Abe in Hospital in Japan After Announcing Resignation

Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who announced his resignation yesterday, is in a Tokyo hospital with a stomach ailment, doctors said.

Abe, 52, said he will step down after failing to regain public support following the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's defeat in the Upper House election in July. A ballot for Abe's successor will be held on Sept. 23.

Abe needs to be hospitalized for as long as four days because of problems with his digestive system, Toshifumi Hibi, one of Abe's doctors and a professor at Keio University Hospital in Shinjuku ward in central Tokyo, said at a news conference.

Abe's popularity plunged after a series of scandals since he replaced the popular Junichiro Koizumi a year ago. Poll ratings for Abe's government dropped below 30 percent after it admitted millions of dollars in pension-fund money couldn't be unaccounted for. Cabinet ministers became embroiled in a succession of scandals: four resigned, and one committed suicide.

Health was one of the factors behind his resignation, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kaoru Yosano said earlier at a regular press conference.

No-one has been named to stand in for Abe, Yosano said at a later press conference.

Doctors' Advice

Yosano is first in line to become acting prime minister, should Abe be incapacitated before a new leader is chosen, followed by Defense Minister Masahiko Komura and Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama, according to Hiroshi Suzuki, a spokesman for the Cabinet office.

The prime minister's doctors advised Abe to go to hospital because he was suffering from exhaustion and had lost nearly 5 kilograms (11 pounds) the past several months. During his stay, Abe will be given drugs to get his digestive system functioning normally, the doctor said.

``His whole body is debilitated,'' Hibi said. ``He had acute inflammation of the stomach a few weeks back, which seems to be worsening the symptoms.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Kanoko Matsuyama in Tokyo at at kmatsuyama2@bloomberg.net .

Obama calls for complete withdrawal by end of '08

He can't do that. There's an art to war, and withdrawing isn't in the plan. Once you take over a territory you must then continue to occupy that territory. Ask yourself why our presence is STILL in Korea, and Germany, Afghanistan, and a host of other places that our azzes don't belong. Don't believe the hype, if BUSH couldn't bring them home and HE sent them over there, who actually believes Obama when HE says they'll be home by December 2008??? Mind you, a month after elections. LOL

Obama calls for complete withdrawal by end of '08

By Brian DeBose
September 13, 2007

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama yesterday delivered his Iraq policy speech at Ashford University in Clinton, Iowa.

Sen. Barack Obama yesterday called for the immediate withdrawal of American troops from Iraq at a steady pace, with all combat troops either at home or redeployed elsewhere by December 2008.

"We must get out strategically and carefully, removing troops from secure areas first, and keeping troops in more volatile areas until later, but our drawdown should proceed at a steady pace of one or two brigades each month," Mr. Obama said.

A day after hearing the progress report from Army Gen. David H. Petraeus to Congress, Mr. Obama rejected the general's recommendations and said Iraq's government has failed to meet its own goals.

His withdrawal proposal reinforces the Iraq war as the major battleground among the Democratic presidential candidates, who have spent the campaign competing with each other for support from the party's antiwar voters.

Yesterday, Mr. Obama's adversaries said his plan doesn't go far enough, with former Sen. John Edwards saying the pace of withdrawal moves too slowly and sounds too much like the general's recommendation to President Bush to withdraw 30,000 troops by July.

"Taking credit for this gradual withdrawal is like taking credit for gravity," Mr. Edwards said. "These 30,000 troops would have to be withdrawn anyway, unless the president extended tours to an unconscionable 18 months."

Another Democratic candidate, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Mr. Obama's plan falls short because it would still leave some noncombat troops behind.

"Senator Obama has offered to turn the page in Iraq, but I think we need a new book," Mr. Richardson said.

Even as Democrats try to outflank each other in embracing withdrawal, the Republican presidential field is holding firm in backing Gen. Petraeus' strategy, with Sen. John McCain even calling it the "McCain surge" and posting a timeline on his Web site to prove he's been calling for this type of military campaign for years.

Meanwhile former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney went straight at Mr. Obama, telling Fox News Channel the Democrat has disqualified himself from being president because of his timeline for withdrawal, coupled with other statements announcing he would take unilateral military action in Pakistan, an ally, and would meet with enemy leaders.

Mr. Obama has been calling for a troop withdrawal since January, but unlike his previous plan this drawdown would occur whether or not the Iraqi government meets benchmarks for improvement.

While some Democrats have criticized Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as a blockade to progress, Mr. Obama said Iraq's structure is the problem, not the personalities.

"We shouldn't be in the business of supporting coups, and remember, before Maliki, we said that we just needed to replace the last prime minister to make everything all right. It didn't work," Mr. Obama said in a speech at Ashford University in Clinton, Iowa.

"The problems in Iraq are bigger than one man. Iraq needs a new constitution."

He proposed a constitutional convention to be convened with the United Nations, and said it should not adjourn until Iraq's leaders reach a new accord on political reconciliation, coupled with new elections.

And Mr. Obama said the U.S. should accept a partition-style government if that is how the Iraqis want their nation constructed. But he also took a swipe at fellow Democratic contender Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, a prominent supporter of a partition, saying "it must be their choice. America should not impose the division of Iraq."

Mr. Obama again chastised his fellow Senate Democrats in the race by highlighting their vote for the war. He opposed the war from the start and yesterday presented himself as being prescient about the war's outcome.

