Can Congress Make Health-Care Reform Pay for Itself?

The budget that just passed both houses of Congress has given the prospects for health-care reform this year a big boost. With the inclusion of procedural language that would make it impossible for opponents to filibuster, it will now take a simple majority to pass the Senate, rather than 60 votes, simplifying the political arithmetic considerably. But that is only the beginning

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Japan’s jobless rate rises as output grows

Unemployment in Japan rose to 4.8 percent in March, its highest level in four years and a nearly half-point rise from February, the government reported Friday. Household spending in the world’s second largest economy fell 0.4 percent in March, as the government predicted unemployment could rise to 5.2 percent in the next fiscal year.

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Cambodia’s long road to justice

Norng Chan Phal ran through the notorious Khmer Rouge prison S-21 in the Cambodian capital as a 9-year-old boy, frantically looking for his mother after their torturers had fled from advancing Vietnamese troops in 1979. He didn’t find his mother, but what he did see made him hide under a pile of clothes with other children for days in the prison. “I was shocked when I saw the bodies — I was thinking maybe my mother was killed like this as well and I ran back to hide with the other kids,” he told CNN

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More than 100 U.S. schools closed because of swine flu

At least 74 elementary, junior high and high schools have closed across the country because of confirmed or probable cases of swine flu, the Department of Education said Wednesday. Another 30 schools have closed as a precautionary measure because of the H1N1 virus, Department of Education spokesman Massie Ritsch said. The closures — of both public and private schools across eight states — affect about 56,000 students out of the estimated 55 million students attending the nation’s 100,000 kindergarten-through-12th grade schools, Ritsch said.

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Obama wants $1.5 billion for pandemic preps

The White House asked Congress for an additional $1.5 billion for pandemic flu preparations Tuesday as the head of the Republican Party defended its opposition to an earlier request. President Obama requested the money be attached to an $83 billion war-spending bill now before lawmakers, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said

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Masks keep you from spreading illness

In Mexico City, the government ran out of surgical masks after handing them out to one of every five residents. Manufacturers and pharmacies in Europe are also reporting a surge in demand for face masks. And a Texas-based surgical mask producer says it’s ramping up to meet demand and expects a shortage of masks.

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Swine flu virus affecting Mexican football

The outbreak of swine flu, that has killed more than 150 people in Mexico, has also affected the football world with the semfinals and final of the CONCACAF section of the under-17 World Cup, scheduled for Wednesday and Saturday, having been cancelled — world governing body FIFA has confirmed on their official Web site. CONCACAF, the confederation that governs football in central and north America, has decided to follow the lead of the Mexican government in order to safeguard the health of players, fans and those involved in the staging of the competition

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