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NEW YORK – A new John Lennon exhibit is particularly emotional for his widow, Yoko Ono. Besides Lennon’s guitars, letters and other personal effects, it also includes a paper bag containing the bloody clothes from the night he was shot to death.
Ono received the items from the medical examiner in December 1980, when the former Beatle was gunned down in New York City at age 40.
“It was hard to include,” Ono said. “And I thought it might be criticized as well.”
But ultimately, Ono thought it was important to let people see the effects of gun violence.
The Lennon items are part of a new exhibit that will launch Tuesday at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex. “John Lennon: The New York Years” includes Lennon’s famous New York City T-shirt, his upright piano from his Dakota apartment, and a posthumous 1981 Grammy Award for the couple’s album “Double Fantasy.”
“I know it’s a kind of a sad and very poignant kind of paradox I think that he loved this place so much and this is where he was killed,” she said in an interview after a news conference for the exhibit.
There are also letters documenting Lennon’s long-fought battle against deportation in the early 1970s, both from the government and supporters. Glass cases also contain a dozen or so handwritten lyrics.
Ono says Lennon’s death still haunts her nearly 30 years later: “I still get affected by it.”
“If it (his death) was a slow a process we could have talked about it or something,” she added, holding back tears.
The exhibit will be on display throughout 2009.
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On the Net:

http://www.rockannex.com/

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) –
A music promoter plans to sue to block Michael Jackson from performing in London this year, claiming that a contract signed by the “king of pop” prevents him from giving a concert until July 2010, the head of the promotion company said on Monday.
New Jersey-based AllGood Entertainment Inc contends it signed an agreement in November with Jackson's manager, Frank DiLeo, committing the singer to perform in July 2010 along with his brothers from the Jackson Five and sister Janet Jackson.
Under the agreement, Michael Jackson cannot give another concert until that Jackson Family reunion show, said Patrick Allocco, managing partner at AllGood Entertainment.
AllGood Entertainment sent a cease and desist letter to DiLeo and to concert promoter AEG Live, which has signed Jackson to perform a series of 50 shows at London's 02 Arena starting in July, Allocco said. In the letter, AllGood Entertainment warned that its agreement with DiLeo barred Jackson from performing the London shows for AEG Live.
A source at AEG Live acknowledged the company had been contacted and called AllGood's claims meaningless. The source said rehearsals in Los Angeles are continuing in preparation for the July shows at the 02.
A representative for Jackson did not return calls.
Allocco said his company's plans to sue in federal court come after failed attempts to negotiate with Jackson and reach a deal to allow the London shows to go ahead.
“As of right now we've gotten zero cooperation from anyone, Frank DiLeo refuses to honor our agreement and that's why we're filing a lawsuit by week's end,” Allocco said.
AllGood Entertainment said that its one-time concert featuring Michael Jackson is scheduled for July 3, 2010, at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas. The concert would be available as a pay-per-view event over the Internet, Allocco said.
Jackson could make up to $30 million for the show, Allocco said.
“Thirty million for one show is unheard of, that's why we're so frustrated,” he said. “Frank DiLeo is standing in our way. AEG has been constantly frustrating our ability to get this show.”
Jackson's series of concerts in London also have been touted as unprecedented. AEG has said that, all together, the shows will gather the biggest audience ever to see an artist in one city.
(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Bill Trott)

WASHINGTON – These days, Goldie Hawn is more interested in helping children than making movies.
Hawn hasn’t released a film since “The Banger Sisters” in 2002. Instead, she’s formed the Hawn Foundation, which helps kids learn how to manage their emotions and relieve stress.
“When kids are stressed and when they’re fearful and when they’re angry and when they have uncertainty, sadness and sorrow, they have no tools for how to manage these things and we’re giving them that,” Hawn says.
Hawn says kids who can control their stress and emotions do better in school and are less likely to have suicidal thoughts.
About 1,000 teachers have been trained to teach the program that was developed by the foundation with help from neuroscientists, educators and researchers, Hawn says. About 12,000 students are taking part in schools across the country.
“We want to fix our schools,” she says. “That’s great, but we have to fix our kids.”
The 63-year-old Hawn says she never saw herself acting until she “croaked,” and she’s reinvented her life to give it more purpose. A life with purpose “is a happy life,” she says.
Hawn was recently in Washington to pick up an award for her work from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
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On the Net:

http://www.thehawnfoundation.org

DETROIT (Reuters) –
Ford Motor Co(F.N) said on Monday that it would sell 300 million common shares and use part of the proceeds to pay off its healthcare obligations to the United Auto Workers under the terms of a recently concluded deal with the union.
Ford also said it expects to grant to the underwriters — Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley — a 30-day option to buy up to 45 million shares of common stock.
Ford shares fell 4.6 percent to $5.80 in after-market trade following the stock offering. At that price, the new shares would raise about $1.7 billion for Ford.
Ford is the only U.S. automaker that has not sought government aid.
Ford's stock offering comes on the heels of a successful debt exchange. Ford shares have had a four-fold rise in price since hitting a low of $1.50 on February 20.
Ford said net proceeds from the stock offering would also be used for general corporate purposes.
“Today's equity offering is another example of the fast, decisive action we are taking as we build momentum on our plan, including further progress on improving our balance sheet,” Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally said in a statement.
Ford is trying to raise capital to fund the Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA), a union-run fund set up for retiree healthcare expenses.
Ford restructured payments into the VEBA, including the option to contribute about half in company stock, to conserve cash. But the plan to make payments in stock requires shareholder approval at Ford's annual meeting this week.
Ford, which posted a net loss of $1.43 billion in the first quarter, has said it believes it has adequate liquidity to operate through the economic downturn without seeking emergency U.S. government loans.
(Reporting by Poornima Gupta; Editing by Toni Reinhold)

