities of the religion,” said Mos.

There has been sporadic violence for the past several weeks since Israel declared two West Bank shrines national heritage sites: The Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem. Some 3,000 Israeli police and soldiers patrolled the area in and around Jerusalem’s Old City.

Restrictions were imposed on entry to the Mosque of al-Aqsa and Dome of the Rock compound, the third holiest place in Islam. Palestinian men under the age of 50 were barred from entering the compound, which is a flashpoint of Jewish-Muslim tensions. For Jews it is the Temple Mount, the holiest place in Judaism and site of the biblical Temples.

There were sporadic stone-throwing clashes in Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. But the security clampdown had its desired effect, and prayers at the volatile Mosque of al-Aqsa passed quietly.

Source:  VOA News

The painted wooden coffin, in the shape of an Egyptian man in a state of repose, took center stage at the National Geographic Society Wednesday, quite literally.

The empty 3,000-year-old sarcophagus was at the center of a transfer ceremony as U.S. officials handed over the apparently smuggled artifact to Egypt’s chief of antiquities.

John Morton is the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.  His agency is tasked with seizing and investigating illegally imported art and antiquities.

“The case of this particular sarcophagus sounds like an international tale of intrigue that is worthy of a novel.  It involved the sale by a Spanish art gallery of a large wooden sarcophagus that was allegedly found in Europe or Egypt - the particular finder was never quite sure - some time around 1970,” he said. 

But the latest chapter of this 3,000 year-old-tale begins with a customs agent’s inkling in 2008 at the Miami airport.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agricultural Specialist Herbert Kercado was checking the crate for the usual concerns, such as beetles that can bore holes in wood.  But what caught his eye was the documents — or the lack of documents — that he felt should accompany a crate carrying a sarcophagus. “How come a sarcophagus was down and through Miami without any documents from the Egyptian government allowing that shipment to come in all the way to Miami?,” he said.

He informed Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Morton said one of its special agents launched an international investigation. “That led us to Spain, Italy, to Egypt.  That involved Egyptologists, that involved Interpol, that involved the Egyptian government both here in the US and in Cairo,” he said.

The investigation into the shadowy world of antiquities smuggling raised as many questions as it answered. “We learned that the alleged provenance on this particular sarcophagus was not real.  The alleged collection from which it came did not exist.  The Egyptians had never authorized the export of this particular sarcophagus whenever in fact it was exported, and who knows when that truly was,” he said.  

Morton said the records of acquisition in Europe either did not exist, or were questionable, so the U.S. government seized the coffin.  U.S. officials then demonstrated in federal court that neither the shipper nor the U.S. buyer had legal claim to the ancient artifact, and the coffin was forfeited to the United States.

Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities Zahi Hawass praised the United States for its efforts. “I say this everywhere — the country that helped us a lot until now in the return of stolen artifacts is the United States,” he said.

Hawass said Egyptian and U.S. officials had been in almost daily contact in a bid to return the sarcophagus to its rightful owners — and to unravel the mystery of just who used to be inside this coffin adorned with colorful painted figures. “He seems to be an important man.  Why?  The coffin is beautiful. Beautifully decorated, has beautiful scenes.  There is no one who is not important who could make a coffin like this,” he said.

Hawass, a famed archaeologist and Egyptologist, said the man’s name is Imhesy.  He said the coffin dates to back to the 21st Dynasty, right after the end of the New Kingdom and the golden age of Egypt. “People can think that the best moment in the life of an archaeologist is actually to discover something, but for me, the best thing is to return something to Egypt,” Hawass said.

Hawass has spearheaded efforts to reclaim smuggled and stolen goods, and he has overseen the return of some 31,000 objects to Egypt since 2002.  

As for this coffin, it will go on display in Cairo April 7. Hawass says it will ultimately be exhibited at a museum that is under construction in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Source:  VOA News

Linking America’s economic recovery with its ability to expand exports, the president used a speech to the U.S. Export-Import Bank in Washington to outline a major new initiative to promote American products overseas.

Recalling his pledge in his State of the Union Address to double American exports over the next five years, President Obama called it “absolutely necessary” to get beyond old debates about the right approach to globalization and trade.

The president said it is more important now than ever for the United States to be able to compete, or it will be left behind by other nations.

“If we stand on the sidelines while they go after those customers we will lose out on the chance to create the good jobs our workers need right here at home.  That is why standing on the sidelines is not what we intend to do,” said the president.

The National Export Initiative seeks to combine U.S. government resources to focus on export promotion and expansion, including a new Export Promotion Cabinet that will bring together the Secretaries of State, Treasury, Agriculture, and Labor, along with the U.S. Trade Representative.

