WASHINGTON: The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a 3.45-trillion-dollar budget blueprint for the 2010 fiscal year largely in line with President Barack Obama's proposal. The Democratic-drafted budget got approval Thursday by a vote of 233-196, along party lines, after defeating a Republican alternative that slashed spending and taxes. The Senate is working on its own budget for the 2010 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1 this year. It is expected to pass its plan as soon as late Thursday, according to news reports. Any differences between the two versions will have to be worked out. The House budget is slightly less expensive than the 3.55-trillion-dollar budget that Obama submitted to Congress in February. The budget includes a deficit of 1.2 trillion dollars for the 2010 fiscal year. Obama's budget, his first one, seeks to shore up the nation's economy that has been in a recession since December 2007 while overhauling health care, energy and education. The president has described his budget as "an economic blueprint for our future -- a foundation on which to build a recovery that lasts." "Our budget lays the groundwork for a sustained, shared, and job-creating recovery," House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer was quoted as saying. Republicans, however, contend the budget spend too much and will leave the nation with deficits that are too large. The budget legislation is non-binding but sets guidelines for spending and tax measures that will be considered later this year, according to the news reports.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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