LOS ANGELES, CaliforniaThe Miss California USA controversy is playing out like one of Donald Trump’s highly rated reality shows, with viewers waiting to hear whether he’ll utter his famous phrase, “You’re fired!”
Miss California USA Carrie Prejean may lose her crown, a decision to be made by pageant owner Donald Trump.
While California pageant officials appointed Carrie Prejean’s runner-up to temporarily take over her public duties, Trump, who owns the Miss Universe pageant, is set to announce Tuesday the final decision on whether Prejean will lose her crown for breaching her pageant contract. The state organization’s officialswho appear eager to say farewell to Prejeanhave sent their recommendation to Trump for his consideration, Miss California USA Co-executive Director Keith Lewis said. With or without a beauty queen title, Prejean said Monday, the controversy “has given me such a bigger platform” to talk about her beliefs. The controversy began when Prejean, 21, declared her opposition to same-sex marriage in a response to a question during the national pageant stage last month. She finished as runner-up to Miss USA. Watch organizers scold Prejean » She quickly drew criticism for her comments, and calls for her dethronement took on renewed energy last week when photos of Prejean wearing only lingerie bottoms were published online. A pageant spokesman said the photos violated the contract she signed to be in the pageant. Lewis, at a Beverly Hills news conference Monday, said it was not the content of the lingerie photoswhich Prejean’s publicist said were taken four years agothat caused concern. Watch reaction to racy photos » “It was just the fact that it was not given to us to consider,” Lewis said. California pageant officials first soured to Prejean when she decided to support an ad campaign by the National Organization for Marriage several days before the photos emerged, he said. She also violated her duties by recording a phone message being used by the group to solicit donations for its campaign against same-sex marriage, Lewis said.
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“The turning point was when she decided that she wanted to move forward with media interviews, in spite of the fact that her message was dividing us rather than bringing us back together,” Lewis said. The pageant would “never want to take away a girl’s beliefs or her voice,” he said. “We try to make these women capable of being free thinkers.” “But when you wear the title that says ‘I represent everyone,’ you can’t then polarize the people you represent,” he said. Prejean has traveled the United States to speak out against same-sex marriage instead of fulfilling her pageant duties, Lewis said. Prejean called into San Diego radio station KMYI’s “Jeff and Jer Show” on Monday morning before leaving for her meeting with Trump. “I think that the Miss California organization is not real happy with me right now, with my views, so they’re pretty much doing everything possible to get me out of there,” she said. Prejean didn’t sound distressed by the controversy. “This has given me such a bigger platform now,” she told KMYI. “I actually have, you know, a purpose and a platform where I can go out and I can speak to people just about standing up for what you believe in, and not, you know, compromising your beliefs for anything.” If Prejean is “given a second chance” by Donald Trump, she would be welcomed back, Lewis said. But, he added, state officials have not been able to reach Prejean, and she has missed scheduled appearances.
“We’re saying to Carrie, ‘Come on home, get back to work, if that’s what you want to do,” Lewis said. Even before that decision though, Tami Farrellwho was first runner-up in the Miss California USA pageantwill begin making public appearances that Prejean would have attended, Lewis said. Her title, for now, is “ambassador” for the pageant.
Source:CNN

China bolsters disaster response
China has announced a series of measures aimed at improving its response to natural disasters.
The moves come as the country prepares to mark the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake which hit Sichuan province on 12 May last year.
More than 80,000 people are believed to have died in the quake, including at least 5,300 children.
The new policy calls for bigger relief stocks, satellite forecasting, and training for thousands of officials.
The government says more than seventy per cent of China’s cities, and more than half the population, are vulnerable to serious natural disasters.
China was widely praised for its rapid response to the Sichuan quake, but there was public anger over what was perceived to be the shoddy building of schools.
Parents who lost their children have already expressed fears they will not be allowed to properly commemorate the disaster’s anniversary.
Many parents want to return to the site of the schools where their children died.
But the authorities have previously previously prevented them from doing so.
‘Touched’
Meanwhile, details have been released of a letter from the Chinese prime minister, Wen Jibao, to school students in Sichuan. He told them he was touched by a book of paintings they sent him depicting their experiences.
It was called Beautiful Flowers – the words he wrote on a blackboard at the scene of the devastation.
Meanwhile, former Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang, visited a primary school in the hard-hit Beichuan county, holding a athletics class.
But the lesson was cut short after only five minutes because the school playground was too crowded with reporters and bystanders, the Sina.com web portal reported.

Source:BBC

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FloridaSo, what’s harder, steering a space shuttle or out-machoing Tom Cruise on the set of “Top Gun”?
Scott Altman is commander of the current space shuttle mission to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope.
Scott Altman laughs when he answers the question. “Flying a space shuttle is a little more challenging than what we did in the movie, although the flying was a lot of fun,” said Altman, who knows more than a little about both. The retired Navy F-14 fighter pilot is the commander of the current space shuttle Atlantis mission to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. He also doubled for the actors, including Cruise, during the Southern California shoot of the 1986 hit movie. Then a young pilot, Altman had just gotten back from a 7½-month tour onboard an aircraft carrier when he got the “Top Gun” call from his commanding officer. “The skipper of our squadron picked four guys he thought he could trust to have this kind of carte blanche to break the rules a little bit,” Altman said. That included a scene in which a brazen Navy pilot buzzes the base’s control tower. That would never happen in real life, Altman said. The movie features Cruise as a young naval aviator, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, selected to attend fighter-pilot training school at the then-Miramar Naval Station north of San Diego. To prepare for the film, Cruise flew in the backseat of an F-14 several times, including once with Altman.
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“The actors were all pretty easy to get along with. Tom Cruise, for example, was very motivated,” recalled Altman, who is making his fourth trip into space this week. “He enjoyed flying. He listened to what we told him and became a pilot himself after that.” Altman is not one to brag about his flying in “Top Gun.” The U.S. space agency, NASA, doesn’t mention his film heroics, either. But Altman is in one of the movie’s most memorable scenes. While flying upside down, inverted, Altman gives an obscene gesture to the pilot of an enemy plane. “They said go ahead and gesture at the other airplane,” said Altman, 49, with a smile. “So when you’re looking at the scene where he’s communicating with the Russian, or the bad-guy pilots in the movie, that would be my finger.” But the flying scenes with the actors didn’t all work out as director Tony Scott had hoped. “The director had to pay 7,600 an hour to rent an airplane,” Altman recalled. “But after a week of spending that much money on the airplanes, he decided he couldn’t use the footage. The actors all looked a little green, he said.” Altman and the other pilots earned 23 a day for their trouble.
But his biggest disappointment was not getting to see the film as soon as it was released. He and the other pilots were invited to a preview screening, but a commanding officer would not let them go. And by the time the movie hit theaters, Altman was busy. He was overseas, on another seven-month tour of duty.
Source:CNN

MPs ‘claimed for swimming pools’
Claims for swimming pool maintenance are among expenses claims by eight Tory MPs, according to the Daily Telegraph.
The newspaper has highlighted what it calls the most extravagant claims published yet in its series of stories based on leaked MPs’ receipts.
Three MPs made claims relating to cleaning or repairs of swimming pools at their second homes, it alleges.
But Tory former minister Douglas Hogg denied asking for 2,000 to cover the cost of clearing a moat on his estate.
The Daily Telegraph has already published claims made by Labour and Conservative frontbenchers in recent days – after details of all 646 MPs’ claims were leaked.
Moat claim
They were due to be published by Commons authorities in mid-July after they lost a Freedom of Information battle.
That official publication date may now be brought forward – some MPs have claimed that information published by the Telegraph is not accurate.
The newspaper says the Conservative former minister Douglas Hogg submitted claims for more than 2,000 to clear a moat around his estate and 14,500 for a housekeeper.
But the MP told the BBC that while he claimed for a housekeeper he never asked to be reimbursed for the cost of cleaning the moat – it was simply mentioned in details of expenditure on his house.
He said all of his claims were made with the prior agreement of the fees office.
Deputy Speaker Alan Haslehurst is reported to have claimed 142,000 on his country house, and 12,000 for gardening bills over five years.
He has told the BBC that he did claim for 142,000 but said he moved his second home allowance from London to his constituency when he became deputy speaker and believes that the claim was within the rules.
Three Tory MPs are reported to have claimed for swimming pool repairs or cleaning but the BBC has not yet been able to contact them for their response.
Other allegations in Tuesday’s newspaper include one that a senior backbencher claimed more than 7,000 for his garden, including hedgecutting for a “helipad” – he told the newspaper that was a family joke.
Other MPs are accused of claiming for mowing and rolling paddocks and one reportedly claimed 380 for horse manure and hundreds of bags of fertiliser.
On Monday Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologised on behalf of all political parties for MPs’s expenses revelations over recent days. Tory leader David Cameron urged MPs to say “sorry” for the expenses system.
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said it must not be a “hollow apology” and must be followed by real change.