The president named two prominent business leaders to head an advisory committee on international trade called the President’s Export Council.

President Obama also used his speech to press China on its currency policies, saying action by Beijing to adjust the value of the yuan would contribute to a “rebalancing” of economies, something the G-20 nations agreed was a necessary response to the global financial crisis:

“Everybody’s got to re-balance.  Countries with external deficits need to save and export more,” he said.  “Countries with external surpluses need to boost consumption and domestic demand.  And as I’ve said before, China moving to a more market-oriented exchange rate would make an essential contribution to that global rebalancing effort,” he added.

The remarks about China come as the Obama administration faces a decision on whether to label China a currency manipulator in a Treasury Department report due out next month, a move that would increase tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Though President Obama pledged to strengthen relations with key partners South Korea, Panama and Colombia he offered no specifics on how the administration will move ahead with free trade agreements with these countries that the U.S. Congress has yet to approve.

He said the U.S. seeks “an ambitious and balanced agreement” under the Doha round of trade talks, in his words, not just for the sake of any agreement, but for one that enhances market access for American agriculture, goods, and services.”

Source:  VOA News

The massive two million-word report, covering 194 countries, is mandated under a 1976 act of Congress and was originally intended to guide U.S. lawmakers on foreign aid decisions.

But introducing the latest report, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the document has become the most comprehensive record available on the condition of human rights around the world.

“These reports are an essential tool for activists who courageously struggle to protect rights in communities around the world, for journalists and scholars who document rights violations and who report on the work of those who champion the vulnerable, and for governments including our own, as they work to craft strategies to encourage protection of human rights of more individuals in more places,” Clinton said.

Clinton said principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are a “North Star” (eds: guiding light) for the Obama administration’s foreign and human rights policies.

The report itself, covering events in 2009, levels harsh criticism at some familiar sources of U.S. concern.

Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Richard Posner said the human rights situation in Iran worsened after disputed presidential elections. 

“In Iran, an already poor human rights situation rapidly deteriorated after the June elections,” Posner said. “At least 45 people were killed in clashes, thousands were arrested, another thousand were arrested in demonstration in December. It is a place where are continuing to see severe repression of dissent and are continuing to pay great attention.”

Iran was also cited for discrimination against women and ethnic and religious minorities, with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused of fueling anti-semitism.

China was similarly faulted for increased repression of Tibetans and Muslim Uighurs.

Citing the prosecution and jailing of prominent Chinese democracy advocates, Assistant Secretary Posner said pressure on civil society groups challenging Beijing government policies is on the rise.

“In the last several years, more public interest, human rights, environmental lawyers have been taking cases, law clinics are springing up,” Posner said. “There seems to be a real crackdown, and there are also greater restrictions on NGO’s.”

China was among some 25 countries said to have imposed restrictions on the ability of non-governmental groups to register and operate, and among those restricting the Internet and other new media.

Posner said the situation in neighboring North Korea was far more bleak.

“It’s probably one of the most closed societies in the world. So across the board, I would say conditions are poor, they’re not getting better, and we continue to be very mindful of the plight of the North Korean people living in that circumstance,” Posner said.

The report also took aim at media curbs in Russia and Venezuela.

Yet Posner noted positive human rights trends in a number of countries including Georgia, Ukraine, Bhutan, the Maldives and Liberia, where the government has set up a truth and reconciliation commission in the aftermath of years of civil conflict.

While the U.S. human rights record is not assessed, the report noted that the United States will submit to its first periodic review before the U.N. Human Rights Council later this year.

Source:  VOA News

Federal prosecutors disclosed the charges Tuesday against 46-year-old Pennsylvania resident Colleen LaRose, also known to authorities as “Fatima LaRose” and “Jihad Jane.”

The charges include conspiracy to kill in a foreign country and conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.

LaRose is said to have gone to Europe in August last year to join terrorists and carry out her alleged murder mission, before her arrest back in the United States in October, which was only made public Tuesday.

The 11-page indictment signed by Philadelphia-based U.S. Attorney Michael Levy also details email communication the woman allegedly had with contacts around the world including Europe and South Asia, as well as comments she allegedly made on the video sharing site YouTube, citing her intentions.

An American expert on homeland security, Professor Jonathan Acuff, says the case shows the Internet helps track down potential terrorists, wherever they may be.

“This allows us to track a lot of their behavior,” said Jonathan Acuff. “It is probably one of the chief intelligence sources for most of our intelligence organizations.”

The American woman who is said to have converted to Islam was quoted as saying she wanted to be a martyr.  She was also quoted as saying she could use her American looks to easily blend in in Sweden to carry out a murder of an artist who was not identified. A U.S. official is quoted as saying the suspect LaRose is blonde with blue eyes.

