TWO burning questions are at the center of America's health care debate. First, should employers be required to pay for their employees' health insurance? And second, should there be a "public option" that competes with private insurance? Answers might be found in San Francisco, where ambitious health care legislation went into effect early last year. San Francisco and Massachusetts now offer the only near-universal health care programs in the United States. The early results are in. Today, almost all residents in the city have affordable access to a comprehensive health care delivery system through the Healthy San Francisco program. Covered services include the use of a so-called "medical home" that coordinates care at approved clinics and hospitals within San Francisco, with both public and private facilities. Although not formally insurance, the program is tantamount to a public option of comprehensive health insurance, with the caveat that services are covered only in the city of San Francisco. Enrollees with incomes under 300 percent of the federal poverty level have heavily subsidized access, and those with higher incomes may buy into the public program at rates substantially lower than what they would pay for an individual policy in the private-insurance market.

While hundreds of thousands of disability claims lay backlogged at the Department of Veterans Affairs, thousands of technology employees at the department received $24 million in bonuses, a new report says. Lawmakers want to know why some IT workers in the VA Department have received millions in bonuses.A report issued by the VA's Office of Inspector General said the department issued millions of dollars in awards over a two-year period in 2007 and 2008. Four high-level employees received about $60,000, $73,000, $58,000, and $59,000, respectively, according to the report, without sufficient justification. ....The annual average award per employee was about $2,500 for both years, according to the report. About 4,700 awards and bonuses were issued in 2007, and about 5,000 in 2008....The inspector general said one recently retired official, Jennifer S. Duncan, improperly approved numerous bonuses and "acted as if she was given a blank checkbook to write unlimited monetary awards."..During the two years in question, Duncan received over $60,000 in bonuses, according to the report....In addition, the report concluded that the Office of Information and Technology managers were fiscally irresponsible when authorizing nearly $140,000 in improper academic degree funding, some of which went to Duncan's family and friends. The inspector general recommended the money be repaid.

A US report has found a record 28% rise in workplace suicide rates last year as the global economic meltdown continues to take its toll in the country. According to a report by the US Labor Department, 251 people committed suicide at the workplace in 2008, amid widespread layoffs and overall belt-tightening. That's the highest figure ever recorded in the United States for suicide attempts at the workplace. Labor Department officials did not explain the startling rise but pointed to the economic recession as the main reason behind the death rate. Meanwhile, a separate study by the University of Pennsylvania's School of Medicine has also found that over a third of US homeowners who went through foreclosures are now suffering from severe depression. More than 30 thousand people end their own lives each year in the United States where suicide is the second highest cause of death for men aged 25 to 34.

In a move that would fuel criticism form opponents, the White House is reported to be ready to increase the 10-year US budget deficit estimate to $9 trillion from $7.108 trillion. The new projection comes as opponents criticize President Barack Obama's economic policy, saying it is too expensive in the face of budget shortfalls. A senior administration official, who is familiar with the budget mid-session review, told Reuters on Friday that the estimate will be released next week. Early this year, the White House forecasted a $7.108 trillion deficit between 2010 and 2019, but Congressional Budget Office rejected the forecast, saying it would come to a total of $9.1 trillion. ...Obama says he inherited a $1.3 trillion deficit from former President George W. Bush. ...The 2009 budget deficit will likely be the widest since World War II as a percentage of the economy and the Obama administration will probably face problem to finance its debt due to the record-breaking deficits.

Southwest Airlines Co. says it's finished testing Wi-Fi Internet access on four aircraft and plans to expand the service to all its planes beginning early next year....Southwest did not indicate how quickly it would outfit its fleet, which numbers more than 500 planes, but Row 44 President Gregg Fialcowitz said his company could do the work in 12 months. ...Fialcowitz said that the percentage of passengers who used the service for free on test flights by Southwest and another customer, Alaska Airlines, was in the mid-20s but soared as high as 70 to 80 percent on some routes, such as between San Francisco and Seattle...Demand among leisure travelers was just as strong as among business travelers, he said. Southwest and Alaska will set the fees paid by passengers and keep all the revenue after paying a fee to Row 44, Fialcowitz said.