Source:BBC

WASHINGTON (Reuters) –
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday replaced the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan and picked a former special forces commander to oversee President Barack Obama's military strategy against a growing Taliban insurgency.
Gates said he asked for the resignation of Army General David McKiernan less than a year into a command that normally would last 18 to 24 months after concluding the new U.S. strategy in Afghanistan required fresh military thinking.
He recommended Obama name Army Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal, a former Green Beret, to take over command of the 45,000 U.S. troops and 32,000 other forces from other NATO countries now in Afghanistan.
McChrystal, currently the director of the U.S. military's Joint Staff, must be nominated by Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate before he can take up the post.
Gates also named Lieutenant General David Rodriguez as deputy commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Rodriguez was lauded by Pentagon officials for a counterinsurgency effort he led in eastern Afghanistan while commander of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division.
“This is the right time to make the change,” Gates told reporters at the Pentagon days after returning from his latest trip to Afghanistan.
“The way I look at this is as McChrystal and Rodriguez as a team. They each bring tremendous skills in a variety of areas that are very pertinent to the kind of fight that we have (in) Afghanistan. And it is their combined skill set that I think gives us some fresh opportunities looking forward.”
U.S. forces have been in Afghanistan since a 2001 invasion that toppled its Taliban leaders who had harbored the al Qaeda network responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States.
Lately violence in Afghanistan has surged to the highest levels seen since the initial invasion.
ELEVEN MONTHS ON THE JOB
McKiernan, who became NATO commander in Afghanistan last June and added the top U.S. command last fall, is the chief architect of the current force build-up that is expected to more than double the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan to 68,000 by the end of the year. There were about 32,000 troops there at the end of December.
Many of the extra forces will be deployed in southern Afghanistan where officials say the Taliban has made inroads because of a lack of western forces.
McKiernan has pushed for an additional 10,000 troops in 2010, a proposal that appeared to run afoul of Gates who has expressed a reluctance to boost the force level beyond 68,000 troops.
Gates acknowledged that McKiernan's departure from Afghanistan likely would mark the end of his military career.
“General McKiernan was fired in a very public manner,” said military analyst Andrew Exum of the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank.
“Policymakers for a while had been losing faith in General McKiernan's ability to really understand this conflict,” he said, describing a shift from McKiernan's terrain- and enemy-focused strategy to a population-centered battle plan.
The new Obama plan for Afghanistan calls for a military push to reverse deteriorating security, a surge of civilian aid and development assistance, and possible reconciliation between the Kabul government and some members of the Taliban.
The reshuffle represented a “shift in focus right now to a different command style at a very critical period in the war,” said analyst Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.
But in pursuing a “clear, hold, build” strategy to pacify Afghanistan, the new commanders face daunting problems, ranging from insufficient civilian development experts, inadequate local Afghan forces, a dysfunctional international aid system and the self-imposed caveats that limit some NATO allies' ability to fight, Cordesman said.
A week ago, Afghan President Hamid Karzai met Obama in the White House with the two countries at odds over civilian casualties from U.S. air strikes in Farah province. Karzai called on Washington to halt air strikes in his country only to be rebuffed by U.S. officials.
Washington has also denied charges that it used burning phosphorus in the latest attacks on two villages in Farah province where Karzai put the death toll at 130 people.
(Additional reporting by Paul Eckert; Editing by Will Dunham and Bill Trott)

LONDON – British tabloid darling Katie Price and her husband, Peter Andre, are splitting up.
Better known to her male fans as Jordan, the 30-year-old’s career kicked off in 1996 when she was picked as one of the topless models who appear daily in The Sun newspaper.
It went on to include reality television, a host of product endorsement deals and a series of breast enhancement surgeries — all of which have made her one of the most recognized women in Britain.
Price married the 36-year-old pop singer about four years ago following their joint appearance on “I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!” in 2004. The pair had two children together: Junior and Princess Tiamii.
Price has a third child, Harvey, from a previous relationship with soccer player Dwight Yorke.

Millions return to Mexico schools
Millions of Mexican children have returned to classrooms following the re-opening of schools as swine flu restrictions continue to ease.
Six out of 31 states have re-opened schools closed since late April. Many children were wearing masks as they entered disinfected school buildings.
The Mexican government says it believes the spread of the virus has peaked, and the number of deaths now stands at 56.
Worldwide, there have been 4,700 confirmed cases of swine flu.
In Mexico, teachers and parents have spent days scrubbing classrooms with disinfectant.
The government distributed millions of bottles of sanitising hand gel to schools at the weekend.
For the children, the unexpected two-week holiday was not as enjoyable as it could have been, says the BBC’s Stephen Gibbs in Mexico City.
Most spent the entire time indoors – observing the official advice to avoid catching the virus.
In six states, schools will remain closed for a further week as new cases of swine flu are investigated.

Source:BBC

Newcastle 3-1 Middlesbrough
Newcastle lifted themselves out of the drop-zone thanks to goals from Obafemi Martins and Peter Lovenkrands against relegation rivals Middlesbrough.
Boro took the lead when Tuncay’s shot was saved by Steve Harper but then ricocheted off Habib Beye and in.
Steven Taylor equalised for the Magpies with a powerful header from Danny Guthrie’s right-wing corner.
Martins scored the second with a low shot from 12 yards before Lovenkrands smashed in from close range.
Full report to follow.

