Stories Making Headlines Right Now

SWEDEN-SAAB
    NEW: GM unit Saab files for bankruptcy protection

Saab and its parent company, General Motors,
could soon be going their separate ways.
    Saab filed for bankruptcy protection today and has applied to be
spun off from GM.
    Saab’s action came after the Swedish government rejected a
request from GM to inject money into the carmaker. GM has been
looking for buyers for Saab but says it needs more funding to put
the brand up for sale.
    The financially strapped GM said it needed about $6 billion in
support from the governments of Canada, Germany, Britain, Sweden
and Thailand to provide liquidity for its operations in those
countries.
    Saab says if a court approves, it will take about three months
to reorganize and independent funding will be required.
    The process is similar to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S.

LAHOOD-VEHICLE MILEAGE TAX
    NEW: LaHood eyes taxing miles driven

The Obama administration’s new transportation
secretary is floating the idea of a tax on motorists based on how
many miles they travel, not how much gas they use.
    Ray LaHood says gasoline taxes can no longer be counted on to
raise enough money to keep the nation’s transportation system
moving.
    In an interview with The Associated Press, LaHood said he’s
firmly opposed to raising the gas tax given the current recession
but says the administration wants to think “outside the box” on
how to fund America’s infrastructure. Besides a miles tax, that
could include partnerships with businesses and more tolls on roads
and bridges.
    Opponents say switching to a miles-traveled tax would discourage
people from scrapping gas guzzlers since there’d be no incentive to
get better mileage.
    Still, the idea is gaining traction in a number of states. A
proposal in North Carolina would charge motorists a quarter of a
penny per mile.

STIMULUS-ACCOUNTABILITY
    NEW: Obama aide outlines stimulus requirements

The stimulus money is coming, but who will
keep track of how it’s used?
    President Barack Obama’s top budget aides are putting in place
strict reporting requirements for all government agencies that will
be involved in spending the 787-billion-dollar economic package.
    In fact, Obama’s budget chief has revealed a 25-thousand-word
document detailing exactly how Cabinet and executive agencies,
states and local organizations use the money that’s designed to
save or create more than three million jobs over the next two
years.
    Officials says it’s a strict system meant to streamline reports
so they can be reviewed readily on the administration’s new Web
site, Recovery.gov.

CLINTON-KOREAS
    Clinton names special NKorea envoy

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton says an increase in warlike rhetoric from North Korea is
“provocative and unhelpful.“
    Clinton named a special envoy for North Korea on Friday but
warned the communist nation that ties with the United States will
not improve unless it stops threatening South Korea.
    She also called on Pyongyang to rejoin stalled nuclear
disarmament talks. There’s been concern about North Korea’s
reported preparations for a long-range ballistic missile test.
    Clinton has traveled to South Korea on the latest leg on an
Asian tour, her first overseas trip as secretary of state.
    She named Stephen Bosworth, a former U.S. ambassador to South
Korea, as the new U.S. special representative for North Korea. He
will work with South Korea, Japan, China and others to look at ways
to get Pyongyang back to the negotiating table.

ISRAEL POLITICS
    Israel’s Peres to meet prime minister candidates

It seems likely Israeli President Shimon Peres
will name hard-liner Benjamin Netanyahu to the task of forming a
new coalition government.
    Peres meets the top candidates for prime minister today, a day
after an anti-Arab politician’s endorsement of Netanyahu all but
ensured him the post.
    The question is whether Netanyahu will form a narrow hard-line
government or bring Kadima Party leader Tzipi Livni into a broad
coalition that would provide more stability.
    If Netanyahu forms a narrow coalition, it could put him at odds
with the U.S. and much of the world over peace talks with the
Palestinians and relations with other Arab neighbors.

PAKISTAN
    Bomb kills 25 at Shiite funeral in Pakistan

A hospital official says the death toll from a
bomb attack at a funeral for a Shiite Muslim leader in northwestern
Pakistan has risen to 25.
    Ashiq Salim, a doctor at the main hospital in the city of Dera
Ismail Khan, says 25 bodies have been brought there since the
attack on Friday morning.
    Salim says the hospital is treating another 60 people who were
injured.
    Pakistan is suffering a surge in sectarian violence just as it
struggles to contain a growing Taliban insurgency.

TAJIKISTAN-US AFGHANISTAN
    US official: Uzbeks allow transit to Afghanistan

A U.S. military official says
Uzbekistan will allow non-lethal U.S. military cargo heading to
Afghanistan to transit through the country.
    Rear Admiral Mark Harnitchek says some of the goods will
transported onward through Tajikistan, which also shares a border
with Afghanistan.
    He said Friday that the deal was reached during a meeting with
Tajik officials.
    U.S. Embassy officials declined to comment, as did the Uzbek
Foreign Ministry.
    Washington is struggling to guarantee alternate routes for
supplies headed to Afghanistan as militants step up attacks on
convoys traveling through Pakistan, the primary U.S. supply route.
    The issue has been complicated by Kyrgyzstan’s decision to evict
U.S. forces from an air base used to support Afghan operations.

KASHMIR-QUAKE
    NEW: Earthquake hits disputed Kashmir region

Residents have gone running from their
homes but there are no immediate reports of deaths from a 5.5
magnitude earthquake in the Himalayan region of Kashmir.
    The Indian Meteorological Department said the moderate temblor
struck this morning near the de-facto border that divides Indian
and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.
    Officials in the region say the quake caused panic but no major
damage. In 2005, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake hit the area, killing
at least 78,000 people.
    Officials have not yet been able to make contact with more
remote areas in the quake region.

CHILD CHARGED
    NEW: Details of Arizona boy’s case may never be known

A lawyer for a 9-year-old Arizona boy
accused in a double homicide says the public’s desire for the
details may never be satisfied.
    Defense attorney Benjamin Brewer spoke after the boy pleaded
guilty to one count of negligent homicide in the death of his
father and the man’s roommate.
    No one inside or outside the Apache County courthouse yesterday
ever addressed what led to the Nov. 5 shootings.
    In court, the boy was not asked to explain any motive, nor have
police discussed one.
    Details in the case were sparse from the beginning as a result
of a gag order.
    The boy’s plea spares the community from what would have been an
emotional trial and prevents the boy from serving time in the state
juvenile corrections system.
    The boy is due back in court for a pre-sentencing hearing on
March 5.

SEX OFFENDERS-FACEBOOK
    NEW: Facebook has removed 5,500 sex offenders since May

Connecticut’s attorney general says the
world’s largest social networking site is working to boot an
unwanted element.
    Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says Facebook has removed
more than 5,500 convicted sex offenders from its member rolls since
May.
    Facebook claims to have more than 175 million active members.
    Blumenthal, along with North Carolina Attorney General Roy
Cooper has led an effort remove sex offenders from the social
networking Web sites. He says Facebook has an “equal stake in the
predator problem and its solution.“
    Chris Kelly, Facebook’s chief privacy officer, says a focus on
members using their real names and identities helps discourage sex
offenders, and even more is being planned to prevent them from
registering.