Stimulus plan mushrooms to $850 billion
WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Congressional Democrats are completing an economic stimulus plan estimated at $850 billion in time for President-elect Barack Obama to take it to taxpayers.
Obama is scheduled to visit Ohio Friday to help build public support of the proposal that has tripled in cost since his election victory in November, The Washington Post reported. The stimulus package includes about $500 billion in tax cuts and about $550 billion in domestic spending.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said she hoped to announce the plan Thursday so it can be considered in committee late next week. The California Democrat pledged to have a stimulus bill ready for Obama's signature by the President's Day recess in mid-February.
Obama plans to discuss the stimulus proposal at a wind turbine manufacturer in Bedford Heights, Ohio.
Additions to the legislation have caused Democratic budget hawks to warn that the bill may include too many programs that are not intended to produce jobs -- Obama's stated goal -- causing the nations' $1.2 trillion deficit to grow more. Republicans have balked at the stimulus proposal as well, saying it focuses on spending instead of tax cuts to jump start the sluggish U.S. economy.
Inauguration security put in place
WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Federal law enforcement officials have begun sealing off a multi-ringed security zone around U.S. Capitol where President-elect Barack Obama will be sworn in.
Agencies used lessons learned from terrorist attacks on London and Mumbai, the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and annual celebrations on the Washington Mall to plot their security course, The New York Times said.
No credible threat has been raised for Tuesday's inaugural events. Law enforcement agencies, with forces in excess of 20,000 personnel, will oversee security on the ground, in the air and on waterways, planners said.
The security measures, the most extensive for the swearing-in of a president, are complicated by a crowd that could number between 2 million and 4 million, officials told the Times. Security planners also are factoring in that the event is the inauguration of the first African-American U.S. president.
"As an agency, we have to prepare at the highest level," said Malcolm D. Wiley Sr., spokesman for the Secret Service, which has the overall responsibility for inaugural security. "We understand this is a historic event, but it is also tied to the size of the crowd we expect and our security information."
Analysis of intelligence so far has not indicated evidence of an overseas or domestic threat, but assessments change daily, said Joseph Persichini Jr. of the FBI's Washington office.
"This is a global event," Persichini told the Times. "We continue to believe the threat is low, but no lead goes untouched."
Panel approves Clinton as top diplomat
WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- The Senate Foreign Relations committee voted 16-1 Thursday to forward the nomination of Sen. Hillary Clinton as U.S. secretary of State to the full Senate.
The full chamber still must confirm Clinton as President-elect Barack Obama's top diplomat, which is expected to happen after Obama is sworn in as president Tuesday, CNN reported. Other media outlets reported, however, a vote by the full Senate could take place before Obama's inauguration.
During her confirmation hearing earlier this week, Clinton pledged to "lead with diplomacy" while recognizing military force was sometimes necessary to protect "our people and our interests when and where needed, as a last resort."
Judge orders Gitmo detainee released
WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- A federal judge in Washington ordered the release of a Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detainee, ruling the government's evidence was too weak to confine the man.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said the Justice Department failed to prove Mohammed El Gharani, 21, a citizen of Chad, is an enemy combatant because it relied on statements made by two other detainees with questionable credibility, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
"A mosaic of tiles this murky reveals nothing about this petitioner with sufficient clarity" to justify his continued confinement, Leon ruled Wednesday.
Gharani was arrested in Pakistan and turned over to the United States in 2002. He has been in Guantanamo Bay military prison since.
The government alleged Gharani went to Afghanistan, where he trained at a military camp affiliated with al-Qaida, fought for al-Qaida and was a messenger for several of the terrorist organization's members.
Gharani's attorneys said he was 14 when he went to Pakistan to learn English and develop computer skills.
"Judge Leon did justice today," attorney Zachary Katznelson said.
Justice Department attorneys declined to comment, the Post said.
In November, Leon ordered the release of five Algerian detainees who were living in Bosnia when arrested.
Afghan officer, 12 others, die in crash
KABUL, Afghanistan, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- A senior Afghan military officer and 12 other passengers were killed Thursday when a military helicopter crashed in western Afghanistan, officials said.
A Defense Ministry spokesman said Gen. Fazel Ahmad Sayar, one of four regional commanders in the Afghan Army, was en route to visit army bases and posts in Farah province when his helicopter encountered bad weather and crashed into a mountainside, The New York Times reported.
The crash in the Herat province is under investigation, CNN reported.
Rescuers who reached the crash site confirmed everyone aboard the Russian-made helicopter was killed, officials said.
Chinese baby-snatchers arrested
BEIJING, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Police in Beijing say they have arrested alleged 13 baby-snatchers and rescued five Chinese toddlers allegedly kidnapped to be sold.
The arrests followed a sweep by law enforcement authorities in seven provinces, police told The Times of London.
In the latest rash of kidnappings, police began to receive reports in September of two men on a motorcycle who grabbed toddlers as they played in the street. Some abductions came in broad daylight and within sight of the parents.
Both boys and girls are in demand, but boys usually fetch a higher price. In this case, reports said, the children were sold for between 860 yuan (about $126) and 26,000 yuan ($3,809).
Kidnapping and sale of children can be punishable by death in China, but the threat fails to deter hundreds each year who take the chance. They are among those eager to profit from desperate parents anxious for a son but hindered by China's "one couple, one child" family policy.