Source:BBC

What a weekend. The Sunday morning talk shows always offer plenty of political fodder for the week ahead, but this time, the political fun started Saturday night with the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.
After the laughterThe big news coming out of the oft-mocked dinner was that President Obama is (at least sometimes) funny. He skewered himself: “I would like to welcome you all to the 10-day anniversary of my first 100 days.” He had fun with the press corps: “I am Barack Obama. Most of you covered me. All of you voted for me.” He had jabs for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: “The minute she got back from Mexico, she pulled me into a hug and said I should go down there myself.” And of course, he took shots at Michael Steele and the GOP: “Wassup? Where is Michael? Michael, for the last time, the Republican Party does not qualify for a bailout.” Steele’s response? “Anytime you’re called out by the president of the United States is pretty cool, right?” But then the RNC chairman warned: “This worm will turn. My time will come, trust me.”
Comedian Wanda Sykes got her fair share of laughs, too. She lampooned the president for baring his chest: “I don’t need to see your nipples.” And she told first lady Michelle Obama that she patted Queen Elizabeth on the back like she had “just slid into home plate.” But the boos — and fallout — from her 15 minutes have been all about Rush Limbaugh. While the talk-radio host is usually ruffling everyone else’s feathers, Limbaugh was the focus of Sykes’ most controversial banter; she called him the 20th hijacker and said, “Rush Limbaugh hopes the country fails? I hope his kidneys fail, how ’bout that?” As the room became slightly more uncomfortable, Sykes leaned in the president’s direction and asked, “Too far?” Plenty of people have answered yes.
If you were too busy trying to spot celebrities — Hollywood and otherwise — in the crowd, here’s a slideshow of some of the best (and worst) on the red (and blue) carpet. And the fashion faux pas aren’t just the ladies this time (we’re talking to you, Sting). With the president sporting a long tie, the debate still rages: Should he have worn a bow tie?Check out the president’s entire speech here, Sykes’ speech here, or the full 50 minutes here.
Party woesWhile many Republicans stopped by the dinner to get their ribs, others were planning to get up early for Sunday morning shows. Former Vice President Dick Cheney stopped by “Face the Nation” to defend tough interrogations, saying that the intelligence gathered saved U.S. lives. He also took a few predictable jabs at Obama, repeating his belief that the new administration has made the nation more vulnerable to attacks, but then took a more surprising swipe at former Secretary of State Colin Powell:
“Well, if I had to choose in terms of being a Republican, I’d go with Rush Limbaugh. My take on it was Colin had already left the party. I didn’t know he was still a Republican.”
And Republicans aren’t the only ones airing airing out some discord in the public eye. On “This Week” George Stephanopoulos discussed Elizabeth Edwards’ media blitz surrounding her book and husband’s, Sen. John Edwards, affair. Stephanopoulos reported that former Edwards staffers said they had devised a “doomsday strategy” to sabotage his presidential campaign if it ever looked like Edwards might come close to clinching the Democratic nomination.
All the news that’s fit to saveThe news is never far from the minds of newspaper reporters, and it’s no surprise that the correspondents dinner would spur a few choice words from the op-ed pages. While the glitz and glamour of the “nerd ball” didn’t seem much dampened by a recession or a troubled business, Howard Kurtz wrote in The Washington Post:
I have been one of the industry’s most fervent optimists, convinced that somehow, some way, newspapers would find a path to survival. But the last few weeks have shaken my belief, suggesting that what I find indispensable — a daily compendium delivered to your doorstep — may be left behind by history and public indifference.
Frank Rich voiced similar concerns in a The New York Times op-ed article woefully entitled, “The American Press on Suicide Watch.”
By all means let’s mock the old mainstream media as they preen and party on in a Washington ballroom. Let’s deplore the tabloid journalism that, like the cockroach, will always be with us. But if a comprehensive array of real news is to be part of the picture as well, the time will soon arrive for us to put up or shut up. Whatever shape journalism ultimately takes in America, make no mistake that in the end we will get what we pay for.
Nothing to joke about there.

-Sarah Parsons
Yahoo! News bloggers compile the best news content from our providers and scour the Web for the most interesting news stories so you don’t have to.

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (Reuters) –
Killings between rival drug cartels are rising again in Mexico's most violent city despite a massive army deployment that temporarily slashed the murder rate on the U.S. border.
Drug gangsters in Ciudad Juarez who used to chase enemies in flashy black jeeps have lowered their profile but are still killing each other as 10,000 troops and federal police patrol the city, across the border from El Paso, Texas.
“Criminals are taking a different approach, using pistols not assault weapons and driving around in small, old cars to reach their rivals, ditching their SUVs,” said army spokesman Enrique Torres.
The government says the army has cut drug murders by up to 80 percent since soldiers arrived in March — but gangs killed 12 people on May 1 in one of the bloodiest days this year.
The 231 drug murders recorded in Ciudad Juarez in February dropped to 64 in March, the army says. But the number crept up to 81 in April and is already over 30 for the first week of May, according to police and media tallies.
Mexico's most-wanted man Joaquin “Shorty” Guzman is trying to drive out the Juarez cartel from the manufacturing city to control the prized smuggling route into the United States and dominate the lucrative local drug market, officials say.
One drug dealer, who gave his name as X, said the Juarez cartel and its wing of corrupt police known as La Linea (The Line) ordered foot soldiers to lay low so the army would leave.
“They don't want any military taking over their turf and they can see they are not leaving, so they are again fighting (their rivals),” he said in the scruffy downtown.
President Felipe Calderon has staked his presidency on crushing the gangs that killed 6,300 people last year across Mexico. The violence worries Washington, spilling into border cities like Phoenix and Tucson, and U.S. President Barack Obama praised Calderon's drug fight in a visit to Mexico last month.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told the U.S. Senate last week border violence was calming but also questioned how long the reduction would last.
“Some (traffickers) have left (Ciudad Juarez). It is not a comfortable place for them but obviously the criminal infrastructure cannot shift its geography,” Mexico's Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora told Reuters in an interview last week in Mexico City.
DEATH TOLL CLIMBS
Mexico's drug war death toll is running at around 2,300 people this year, slightly higher than at the same point in 2008, even as the army makes historic seizures of weapons and cash and arrests top cartel leaders.
As Mexico was distracted with the outbreak of H1N1 swine flu over the past two weeks, violence has continued.
Seven people were tied up in black plastic bags and thrown off a bridge in the southern state of Guerrero this month. Police believe the victims may have been alive when they were tossed because the bodies had no bullet wounds or bruises.
In Tijuana, across from southern California, drug gangs killed seven police officers in less than an hour in coordinated attacks across the city on April 27.
“We're frightened of the lethal (flu) epidemic … but the power of organized crime is more dangerous and federal forces don't seem to be able to stop or even inhibit it,” columnist Miguel Angel Granados wrote in Reforma daily last week.
The government insists it is winning against the well-armed drug gangs and that more violence is a sign of their weakness.
It says it is ridding cities like Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez of corrupt police. “We have broken this relationship of impunity (between police and cartels),” Medina Mora said.
Most Mexicans support Calderon's decision to use the army despite complaints of rights abuses in Ciudad Juarez.
Last month, Monte Alejandro Rubido, who recently joined Calderon's National Security Council as a technical director, told Mexican daily El Universal that Mexico will keep the army on the streets to fight the cartels until at least 2013.
Baja California state police chief Daniel de la Rosa told Reuters he wants more soldiers in Tijuana and its surrounding towns, as 2,000 troops and federal police try to quell a bitter war between factions of the dominant Arellano Felix cartel.
(Additional reporting by Alistair Bell in Mexico City, Lizbeth Diaz in Tijuana and Robin Emmott in Monterrey; editing by Alan Elsner)

