Obama: Republicans Holding Small Businesses "Hostage"
President Barack Obama on Saturday accused Republicans of holding American small businesses "hostage to politics" after Republican senators refused to back a $30 billion small-business lending package. Senate Republicans blocked the package on Thursday, dealing a fresh blow to Obama's efforts to show Americans, in the midst of a tough election year, that his administration is focused on tackling stubbornly high unemployment. With opinion polls showing eroding support for Obama's handling of the economy, Democrats fear voters will punish them for the 9.5 percent unemployment rate come November, when all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 37 of the 100 seats in the Senate will be in play in mid-term elections. MSNBC
VOA VIEW: Obama and Democrats are no friends of business.

Reports Alert FDA To Possible Contamination
Over a seven-month period, manufacturers and distributors have reported 125 food safety issues directly to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, most concerning Salmonella or allergens, the agency said. Food Coach Cynthia Sass has tips to avoid food-borne illness.One report prompted a recall that resulted in the removal of 177 products from the market, Michael R. Taylor, the FDA's deputy commissioner for foods, told reporters during a telephone press briefing. The reports were sent to the Reportable Food Registry, created when Congress mandated in 2007 that manufacturers, processors, packers, and distributors report to the FDA any potentially harmful safety problems with food and animal feed. ABC

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'Big Spending' Democrats May Face Town Hall Anger Anew
As members of Congress head back to their districts for the August recess, they could be met by the same rowdy town halls that rocked the national healthcare debate last summer. But this summer, record-breaking government spending would fuel the voter uprising, conservatives say. "This is democracy's way of making a midcourse correction and providing checks and balances to a runaway federal government," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told Fox News. Led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Democrats face two tough decisions with big economic and political consequences. Fox

Court Denies Request For Expedited Hearing On Arizona Immigration Law
A federal appeals court has denied Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's request for an expedited hearing on the state's controversial immigration law. Instead, the case has been scheduled for a hearing during the first week in November. Brewer had wanted public oral arguments in the case for mid-September. The Justice Department had urged a slower schedule, and the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed in a brief order issued Friday evening. Arizona filed its appeal Thursday, asking the court to lift U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton's preliminary injunction on the immigration law. CNN
VOA VIEW: Democrats want to wait until after the elections.

Obama Hopes Rep. Rangel Can Leave "With Dignity"
President Barack Obama called ethics charges against Representative Charles Rangel "very troubling" on Friday and said he hoped the lawmaker could end his career "with dignity." Democrats have urged the New York lawmaker, one of the most senior members of Congress and its former chief tax writer, to settle the charges to avoid a trial they fear could hurt them in congressional elections in November. Obama's comments may be seen as indirect encouragement for Rangel to cut a deal or step down for the good of the Democratic Party. If he resigned, that would effectively end the congressional investigation. Reuters
VOA VIEW: Rangel is pushing his luck.

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Obama Says `Tough Decisions' On $60 Billion Automaker Aid Now Paying Off
President Barack Obama said the “tough decisions” he made to give almost $60 billion in aid to the U.S. auto industry saved a million jobs and led to the strongest period of growth for automakers in a decade. In his weekly address on the radio and the Internet, Obama said the help given to General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC have led to a “hopeful story” of economic recovery following the nation’s worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. “There’s no doubt that we have a long way to go and a lot of work to do before folks here and across the country can feel whole again,” he said in the address, recorded at a GM plant in Hamtramck, Michigan, yesterday. “But what’s important is that we’re finally beginning to see some of the tough decisions we made pay off.” Bloomberg

US, Allies Complete Pacific Military Training
Monthlong military drills in the Pacific, which conclude this weekend, were intended only as training exercises to combat terrorism and piracy _ and were not meant to send a message to North Korea, the commander of the drills says. Vice Adm. Richard W. Hunt said the biennial 14-nation Rim of the Pacific military exercises had been planned for two years and were not a reaction to North Korea's accusation earlier this month that the U.S. and South Korea were plotting to attack. Hunt says Pacific nations will be better able to combat terrorism, piracy and violent extremism as a result of the exercises. The military drills that end Sunday brought together 20,000 personnel, 32 ships, five submarines and more than 170 aircraft in waters surrounding Hawaii. Las Vegas Sun