The attorney Levy said the case shatters any thoughts that a terrorist can be spotted based on appearance.

European media outlets are reporting the American woman’s target was cartoonist Lars Vilks. He has been receiving police protection as well as other threats after one of his cartoons was published in 2007 depicting the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog. 

U.S. officials did not confirm this and co-conspirators in the case were not immediately identified.  Separately, seven Muslims, including three women, were arrested Tuesday in Ireland in connection with a plot to kill the cartoonist.

The homeland security expert, Acuff, who teaches at Saint Anselm College, says he fears there could be other terrorist recruits with profiles like “Jihad Jane”.

“I think this is something that extremist Islamist groups will continue to try to do,” he said. “They will try to recruit people who, for lack of a better way of putting it, look like the stereotypical western European or American and they are probably going to be successful at that. And we will look at eventually an attack that does have unfortunately some fatalities associated with it eventually.”

If convicted, LaRose face a possible sentence of life  in prison.  Her initial court appearance was not immediately known.

Source:  VOA News

The contract covers nearly 200 planes and is worth tens of billions of dollars over the next two decades.

Northrop had teamed up with Europe-based Airbus to compete for the contract against U.S.-based Boeing, which has been supplying tankers to the U.S. Air Force for decades.

Northrop officials said the Pentagon unfairly favored Boeing, but U.S. officials insist the competition was fair. Boeing officials say they are offering a plane that is cheaper to operate and will survive longer in combat than its competition.

This hard-fought contest has been underway for years and included fierce legal wrangling and a contracting scandal that saw a Boeing manager and a top Air Force official go to jail. 

Members of Congress have also been squabbling over the contract because the Boeing version of the plane would be built in Washington State, while work on the Northrop-Airbus plane would have brought many jobs to Alabama.

The contract is for new planes for the complex task of refueling military planes in mid-air. In-flight refueling greatly extends the range of fighters, bombers, and transports, giving some of them the ability to reach targets anywhere in the world. 

The job is now performed by the Boeing KC-135, which is based on the 707 airliner, a plane that has been declared obsolete by airlines and retired from commercial service.

In other aircraft industry news, the parent company of Airbus, EADS, says it lost about $1.4 billion in the last few months of 2009, a period that saw a profit in the prior year.

EADS is wrestling with delays and problems in the programs that produce the world’s largest commercial plane, the A380, as well as development problems with a new military transport called the A400M.

The A380 is now in commercial service, but the economic downturn has slowed orders. EADS says it has now gotten the A400M program back on track.

Source:  VOA News

Biden was speaking in Jerusalem Tuesday after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres.  Biden is making the highest-level visit by a U.S. official to Israel and the West Bank since the Obama administration took office more than a year ago.

The U.S. vice president welcomed an agreement by Israel and the Palestinians to begin indirect talks as a “moment of opportunity” for the peace process.  He said progress in the Middle East occurs when everyone knows there is “no space” between the United States and Israel.

Biden is due to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Wednesday in Ramallah. Palestinian and Israeli officials agreed Monday to negotiate through U.S. mediators following a 14-month break in the process. But no date has been announced for the indirect talks.

Vice President Biden also told Mr. Netanyahu that the United States is “determined” to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Israel sees a nuclear-armed Iran as a threat to its existence due to statements by Iranian leaders calling for the demise of the Jewish state.

Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.

U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell held separate meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders Monday.  He urged them to refrain from statements or actions that may inflame tensions or influence the outcome of the upcoming talks.

Israel approved construction Monday of 112 new homes in a West Bank settlement. The move angered Palestinians who want the territory for a future state.

Palestinian leaders walked away from direct talks with Israel in December 2008 after Israeli forces launched an offensive against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

Source:  VOA News

Mr. Sarkozy said energy demand will increase 40 percent by 2030, and countries must balance this increase with the fight against climate change.  He said nuclear power, which does not contribute significantly to global warming, is essential to meet these two goals.

Representatives from some 60 nations are gathered at the Paris nuclear energy conference, which continues through Tuesday.  Iran, whose nuclear program is the target of international concern, was not invited to the talks.  But Syria, whose nuclear interests have also raised questions, was present.

Mr. Sarkozy said it is critical that poorer nations gain access to nuclear energy.

The French president said the solution to the world’s growing energy needs was not reducing growth and keeping the poor mired in poverty.  He said doing so would close the door to progress and a better life to those who have nothing.

A number of countries, including the United States, are embracing nuclear power as a key element in the energy equation.  But nuclear power is highly controversial, and Mr. Sarkozy’s remarks were criticized by groups that want France and other nations to abandon nuclear power.

