Obama Health Plan Has Slim Majority Support
A new national poll suggests that a bare majority of Americans support President Obama's health care plan. The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Wednesday morning indicates that most people worry that their health care costs would go up if the administration's proposals passed and only one in five thinks that his or her families would be better off under the Obama plan. Fifty-one percent of people surveyed say they favor the president's health care plan, with 45 percent opposed. CNN

Govt Announces 'Operation Short Change'
The economic downturn appears to be bringing out the worst in some people. The Federal Trade Commission announced a major crackdown Wednesday on scammers trying to take advantage of people worried about the tough economy by promising jobs that don't exist, get-rich-quick schemes and other phony services. The biggest case involved a California company called Family Products that marketed alleged get-rich schemes such as "John Beck's Free & Clear Real Estate System." The FTC says the company made bogus claims through DVDs, brochures and national infomercials about the ability to raise cash fast. CNS

States Start New Fiscal Year With $121B In Budget Gaps
States from coast to coast began a new fiscal year Wednesday with no budget plans and with cash quickly running out, sending some to the brink of shutdown and forcing others to furlough workers and cut services. Detroit News

Saddam Hussein Told FBI He Feared Iran
Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein told an FBI interviewer before he was hanged that he allowed the world to believe he had weapons of mass destruction because he was worried about appearing weak to Iran, according to declassified accounts of the interviews released yesterday. Hussein also denounced Osama bin Laden as "a zealot" and said he had no dealings with al-Qaeda. Hussein said he felt so vulnerable to the perceived threat from "fanatic" leaders in Tehran that he would have been prepared to seek a "security agreement with the United States to protect it [Iraq] from threats in the region." Philadelphia Inquirer

Speculation Grows For Boeing 787 Plant In South Carolina
Reports that Boeing is negotiating to buy a key link in the 787 Dreamliner's global supply chain have intensified speculation it may be laying the groundwork for putting a second final-assembly plant out of state. Industry Web site Flightblogger and The Wall Street Journal reported online Wednesday that Boeing is in talks to buy the South Carolina plant where Vought Aircraft Industries builds the two rear fuselage sections of the 787. Seattle Times

Maloney To Take On Gillibrand In Primary
Rejecting a plea from Vice President Joe Biden, New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney will challenge Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in the state's Democratic primary, setting the stage for a potentially costly and contentious fight. The nine-term congresswoman believes New Yorkers need a "strong, experienced and independent leader," according to a statement Wednesday by Paul Blank, director of Trippi & Associates, which has been hired by Maloney to serve as a chief strategist. Blank said Maloney is putting together a campaign team and will make her announcement in two weeks. MSNBC

BROKEN HEARTS - AND NOW A BROKEN PROMI$E
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has backed out of a promise to release personal financial records to prove he did not use state money for trips to see his mistress. A day after Sanford declared in an emotional interview that his mistress is his soul mate, spokesman Joel Sawyer said the governor does not want to discuss personal matters in the media anymore. The state is investigating Sanford's trips to see the Argentine woman the governor identified as his lover. Sanford agreed this week to provide The Associated Press with proof of his payment for trips to New York and Argentina to see her. NY Post

NKorea Test-Fires 2 Short-Range Missiles
North Korea test-fired two short-range missiles today, South Korea's Defense Ministry said, a move that aggravates the already high tensions following Pyongyang's recent nuclear test and U.N. sanctions imposed as punishment. The missiles were fired from the eastern coastal city of Wonsan on Thursday afternoon, a ministry official said on condition of anonymity citing department policy. He did not say what types of missiles were launched, but Yonhap news agency said they were ground-to-ship missiles. Tampa Tribune

Stop-Smoking Drugs Chantix, Zyban Must Carry Suicide Warning
The smoking cessation drugs Chantix and Zyban must now carry a boxed warning — the strongest type possible — about the risk of serious mental health problems, including depression, behavior changes and suicidal thoughts, the Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday. These have occurred in people with and without underlying psychiatric illnesses as well as those still smoking, Curt Rosebraugh, head of the FDA office that approved the stop-smoking drugs, said at a news conference. The symptoms linked to the drugs resemble those of nicotine withdrawal. USA Today

