[ T hurs day Bri ef ing]
2 The It hacan
Th ursday, October 4 , 2 0 1 2
Nation&World Court rules on voter photo ID case
A judge has ruled that Pennsylvania voters won’t have to show photo identification to cast ballots on Election Day. Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson, on Tuesday, delayed Pennsylvania’s controversial voter ID requirement from taking effect this election, saying he wasn’t sure the state had made it possible for voters to easily get IDs before Nov. 6. Gov. Tom Corbett, who had championed the law, said he was leaning against an appeal of the decision, which was widely viewed to favor Obama in Pennsylvania, one of the nation’s biggest electoral college prizes. Obama has been leading in recent polls over Republican nominee Mitt Romney. The law could still take full effect next year, though Simpson could also decide to issue a permanent injunction. The 6-month-old law, among the nation’s toughest, sparked a divisive debate in Pennsylvania over voting rights ahead of the presidential election. Voter ID laws have been toughened in about a dozen primarily Republican-controlled states since the 2008 presidential election. But states with the toughest rules going into effect — including Kansas and Tennessee — aren’t battleground states, making their impact on the presidential election unclear. On Nov. 6, election workers will still be allowed to ask voters for a valid photo ID, but people without it can use a regular voting machine in the polling place and will not have to cast a provisional ballot or prove their identity to election officials afterward, the judge ruled.
Philippine politicians try for peace
The Philippine government and Muslim rebels have resumed talks about resolving final differences in a preliminary peace accord they hope to conclude soon, in what is expected to be a major breakthrough toward ending a decades-long rebellion. Government negotiators met with representatives of the 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Tuesday to attempt to seal what they call a “framework agreement” on major issues, including the extent of power, revenues and territory
to be granted to a Muslim-administered region. It would be the most significant progress in years of negotiations on ending a rebellion that has left more than 120,000 people dead and held back development in the southern Philippines. Rebel negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said at the talks’ resumption that they are “now on the home stretch and the smell of success is reinforced every day.”
Iranian currency value plummets
Police threatened merchants who closed their shops in Tehran’s main bazaar and launched crackdowns on sidewalk money changers Wednesday as part of a push to halt the plunge of Iran’s currency, which has shed more than a third of its value in less than a week. Iran’s currency hit a record low of 35,500 rials against the U.S. dollar Tuesday on the unofficial street trading rate, which is widely followed in Iran. It was about 24,000 rials to the dollar a week ago and close to 10,000 rials for $1 as recently as early 2011. The shrinking rial also has rekindled bitter internal political feuds between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his powerful rivals, who claim the crisis has also been fed by misguided government monetary policies. Exchange houses were closed Wednesday and currency websites were blocked from providing updates.
Indonesian workers begin strike
More than 2 million factory workers went on a one-day strike across Indonesia on Wednesday to demand better benefits and protest the hiring of contract workers, union officials said. Hundreds of thousands of laborers from more than 700 companies in 80 industrial estates also took to the streets to demonstrate, national police spokesman Col. Agus Rianto said. More than 200,000 workers marched in the industrial city of Bekasi, just outside Jakarta, while waving flags and chanting, “Workers unite! We can’t be defeated!” The workers want an increase in the minimum wage, health insurance and social security for all employees and a revision of government policies that allow companies to hire temporary workers without benefits,
Speaking out
Demonstrators protest against austerity measures by the Spanish government in Barcelona, Spain, on Wednesday. Spain is debating whether to seek a bailout for its economy similar to those already granted to Greece, Ireland and Portugal for their economic crisis. Manu Fernandez/associated press
Yoris Raweyai, chairman of the Confederation of Indonesian Workers’ Union, said. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s spokesman Julian Pasha said the strike is unfortunate because it could discourage foreign investment in Indonesia.
Malawai president cuts her wages
Malawi President Joyce Banda announced that she will take a 30 percent pay cut to show that she will sacrifice personally as part of her government’s austerity measures. Banda, Africa’s second female president after Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, came to power in April following the death of President Bingu wa Mutharika. Banda and Vice President Khumbo Kachali will both cut their salaries by 30 percent, but Banda said she will not force the rest of her cabinet to do so, saying it was up to them to choose. Banda confirmed that her government will sell the controversial presidential jet in two weeks. The purchase of the jet three years ago by
Mutharika angered donors. Banda said she will never fly in the plane because she believes they are wasteful.
Russian module to change orbit
The Russian space program’s Mission Control Center said it will move the International Space Station into a different orbit to avoid possible collision with a fragment of debris. Mission Control Center spokeswoman Nadyezhda Zavyalova said the Russian Zvevda module will fire booster rockets to carry out the operation Thursday at 7:22 a.m. Moscow time. The space station performs evasive maneuvers when the likelihood of a collision exceeds one in 10,000. NASA estimates that more than 21,000 fragments of orbital debris larger than 10 centimeters are stuck in earth’s orbit, and experts worry that orbiting junk is becoming a growing problem for the space industry.
SOURCE: Associated Press
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A local energy company is making wind turbines that are more efficient. Go online to learn more.
Slideshow
The candidates for Mr. and Ms. Ithaca met with supporters at Yogurtland on Monday night for frosty treats.
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Golfer Taylor Reeves talks about her goals for the season and challenges she faces as a first-year student.
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Community members polish off apple pie Sept. 30 at Apple Fest. Go online to see the full Ithaca Harvest Apple Festival interactive.
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Find out what events were held during the annual First People’s Festival on Saturday.
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Check out the men’s soccer team’s latest win against Hobart on Saturday.
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