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Quote of the day. "Cyclists need to be treated with respect and not surprise." Dan Grunig, executive director of Bicycle Colorado, on a new state law requiring cars to give at least a 3-foot buffer when passing cyclists. Several other states have passed similar laws. (USA Today)
Health care. Obama gives powerful drug lobby a seat at healthcare table “The pharmaceutical industry, once condemned by the president as a source of healthcare problems, has become a White House partner.” Health Plan Opponents Make Voices Heard “The protests, organized by loose-knit coalition of conservative voters and advocacy groups, were a raucous start to what is expected to be weeks of political and ideological clashes over the health care overhaul President Obama is trying to push through Congress.”
Economic policy. Economic Policy Is Working, Obama Says “In public appearances this week, President Obama will attempt to regain the initiative on the economy after what one senior administration official called several 'rocky' weeks of declining support for the president and his major policy efforts.” No middle-class tax increases, White House insists “Despite cautions from President Obama's top economic advisors that new taxes for middle-income Americans could not be ruled out, the White House insisted Monday that the president would not raise taxes on those earning less than $250,000 a year.”
Immigration. Staying Tough in Crackdown on Immigrants “After early pledges by President Obama that he would moderate the Bush administration’s tough policy on immigration enforcement, his administration is pursuing an aggressive strategy for an illegal-immigration crackdown that relies significantly on programs started by his predecessor.”
GI bill. New GI Bill to give vets $78 billion in tuition benefits “President Obama on Monday called a new GI Bill offering college tuition assistance to veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan 'an investment in our own country.'"
Climate change. For Senate, a Climate of Competing Interests “Environmentalists want a tighter cap on emissions. Electric utilities want a looser one. The nuclear industry wants loan guarantees for new reactors. The AARP wants low electric bills for seniors.”
Bill Clinton in North Korea. Bill Clinton in North Korea to Seek Release of U.S. Reporters “Former President Bill Clinton went to North Korea on Monday to negotiate the release of two American television journalists who were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for illegally entering North Korean territory, a person who was briefed on the mission said.” Bill Clinton in North Korea to negotiate journalists' release “Former President Bill Clinton arrived in North Korea Tuesday, state media reported, in an effort to gain the release of two American journalists who were arrested in March and have been in the North's custody ever since.” Bill Clinton in North Korea talks “Clinton, who flew in to Pyongyang on an unmarked jet on Tuesday, is the most senior U.S. visitor to arrive in the North Korean capital in nearly a decade.”
Iran. Ahmadinejad's Second Term Is Blessed Amid Political Discord, Protests “Iran's supreme leader formally blessed a second term for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday in a religious ceremony that exposed a deep schism in the Islamic republic's hierarchy and that prompted scattered street protests.” Iranian ceremony highlights split “A confirmation ceremony Monday meant to showcase the unity of the Islamic Republic's leadership highlighted its divisions, sparking clashes in the streets between demonstrators and security forces that stretched into the night.”
Palestine. Fatah holds key party congress “Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction has begun a congress - its first in 20 years.” Fatah to tone down platform, focus on settlements “Fatah's proposed new platform marginalizes the once central theme of 'armed struggle' against Israel, but demands a complete Israeli settlement freeze before talks for a final peace deal can take place.” Abbas maintains right to resistance “Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has told Fatah activists that the Palestinian movement seeks peace with Israel, but that 'resistance' remains a right.”
Afghanistan. Fears of Fraud Cast Pall Over Afghan Election “Little more than three weeks before the presidential election, problems that include insecurity and fears of fraud are raising concerns about the credibility of the race, which President Obama has called the most important event in Afghanistan this year.” Rocket attack on Afghan capital “Suspected Taliban militants have fired a series of rockets into the Afghan capital, Kabul, as security fears mount ahead of elections due this month.”
Darfur-Sudan. U.S. reshaping Darfur policy “After years of worldwide outrage over suffering in Darfur, the Obama administration will soon launch a new policy that could soften some longtime U.S. sanctions against the Sudanese government implicated in the large-scale killings and displacement of African tribespeople.” Khartoum 'arming Sudan militias' “A general in South Sudan's army has told the BBC the government in the north is arming militias accused of being behind recent ethnic violence.” Deadly clashes in South Sudan “More than 185 people are reported to have been killed in heavily armed clashes between two rival groups in South Sudan, the latest in a series of bloody ethnic clashes.”
Brazil. Brazil's growing middle class powers country's economic rebound “Brazil is beginning to pull out of an economic dive triggered by the global financial crisis, but it's not the country's vaunted soybean, meat and iron ore exports that are powering the turnaround of the world's ninth-largest economy.”
Opinion. Innocence Is No Defense (Bob Herbert, New York Times) “The arrest last month of Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. did not occur in a vacuum. While his encounter was not with the Harvard University Police Department (he was arrested by a member of the Cambridge force), it was the latest in a series of troubling incidents that have left law-abiding members of the Harvard community feeling as though they were unfairly targeted and humiliated because of their race.”
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