Critics are concerned about the hazards of nuclear-waste disposal and of chances that deadly nuclear technology could end up in the wrong hands.

Source:  VOA News

Turkey’s Kandilli Observatory says the magnitude 6.0 quake struck the province of Elazig early Monday at 4:32 a.m. local time.  It was centered near the town of Karakocan.

The quake toppled stone and mud-brick homes, and brought down minarets of mosques in several villages.  Rescuers tried to free people trapped in the rubble.  More than 70 people were injured and rushed to hospitals in cars and ambulances. Turkish aid workers distributed relief supplies to residents.

The earthquake also was felt in the neighboring provinces of Diyarbakir, Tunceli and Bingol.  It sent residents rushing onto the streets.  The quake triggered more than 20 aftershocks.

Earthquakes happen frequently in Turkey, much of which is located on several fault lines.

Source:  VOA News

An Iraqi Interior Ministry source says at least 12 people were killed and eight wounded when an explosion destroyed a building in Baghdad.

An earlier blast as polls opened killed four people and wounded eight more.  Eight people died in other blasts in the capital.

Scores of mortar shells have struck various locations in Baghdad, including in the “Green Zone” that houses parliament, as well as the U.S. and British embassies.  Most attacks have originated from mainly Sunni districts.

Despite the violence, long lines were seen at many polling stations across much of the country.

Iraqis are voting in an election seen as a key test of Iraq’s ability to maintain security and conduct a smooth transition of power after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

Some 19 million eligible voters are choosing from about 6,200 candidates for the country’s 325-seat parliament.

Security is tight throughout the country, with tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers and police officers patrolling the streets.

Along with the deadly attacks Sunday in Baghdad, militants have targeted other polling locations in Iraq.

An al-Qaida-affiliated group, the Islamic State of Iraq, has warned that anyone who decides to vote will risk death.

Security was stepped up in Iraqi cities, as well as along the country’s borders with Iran and Syria ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary vote.  The borders have been sealed and the airport closed.

There are no clear frontrunners in the elections.  Many voters likely will choose among the three major Shi’ite-led coalitions. 

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law Coalition and former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s Iraqiya bloc have both reached out to Sunnis and other minority groups.

A third Shi’ite coalition, the Iraqi National Alliance, has been playing up its sectarian profile and has strong ties to Iran.  It has been getting support from followers of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. 

On Saturday, Sadr encouraged Iraqis to take part in the vote and give their support to those who can best serve the nation.

Millions of Iraqis living overseas in 14 countries, as well as Iraqi soldiers, police, medical staff, patients and prisoners cast their ballots in early voting.

The polling is only the second parliamentary election in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein in 2003.  It is being monitored by the United Nations, the Arab League and various international groups, as well as some 200,000 Iraqis.

Unlike the previous national election in 2005 when Iraqi Sunnis boycotted the polls, many of them say they plan to participate.

Source:  VOA News

In a statement Friday, the Treasury Department said it makes decisions about currency redesigns by evaluating “ongoing counterfeit threats.”

The department said the new look will help protect against fraud.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will unveil the new look on April 21 in a special ceremony.

Details of how the bill will be different from the current version have not yet been released.  But the treasury department says it will launch a global public awareness campaign to make sure everyone is aware of the new security measures before the bill starts circulating.

The hundred-dollar note is the highest U.S. dollar denomination in circulation.  It is used by people around the world.

Source:  VOA News

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says the economy lost 36,000 more jobs last month than it created. Many analysts see it as good news, because the expectation was for a loss double that figure.

That expectation was largely based on two recent blizzards that shut down many businesses in the Philadelphia and Washington areas. But the bureau says it’s not clear how much the storms affected unemployment, because many of the people who couldn’t get to work are still counted as employed.

Still, the latest figures interrupt a trend of gradual improvement in recent months. And the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says a total of 14.9 million Americans are still out of work.

“The U.S. economy may be in a recovery mode, but the labor market is still doing poorly,” said John Lonski, an analyst at Moody’s Investors service.

But officials remain optimistic. In a speech just before the latest job figures were released, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Charles Evans, said employment is often the last thing to recover in a recession. Many businesses slash payrolls, he said, and try to keep a lean staff even as output levels begin to recover.

“But I think many businesses already are finding that they can take lean production only so far,” he added.

At a recent jobs fair in New York, many people clung to the hope of finding a job soon. Banker David Gereb lost his job three months ago.

“Depending who you listen to - some people say it’s getting worse, some say it’s getting better, just cross my fingers that I get a job soon,” Gereb said.

The United States is enduring the worst rise in unemployment of any economic slowdown since World War II. More than 8.5 million jobs have been lost since the recession began a little over two years ago.

Source:  VOA News