CHICAGO – Oprah Winfrey’s in-house medical and health expert is leaving his spot as a regular on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” for his own syndicated program.
Winfrey will bid Dr. Mehmet (meh-MEHT’) Oz farewell on Tuesday’s episode of her talk show. His program, “The Dr. Oz Show,” is to debut Sept. 14.
Oz has been featured on Winfrey’s show for five years and 55 episodes. He would often offer diet tips or discuss life-threatening diseases.
Tuesday’s show ends with Oz and Winfrey raising a champagne toast.
According to Oz’s biography on Oprah.com, the best-selling author and heart surgeon is a surgery professor at Columbia University and directs the Cardiovascular Institute and Complementary Medicine Program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Suspected Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk was taken from his home by ambulance Monday and driven to a U.S. immigration office as agents prepared to deport him to Germany.
Flanked by a motorcade of several unmarked vehicles, the ambulance was waved down a ramp that leads to the basement of Cleveland’s downtown federal building. Security guards swung the gate closed at the bottom of the ramp as soon as the motorcade entered.
The 89-year-old Demjanjuk is wanted on a Munich arrest warrant that accuses him of 29,000 counts of accessory to murder as a guard at the Sobibor death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Khaalid Walls said he did not immediately have any information on Demjanjuk’s status. Demjanjuk’s son and an attorney who represents Demjanjuk in the U.S. didn’t immediately return messages left by The Associated Press after the ambulance arrived.
Demjanjuk (pronounced dem-YAHN’-yuk) denies Germany’s accusations. He says he was held by the Germans as a Soviet prisoner of war and was never a camp guard. Demjanjuk’s family also says he shouldn’t be deported, because he is in poor health and might not survive the trans-Atlantic journey.
A German Justice Ministry spokesman, Ulrich Staudigl, said the retired autoworker was expected to be in Germany by Tuesday.
Earlier Monday, his son, John Demjanjuk Jr., said an appeal in a U.S. court would go ahead even if his father isn’t in the country.
“Given the history of this case and not a shred of evidence that he ever hurt one person let alone murdered anyone anywhere, this is inhuman even if the courts have said it is lawful,” Demjanjuk Jr. said.
Demjanjuk was visited Monday morning by a daughter and two priests at his home in Seven Hills, a Cleveland suburb.
After the ambulance arrived and pulled into the driveway, family members stood at the edge of the garage and held up a bedsheet to block the view of reporters and photographers across the street.
U.S. immigration officials went to Demjanjuk’s home Friday to serve a government notice asking that he surrender. The move came one day after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Demjanjuk’s appeal to stop his deportation.
On Monday, a Berlin court rejected an appeal aimed at preventing deportation.
Once in Germany, Demjanjuk will be brought before a judge and formally charged. He will also be given the opportunity to make a statement to the court, in keeping with normal justice procedure, Staudigl said.
Demjanjuk is expected to be held in the medical unit of a Munich prison. The government has said preparations have been made at the facility to ensure he will receive appropriate care.
___
Associated Press writers Melissa Eddy in Berlin and Thomas J. Sheeran in Cleveland contributed to this report.