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Timing Of National Guard's Deployment To Southwest Border Stirs Confusion, Anger
The 1,200 National Guard troops expected to arrive Sunday on the southwest border for reinforcement won't finish deploying until late September, federal officials say, stirring confusion and anger among Arizona lawmakers who thought the deadline was Aug. 1. President Obama announced in May he would send National Guard troops amid growing concerns about border violence stemming from illegal immigration and drug smuggling. Many called for a military presence along the U.S-Mexico border to assist border patrol agents as Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed a controversial law making illegal immigration a state crime -- a policy that a judge weakened this week in federal court. Fox News

3 Squabbling Companies Must Cooperate To Plug Well
On shore, BP, Halliburton and Transocean are engaging in a billion-dollar blame game over the blown-out oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. At sea, they're depending on each other to finally plug up the environmental disaster. Workers say the companies' adversarial relationship before Congress, in public statements and maybe one day in the courts isn't a distraction at the site of the April 20 rig explosion, where Transocean equipment rented by BP is drilling relief wells that Halliburton will pump cement through to permanently choke the oil well. MSNBC

FDIC Shuts Banks In Fla., Ga., Ore., Wash.
With 108 closures nationwide so far this year, the pace of bank failures far outstrips that of 2009, which was already a brisk year for shutdowns. By this time last year, regulators had closed 69 banks. The pace has accelerated as banks' losses mount on loans made for commercial property and development. Many companies have shut down in the recession, vacating shopping malls and office buildings financed by the loans. That has brought delinquent loan payments and defaults by commercial developers. The number of bank failures is expected to peak this year and be slightly higher than the 140 that fell in 2009. That was the highest annual tally since 1992, at the height of the savings and loan crisis. The 2009 failures cost the insurance fund more than $30 billion. Twenty-five banks failed in 2008, the year the financial crisis struck with force; only three succumbed in 2007. CBS

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BP Puts Vietnam, Pakistan Assets Up For Sale To Raise Cash For Oil Spill
BP Plc, seeking cash to help pay for the worst-ever U.S. oil spill, informed the governments of Vietnam and Pakistan that it put its production assets in the countries up for sale. In Vietnam, BP plans to sell interests in an offshore natural gas production field, a pipeline and a power generator, said David Nicholas, a London-based spokesman at the company. In Pakistan, it plans to sell oil and gas production fields, including deep-water sites, the largest offshore acreage given to any single explorer in the country, Nicholas said. Bloomberg

Informant Says WikiLeaks Suspect Had Civilian Help
An Army private charged with leaking classified material to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks had civilian help, a key figure in the case said Saturday. The development, first reported in the New York Times, suggests an expansion of the government's investigation into leaks including more than 76,900 secret Afghanistan war records posted on WikiLeaks in the past week. Army and FBI officials didn't immediately return calls and e-mails from The Associated Press asking if they are looking at possible civilian accomplices of Army Pfc. Bradley E. Manning, who's charged under military law with leaking classified material. Las Vegas Sun

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Church Plans Quran-Burning Event
In protest of what it calls a religion "of the devil," a nondenominational church in Gainesville, Florida, plans to host an "International Burn a Quran Day" on the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks. The Dove World Outreach Center says it is hosting the event to remember 9/11 victims and take a stand against Islam. With promotions on its website and Facebook page, it invites Christians to burn the Muslim holy book at the church from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. "We believe that Islam is of the devil, that it's causing billions of people to go to hell, it is a deceptive religion, it is a violent religion and that is proven many, many times," Pastor Terry Jones told CNN's Rick Sanchez earlier this week. CNN

