Global Affairs and Finance for November 9, 2009

House Democrats passed the trillion-dollar health-care legislation late Saturday night with a final vote of 220-215.  Thirty-nine Democrats voted against it, as did every Republican except for Joseph Cao of Louisiana. The president now urges the Senate to make it into law.

Abortion rights supporters say they will block passage of healthcare legislation due to anti-abortion provisions.

The United Nations telecommunications agency announced that it has signed an agreement with the United Arab Emirates to build a new museum that will focus on the impact of information communications technology (ICT) on people's lives.

A suicide bomber killed an anti-Taliban village mayor and 11 others in a crowded Peshawar marketplace Sunday.

Jason Rodriguez suspected of killing one person and wounding five at an office in Orlando, was in serious financial debt at the time he allegedly began his shooting spree.

The president has apparently rejected the most extreme choices being discussed on troop levels in the eight-year-old war. However an additional 38,000 troops augmentation is being discussed.

Levy on homes and the government considers high pay inquiry as the wealth gap widens in the U.K.

Government will identify sites around Britain suitable for building a nuclear plant as part of a new energy policy.

60 people are missing, with 7,000 in shelters, as Hurricane Ida is upgraded to Category 2.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed approval by Iraqi lawmakers of amendments to electoral laws.

Gordon Brown of Britain told G-20 finance ministers that the world needed a system to force banks, not taxpayers, to cover future bailouts.

A 24-year-old fashion designer was killed near Oxford when a woman who had just received a text message rear-ended her car at 60 miles an hour.

The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has announced that he will ask the tribunal to open an investigation into the deadly post-election violence in Kenya in December 2007 and January 2008.

On Saturday Madagascar ’s four past and present leaders -- Andry Rajoelina, Marc Ravalomanana, Didier Ratsiraka and Albert Zafy -- struck the power-sharing deal following talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Exports from the world’s poorest countries should be granted duty- and quota-free access to markets, according to government officials, economists and academics attending a regional United Nations trade meeting.

In efforts to try to help end the political deadlock, the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Michael Williams, held discussions in Beirut with Saad Hariri, Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate, and with Nabih Berri, the Speaker of the Parliament.

The United Nations refugee agency said today it is stepping up aid to people uprooted by military operations in the Pakistani region of South Waziristan.

The founders of Skype will drop their lawsuits against EBay and a host of buyers who bid to purchase Skype. In exchange, the founders will get a 14 percent share in the new Skype.

Research in Motion has lost a third of its stock value since September.

Clashes between two tribes in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have caused more than 16,000 civilians to flee their homes since last week.

About 90,000 Sri Lankans displaced by the conflict between Government forces and Tamil separatists have returned to their homes in the past three months.

The United Nations refugee agency is appealing for $2.8 million to provide essential supplies and respond to possible disease outbreaks among more than 300,000 refugees in two camps in Kenya threatened by flooding.

The Dalai Lama drew tens of thousands of followers during a "non-political" visit to India 's Arunachal Pradesh near the disputed Sino-Indian border.

North Korea's military has taken control of the state-run economy and struck mineral trade deals with China.

Sudanese President, Omar al-Bashir, will not visit Istanbul for an Islamic conference after the European Union pressured Turkey to stop him from attending.