French Leader Francois Hollande In Afghanistan: France's Combat Troops To Pull Out By Year End

Calif. bill would strip secrecy from health agency Associated Press Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 4:55 pm, Monday, May 20, 2013 LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two lawmakers are pushing legislation to strip broad secrecy provisions from the state agency overseeing health care reforms in California that could shield from the public how hundreds of millions of dollars are spent, officials said Monday. The bill by Republican Sen. Bill Emmerson and Democratic Sen. Mark DeSaulnier was introduced in the state Senate less than two weeks after The Associated Press reported the degree of privacy granted Covered California appears unique among states attempting to establish their own health insurance exchanges under President Barack Obama's signature law. In August 2010, when California was sprinting to become the first state to embrace the most extensive health care changes since Medicare, state lawmakers gave the new agency the authority to keep all contracts private for a year and the amounts paid secret indefinitely. According to agency documents, Covered California plans to spend nearly $458 million on outside vendors by the end of 2014, covering lawyers, consultants, public relations advisers and other functions.

Vandals deface cross in Coos Bay park (AP) — A cross in a public park in Coos Bay that has been at the center of a controversy over religious symbols in public places has been vandalized. The city received a letter in February from the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation demanding the cross be removed because it violates constitutional prohibitions against religious symbols on public property.

Judge tosses ex-BP executive's obstruction charge NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed one of the two counts in the indictment of a former BP executive who was charged with concealing information from Congress about the amount of oil leaking in 2010 from the company's blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico.

Sports seem OK for many with heart-zapping device Associated Press Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 4:49 pm, Monday, May 20, 2013 WASHINGTON (AP) — New research is challenging medical guidelines that say people with a heart-zapping device in their chests should avoid intense sports like basketball and soccer in favor of golf or bowling. A registry tracked 372 people who stuck with competitive sports after having a defibrillator surgically implanted to guard against dangerous irregular heartbeats — and found that the lifesaving device worked when needed despite the physical exertion. More than 100,000 defibrillators are implanted in U.S. patients every year, devices that can detect when an abnormal heartbeat is forming and automatically shock the heart to help it get back into rhythm. To begin finding out, Yale University heart specialist Dr. Rachel Lampert opened a national registry that, over 2½ years, tracked defibrillator patients who decided to stick with sports. [] the study is small and Tomaselli, the former heart association president, warned among the top concerns is whether contact sports, such as football and hockey, might loosen the implant. When people do continue sports with the implant, Tomaselli said coaches, family and others must be fully aware of the risks — and there should be an external defibrillator available during competition and practice in case the implant fails and emergency resuscitation is needed.

NY cigarette tax probes called weak, sloppy Associated Press Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 4:48 pm, Monday, May 20, 2013 ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Sting operations aimed at black market cigarettes in New York had such weak investigative protocols and financial controls that money went missing and prosecutions were dismissed, the state inspector general reported Monday. Scott detailed several other problems in the department's Petroleum, Alcohol and Tobacco Bureau: investigators bringing their own semi-automatic rifles to out-of-state operations, informants paid by checks made out to cash and failure to record transactions on camera. "In its effort to undermine the black market sale for cigarettes, PATB's flawed sting operations lacked textbook safeguards to ensure the legitimacy, integrity and effectiveness of the stings," Scott said. According to the inspector general's report, the department has ceased the covert stings that began in 2002, closed all related bank accounts and all managers involved have left or were relieved of duties.