Los Angeles (E! Online) –
For the time being, the only thing Carrie Prejean has been stripped of is her clothes.
Despite rampant speculation that the controversial yet still reigning (for now) Miss California would be stripped of her title, state pageant organizers have just announced the honor of deciding Prejean's fate would instead fall to Donald Trump, who will announce his decision at a press conference in New York tomorrow morning.
Prejean was invited by pageant organizers to attend this morning's press conference, but opted not to attend, instead hopping an early flight to New York.
However, Miss California coexecutive directors Shanna Moakler and Keith Lewis were present and more than made clear the recommendation they gave to Trump on behalf of their state.
“Up until now, we have just been riding along, pretty much a passenger on this runaway train,” Lewis said. “As of today, that ends.”
Whether or not Prejean retains her title beyond tomorrow morning, Moakler and Lewis today appointed what will more or less serve as a shadow Miss California, installing runner-up Tami Farrell as the official ambassador to the pageant's newly launched Beauty of California initiative.
In her new role, which sounds an awful lot like Prejean's current role, Farrell will represent the pageant at appearances across the state.
“Regardless of what takes place tomorrow, we're still going to be able to fulfill our vision,” Lewis said, adding that it “ensures that someone will fulfill the responsibilities of the title,” whether that title stays with Prejean or not.
“If Miss California is unavailable, or it would be unwise to put her into a specific appearance, we now have an ambassador that can represent us so we can just get back to business.”
Ditto if Miss California simply fails to show up for scheduled appearances, which Moakler and Lewis say has been the case with Prejean, whose newly appointed army of handlers have prevented the codirectors from any sustainable contact with the beauty queen.
While Lewis said that their pageant had, thanks to the recent media firestorm, been “hijacked” in recent weeks, they are now “getting back to the business of beauty.”
“Our platform now and always has been the beauty of California.”
It has not, as has been spun by conservative types, to silence Prejean. In fact, Lewis said that at no time did they ask Prejean to recant her beliefs opposing same-sex marriage and say they even encouraged her to stay true to her opinions.
What they took issue with instead is the 21-year-old's failure to disclose her recent spate of topless photos (a third surfaced just this morning) and her contract-violating spokeswomanship for the National Organization for Marriage.
“For us, the severity of nudity is not the issue,” Moakler said. “The fact that she entered the contest under false pretense is.”
They don't hold Prejean entirely responsible, however, instead blaming the conservative organizations who recruited her to promote their own agenda, having sensed a “glimmer of an ally,” without properly preparing the beauty queen.
“Shame, shame, shame,” Lewis said, adding that if Prejean is stripped of her crown, it will be “not for her beliefs, but for the breach of contract you so willfully encouraged.
“Time for you to find someplace new to find your henchmen.”
____
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In an unexpectedly swift move, a Tehran court reduced the sentence of Iranian-American reporter Roxana Saberi and released her from prison on Monday, only a day after she appealed her case in court. Last month, Saberi had been sentenced to eight years imprisonment on charges of spying for the United States, causing tension between the two countries at a time when President Barack Obama had declared his Administration’s intention to improve relations with Iran.
Just before the official announcement came, Saberi’s parents and lawyers, as well as dozens of reporters, had gathered in front of Tehran’s Evin prison in anticipation of her release. Reza Saberi, the reporter’s father, was visibly expectant, and said that finally “things were moving on a rational track.” The reporter’s mother paced in front of the entrance impatiently, at times stopping to stand with her arms akimbo and dropping her head, at others squatting down to sob into a napkin. When the journalist was finally released, she was taken through a back door, out of reporters’ view. Later, in front of her home in the north of Tehran, her father said she was in good health and had been taken to a relative’s house to rest. He had come to collect a few things for her, he said, and the next days would be spent “preparing her departure from Iran.” (See pictures of the contemporary face of Iran.)
Saberi is free to leave Iran, even though her two-year prison term for spying has only been suspended. The only stipulation was that she not commit a criminal act within the next five years. If that requirement is met, the sentence will expire and she will be cleared.
Iranian intelligence officials had been particularly suspicious of a trip Saberi had made to Israel, as well as her relationship with U.S. government officials. “From an intelligence perspective, there were issues that were sensitive, but Saberi was able to convince the judges that there was no intention of espionage whatsoever,” said one of her lawyers, Saleh Nikbakht. (See pictures of daily life in Iran.)
Nikbakht and her other lawyer Abdolsamad Khoramshahi told TIME that the turning point in the five-hour appeals court session on Sunday was their argument that Iran and the United States were not at war. Saberi had initially been charged with spying for an enemy country. Nikbakht explained that in 2003, when another journalist and political analyst, Abbas Abdi, was charged with the same crime for publishing a poll that showed 74% of Iranians favored dialogue with the United States, he proved in court that this charge was legally unsound because Iran was not at war with the U.S., a point emphasized by citing a ruling by the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission, which was, most importantly, approved by the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This same argument, Nikbakht said, persuaded the judges that, “from a purely legal point of view, Saberi’s actions were free of that crime. There is no basis at all for espionage in her file.”
In the end, the court found Saberi guilty based on Article 505 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, which states, in loose terms, that any person who collects classified information and puts it at the service of “others” with the goal of destabilizing national security is committing a crime. Previously, Saberi had been charged with putting that information at the service of an “enemy country that Iran is at war with,” according to Nikbakht. That wording was dropped, reducing her crime.
Due to the national security nature of the case, no one except Saberi herself and her two lawyers were allowed in the closed court on Sunday. One reporter who caught a glimpse of her as she left the court building said Saberi was wearing a black chador, “pale and emaciated.” (Saberi had been on a hunger strike last week.) Both her lawyers told TIME the court session was extremely fair, and Nikbakht said, “What has happened is a victory for justice in Iran.” (See pictures of the fashion styles of Muslim women from iran to Oman.)
The U.S.-born reporter of Iranian and Japanese descent had become a cause celebre back home in America because of her incarceration and sentencing. A former Miss North Dakota, she studied journalism at Northwestern University before moving to Iran six years ago. Before her press credentials were withdrawn in 2006, Saberi had been a freelance reporter for various media outlets, including the BBC World Service, NPR, and Fox News.
Abdi, the analyst whose case was cited in winning Saberi’s release, was surprised by the ruling. (He spent two years in prison before being acquitted.) Said he: “These are all just political games.” Without the international pressure, as well as appeals by both President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, many suspect, Saberi could still be sitting in prison, like others charged with similar crimes, whose cases have not received similar international attention. Among them is Silva Harotonian, an Iranian-Armenian humanitarian aide worker charged with “plotting a soft revolution.”
Even as Saberi’s parents rejoiced at her release there was additional drama in front of the prison. Also waiting there was internationally acclaimed filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi, who had published an open letter last month declaring that Saberi was his fiancee. He told TIME that he believed it was in great part because of his endeavors that Saberi was being released so quickly. He said he had a meeting with government and judiciary officials a few days ago, in which he explained to them the importance of Saberi appearing at the opening of his new film on Thursday at the Cannes Film Festival, “because she was going to talk about the Persian Gulf. I told them it would be good for Iran.” Ghobadi has cited Saberi as a co-writer on his latest film.
There was clear friction between Ghobadi and Saberi’s parents, who kept themselves several feet apart from the director. At one point, Ghobadi approached Saberi’s visibly shaken mother, but she pushed him away, motioning him away with her hands. After Ghobadi’s letter, Reza Saberi announced that he could not confirm Ghobadi as his daughter’s fiancee. One source close to the family said they perceive him as taking advantage of her recent newsworthiness to publicize his film, and wonder why he was not speaking out for her before her case attracted such international attention. Ghobadi said he had been ordered to keep silent by sources he could not reveal, and finally broke his silence when he “could no longer hold it.”
The most plausible explanation for Saberi’s immediate release came from a source close to the case, who asked for anonymity. “The government simply did not want to have this hugely sensationalized and publicized case hovering over it right before the elections. [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad asked [Judiciary Chief Mahmoud Hashemi] Shahroudi to put an end to this,” the source said. (Read why Ahmadinejad was intervening in the Saberi case.)
With only about a month left until Iran’s presidential elections, as well as a generally positive mood among Iranians for better relations with the administration of President Obama, it appears that Saberi’s case had become too much of a liability for Iran. Certainly, her release is an immense relief for her family and friends, but ironically, it also appears to be a relief for the Islamic Republic.
View this article on Time.comRelated articles on Time.com: Why Did Ahmadinejad Help American Journalist Roxana Saberi? 2-Min. Bio: Imprisoned Journalist Roxana Saberi Roxana’s Spy Conviction: A Good Day for Iran’s Crazies Iran Orders Probe of U.S. Journalist’s Case Roxana: Girl Next Door in Tehran

Saberi free but thaw no nearer
By Jon Leyne
BBC News, Tehran
As international pressure grew for the release of Roxana Saberi, the Iranian authorities were keen to stress that it was purely a legal matter.
Her appeal on spying charges lasted five hours. Both lawyers and Ms Saberi herself were satisfied they had had a fair hearing.
Before it began officials, from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad downwards, queued up to call for her to be given her full legal rights.
Those who rule the Islamic Republic were keen to show a state governed by the rule of law. A very different impression from her original trial, which lasted barely an hour.
But in Iran, politics is never far removed from the legal system.
Between the lines
Many journalists in Iran believe that Roxana Saberi’s original arrest in January was meant as a signal to the Iranian media to watch their step in the run-up to presidential election this June.
At that stage, the only charge against her was operating without a valid press pass. When the accusation was upgraded to one of spying, the suspicions about political interference grew.
We can never fully know what goes on behind the scenes in Iran, but it seems quite likely that someone, somewhere, was using the case to help prevent the improvement in US-Iranian relations that President Barack Obama has been calling for.
It is also true that Iran has legitimate reasons to fear foreign interference. Former US President George W Bush began a policy of providing financial support to activists opposed to the Iranian government.
Many opponents of the Iranian system believe that move was deeply misguided and counter-productive, feeding, as it did, the paranoia of the Iranian authorities.
It is no secret that there are many influential people in the United States and Europe who would like to see the downfall of the Islamic Republic.
Nevertheless, all those who know Roxana Saberi have been deeply sceptical that she would be foolish enough to get mixed up with any attempt at regime change, let alone to engage in espionage.
As a freelance journalist, who has admitted to operating without a press card, she will have known that her phones would most probably have been bugged, e-mails scrutinised and her movements watched, at least from a distance.
Hardly the best cover for a spy.
Diplomatic frost
So if her arrest was political, does her release herald a political opportunity? Is this the cue for a warming of relations between the United States and Iran? Is this the moment for Iran to respond to President Obama’s hand of friendship?
For the moment that does not appear likely. So far Iran’s reply to every advance from Mr Obama has been frosty in the extreme.
There seems to be no appetite in Tehran to engage in substantive talks on the biggest issue that divides the two countries, Iran’s nuclear programme.
Roxana Saberi’s release may have removed an obstacle to good relations between the two countries, but that does not mean it will trigger a reconciliation.

