Deal postpones Medicare pay cuts

Deal postpones Medicare pay cuts

WASHINGTON

The Senate late Thursday voted to postpone a massive cut in Medicare pay for doctors, agreeing to pay doctors at current levels through Dec. 31.

If the House goes along, Congress would stave off a 23 percent cut in doctors’ pay scheduled to take effect Dec. 1. The cost of the one-month postponement, $1 billion over 10 years, will be paid for by changes in Medicare reimbursement for outpatient therapy services.

WikiLeaks founder wanted in Sweden

STOCKHOLM

The elusive Australian behind the biggest leak of U.S. war documents in history is wanted by Sweden in a drawn-out rape probe and soon could face an international arrest warrant curtailing his ability to jump from one country to another.

A Swedish court on Thursday approved a motion to bring Julian Assange, the 39-year-old founder of WikiLeaks, into custody for questioning. The decision paves the way for prosecutors to seek his arrest abroad through Interpol.

Assange, whose whereabouts are unknown, is suspected of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion. He has denied the allegations.

More anti-UN violence in Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti

Anti-U.N. violence spread to Haiti’s capital Thursday as protesters blocked roads and attacked foreigners’ cars over suspicions that peacekeepers introduced a cholera epidemic that has killed more than 1,100 people.

The unrest followed three days of similar violence in northern Haiti. The protests come a little more than a week before national elections, and the U.N. has characterized them as political.

Miller seeks to stop vote certification

ANCHORAGE, Alaska

GOP Senate candidate Joe Miller is asking a federal judge to stop officials from certifying the election, in which rival Lisa Murkowski already has declared victory.

An attorney for Miller sought the preliminary injunction Thursday as part of a previous lawsuit in which he has challenged write-in ballots for Murkowski.

Murkowski has a lead of about 10,400 votes. Miller had challenged 8,153 of the ballots counted for Murkowski and would still be behind even if he won every challenge.

Obama pushes for Russian arms deal

WASHINGTON

Insisting the nation’s security could be in peril, President Barack Obama rallied former diplomatic and military chiefs from both parties Thursday to pressure reluctant Republican senators to ratify a nuclear-weapons deal with Russia. He predicted he would gain the votes this year, though foes gave him little chance of success.

Boycott of Arizona has mixed results

PHOENIX

A boycott brought on by Arizona’s controversial immigration crackdown raised the specter of vacant convention centers, desolate sports arenas and struggling businesses throughout the state.

Seven months later, the boycott’s effects are coming into focus, showing it has been a disruptive force but nowhere near as crippling as originally feared.

A report released Thursday says the boycott has cost the state $141 million in lost meeting and convention business since Republican Gov. Jan Brewer signed the law in April.

But the state’s economy hasn’t come to a screeching halt — as some who organized the boycott hoped.

Associated Press