Second Senior Democrat May Face Ethics Trial
A second senior Democratic lawmaker may face a public ethics trial this fall, adding a new threat to their party's efforts to keep control of the House of Representatives in the November elections. The House ethics panel is expected to say as early as on Monday that its investigative subcommittee has found evidence that Representative Maxine Waters violated the chamber's ethics rules, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. The House panel unveiled ethics charges against Representative Charles Rangel on Thursday. Both lawmakers face potential public trials just weeks before voters go to the polls for the November mid-term elections as a sour economy and anti-incumbent mood already are indicating Democratic losses. Reuters

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Pakistan Flood Death Toll Rises Above 800
A regional minister says the death toll in floods that have lashed Pakistan has risen above 800. Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the information minister for Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province in Pakistan's northwest, said Saturday that the death reports have come in from districts around the region this past week. Deluged roads and damaged bridges are hampering rescuers from reaching thousands of flood victims, and fears of disease are rising as some evacuees showed signs of diarrhea, fever and other illnesses. CBS

Taliban Names Taken Off Sanctions List
The U.N. Security Council removed five members of the Taliban from its sanctions list, a move seen as crucial to Afghanistan's future stability, officials said. The three were among 20 names the government of President Hamid Karzai submitted to the Security Council committee responsible for maintaining the blacklist, The New York Times reported Saturday. Reconciliation with the Taliban is being discussed by many as the only way of ending the Afghan war, the Times reported.
Karzai has talked about taking all Taliban members off the sanctions list, currently about 135 of them, but has not submitted any more requests, diplomats said. UPI

Black Lawmakers Call For Claim Action
Black U.S. lawmakers say the White House has promised $1.5 billion in farm aid to Arkansas while claiming it can't pay a settlement to black farmers. Six members of the Congressional Black Caucus called on President Barack Obama to find a way to compensate black farmers who suffered discrimination in government loan programs during the 1980s and 1990s, The Hill reported Friday. As part of negotiations in the Senate to pass a small-business bill, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel promised bill sponsor Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark, that the administration would pay out $1.5 million in disaster assistance to farmers while they wait for programs in a 2008 farm bill to be implemented, the Hill said. UPI
VOA VIEW: Another Obama "black thing."

'I Welcome US Public's Support'
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reacted positively during a closed meeting to discuss a Gallup poll that showed that the American public's support for Israel at it's highest level since the First Gulf War, when Saddam Hussein fired Scud missiles at Israeli population centers, Saturday evening. A Gallup poll conducted in February as part of Gallup's yearly World Affairs survey found that 67 percent Americans hold a favorable opinion of Israel, among the highest favorable ratings for the 20 countries surveyed, JTA reported. The poll also found that 63 percent of Americans supported Israel in the Middle East conflict, while 15 percent supported the Palestinians. The rest of those polled favored both sides, neither side, or had no opinion with respect to the conflict. Jerusalem Post
VOA VIEW: Obama is pro Palestinians.

'US Pressuring PA Into Direct Talks'
Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, reiterated previous statements by Palestinian officials that the US would cease supporting the Palestinian Authority if it refused to enter into direct negotiations with Israel in an interview with London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Quds al-Arabi published on Saturday. "They even threatened to isolate the Palestinians and cut off relations," Ashrawi was quoted as saying. Ashrawi tells Arabic newspaper of Washington's threats to cut ties. Jerusalem Post

Pakistan Plays Down David Cameron's Terror Comments
Leaked documents accuse Pakistani intelligence of helping Afghan militants Pakistan says it expects "fruitful" talks between its president and David Cameron despite the prime minister's comments over its alleged terror links. Intelligence officials have cancelled a UK visit after Mr Cameron said Pakistan should avoid links with groups that "promote the export of terror". But the country's information minister said President Asif Ali Zardari's visit would go ahead as planned on Tuesday. Qamar Zaman Kaira said relations between the countries remained strong. He said any confusion over Pakistan's commitment to tackling terrorism would be cleared up during the visit. BBC