Source:BBC

BAGHDAD (Reuters) –
A U.S. soldier opened fire on fellow troops at one of the main U.S. bases in Baghdad on Monday, killing five, the U.S. military said.
“The shooter is a U.S. soldier and he is in custody,” said Marine Corps Lieutenant Tom Garnett, a U.S. military spokesman in Iraq. U.S. officials said they would charge him later in the day.
The shooting took place around 2 p.m. local time (8:00 a.m. EDT) at Camp Liberty, a sprawling, dusty base located next to the Baghdad airport.
“This is certainly an unexpected and tragic event,” said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.
“Any time we lose one of our own, it affects us all,” said Colonel John Robinson, a U.S. spokesman in Baghdad.
It was not the first incident of violence by U.S. soldiers against their fellow troops in the course of the war in Iraq.
In perhaps the most well-known case, two officers were killed and 14 soldiers were wounded when a U.S. Army sergeant who had converted to Islam, Hasan Akbar, launched a grenade attack at a base in Kuwait just before the 2003 invasion.
Attacks like the latest one raise questions about the toll that six years of continuous warfare have taken on the U.S. military and individual soldiers, many of whom have seen multiple tours.
According to the U.S. Department of Defense, nearly 20 percent of veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan report symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
The number of U.S. soldiers killed in Monday's shooting matched the death toll from a truck bomb in northern Iraq last month, which was the single deadliest incident for U.S. troops in more than a year.
No further details about the shooting were immediately available.
Violence has dropped sharply in Iraq, but insurgent attacks continue and a rash of major bombings has raised questions about security less than two months before U.S. forces are due to withdraw combat troops from urban bases.
That transition is one major milestone ahead of an end to U.S. combat operations in August 2010 and a full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2011. There are currently about 134,000 U.S. troops there.
Thirteen U.S. soldiers were killed in combat in April.
An attack this month underscored some officials' concerns about violence against U.S. forces by militants who have infiltrated Iraqi security forces. On May 2, two U.S. soldiers were killed by a man wearing an Iraqi Army uniform at an Iraqi military training center in northern Iraq.
(Additional reporting by David Morgan in Washington; editing by Mark Trevelyan)

NEW YORK – An investigation by New York City officials into a charge Kiefer Sutherland head-butted a fashion designer at a nightclub will show the star of TV’s “24″ was not a wrongdoer or instigator, his attorney said Monday. Sutherland was charged Thursday with third-degree assault in the incident a week ago at a nightclub at the trendy Mercer Hotel in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan.
The designer, Jack McCollough of the high-end Proenza Schouler fashion house, claims Sutherland broke his nose after an argument at about 2 a.m. Tuesday. Police are also planning to question actress Brooke Shields as a witness.
Representatives for the three celebrities worked to clear up rumors after initially refusing to comment to the Associated Press.
“We are troubled by the untruthful and self-serving information circulating regarding Kiefer Sutherland and events of last Monday evening,” attorney Michael Miller said in a statement. “Out of respect for this law enforcement process, Kiefer Sutherland will not be making any comment.”
Representatives for McCollough said the designer’s injuries were more serious than what was initially noted on the police report. McCollough’s nose was broken in several places and he had to seek medical treatment after the altercation. The police report says he suffered a cut on his nose.
Shields’ attorney, Gerald Lefcourt, wouldn’t comment on whether she had been interviewed by police in the case. He said that many statements had been falsely attributed to Shields regarding the incident, and were likely made by people not at the scene.
“While at the party, she was bumped into by Jack McCollough and Kiefer Sutherland became concerned,” Lefcourt said in a statement. “Kiefer has always been a gentleman in her company. Both Jack and Kiefer are friends of Ms. Shields and she regrets this unfortunate situation.”
No decision has been made on whether the New York City charge will affect Sutherland’s probation for a drunken-driving conviction in Los Angeles.
Sutherland pleaded no contest in October 2007 to driving with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit of 0.08 percent. He served 30 days in jail, in addition to 18 days for violating probation in a 2004 drunken-driving arrest.
Sutherland, who plays dashing federal counterterrorism agent Jack Bauer on “24,” won a Golden Globe and an Emmy for best actor, and has been nominated multiple times for his work on the wildly popular show. The seventh season airs on Mondays.

WASHINGTONThe commander of U.S. forces in AfghanistanGen. David McKiernanwill be replaced by Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Monday afternoon.
Gen. David McKiernan is being replaced as commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez has been tapped to serve as McChrystal’s deputy. McKiernan, who was asked to resign, will remain in his current positionwhich as top U.S. commander means he is the head of NATO forces in Afghanistanuntil McChrystal and Rodriguez are confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Gates said. “Today we have a new policy set by our new president,” Gates said at a Pentagon news conference. “We have a new strategy, a new mission, and a new ambassador (in Afghanistan). I believe that new military leadership also is needed.” Gates stated that “nothing went wrong” under McKiernan, but that it was his “conviction … that a fresh approach (and) a fresh look in the context of a new strategy was in our best interest.” Watch Gates announce the change » “We have in (McChrystal and Rodriguez) a rich experience level,” added Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “These two officers will bring … a focus that we really need in 2009.” Mullen noted that McKiernan, who has been in Afghanistan for 11 months, would have been scheduled to rotate out of Afghanistan after 18 to 24 months. Gates’ announcement came less than a week after President Obama met with the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan and pledged a more coordinated effort to defeat al Qaeda and the Taliban. In addition to sending 21,000 more troops and trainers to Afghanistan, Obama has committed a surge in U.S. civilian personnel and aid to boost domestic support for Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who is currently considered weak and unpopular.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said earlier Monday that Gates “asked for and got from the president his commitment” to support the switch from McKiernan to McChrystal. “Let none of this detract from, nor cause us ever to forget Gen. McKiernan’s long and distinguished career of military service. For decades, in peace and war, Dave McKiernan has led hundreds of thousands of men and women in uniform with conviction, integrity and courage,” Gates said.
Source:CNN