Democratic State Senator Files Intent Letter To Run For Governor Of Alaska
The Alaskan lawmaker who oversaw the Legislature's Troopergate investigation of Gov. Sarah Palin last year has signaled his interest in her job. Sen. Hollis French, an Anchorage Democrat, says he's filing a letter of intent to run for governor with the state public offices commission. French on Wednesday stopped short of calling it a formal declaration but says it's a way to continue the exploration process. French says it's also a way to keep a dialogue going about what Alaskans want to see in their next governor. Newsday

Private Health Care Coverage At 50-Year-Low
The percentage of Americans who don't have private health insurance has hit its lowest mark in 50 years, according to two new government reports. About 65 percent of non-elderly Americans had private insurance in 2008, down from 67 percent the year before, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the 1970s and early 1980s, nearly 80 percent of Americans had private coverage, according to CDC officials. Las Vegas Sun

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GOP Loses Jewish Representation In Senate
The defeat of incumbent Norm Coleman in the drawn-out Minnesota Senate race leaves U.S. Republicans without a Jewish senator for the first time in half a century. Coleman's departure comes two months after the Republicans' other Jewish member, Arlen Specter, switched parties to become a Democrat. Coleman conceded his long-contested race with Democratic challenger Al Franken on Tuesday after the Minnesota Supreme Court rejected Coleman's legal challenge. Republicans have had at least one Jewish senator since New York's Jacob Javits took office in 1957, reaching a peak of three during the mid-1980s. CBS

US Military Panel Recommends Discharge For Gay Soldier
A US army panel has recommended an Arabic linguist and Iraq veteran be discharged from the military for declaring on television that he is gay. The army accused Lieutenant Dan Choi, 28, of violating the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that bars homosexuals from serving openly in the military. Choi, a graduate of the elite West Point military academy, served a tour in Iraq as an infantry officer, translator and Arabic language instructor. He announced in March on a popular liberal television chat show that he is gay, setting up a confrontation. Guardian

FDA Panel Delivers Acetaminophen Recommendations
If a U.S. Food and Drug Administration expert panel has its way, prescription pain killers, like Vicodin and Percocet that contain acetaminophen will be eliminated from the country's formularies. Yet, the very same panel voted to keep over-the-counter combination pills containing acetaminophen on the shelves. Those recommendations are only two of 10 concerning acetaminophen the panel made, including one to lower the maximum dosage of over-the-counter pain medications that contain acetaminophen, like Tylenol. ABC

Lagging In Polls For Re-Election, NJ Governor To Get An Early Campaign Visit From Obama
New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine is getting some in-person campaign help from President Barack Obama as polls show him lagging behind in his re-election bid. Corzine announced Wednesday that Obama will join him on July 16 at a rally on the campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Corzine campaign spokesman Sean Darcy says the president will also headline a fundraising event for Corzine. The news of Obama's appearance comes as a poll shows Republican former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie still leading the Democratic incumbent. Newsda

Staffer At SEC Had Warned Of Madoff
An investigator at the Securities and Exchange Commission warned superiors as far back as 2004 about irregularities at Bernard L. Madoff's financial management firm, but she was told to focus on an unrelated matter, according to agency documents and sources familiar with the investigation. Genevievette Walker-Lightfoot, a lawyer in the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, sent e-mails to a supervisor, saying information provided by Madoff during her review didn't add up and suggesting a set of questions to ask his firm, documents show. Several of these questions directly challenged Madoff activities that much later turned out to be elements of his massive fraud. Washington Post

ACLU Says Government Used False Confessions
The American Civil Liberties Union yesterday accused the Obama administration of using statements elicited through torture to justify the confinement of a detainee it represents at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The ACLU is asking a federal judge to throw out those statements and others made by Mohammed Jawad, an Afghan who may have been as young as 12 when he was captured. His attorney argued that Jawad was abused in U.S. custody, threatened and subjected to intense sleep deprivation. Washington Post

