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With 20 confirmed cases of swine flu in the U.S., administration officials declared a public health emergency on Sunday. Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano outlined their plans to keep Americans safe at the White House today. "This is moving fast... As we look for swine flu, we are seeing more cases of swine flu and we expect to see more cases of swine flu," Besser said, noting they view the situation as a marathon, not a sprint. "The government can’t solve this alone, we need everybody to take some responsibility," Napolitano said. In Mexico, where it is believed the outbreak originated, 103 people have died and over 1,000 have been sickened by the virus.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told George Stephanopoulos this morning that he's prepared to back a two-state solution in the Middle East under the condition that Palestinians approve a peace agreement with Israel. "Whatever decision they take is fine with us," he said. "We are not going to determine anything. Whatever decision they take, we will support that." The remark is noteworthy following Ahmadinejad's long-maintained position that Israel shouldn't exist and should be "wiped off the map." He also said he would soon be ready to talk about Iran's nuclear program.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton didn't rush home after her unannounced weekend trip to Baghdad. Rather, she jetted to Beirut on Sunday to meet with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman ahead of elections in that country. "We will continue to support the voices of moderation in Lebanon and we voice our ongoing support for Lebanese independence and sovereignty," Clinton told reporters, referring to the challenge of containing an empowered political organization run by Hezbollah. Clinton's visit to Iraq came after two days of violence that left 160 dead.
Remember the days when Republicans marched to the beat of Karl Rove's drum? Those days are long gone. Now, in the wake of the teabag protests, a rift is emerging between more moderate Republicans and hardliners on social issues like gay marriage. The party is generally divided between the GOP higher-ups inside the beltway and the "rank and file" Republicans. "There is a sense of rebellion brewing," one South Carolina Republican told Politico. Slowly but surely, Republicans like John McCain and the governor of Utah have pushed for their party to step away from hot button social issues. But many are not on board and aim to tap into the fervor that still exists over immigration, taxes and gay marriage, despite the fact that many experts say far-right candidates are no longer politically viable.
The Pakistani army has finally responded to the Taiban's growing presence in the country, and they swear the operation has nothing to do with pressure from the U.S. The military has entered Lower Dir, a region of strategic importance due to its border with Afghanistan. Many of the Taliban fighters there are thought to have recently arrived after leaving Bunur, the region that is only a mere 60 miles from Islamabad. The government had negotiated a deal with the Taliban in which the insurgents would be allowed to control certain territories and impose harsh Sharia law provided they lay down their weapons. That agreement appears to be scrapped. The Pakistani government says they have opened the offensive "at the request of the provincial government and local residents." Few other details are currently available.
A Virginia university was on lockdown earlier today after a former student entered a dorm hall and shot three people. The alleged shooter entered the building at Hampton University by following a pizza deliveryman, and then shot the man, a dorm night manager, and himself. None of the victims have life-threatening injuries. The motive of the shooter, who remains in custody, is unclear. Meanwhile, the university’s response to the disaster is being praised—a combination of text messages, e-mails, and phone calls warned students about the lockdown.
Sure, Wall Street bankers can crunch numbers like no one else, but when will they get the hang of public relations? Due to high profits in the first quarter of this year, the employees at the nation's top banks can expect compensation similar to what they received before they started the economic crisis. Goldman Sachs' employees are looking forward to the fattest paychecks, as it has set aside "$569,220 per worker—almost as much as the pay in 2007, a record year," the New York Times reports. The banks insist that the generous compensation is needed to attract the best and brightest workers. Critics cite the obvious: The money could be used to pay back taxpayers or keep the struggling banks afloat. The bonuses used as incentives for employees also have been criticized for encouraging short term gains. "Like everything on Wall Street, they’re starting to sin again," one analyst told the Times.
Her character may have left Alec Baldwin’s on this week’s episode of 30 Rock, but Salma Hayek seems to have found “The One” in real life. The 42-year-old actress, who recently had stints on Tina Fey’s show and Ugly Betty, wed French billionaire François-Henri Pinault this weekend in a glamorous Parisian shindig, reports People. The duo’s first ceremony was at a city hall on Valentine’s Day. Hayek wore a Balenciaga wedding dress and long veil, and their 19-month-old daughter Valentina Paloma was a flower girl. Recognizable attendees included Penelope Cruz, Edward Norton, Ashley Judd, Charlize Theron, Bono, and Anna Wintour. A masked ball preceded the black-tie wedding.
Caught in a tangled web of military contractors and lobbyists, Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania is seeing his hard-earned influence slowly slip away. Murtha--the top Democrat on the Defense Appropriations Committee who has cultivated close ties to military contractors--is cornered now that many of his associates are being investigated in the new political climate established by Obama's strict ethics code. The "old bull" of the House has also butted heads with Defense Secretary Robert Gates over several military contracts that Gates saw as wasteful. Murtha, however, shows no outward signs of concern. He returned to Congress the past week after having recovered from knee surgery with a cane "topped by a six inch gold knob, a gift from the Marine commanding officer."
The world just became a little less funny. Actress Bea Arthur, most well-known for her role as Dorothy Zbornak in The Golden Girls, died Saturday at the age of 86. Arthur’s personal assistant called her a “brilliant and witty woman” and said she was suffering from cancer in her final days. The tall, deep-voiced woman who “had a way with a line,” also starred in All in the Family as Edith Bunker’s cousin, a role which grew into the spin-off Maude, for which she won an Emmy Award in 1977. She was no stranger to Broadway, and her Tony-winning performance as Vera Charles in Mame was called “a portrait in acid of a savagely witty, cynical and serpent-tongued woman.”
