Israeli Cabinet approves withdrawal from Gaza Strip\nJERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government Sunday approved an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in principle, but a last-minute compromise with Cabinet hard-liners diluted the historic decision, leaving uncertain the future of 21 Israeli settlements.\nThe wording of the decision was sufficiently vague to allow both Sharon and rebellious ministers from his Likud Party to claim victory. It deferred a political crisis, but did not resolve the deep divisions within Sharon's center-right coalition over the dismantling of settlements.\nPalestinian officials responded with skepticism.\nSharon, formerly an erstwhile champion of settlement expansion, has staked his credibility on the withdrawal plan, saying it will reduce friction with the Palestinians and allow Israel to keep large settlement blocs in the West Bank.\nThe National Religious Party was divided Sunday over whether to quit the coalition as well. If it does, Sharon would lose his majority in Israel's 120-member parliament, a further blow to the once popular leader. However, he appears in no immediate danger of being toppled. Sixty-one lawmakers are required to bring down a government, a majority Sharon's opponents are unlikely to muster. The first test will come Monday, when parliament votes on several motions of no confidence.
Haiti's children most-affected by hurricane\nFOND VERRETTES, Haiti -- Haiti's impoverished children are often the first casualties of disaster, and recent floods were no exception.\nChildren, many underfed and not knowing how to swim, made up nearly half of some 3,400 victims on the Haitian-Dominican border.\nThe juvenile death toll in Haiti, which shares the small island with the Dominican Republic, will add to statistics making it one of the world's hardest countries for children to survive in, according to a Save the Children report.\nHaiti has the highest infant mortality rate in the hemisphere. Eighty of every 1,000 children born here die before their first birthday, compared with seven out of 1,000 in the United States.\nAid agencies in Haiti still were trying to reach the smallest survivors in the hardest-hit villages more than 10 days after the disaster struck.\n"Nearly half of the food will likely be for children," said Inigo Alvarez, a spokesman for the U.N. World Food Program.\nA WFP convoy of trucks arrived Thursday in the southeast village of Fond Verrettes, delivering the first food in nearly a week. WFP officials said it would feed 1,700 families of five for a week.\nBut the size of the huge crowd welcoming the trucks, and random interviews with about 20 families of 10 people or more, indicated there was not enough food for all.
John McLaughlin will take over CIA\nWASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Bush's announced that McLaughlin would take over as the CIA's acting director in July when George Tenet leaves the job after seven years.\nMcLaughlin moves up at a critical time for the Central Intelligence Agency and 14 other agencies that make up the nation's intelligence apparatus.\nSenior members at various intelligence agencies caution that they see a series of high-profile events this summer that could become attractive targets for terrorists. They worry that al-Qaeda network or its allies might try to strike the United States in a way to replicate the political and economic impact of March's train bombings in Madrid, Spain.\nOne congressional aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said some lawmakers have expressed concerns about McLaughlin's credibility in handling future situations.\nCritic's worry about McLaughlin's close relationship with Bush. McLaughlin will continue a somewhat unusual trend established in the Bush administration: the CIA director giving the president his regular morning intelligence briefings.
Student Loan proposal might end fixed-rate consolidation\nFor students with loans to pay off, times have never been better. And they may never be this good again.\nRates on federal student loans have fallen to around 3 percent -- a 35-year low. Even better, students can lock in those rates, potentially saving thousands of dollars by ensuring their payments won't increase even if interest rates do.\nBut a proposal in Congress could end the fixed-rate option, making all federal student loans issued after July 2006 subject to variable rates. Repayments would then rise and fall each year in sync with interest rates.\nThe change is just one part of the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act and is intended to shift federal subsidies away from those who already have a degree, freeing up money for programs targeted at students who may be struggling to get to college at all.\nAn estimated 7 million Americans receive more than $50 billion in federally backed student loans each year. For the average undergraduate borrower graduating this year, a variable rate loan would cost an extra $3,000 over 10 years, the Congressional Research Service estimated.\nSupporters say they recognize the debts carried by graduates are a problem. But they say students never making it to college in the first place is a bigger one.