Consumers Likely To Find Increased Bank Costs
An array of government-created insurance agencies - which have long charged bargain-rate premiums to banks, credit unions, and brokerages - are seeking to make up for massive shortfalls in their insurance funds by raising fees and premiums, many of which are likely to be passed on to consumers. The billions of dollars in new fees are the result of decisions by Congress and the agencies to allow the insurance funds and premiums to be capped at levels that proved far too low, according to Jeffrey R. Brown, a finance professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who has studied the issue. Boston Globe

Obama Talks Jobs, Gets Early Start On July 4
President Barack Obama has invited a group of business leaders to meet with him at the White House today. Some of their firms are large. Some are small. But they have in common that they've been able to create jobs despite the economic doldrums. Their meeting is private, but the president will be making a Rose Garden appearance afterward to talk about the innovations that have helped the companies succeed. Houston Chronicle

Clinton Won't Travel To Russia
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is recovering from surgery on a broken elbow, will not travel to Moscow with President Obama next week to meet with Russian officials. Clinton had successful surgery on the elbow June 19th, two days after she injured it in a fall while on her way to the White House. But a senior White House official told CNN that Clinton's intense physical therapy sessions to rehabilitate the elbow were deemed too difficult to replicate during the trip. CBS

Mississippi's Still Fattest But Alabama Closing In
The fattest and fittest towns in America share differing opinions on health. Mississippi's still king of cellulite, but an ominous tide is rolling toward the Medicare doctors in neighboring Alabama: obese baby boomers. It's time for the nation's annual obesity rankings and, outside of fairly lean Colorado, there's little good news. In 31 states, more than one in four adults are obese, says a new report from the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. And obesity rates among adults rose in 23 states over the past year, and no state experienced a significant decline. ABC

US And Russia To Cut Nuclear Arsenals By Up To A Half
Agreement on a December deadline for the start of decommissioning, expected to be imposed on Monday when Mr Obama meets his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, will be hailed in both Washington and Moscow as a breakthrough in efforts to revive relations between the two Cold War rivals. Although no concrete figure is likely to be set during the American president's three-day visit, observers say the two sides are hoping to cut their respective arsenals by up to 50 per cent, to between 1,000 and 1,500 deployed warheads. Telegraph

What Is He Thinking? Sanford Violates All Rules Of Sex Scandal Management
If there's a manual for politicians on how to survive a sex scandal, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has spit on it, torched it and spread the ashes somewhere along the coast of Myrtle Beach. In straying from the confess-and-take-cover approach of other wayward politicians, Sanford not only conducted a rambling and lengthy press conference last week explaining his torrid extramarital affair with an Argentinian beauty -- complete with hard-hitting questions from reporters -- but he granted days' worth of soul-bearing interviews to The Associated Press. Fox News

Construction Spending Falls More Than Expected In May
Construction spending fell more than expected in May, a sign the problems facing the nation's builders are far from over. The Commerce Department says construction spending dropped 0.9 percent in May, nearly double the 0.5 percent drop that economists expected. Adding to the signs of weakness, activity in the past two months was revised lower. Construction rose 0.6 percent in April, lower than the 0.8 percent originally reported. A March increase of 0.4 percent was replaced with a decline of the same amount. Fox News

U.S. May Need 600 Million Swine Flu Vaccine Doses
Questions abound about how to best inoculate the world against swine flu as health officials plan for a campaign that could dwarf any previous flu vaccination effort. Among the issues to be resolved are the amount of vaccine likely to be available, the timing of the vaccine's availability, how it would be distributed, who would provide the shots, who would pay for them and whether it will be possible to track potential side effects. CNN

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Freddie Mac Receives Additional $6.1 Billion From Government
Battered mortgage giant Freddie Mac received $6.1 billion in new funds from the Treasury Department to help offset its mounting liabilities, according to a regulatory filing submitted Wednesday. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which has been operating Freddie Mac since last fall, requested the funds for Freddie Mac after the mortgage firm's liabilities exceeded its assets by more than $6 billion, according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. CNS

