DALLAS: President Barack Obama’s bid to overhaul America’s healthcare system has exposed a split within his Democratic Party over abortion that threatens to undercut the party’s gains in recent elections. Democrats have traditionally supported a women’s right to terminate a pregnancy, with the liberal wing of the party fighting doggedly for decades against repeated Republican efforts to limit the procedure. But a rising chorus of moderates — some of them elected in traditionally Republican districts during the Democratic sweeps of Congress in 2006 and 2008 — are openly challenging the party’s stand on the issue. The rift came to a head this month as the US House of Representatives prepared to vote on a bill to expand medical insurance coverage as part of a sweeping restructuring of the $2.5 trillion healthcare system.
Indonesia detains 41 Afghans
JAKARTA: Indonesian officials say they have detained a group of 41 Afghan asylum seekers suspected of trying to reach Australia. Harry Purwanto, head of the Banten immigration office, says police caught the group of Afghan men early on Sunday when they were boarding a fishing boat off Carita beach in central Indonesia. He says the group will be transferred to an immigration detention centre in Jakarta after being identified. Indonesia has become a major transit point for people fleeing countries like Afghanistan, Iraq and Sri Lanka. On Thursday, authorities stopped another group of 61 Afghans on a fishing boat off the eastern coast who were heading for Australia. Two were shot in the hand and foot when they tried to escape from police.
Heart function
BOSTON: Fat deposited around the heart and within the liver is likely to impair certain heart functions. The study by Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) has found that measuring a person’s body mass index (BMI or weight to height ratio) does not reliably predict the amount of undesired fat in and around these vital organs. ”Our study found that fat collection around the heart, the aorta and within the liver is clearly associated with decreased heart functions and that an MRI can quickly and non-invasively measure fat volume in these areas,” said James Hamilton, professor of biophysics, physiology and biomedical engineering, who led the study at BUSM.
Iran hangs two
TEHRAN: Iran has hanged two men convicted of rape and murder in the western city of Hamedan, the Kayhan newspaper reported on Sunday. The report identified the murderers as MM, aged 25, and 20-year-old HA, and said they were hanged on Thursday. They were convicted of raping and killing an eight-year-old girl named Zeynab after kidnapping her a year ago. They then put her body in a sack and left it under a bridge in an isolated area. No additional information was given. The latest hanging brings to at least 250 the number of people executed in Iran so far this year, according to an AFP count based on news reports.
SL president
COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Sunday asked his supporters for more time to announce dates for snap elections as he faced an unexpected challenge from his erstwhile military chief. Rajapakse told the annual convention of his Sri Lanka Freedom Party that he wanted more time to consult the party hierarchy on the election. He had been widely expected to announce the vote timetable. “You seem to want presidential elections before parliamentary elections,” Rajapakse said at the nationally televised convention. “I will tell the party (leaders) and let you know at the right time.”
Velvet Revolution
PRAGUE, Czech Republic: Former Czech President Vaclav Havel opened the 20’th anniversary celebrations of the Velvet Revolution with a concert attended by celebrities. Underground rocker Lou Reed, soprano Renee Fleming and folksinger Joan Baez performed to a crowd of about 500 gathered on Saturday night at 13th-century church in downtown Prague. Baez performed “We Shall Overcome’’ in both Czech and English to massive applause by an audience that included former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who was born in Prague.