Swine flu spread signals global pandemic contry officials on high alert

Barack Obama sought an extra $1.5bn from Congress on Tuesday as the US sharply stepped up its response to the growing spread of swine flu from Mexico around the world.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
In depth: Swine flu - Apr-28
Lex: Unlucky Mexico - Apr-28
Global insight: A pig of a job naming this scare - Apr-28
Mexico shuts business and public venues - Apr-29
Obama ask for $1.5bn to fight swine flu - Apr-28
Holiday groups on the front line - Apr-28

The US president called for a substantial increase in funding to help build stockpiles of antiviral drugs, work on vaccines and strengthen international co-operation as other countries escalated measures against a likely global pandemic.

The US said the number of infections had risen to 64 across five states including likely transmission between people outside Mexico, while Israel and New Zealand reported the first confirmed cases in Asia and the Middle East regions. Mexico remained the only country with deaths - the government said it suspected that 159 had died.

In a sign of tensions between national governments and international organisations, Japan cancelled visa-free travel from Mexico, and the US, the European Union and a number of other governments advised against non-essential travel to Mexico, despite advice from the World Health Organisation that it would do little to prevent spread of the virus.

China Sports Daily said the national diving team, which won seven of the eight gold medals at last year’s Beijing Olympics, would not take part in the FINA Diving Grand Prix in Fort Lauderdale from May 7-10 because of swine flu concerns.

Tensions between Moscow and Washington also intensified, with the US embassy in Moscow arguing there was “no evidence” to support a partial ban on American meat sparked by the outbreak, while the Russian veterinary watchdog said the US was “protecting the interests of their exporters”.

As concerns over a pandemic continued to affect the financial markets, Moody’s estimated in a research note on Tuesday that the global macroeconomic impact of a mild flu pandemic could cost 1.4m lives and reduce global gross domestic product by 0.8 per cent or $330bn.

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Boost for Obama as Specter defects

President Barack Obama was presented with a timely 99th-day political windfall on Tuesday when Republican lawmaker Arlen Specter switched parties, giving the administration the prospect of a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the US Senate.

The move by the 79-year-old from Pennsylvania, who faced a tough Republican nomination battle next year, will strengthen the White House’s domination of the political agenda by giving Democrats on Capitol Hill sufficient votes to marginalise the increasingly obstructionist Republican opposition.
“The Republican party has moved far to the right,” said Mr Specter, who was one of three Republican senators whose support enabled Mr Obama’s $787bn fiscal stimulus to become law in February.
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Fox won't air Obama's prime-time press conference

(CNN) – Fox Broadcasting Company announced Monday it will not carry President Barack Obama's prime time press conference marking his first 100 days in office, the first time a broadcast network has refused an Obama administration request for that valuable airtime.

The network will instead carry its regularly scheduled episode "Lie to Me," according to its Web site. The show is among the network's most popular and draws an average of 13 million viewers a week. That compares to the relatively paltry 4.2 million who watched the president's last prime-time press conference on Fox. In all, close to 40 million watched that event on one of the eight networks that carried it.
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Pols show Obama more porpul;ar than Policies

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll, released Monday, also indicates that 63 percent of Americans approve of how Obama is handling his duties as president. One in three questioned in the poll disapprove.

Democrats overwhelmingly approve of how Obama is handling his job as president; 61 percent of independents agree. Only 28 percent of Republicans say the president is doing a good job in office.

The survey, released two days before Obama marks 100 days in the White House, indicates that three in four Americans feel Obama has the personal qualities a president should have. But when asked whether Obama agrees with the respondent on the issues, that number drops to 57 percent.


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Fans fixate on Beyonce as 'Obsessed' takes in $28M

LOS ANGELES – Audiences were in the mood for some fatal attraction action at the box office.

Beyonce Knowles and Idris Elba's "Obsessed" debuted as the top weekend movie with $28.5 million in ticket sales. The Sony Screen Gems thriller stars Knowles and Elba as a couple whose ideal marriage lands on the rocks after a psychotic temp played by Ali Larter begins stalking the husband.
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Chrysler reaches labor deals in fight for survival

DETROIT – It looks like scrappy little Chrysler LLC might yet escape the auctioneer's gavel.

The smallest U.S.-based automaker cleared two major hurdles on Sunday in its quest for survival, reaching a concession agreement with the United Auto Workers and winning ratification of its cost-cutting deal with the Canadian Auto Workers.

That leaves only two obstacles standing between Chrysler and up to $6 billion in additional loans from the U.S. government: A partnership deal with Italy's Fiat Group SpA and an agreement to swap equity for debt with banks and hedge funds that hold $6.9 billion in secured Chrysler loans.
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World gov'ts race to contain swine flu outbreak

WASHINGTON – The world's governments raced to avoid both a pandemic and global hysteria Sunday as more possible swine flu cases surfaced from Canada to New Zealand and the United States declared a public health emergency. "It's not a time to panic," the White House said.
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rotesters rail against IMF, World Bank for a second day

From CNN's Allison Harding

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Protesters gathered in downtown Washington Sunday to denounce the International Monetary Fund and World Bank during the two organizations' joint annual spring meetings.

About a hundred people marched from Dupont Circle to the IMF headquarters as delegates from around the world met inside to discuss the organizations' role in the global economy.

"We are here to protest the failed policies of the IMF and World Bank," said Lacy MacAuley, a spokesperson for the DC-based Global Justice Action group, which sponsored the demonstration.
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