WASHINGTONPresident Obama said Monday that he has secured the commitment of several key industry groups to do their part to rein in the growth of health care costs.
President Obama discussed his health care goals at the White House on Monday.
This pledge from the private sector could reduce the growth in health care spending by 1.5 percentage points a year, for a savings of 2 trillion over 10 years, according to senior administration officials. Overall, it could amount to a 20 percent reduction in the growth of health care spending. Obama said the pledge is meant to complement his administration’s health care reform initiative. “When it comes to health care spending, we are on an unsustainable course,” Obama said at the White House. “What is a growing crisis for the American people is also becoming an untenable burden for American business. … The explosion in health care costs has put our federal budget on a disastrous path.” Obama’s announcement is aimed in part to reflect lessons learned from the failed health care reform efforts of the 1990s and to get ahead of potential detractors. Watch Obama discuss his solution to rising health care costs » “It is a recognition that the fictional television couple, Harry and Louise, who became the iconic faces of those who opposed health care reform in the ’90s, desperately need health care reform in 2009. And so does America,” Obama said. The 1.5 percent reduction would slow an average growth rate in health-care spending of 7 percent a year, according to the administration. Six major trade associations representing the drug industry, hospitals, insurers, medical device manufacturers, physicians and organized labor have signed on to the cost reduction commitment.
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The heads of the associations released a letter praising Obama for his “strong commitment to reforming our nation’s health care system” and pledging to work with the administration. The letter states that without any reform, the annual rate of increase in national health care expenditures is projected to average 6.2 percent over the next decade. At that rate, it notes, “the percent of gross domestic product spent on health care would increase from 17.6 percent in 2009 to 20.3 percent in 2018higher than any other country in the world.” The industry representatives pledged to develop “consensus proposals to reduce the rate of increase in future health and insurance costs through changes made in all sectors of the health care system.” Among other things, they cited a need to reduce costs tied to chronic disease and obesity. However, the savings promised by the industry leaders depend in part on Congress passing health care reform this year. And it is not clear how these savings would be accomplished. An official who spoke at a background briefing pointed to possible savings from “administrative simplification,” smarter care coordination and changing incentives so providers are rewarded for providing “better” care, as opposed to “more” care. Hospitals are now “financially penalized for providing more efficient care by current law,” the official said. The official also said savings could come from the bundling of payments, in which hospitals, doctors, insurers and other health care companies would work together to bill one fee for one treatment. Calling the commitment “an unprecedented move by this group, some of which have been opposed to reform in the past,” the official said the reduction could mean health-care cost savings of 2,500 for a family of four by the fifth year. The administration is positioning health care reform as critical for getting the deficit under control, for freeing up resources for other initiatives such as education and for reducing the burden on American families. One official described the participation of the private sector as a “game-changer” in the discussion of health care reform. “It makes it even clearer that it’s going to happen this year in Congress,” the official said.
A spokesman for AARP, the group representing the retired, responded to news of Monday’s planned announcement by saying, “AARP believes the agreement of providers to slow the skyrocketing cost of health care is critical for the health reform we are all working toward. “Reducing the skyrocketing cost of health care is the only way to create a health care system that works for all Americans; after all, what good is access to a system that we can’t afford?” Director of Public Policy John Rother said.
Source:CNN

BANGKOK, ThailandThai authorities investigating the recent deaths of two female tourists suspect that the women may have died from food poisoning, police sources told CNN Monday.
Jill St. Onge died while vacationing with her fiance at a Thailand resort.
Jill St. Onge, a 27-year-old artist from Seattle, Washington, and Julie Michelle Bergheim, a 22-year-old Norwegian woman, died at the same resort on Thailand’s Phi Phi Island just over a week ago. The results of the autopsies have not been released by police, who are citing privacy issues. St. Onge’s fiance, Ryan Kells, accompanied her remains as they were flown to the United States on Saturday, her family told CNN. “Jill’s ashes are now with her mother,” Robert St. Onge, Jill’s brother, wrote on a Web site created to update friends and family. “Thank God every one made it back safe.” Thai police investigators have ruled out poisoning from the nearby water treatment plant, according to police sources on Phi Phi Island and in its province, Krabi. They are concentrating their investigation on whether the women died from food poisoning, either from food or beverages, according to the sources who did not want to be named pending the ongoing investigation. The owner of Laleena, the guesthouse where the women were staying, told CNN that his facility had nothing to do with the case. He had earlier said in published reports that he believes the women’s deaths came from drinking heavily. St. Onge had been visiting Thailand with Kells at the end of a three-month journey, during which the two had become engaged. A week before her death, the 27-year-old woman wrote in her online journal a description of the surroundings near where the Leonardo Dicaprio movie “The Beach” was filmed. “Hey hey! We’re in koh phi phi right now. It’s off the west coast of Thailand about a 2 hour boat ride from krabi. So amazing … just drinking eating and living so cheaply and having a blast. Food, drink, good books, sun and warm waters … What else do ya need?,” St. Onge blogged on April 26.
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On May 2, Kells found St. Onge vomiting in their hotel room. She had told him earlier that she had not been feeling well. He put her into a shopping cart and searched for help. “She couldn’t breathe, she was vomiting,” Kells, 31, told CNN affiliate KGO-TV. “I tried to run her to a hospital and she ended up passing within maybe 12 hours of being sick.” Robert St. Onge said his sister had been healthy and that her sudden death was a mystery. “It’s such a shock,” he told CNN. “There was no way to hear last words or even see her because she has already been cremated.” In Internet postings on the family’s blog, Kells also described feeling ill at the hotel and said that he believed something in their room had made the couple sick. Watch fiance discuss death of bride-to-be » He said he had spent less time in their room than his fiancee. Norway’s Foreign Ministry is still waiting for the results of Thailand’s post-mortem examination, and is in constant contact with Bergheim’s family, ministry spokesman Christian Hansson told CNN. Bergheima student in Sydney, Australiahad stopped in Thailand with a friend before returning to Norway, according to Norwegian state media. Her friend also became seriously ill, but has since recovered, the reports said. Norwegian newspaper Netteavisenciting local police chief Nopadon Klom Thongreported that traces of cyanide were found in the dead woman’s stomach. The final autopsy results are not expected until Thursday, according to Norwegian media. The U.S. Embassy in Thailand has been working with the St. Onge family, said Michael Turner, an embassy spokesman. “The police know we are concerned about this. But as with any investigation, it could take some time,” Turner said. Robert St. Onge said Thai authorities told his family that the inquiry could take four to eight weeks. He said the family had been given tissue samples so they could have testing done by an independent laboratory.
At Shadowland, the Seattle restaurant where Jill St. Onge used to work as a bartender, a corner of the bar is filled with pictures, candles and postcards from the couple. “Greetings from Phnom Penh,” one from Jill reads, “We love you guys.”
Source:CNN