Good news, bad news for health-care overhaul

Good news, bad news for health-care overhaul

WASHINGTON — California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger praised President Barack Obama’s drive to overhaul the nation’s health-care system Tuesday and urged fellow Republicans to join in efforts to finish the job this year.

The new Republican support for Obama’s top domestic priority came as a potential setback emerged for Senate health legislation: Congressional tax experts reported that the bill would impose $29 billion more in taxes on health-care industries than originally thought — levies that could be passed on to consumers in the form of higher premiums.

D.C. council to weigh bill allowing same-sex unions

WASHINGTON — A bill that would allow same-sex couples to marry in the nation’s capital was introduced Tuesday, a measure that even opponents acknowledged seems almost unstoppable.

The bill was nearly certain to pass the D.C. city council, but whether it becomes law is more complicated because Congress gets an opportunity to review D.C. legislation before it takes effect. Still, even challengers in Congress acknowledged the bill was likely to become law.

The city began in July recognizing same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. Congress had a chance to act on that legislation but didn’t.

Petraeus gets treatment for prostate cancer

WASHINGTON — Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in February and has since undergone two months of radiation treatment.

Petraeus, 56, was diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer, which was not publicly disclosed at the time because Petraeus and his family regarded his illness as “a personal matter” that “did not interfere with the performance of his duties,” said his spokesman, Col. Erik Gunhus. President Barack Obama and top members of his administration were informed, he said.

The Pentagon termed Petraeus’ treatment “successful.” He was treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Car bomb kills 8 in Iraq

BAGHDAD — A car bomb tore through an open-air market west of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least eight people, an Iraqi police official said.

It was the second-consecutive day of attacks in the mostly Sunni Anbar province, raising questions about the ability of Iraqi security forces to keep the lid on violence as U.S. troops withdraw from the region.

Tuesday’s blast came at sundown, when a parked car rigged with explosives went off in a popular open-air market in Fallujah, about 40 miles west of the Iraqi capital, the official said. At least 20 people were wounded.

Senate OKs war funding

WASHINGTON — The Senate has passed a $626 billion Pentagon funding bill that would bring the tab for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to more than $1 trillion.

The measure passed by a 93-7 vote. It would also ban outright any transfer of accused enemy combatants from the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility into the United States. Current law permits transfer of detainees to face trial or go to prison.

The bill combines $128 billion for overseas military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan with $498 billion for the rest of the Defense Department’s budget. An analysis by congressional researchers puts the total approved by Congress for Afghanistan at about $300 billion and in Iraq at more than $700 billion since Sept. 11, 2001.

Dangers in leafy greens

CHICAGO — A growing threat for food-borne illnesses comes attractively packaged, is stunningly convenient and is increasingly popular with shoppers looking for healthful meals: ready-to-eat leafy greens that make putting together a green salad as easy as opening a bag.

Though beef and poultry are a more-frequent source of food- related outbreaks than produce, the number of outbreaks tied to lettuce, spinach and other leafy greens, whether fresh-cut or whole, has been rising over the last two decades, according to the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest.

On Tuesday, researchers with the group called leafy greens the riskiest food regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, with 363 outbreaks linked to those foods from 1990 to 2006. (Meat is regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.)

Combined dispatches