The conflict with the Tamil Tigers that has raged in Sri Lanka since 1983 is reaching a bloody end. The rebels, who are backed into a five square mile area, have called for a ceasefire on the ground of "an unprecedented humanitarian crisis." The Sri Lankan military scoffed at the notion, calling anything short of complete surrender "a joke." Observers have suspected a major violation of human rights and the conventions of war by the Sri Lankan government as it seeks to put down the Tamil insurgency once and for all. The U.N. reports that at least 50,000 civilians remain trapped in the war zone, and there are rumors that the government is obstructing aid workers from entering the area. Many of the civilians caught in the conflict are forced into internment camps once they escape, which are described as inadequate and unsanitary. The U.N. estimates that 6,500 civilians have died in the conflict since January.
These incidents are occurring at an alarming rate. A University of Georgia professor is on the run after a triple shooting left three dead, including his wife. George Zinkhan, a 57-year-old marketing professor at the college, allegedly shot and killed his wife, Maria Bruce, and two men at a community theater group’s reunion in front of 20 witnesses. He reportedly became embroiled in a disagreement with his wife, left, returned with two handguns, and fired eight bullets. His neighbor said he was “shocked” by the news about Zinkhan, whom one colleague described as “a distinguished professor with a national reputation.”
And the clock keeps ticking for Chrysler. The Obama administration is giving the embattled car company until Thursday to reach a cost-cutting deal or join with Italian carmaker Fiat SpA but now Michigan Democrats are speaking out: “The unions have come to the table over and over and over again and have taken huge cuts,” said Senator Debbie Stabenow at a Michigan Democratic Party fundraising event in Detroit. “It is now incumbent on the creditors, in particular those that have taken public funds, to make some concessions and be a part of the solution.” Governor Jennifer Granholm said, “This is going to be a tough week and new battle lines have been drawn.” An agreement reached Friday between the Canadian Auto Workers union and Chrysler demonstrated good-faith reasoning of the unions, and now creditors are being called to follow suit or the company faces potential bankruptcy.
Too bad reality doesn’t allow time travel. Henry Ian Cusick, the rugged Scotsman who portrays Desmond on ABC’s mind-bender of a show Lost, was just accused of sexual harassment by a former ABC Entertainment employee. Chelsea Stone says that in October 2007 Cusick "placed his hand on her buttocks" and then caressed her back "while making moaning sounds,” reports E! Online. Stone also alleges that no action was taken after she complained to ABC and that nearly two weeks later she was fired. Her lawsuit is asking for unspecified damages to cover the harassment, wrongful termination, infliction of emotional distress, and sexual battery.
Their economies are crucial to leading the world out of recession, and now major developing nations such as Brazil, China, and India will have a larger voice in the International Monetary Fund—a gain they have fought long and hard to achieve. The recently announced shift is part of an overhaul of the IMF meant to equip the organization with a mission appropriate to the economic downturn. Whereas the institution previously doled out advice to struggling countries, the fund will now be tasked with "aggressively monitoring the global economy," as well as being much more generous with its loans to developing nations suffering in the current crisis. The most obvious sign that times are changing? For the first time since World War II, the U.S. financial system will be on the receiving end of a "rigorous" review by the IMF.
Could there be a more nerve-wracking place to live than Pakistan's Buner valley, where Taliban occupiers have become more daring and the military is anxious to prove it still has authority? Residents, desperate to avoid seeing their towns turn into a war zone, have asked that both sides show restraint. One local politician implored the Taliban that have remained in the area to cease brandishing weapons now that they have successfully instituted their harsh Sharia law. But the Taliban are suspected of continuing their brutal tactics: A bomb planted in a soccer ball exploded in the region yesterday, killing 12 children. The U.S. has been leaning heavily on the Pakistani government to reassert control, and there are signs that they are gearing up for a major military offensive.
Seeking to combat the old, stodgy, white male image of the anti-abortion movement, a young pro-life activist has become a sensation by using hidden cameras to record Planned Parenthood employees apparently hiding statutory rape cases from authorities. In the videos, Lila Rose, 20, poses as a 13-year-old in the videos, who tells aides that she has become pregnant by a 31-year old boyfriend. In one recording, a worker cautions her that she's required to report such cases to Child Protective Service, but then says she'll ignore it if the girl will pretend the father is a classmate instead. Already the videos have had consequences beyond just YouTube traffic--Tennessee lawmakers said this week that they would try to end a $721,000 contract with Planned Parenthood over one of Rose's films.
Saddam Hussein's brutal regime understandably left his Baath party's credibility in tatters, but American officials are worried that the dictator's ex-supporters are not being incorporated into the current government. The result is further sectarian division that may be behind the latest wave of bombings, which have killed scores in recent days. While Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has pledged to reconcile with Sunni groups that used to back the former dictator, instead his stance seems to be hardening, much to Washington's chagrin. Recently he blamed a major bombing on the Baath party, which he said was “filled with hate from head to toe.” U.S. officials are hoping that aggressive peace efforts will help separate extremist Sunni groups from ones amenable to mainstream government.
Beyonce makes bank on the billboard chart and in the box office. The star's suspense flick made an estimated $28 million this weekend, making it the highest opening day in April for a thriller. (For that record, the movie didn't have much competition, dethroning Disturbia.) Obsessed beat two other films that were heavily promoted by their studios: Fighting (which may tie Zac Efron's 17 Again for second place) and The Soloist. The Soloist, Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx's movie meant to tug on the heartstrings, took in only $3.2 million on Friday, though its critical success may yield steady revenue down the road.