Israeli Air Strikes On Gaza Kill Hamas Commander
Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip have killed a Hamas commander and wounded 11 other people. Warplanes fired missiles at five targets across Gaza, including Gaza City, last night for the first time since Israel's three-week offensive in the territory ended 18 months ago. Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the territory, said the man killed was Issa Batran, 42, a commander of its military wing in central Gaza and a rocket maker. Eight of its supporters and three civilians were also injured. Guardian

New Doubts On Recovery As US Economy Falters
The pace of the recovery of the world's largest economy slowed markedly during the second quarter of the year, official data revealed yesterday, prompting further anxiety about the global financial outlook. The Department of Commerce said that US gross domestic product rose by 2.4 per cent on an annualised basis over the three months to the end of June, down from 3.7 per cent during the first quarter. The data disappointed investors, who had been expecting a figure of 2.6 per cent or higher, with shares falling across Western stock markets in the hours following the release of the data. Independent

Prescott: Files On Iraq's WMD Made Me Nervous
Intelligence reports that were the evidence that sent British troops into war in Iraq consisted of "a bit of tittle- tattle here and a bit more information there", the former deputy prime minister John Prescott said yesterday. The flimsiness of those reports made him "a little bit nervous", but did not shake his support for the war, he told the Iraq war inquiry. His role, as he saw it, was to support Tony Blair and keep the Cabinet united. His remarks, on the last day of the summer session of the long-running Chilcot inquiry, will add to widespread doubts about whether Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction were the real reason that Mr Blair committed the UK to war. His deputy appears not to have taken anything he was told by intelligence very seriously. Giving evidence yesterday he airily dismissed the former head of MI5, Eliza Manningham-Buller, saying: "She was always on about the threat of terrorism. Along with it came 'Please give me more money'." Independent

British Troops Advance In Operation Black Prince
Bomb disposal teams slowly cleared the main road due south to the town as commanders in Afghanistan said it might take a week to make safe the route to the insurgents' haven. After 24 hours, 600 yards of the two-mile long road from the edge of British controlled territory had been cleared. Taliban fighters who had not attacked on the first day, began firing at the base from four separate compounds on Saturday, prompting British soldiers to fire back using sniper rifles and eventually a Javelin missile. Telegraph

Fury As Israel President Claims English Are 'Anti-Semitic'
Israel's President Shimon Peres said that England's attitude towards Jews was Israel's "next big problem". Photo: REUTERS Shimon Peres said England was "deeply pro-Arab ... and anti-Israeli", adding: "They always worked against us." He added: "There is in England a saying that an anti-Semite is someone who hates the Jews more than is necessary." His remarks, made in an interview on a Jewish website, provoked anger from senior MPs and Jewish leaders who said the 87-year-old president had "got it wrong". But other groups backed the former Israeli prime minister and said the number of anti-semitic incidents had risen dramatically in the UK in recent years. Telegraph

UN Agency Adds Sites In Sri Lanka, Tanzania And US To The World Heritage List
The United Nations agency tasked with preserving global cultural heritage today inscribed new sites in Sri Lanka, Tanzania and United States on its World Heritage List. The new sited ¬– the Central Highlands in Sri Lanka, the Papahânaumokuâkea islands and atolls in the United States and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania – were recognized by the World Heritage Committee of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The committee has been meeting in Brasilia, Brazil, this week to review candidates for inclusion on its World Heritage List and assess the List of World Heritage in Danger. UN News

UN Officials Mourn Five Seminar Participants Killed In Accident In Jordan
Two senior United Nations officials today expressed deep sadness over the deaths of five people, including two contractors for the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and three Iraqi officials, who were killed in a bus accident in Jordan yesterday. The Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq Christine McNab and Helen Clark, the UNDP Administrator, extended condolences on behalf of the UN to the relatives of those who died and the Government of Iraq. UN News

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