China to spend $14 bn to clean up toxic lake; FEMA apologizes for sham press briefing...

27 October :: China plans to spend $14.4 billion to clean up Lake Tai, 3rd largest fresh-water lake in country, affected by direct toxic dumping, rampant algal bloom that cut off drinking water to Wuxi, a city of 2.3 million; according to IHT "Lake Tai, known as China's ancient "land of rice and fish," is a legendary setting, once famous for its bounty of white shrimp, whitebait and whitefish. But over time, an industrial buildup transformed the region. More than 2,800 chemical factories arose around the lake, and industrial dumping became a severe problem and, eventually, a crisis"... FEMA has apologized for staging a sham press conference; the Federal Emergency Management Agency gave reporters from around the country only 15 minutes' notice to attend, then had its own public affairs personnel pose questions... DR Congo, US leaders meet to discuss the humanitarian, security situation, as well as economic policies, political viability; fighting in far east of sub-Saharan nation of major concern, rebels say they are fighting to protect the population from outsiders who fled Rwanda after their campaign of genocide there was ended... Georgia Supreme Court orders 21-year-old man freed who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for having consensual oral sex at 17 with 15-year-old, saying the extreme sentence violated Constitutional protection against "cruel and unusual punishment"; court found the sentence "grossly disproportionate", that the activity considered criminal by then state law "did not rise to the level of culpability of adults who prey on children"... CNN reports "An eastern Kentucky school district with one confirmed case of antibiotic-resistant staph infection plans to shut down all 23 of its schools Monday, affecting about 10,300 students, to disinfect the facilities"; drug resistant bacterium suspected of infecting 90,000 Americans per year...

Ban calls for global action to slow climate change; Antarctic melt moves inland; Ahmadinejad in NY...

25 September :: UN Sec. Gen. Ban Ki-moon has called for concerted action to slow global warming, saying "I am convinced that climate change, and what we do about it, will define us, our era, and ultimately the global legacy we leave for future generations"... Discovery reports "Antarctica's once fringe-thawing is moving well inland, say scientists who have studied water-sensitive microwave satellite data spanning the years 1987 to 2006"; in 2005, considered a major event in terms of hot weather, with melt found more than 500 miles inland and at 5,500 feet elevation in the Transantarctic Mountains... Iran pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addresses Columbia University, after univ. pres. introduces him as a "cruel and petty dictator" who is "astonishingly uneducated", captures US media attention, makes plea for his nation's right to nuclear power; protesters outside called him the "new Hitler"... UK health secretary has announced plans to "remorselessly" fight to eliminate hospital 'superbugs'; Johnson says he plans to see "zero" incidence of MRSA in UK hospitals... Social networking site helps Kentucky youth bring pres. candidate Edwards to town of 229, Columbus, KY, once considered by Thomas Jefferson for national capital after burning of Washington; Shawn Edwards, 24, is also running a campaign to try to unseat Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell...