U.S. troops get housing pay boost
WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- The Pentagon announced Tuesday it will make available an extra $2.5 billion next year toward housing allowances for U.S. troops.
The boost will cut to zero the amount of money a typical service member has to pay out-of-pocket for housing, based on average housing costs. In 2000, service members who had to live off base paid about 20 percent of their housing costs out of pocket.
The new housing allowance considers median current market rent, average utilities and average renters insurance for six kinds of housing profiles -- apartment or house, with various numbers of bedrooms -- in each military housing area.
Officials said the new rates are calculated for each service member based on pay grade and considers whether that service member has dependents. The Pentagon estimates it will pay 910,000 service members who live off base a total of $12.3 billion for housing.
Troops who live on base are provided housing.
Cuba prepares for possible U.S. attack
HAVANA, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Cuba's military is preparing for what its government says is eventual aggression from the United States, Reforma reported Tuesday.
Training under the slogan "The War of All the People," the Cuban army Monday performed exercises not in use since the Ronald Reagan years in the 1980s when the Cuban government feared a possible invasion dictated by Washington.
"In the face of an eventual armed attack on the island, we will not only mobilize the troops, but also every revolutionary and every Cuban patriot to have a way, place, and form to combat the enemy," Gen. Leonardo Andollo said on a state-run television program.
Raul Castro, minister of the revolutionary armed forcers and the brother of President Fidel Castro, said on television that Cuba will try to avoid the war, but "while imperialism exists, Cuba will dedicate maximum attention to the defense of the Fatherland."
12-year-old saves three siblings
OMAHA, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- A 12-year-old boy says he feels like a "superhero" for getting his three siblings from their burning home in Omaha, KETV reported.
Police said shortly after the parents of the four children left for work about 5 a.m. Tuesday the 12-year-old smelled smoke. The oldest brother went upstairs and found smoke and fire, called the fire department and then got everyone safely out of the home.
The boy said he "felt like a superhero" for saving his siblings from the fire that authorities said probably was caused by an electrical problem, KETV reported.
Alaska charts syphilis outbreak partners
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Health officials are reportedly looking for the sexual partners of six men with infectious syphilis in Alaska's largest syphilis outbreak in a decade.
The Anchorage Daily News reported five of the infected men live in Anchorage and one lives in the southeastern part of the state.
The Alaskan Section of Epidemiology says the six cases, involving men between the ages of 21 and 42, were reported between Sept. 15 and Dec. 10. Health officials said they believe the disease spread mainly through men having unprotected sex with other men.
Acting Alaskan State Epidemiologist Dr. Beth Funk told the newspaper the outbreak is an "unusual event" since it has been nearly 10 years since Alaska had as many as two cases of infectious syphilis.
A number of major cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle reported recent syphilis outbreaks among men having sex with men, a health bulletin said. Syphilis has been declining nationwide for a decade with one exception: It increased among men during 2001 and 2002, state officials said.