"I spoke out against what I called 'a rash war' in Iraq. I worried about, 'an occupation of undetermined length, with undetermined costs, and undetermined consequences,' " he said.

He also said he would engage Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Turkey in diplomatic talks to enter into a regional pact to end the conflict and increase funding to deal with the humanitarian crisis.

While not responding directly to Mr. Obama's speech, Democratic front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton attacked the president's withdrawal plan, which he plans to detail in a speech today.

"There will be the same number of troops in Iraq as there were one year ago. Mr. President, that is simply too little too late, and unacceptable to this Congress, and to the American people who have made clear their strong desire to bring our troops home, and end this war," Mrs. Clinton said.

Hillary Clinton returns fund-raiser Hsu's $850G; probe begins

BY MICHAEL McAULIFF and JAMES GORDON MEEK
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU

Tuesday, September 11th 2007

WASHINGTON - A red-faced Hillary Clinton yesterday returned $850,000 in campaign cash tied to felon fund-raiser Norman Hsu, as the Daily News learned New York prosecutors are leading the probe into Hsu's buck-raking.

The tainted dollars are being returned to 260 donors by the New York Democrat's White House campaign, her aides said.

The Clinton campaign scrambled to contain the damage from a fund-raising scandal that's been building for two weeks, after reports some donors of modest means contributed hefty sums to Clinton in coordination with Hsu, a New York apparel millionaire.

"In light of recent events and allegations that Mr. Norman Hsu engaged in an illegal investment scheme, we have decided out of an abundance of caution to return the money he raised for our campaign," Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said in a statement.

"Mr. Hsu donated to numerous charities and more than two dozen candidates and committees. Despite conducting a thorough review of public records, our campaign, like these others, was unaware of Mr. Hsu's decade-plus-old warrant."

To avoid future fund-raising black eyes, Wolfson said, the campaign will institute "vigorous" new vetting procedures, "including criminal background checks" on fund-raisers who bundle contributions from several donors.

At first, the campaign gave the $23,000 Hsu donated to charity. It relented on the rest of the cash yesterday after learning the feds were looking into whether Hsu was running a Ponzi scheme aimed at benefitting Clinton and other Democrats.

Hsu has also bundled massive sums for other Democrats, including Gov. Spitzer and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have launched a probe to look into possible public corruption or election fraud offenses against Hsu, two law enforcement sources told The News.

"They're taking a look at him. They are very interested," one of the sources said.

Justice Department and FBI officials declined comment.

The FBI nabbed Hsu in Colorado last week after he got sick on an eastbound train. He was wanted after skipping out on a 1992 California sentencing date for a no-contest plea in a $1 million fraud rap. He turned himself in Aug. 31, posted $2 million bail - then fled again.

US airbase on terror alert in Germany

An American airbase in Germany has been sealed off after receiving a bomb threat. The alarm was raised at Spangdahlem airfield on the eve of the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Police said the threat came in a call from a man speaking German with a Russian or Turkish accent. He said he had at least four accomplices.

The threat against Spangdahlem comes roughly a week after German anti-terrorist police arrested three men suspected of planning to attack a series of targets across the country. They are believed to have links with Al-Qaeda and had amassed vast quantities of bomb-making chemicals and military detonators. The targets are thought to have included the US airbase at Ramstein, as well as Frankfurt airport.

FDA Receiving Many More Serious Adverse Events Reports

Between 1998 and 2005 the number of reports about serious adverse events sent to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has more than doubled; total deaths linked to adverse drug events have also more than doubled, according to an article in Archives of Internal Medicine (JAMA/Archives).

The FDA's definition of a serious adverse event is one that results in death, a birth defect, hospitalization, disability, a life-threatening situation, or any intervention that was needed to prevent harm, say the authors. These events are reported to the FDA through AERS (Adverse Event Reporting System - the reports are voluntary and are also known as MedWatch reports. Pharmaceutical companies are required to report all serious adverse events to the FDA, hence many of them come from the manufacturers.

Thomas J. Moore, A.B., Institute for Safe Medication Practices, Huntingdon Valley, Penn., and team examined reports of serious adverse events sent to the FDA through AERS during the period 1998-2005 - a total of 467,809 of them. In 1998 the annual number was 34,966, while in 2005 it jumped to 89,842. Fatal adverse events (reported) totaled 5,519 in 1998, rising to 15,107 in 2005 - a 2.7-fold increase.

The authors wrote "The overall relative increase was four times faster than the growth in total U.S. outpatient prescriptions, which grew in the same period from 2.7 billion to 3.8 billion."

1,489 drugs were linked to the adverse events during 1998-2005. However, 51 drugs accounted for 43.6% (203,957) of all reported adverse events.

The authors said "Contrary to our expectations, drugs related to safety withdrawals were a modest share of all reported events and declined in importance over time. Among the most frequently reported drugs associated with fatal events, we observed a disproportionate contribution of pain medications and drugs that modify the immune system."

The writers concluded that their data showed a significant increase in reported deaths and serious injuries linked with drug therapy over the study period. "The results highlight the importance of this public health problem and illustrate the need for improved systems to manage the risks of prescription drugs."

"Serious Adverse Drug Events Reported to the Food and Drug Administration, 1998-2005"
Thomas J. Moore, AB; Michael R. Cohen, RPh, MS, ScD; Curt D. Furberg, MD, PhD
Arch Intern Med. 2007;167:1752-1759
Click here to see abstract online

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today