Obama Says Romney Words Aren't 'True' in Second Debate !

Energized Obama takes aggressive approach in second debate 16 Oct 2012 A newly energetic and aggressive President Obama went directly after his Republican challenger from the first moment of their second debate to the last, attacking Mitt Romney’s business record, his positions on issues and his truthfulness during a heated 90-minute encounter. "Gov. Romney says he's got a five-point plan. Gov. Romney doesn't have a five-point plan; he has a one-point plan: Make sure that folks at the top play by a different set of rules," Obama said during his answer to the debate's first question. In his final words, he reprised Romney's videotaped comments, made during a fundraising lunch in May, about 47% of Americans not paying federal income taxes and wanting to be dependent on the government.

Obama Says Romney Words Aren't 'True' in Second Debate 17 Oct 2012 President Barack Obama repeatedly challenged the truth of challenger Mitt Romney's statements as the two battled over the auto industry bailout, energy policy and social issues in their second debate. "What Governor Romney said just isn't true," Obama said tonight after the Republican presidential nominee said he opposed bailing out carmakers because he wanted the industry to go through the same type of bankruptcy experienced by other major companies. Obama said Romney's plan was to take General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC "into bankruptcy without providing them with any way to stay open, and we would have lost 1 million jobs."

Under cover of presidential debate: State Department official: Negotiations to keep U.S. troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014 starting soon 16 Oct 2012 Despite statements by Vice President Joe Biden, the State Department is about to begin formal negotiations over the extension of U.S. troops past 2014, a top State Department official said Tuesday. Last week, U.S. and Afghan negotiators met in Kabul to talk about the Bilateral Security Agreement that will govern the extension of U.S. troops past 2014, when President Barack Obama said the combat mission in Afghanistan will end and the U.S. will complete the transition of the entire country to Afghan government control. Some U.S. military officials have said the plan is to keep 25,000 American troops in Afghanistan past 2014, but Grossman insisted that there is no number yet and the 25,000 figure quoted in reports is speculative.

Suicide 'Insider' Attack Kills Six in Afghanistan 16 Oct 2012 A member of the Afghan intelligence service detonated a suicide vest Saturday, killing two Americans and four Afghan intelligence agency colleagues, Afghan and international officials said Monday. Also on Monday, Afghan officials charged that a coalition strike against a Taliban target had killed three young children - two boys and a girl - from one family over the weekend.

Children killed in NATO attack: Afghan officials 15 Oct 2012 Afghan officials said Monday that a NATO air strike killed three children while it was [allegedly] targeting Taliban insurgents planting mines on a road in southern Afghanistan. NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed an air strike in Helmand province's Nawa district on Sunday, saying that three insurgents died and it was investigating reports that children were also killed. "Two Taliban mine-planters were identified and targeted by ISAF from the air and killed," district police chief Ahmad Shah Khan told AFP. "Three children, two boys and a girl, who were nearby collecting firewood were also killed," Khan added.

About 106 US tanks delivered to Yemen 14 Oct 2012 About 106 armored tanks were delivered to Yemen's defense ministry, state sources affirmed, pointing out that about 12 armored vehicles were also brought to Yemen to protect the US Embassy. The sources said the tanks were delivered to Yemen through Hodeidah port on last Saturday, affirming that the tanks were brought to Yemen in the framework of cooperation between Yemen and the United States. The sources denied that the tanks were transferred to the US Embassy.

Revealed: Canberra shared intel on Assange with Washington 17 Oct 2012 WikiLeaks and Julian Assange have been the subject of intelligence exchanges between Australia and the United States for more than two years, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has revealed. The WikiLeaks publisher was also the subject of Australian intelligence reporting from Washington shortly before he sought political asylum in Ecuador's London embassy. In a freedom of information decision yesterday, Foreign Affairs confirmed to Fairfax Media the existence of an intelligence report concerning WikiLeaks and Mr Assange cabled to Canberra from Australia's Washington embassy on June 1.

New report questions science behind flu vaccine efficacy and use policy 15 Oct 2012 Flu vaccine is not as effective as public health messaging traditionally has claimed, says a new report that suggests overselling of flu shots is getting in the way of developing more effective and longer lasting vaccines. Existing flu shots offer moderate protection some years and less in others and in general are "sub-optimal," according to the report, from public health experts at the Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

Feds raid Massachusetts lab tied to meningitis outbreak 16 Oct 2012 Federal agents on Tuesday raided the Massachusetts pharmacy linked to a widespread meningitis outbreak that has killed 16 people and sickened more than 200 others, federal prosecutors said. Agents from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration searched the New England Compounding Center, or NECC, in the Boston suburb of Framingham, with officers from the local police department providing support, Framingham police said. The raid took place as calls came for an even wider probe into whether the once obscure pharmacy may have broken federal laws dealing with controlled substances, and as additional meningitis cases were announced.

Moderate earthquake strikes Maine, felt in Boston 16 Oct 2012 A moderate earthquake struck the northeastern U.S. state of Maine on Tuesday shortly after 7 p.m. (2300 GMT), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. First reported as a 4.5 magnitude quake centered near Lake Arrowhead, the USGS revised the quake's magnitude to 4.6 and finally down to 4.0. The quake was felt in much of New England, including much of Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut. A few reports were also received from upstate New York, the USGS said.