US Ambassador Returns To Venezuela After Spat
The U.S. ambassador to Venezuela has returned to his post - more than nine months after he was expelled by President Hugo Chavez. Patrick Duddy said Wednesday that he hopes his return will be "the first step toward more productive relations." Diplomatic ties between the two nations became strained under the Bush administration. In September, Chavez expelled Duddy in solidarity with Bolivia's president, who had kicked out the top U.S. diplomat on accusations of inciting violence. Kansas City Star

Liver Device Helps Man Survive Until Transplant
For decades, researchers have struggled to create an artificial liver that would mimic both the liver's ability to filter toxins as well as create vital chemicals necessary to live. Unlike people with kidney dysfunction, who can rely on a dialysis machine to keep them alive, patients in acute liver failure have fewer options because of the organ's complex nature. The latest device to be tested is called the ELAD, for extracorporeal liver assist device. It is considered the first to have human liver cells, which are contained in cartridges that the patient's blood passes through to provide the liver's crucial tasks. . SF Gate

Government Moves To Staunch Massive Medicare Fraud
Since 2006, U.S. taxpayers have paid nearly $155,000 to send home health nurses to inject twice-daily insulin shots for an elderly, diabetic Miami man. But in fact, the man was not diabetic or homebound and the nurses never existed, according to a federal indictment. Now the owners of two Miami companies that purportedly cared for the man are charged with running a $22 million fraud scheme at the expense of Medicare, the federal health program for the elderly and disabled. Reuters

Beazer To Settle Fraud Case For Up To $53 Million
Beazer Homes USA Inc. agreed to pay as much as $53 million to the government and homeowners to resolve allegations of mortgage fraud, the Justice Department said. When Beazer’s mortgage unit made federally insured loans for the purchase of homes built by Beazer, they improperly required purchasers to pay discount points and failed to reduce interest rates, the department said in a statement today. Beazer also allegedly provided cash gifts to home purchasers through charities to help customers make down payments, and ignored income requirements in making loans. Bloomberg

Official: SEC Should Pay Bounties
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should reward those who provide information on financial fraud, an official said Wednesday. SEC Inspector General David Kotz is investigating why the agency failed to catch on to Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme, which sucked up billions of dollars in investors' money for years. Several people warned the SEC that Madoff's returns were too good to be true. UPI

Netanyahu: Israel's Bond With The United States Is Unbreakable
Less than a day after Defense Minister Ehud Barak failed to reach an agreement over West Bank settlement construction with US Mideast envoy George Mitchell, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday night called Israel's bond with the United States "unbreakable." We have a brave relationship with the United States, a bond that President Obama himself defined as unbreakable; indeed, our bond with the US is unbreakable, Netanyahu stated, speaking at the Fourth of July US Independence Day reception at the American ambassador's residence in Herzliya. Jerusalem Post

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California Government Declares Fiscal Emergency Over Budget
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday declared a fiscal emergency to force lawmakers into a special session to tackle a state budget gap that has widened to $26.3 billion from $24.3 billion after they failed to close it on Tuesday. Lawmakers debated late into the night Tuesday but could not agree on a plan to balance California's budget for its new fiscal year, which began early Wednesday morning. Reuters

Health Overhaul Means Big Medicare Changes
If you're not a Medicare recipient, your parents probably are, or soon will be. And you yourself will be on Medicare eventually. That’s a good reason to pay attention as Congress debates an overhaul of America’s health insurance system — because this debate is inevitably a debate over Medicare, the federal government’s biggest health spending program at $500 billion a year. Medicare is big, and it’s going to get much bigger: Between 2010 and 2030, the number of people on Medicare is projected to rise from 46 million to 78 million, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. MSNBC

US Suspends Military Relations With Honduras
The Obama administration said Wednesday it has suspended joint military operations with Honduras to protest a coup that forced President Manuel Zelaya into exile. The U.S. withheld stronger action in hopes of negotiating a peaceful return of the country's elected leader. The Organization of American States, meeting in Washington, gave Honduran coup leaders three days to restore Zelaya to power _ under threat of suspending Honduras's OAS membership. Afterward, several officials said the administration is still reviewing the possibility of cutting off U.S. aid. Las Vegas Sun

