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23:51
rabiul islam
- Obama tells lawmakers to meet every day on debt deal
President Barack Obama told top lawmakers on Sunday to be prepared to meet every day this week to hash out a deal to cut the federal budget and raise the debt limit, a Democratic source with knowledge of the talks said.
The Democratic official said that Obama pressed Republicans at a White House meeting Sunday evening to aim for a broad, $4 trillion deficit-reduction package rather than a more modest one.
"If not now, when?" the president asked them when some said it was not the right time to try to craft a far-reaching deal, the official said.
Both sides remained divided over the size and the components of a plan to reduce long term deficits. Saying "we need to" work out an agreement over the next 10 days, the president and lawmakers agreed to meet again Monday.
Obama also sought to use the power of his office to sway public opinion, scheduling a news conference for 11 a.m. ET Monday, his second one in less than two weeks devoted primarily to the debt talks.
But there appeared to be little appetite for such an ambitious plan and the political price it would require to pass in Congress. Instead, House Speaker John Boehner told the group that a smaller package of about $2 trillion to $2.4 trillion was more realistic.
A Democratic official familiar with the session said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., was especially adamant that any deficit reduction package could not contain tax increases and that any new tax revenue would have to be used to pay for other tax benefits.
Obama and the congressional leaders met in the Cabinet Room of the White House for the rare Sunday session. Most appeared in casual Sunday clothes, with open-collared shirts underneath blazers.
04:27
rabiul islam
Major findings from the "Costs of War" study on the financial and human costs of US wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan since 2001 by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.
FINANCIAL TOLL:
* Congressional war appropriations to Pentagon since 2001: $1.3 trillion
* Additions to Pentagon base budget: $362 billion to $652 billion
* Interest on Pentagon war appropriations: $185 billion
* Veterans' medical claims and disability: $33 billion
* War-related international aid: $74 billion
* Additions to Homeland Security base spending: $401 billion
* Projected obligations for veterans care to 2050: $589 billion to $934 billion
* Social costs to veterans and military families to date: $295 billion to $400 billion
Future spending requests:
* 2012 Pentagon war spending: $118 billion
* 2012 foreign aid: $12 billion
* 2013-2015 projected war spending: $168 billion
* 2016-2020 projected war spending: $155 billion
ESTIMATED TOTAL: $3.7 trillion to $4.4 trillion
ADDITIONAL interest payments to 2020: $1 trillion
CONSERVATIVE DEATH TOLL ESTIMATES BY WAR ZONE:
Afghanistan: 33,877
Iraq: 151,471
Pakistan: 39,127
CONSERVATIVE DEATH TOLL ESTIMATES BY CATEGORY:
US military: 6,051
US contractors: 2,300
Iraqi security forces: 9,922
Afghan security forces: 8,756
Pakistani security forces: 3,520
Other allied troops: 1,192
Afghan civilians: 11,700
Iraqi civilians: 125,000
Pakistani civilians and insurgents: 35,600
Afghan insurgents: 10,000
Iraqi army during US invasion: 10,000
Journalists and media workers: 168
Humanitarian workers: 266
TOTAL: 224,475
05:06
rabiul islam
The number of millionaires in Asia-Pacific has jumped sharply to overtake Europe, a study revealed yesterday, driven by the fast-rising super-rich of Hong Kong.
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Millionaires in the region -- who have a total of almost $11 trillion -- became worth more collectively than their counterparts in Europe in 2009, but there are also now more of them, at 3.3 million, versus 3.1 million in Europe.
The report on high-net worth individuals (HNWIs) -- defined as anyone with investable assets of at least $1 million -- was issued by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and consultancy firm Capgemini.
Asia is now second only to North America, which has 3.4 million millionaires.
The number of millionaires in Hong Kong grew 33.3 percent in 2010 to 101,300, compared with 76,000 in 2009 -- the second straight year in which the city's super-rich population grew the most.
The rocketing number of millionaires in the southern Chinese city was due to a healthy economy as well as gains in the equities and real estate markets, said the report.
It also noted the fast growth of Indian millionaires, where the HNWI population became the world's 12th largest in 2010, its highest placing.
