Month: March 2013

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama plans to meet with several Republican senators for dinner on Wednesday as part of his effort to revive talks to tackle the nation's long-term deficit, the White House said. The Democratic president is trying to cobble together what he calls a "common sense caucus" among lawmakers to help resolve U.S. budget woes and push his legislative agenda. He also is scheduled to travel to Capitol Hill next week, when he will address Senate Republicans at a lunch on March 14. …

(Reuters) – When the local doctor who had been treating Vicky Hilborn told her that her rare cancer had spread throughout her body, including her brain, she and her husband refused to accept a death sentence. Within days, Keith Hilborn was on the phone with an "oncology information specialist" at Cancer Treatment Centers of America. Hilborn had seen CTCA's website touting survival rates better than national averages. His call secured Vicky an appointment at the for-profit, privately held company's Philadelphia affiliate, Eastern Regional Medical Center. …

GENEVA (Reuters) – Albinos whose body parts are prized by witch doctors are being attacked in rising numbers in Tanzania, with children who are still alive having their limbs chopped off, the top U.N. human rights official said on Tuesday. “I strongly condemn these vicious killings and attacks, which were committed in particularly horrifying circumstances, and which have involved dismembering people, including children, while they are still alive,” Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement. …