Consumer Interest ‘Huge’ In Clunker Plan,
A U.S. “cash-for-clunkers” Web site got 400,000 hits in a week, signaling “huge interest” in the discount trade-in program for cars and light trucks, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. Consumers will be able to visit auto dealer showrooms as early as July 24 for credits of as much as $4,500 to purchase or lease new vehicles under federal rules now being crafted, LaHood said in a telephone interview yesterday. Bloomberg

New Student Loan Repayment Plan Outlined
A new repayment option for federal student loans went into effect Wednesday, tying payments to income and family size, the U.S. Education Department said. A related program also offers benefits to graduates who work in public service jobs, the department said Wednesday in a news release. UPI

U.S. 'Ready' For N. Korean Missile
U.S. missile defenses are prepared to try to knock down the last stage of a Taepodong-2 missile that North Korea is expected soon to launch if sensors detect the weapon threatens U.S. territory, the commander of the U.S. Northern Command told The Washington Times. "The nation has a very, very credible ballistic-missile defense capability. Our ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California, I'm very comfortable, give me a capability that if we really are threatened by a long-range ICBM that I've got high confidence that I could interdict that flight before it caused huge damage to any U.S. territory," said Air Force Gen. Victor E. "Gene" Renuart, Northcom commander. Washington Times

Merrill Exec Sounds Bullish On Future Of BofA Merger
After a 10-month span that saw the sale of the firm, some of the most tumultuous markets in generations and the departure of about 2,300 brokers, the head of Merrill Lynch's “thundering herd” of financial advisers says the tide is turning. The iconic New York brokerage firm, now part of Charlotte-based Bank of America Corp., has started hiring trainees again, is gradually rolling out more banking products and is finding clients more eager to test the investment waters, says Dan Sontag, head of the combined unit called Merrill Lynch global wealth management. Charlotte Observer

Kroger Seasoning Recall Follows Ground Beef Alert
For the second time this week, grocery chain Kroger Co. has issued a recall for products because of possible contamination. On Wednesday, the company warned customers in 13 states to avoid eating three versions of its store-brand popcorn seasoning because they might contain salmonella. A supplier notified Kroger about the problem, and Kroger then alerted customers and pulled the products from store shelves, spokesman John Elliott said. Indy Star

'Israel Recklessly Used Arms In Gaza'
Amnesty International accused Israel of the reckless use of weapons and wanton destruction in a 105-page report on Operation Cast Lead released Wednesday. In its report, entitled "Operation Cast Lead: 22 Days of Death and Destruction," it also accused terrorist groups in Gaza of committing war crimes by firing rockets at the Israeli civilian population. Donatela Rovera, the Amnesty International chief researcher for Israel and the territories, said that although Operation Cast Lead was not an illegal operation per se, many of the attacks carried out by the IDF during the operation violated international law. Jerusalem Post

Deadline For Honduras Over Leader
The current leaders of Honduras have been given three days to restore exiled President Manuel Zelaya to power, by the Organization of American States. If Honduras fails to comply, it could face being suspended from the OAS. The army ousted Mr Zelaya on Sunday over his plans for constitutional reform, which his critics said were aimed at prolonging his presidency. Mr Zelaya has delayed a return planned for Thursday in light of the OAS move, averting a potential showdown. BBC

US Warns Iraq Of 'Difficult Days'
Mr Obama described Tuesday's handover to Iraqis as a milestone, but said the country's leaders would face "hard choices" on politics and security. As Iraqis celebrated the US withdrawal, a car bomb in the northern city of Kirkuk killed at least 27 people. In the past two weeks about 250 people have been killed in a wave of attacks. Iraqi and US troops have been on alert for attacks during the pullback. BBC

Mousavi Faces Prison Threat
Iran's embattled opposition leader, Mirhossein Mousavi, faces a new threat after the Basiji militia accused him of "offences against the state" and "disturbing the nation's security", charges which carry a sentence of 10 years' imprisonment. The militia, which played a key role in the brutal suppression of street protests, has become known as the "enforcers" of the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and are unlikely to have made the allegations against Mr Mousavi without receiving his authorisation to do so. The Basiji high command wrote to the chief prosecutor asking him to take action over Mr Mousavi. It claimed that "evidence" would follow which showed his culpability in the disturbances over the disputed elections. Independent

