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Kids get moving at White House Area children play street hockey at a “Let’s Move!” event hosted Friday by first lady Michelle Obama on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C.
AP photo
WASHINGTON
House nixes mortgage plan
The House voted Friday to end a program designed to give federal loans to homeowners who can’t make mortgage payments because they’ve lost their jobs or become ill.
Lawmakers approved the Republican-written bill by a mostly party-line 242-177 vote. It was the second time in two days that the House has voted to end aid for struggling homeowners.
The White House has threatened to veto the bill should it reach President Barack Obama’s desk.
The $1 billion Emergency Mortgage Relief Program was created in last year’s financial overhaul law, but has yet to make any loans.
The House approved a similar GOP bill on Thursday abolishing a program arranging refinancing for people whose homes are worth less than they originally paid for them.
BAGHDAD
Security forces accused
Several Iraqis among a crowd of protesters in Baghdad accused security forces Friday of detaining and beating them for taking part in earlier demonstrations calling for better services and a corruption-free government.
The weeks of protests have shaken Iraqi leaders and put Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on the defensive. But unlike unrest elsewhere in the Arab world, the demonstrators taking to the streets after Friday’s Muslim prayer services in the past weeks are not aiming to replace their government, focusing instead on demanding better living standards.
A federal police official confirmed some protesters were detained for no more than two days but denied anyone was beaten. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.
ANNAPOLIS, Md.
Gay marriage bill dies
The effort to legalize gay marriage in Maryland died for the year Friday after supporters said they could not find enough votes to pass the measure in the House.
House leaders avoided a final vote on the bill and returned it to the House Judiciary Committee after it became apparent they did not have the 71 votes needed for approval. The bill to make Maryland the sixth state to allow gay marriage had already passed the Senate, and the governor said he would have signed it.
House Speaker Michael Busch said they would try again next year.
“The vote would have been very close, make no mistake about it,” said Busch, D-Anne Arundel.
CAIRO
Four officials are jailed
Egypt has jailed four top security officials accused of ordering police to shoot and kill protesters during country’s 18-day uprising, which ousted longtime leader Hosni Mubarak, officials said Friday.
Rights activists welcomed the move as a step toward ending the culture of impunity in Egypt’s massive security forces, which are hated and feared in Egypt.
Officials put the number of protesters killed during the uprising at 365, but human rights activists and others have said the figure is much higher. According to a count by the Front to Defend Egypt Protesters, a group that provides medical and legal assistance to the demonstrators, 685 people died as of March 7.
The suspects jailed are the former Cairo security chief, the head of the State Security agency and the heads of General Security and riot police. They are the most senior security officials to be interrogated.