Sarkozy Urges Israel To Sack Foreign Minister
The French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, has advised the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to fire his Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, according to two senior Israeli government officials. M. Sarkozy said "you must get rid of that man" and replace him with the more moderate former foreign minister Tzipi Livni. Mr Netanyahu replied that in private meetings Mr Lieberman "sounds differently" but M. Sarkozy retorted that in private talks, Jean-Marie Le Pen – the far-right French politician – is "a very nice man". Independent

Iran Releases Three More British Embassy Employees
Iran has released three employees of the British embassy in Tehran who were detained in the wake of street protests against official presidential election results, state-run Iranian television reported today. Press TV said one embassy employee was still being held for playing "a significant role" in post-election violence, out of nine Iranian staff members originally arrested. Five were released last week. British officials said this afternoon they were checking the latest report. Guadian

Pakistan Says Troops Deployed Along Afghan Border To Stop Taliban Fleeing US Assault
Pakistan's army has deployed more troops to a stretch of the Afghan border to stop Taliban militants fleeing a major U.S. offensive in southern Afghanistan, a spokesman said Thursday. Nearly 4,000 U.S. Marines plus 650 Afghan forces moved into Afghanistan's Helmand province early Thursday to take on the Taliban in one of their strongholds. Pakistani and U.S. officials have expressed concern the American troop buildup in southern Afghanistan could push the militants across the poorly guarded and mountainous border into Pakistan. Sun Sentinel

aliban Buying Children For Suicide Bombers
Pakistan's top Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, is buying children as young as 7 to serve as suicide bombers in the growing spate of attacks against Pakistani, Afghan and U.S. targets, U.S. Defense Department and Pakistani officials say. A Pakistani official, who spoke on the condition that he not be named because of the sensitive nature of the topic, said the going price for child bombers was $7,000 to $14,000 - huge sums in Pakistan, where per-capita income is about $2,600 a year. Washington Times

Humans Could Regrow Their Own Body Parts Like Some Amphibians
Researchers looking into how salamanders are able to to regrow their damaged bodies have discovered that the "almost magical ability" is closer to human healing then first thought. They believe that one day they will be able to completely unlock the secret and apply it to humans, reprogramming the body so it can repair itself perfectly as if nothing had happened. Telegraph

Vietnam Sees Alarming Rise In Boy Births Vs Girls
For every 100 girls born to Vietnamese families, there are 112 boys born, a disparity in the sex ratio that has been rapidly increasing in recent years, an official said Thursday. Duong Quoc Trong, deputy director general of the General Office for Population and Family Planning, blamed the rising imbalance on a cultural preference for boys who can "continue the bloodline." He added that the belief that boys can better care for parents as they age has exacerbated the use of abortions to select for sex. In an effort to stop the practice, Vietnamese law has prohibited doctors from revealing a fetus's sex since 2003. Miami Herald

Michael Jackson First Artist To Sell Over 1 Million Downloads In A Single Week
As Michael Jackson’s body is being prepared for transport to a public viewing at the Neverland Ranch, his music rules the charts once again. Billboard’s latest sales charts show the king of pop as the first artist ever to sell more than a million downloads in a single week, among other firsts. Wired

Independent Probe Into Bhutto Murder Begins Work Today
The independent commission charged with examining the facts and circumstances behind the December 2007 assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto formally began its work today, the United Nations said. The Commission of Inquiry, which has a mandate of six months, will soon make its first visit to Pakistan, although the exact date of that trip has not yet been confirmed, UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters today. UN News

Lack Of Funding Forces UN Food Agency To Reduce Operations In DPR Korea
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that it is being forced to scale back its emergency operation to reach six million hungry and vulnerable people in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) due to a severe lack of funding. At a press briefing in the Chinese capital, Beijing, today, the agency said that of the $504 million needed for the programme, only $75 million has been received so far. UN News

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