Seven million people could be criminalised under government plans to crack down on internet piracy, to be included in this autumn's Queen's Speech. The illicit downloading of music and films on the internet, a practice engaged in by one in 12 of the population, could lead to severe restrictions on internet access and a fine of up to £50,000. Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, is said to be persuaded by the argument for tough laws to curb illegal file-sharing after an intensive lobbying campaign by influential people in the music and film industry. But Tom Watson, the former minister for digital engagement, today criticises the proposed crackdown as extreme and calls for a more measured approach that would target those who uploaded illegal content, rather than the millions who downloaded the files.

Brazil's leader is urging President Barack Obama to meet with South American nations and discuss the growing U.S. military presence in Colombia. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Obama in a phone call that many nations are worried about the plan to give the U.S. greater access to seven military bases in Colombia. The U.S. says the plan is part of its agreement with Colombia to battle drug traffickers and leftist rebels. But leaders like Venezuela's Hugo Chavez say it is a serious threat to the region. Chavez has suggested the U.S. could unseat Latin American leaders via coups launched from the bases.

The largest foreign election monitoring group in Afghanistan has said the polls were generally fair, but the body came under criticism for making such a statement ahead of official results. European Union election observers on Saturday welcomed Afghanistan's elections, despite highlighting a number of concerns. Philippe Morillon, the chief EU election observer said that the elections had not been free "in some parts of the territory" due to Taliban threats, but said the elections overall had been sound. But the EU mission has been criticised for making such a declaration ahead of any official results. "In their findings there were quite a lot of problems, yet at the top of their report [was] their conclusion: 'the holding of elections in Afghanistan a victory for the Afghan people'," James Bays, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Kabul, said. "But I've spoken to other observers, not from the EU, and they say they are very, very surprised that the EU is hailing this as a success. "They say its not right to hail it as a success until we have the final results, until we see whether there are any complaints and until we view the complaints procedure." ....Both Karzai and Abdullah claimed victory in the presidential race on Friday, with the rival camps saying their candidates were on track to win an outright majority of more than 50 per cent and avoid a second round run-off vote in October. Afghanistan's independent election commission later demanded that the candidates stop making predications about the result, preliminary figures for which are not now expected before Tuesday. Final, official returns are due in early September.

London is to set up mass graves for the victims of the swine flu pandemic after a 59-page official report predicted that Britain will be witnessing the pandemic disease in fall. Britain's Department of Health has warned the UK officials and policy-makers to announce a state of emergency in the country. The official report confirms the UK government plans to set up mass graves for the victims of the swine flu pandemic. It is predicted that if no concrete measures are taken for preventing the spread of swine flu, the number of swine flu victims will reach to two billion worldwide in 2011 that will undoubtedly result in deaths of 10 to 20 percent of the patients. One of the countries with a high likelihood of swine flu pandemic within next year is Britain. Hence, the UK Home Office has announced that it plans to construct mass graves to bury the victims in case the disease spreads quickly. In its latest report published on August 21, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced over 182,000 confirmed cases worldwide, 1,800 of which have been fatal.

The US says Iran's latest move to allow better access to its key nuclear sites does not exempt the country from fulfilling what it called Tehran's 'obligations' over its nuclear work. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told a news briefing on Friday that despite Tehran's better access granted to UN inspectors, Iran fell short of living up to its obligations in connection with its nuclear work. ....Spearheaded by Israel and the US, the West accuses Tehran of developing a covert nuclear military program. Under US pressure, the UNSC has imposed three rounds of sanctions against Iran. Iran, a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), maintains that its nuclear program is solely aimed at peaceful purposes, reiterating that it has answered all questions remaining over its nuclear work. The UN nuclear watchdog has so far made '25 unannounced inspections' of the country's nuclear facilities and has published over 20 reports -- all of which confirm the non-diversion of Iran's uranium enrichment so far. The five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany are expected to convene in early September to discuss next steps to be taken regarding Iran's nuclear work.

Sweden has turned down a demand that it condemn the recent publication of an article that links Israeli soldiers to the death of Palestinian civilians with the motive of obtaining their organs. In an article published earlier in the week, Sweden's best-selling daily Aftonbladet recounted grotesque incidents dating as far back as 1992 in which Israeli soldiers allegedly abducted Palestinian youths and returned their bodies mutilated a few days later. The publication infuriated Israeli officials who labeled the news piece as 'blatantly racist' and full of 'vile anti-Semitic themes'. In response to the publication, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called on his Swedish counterpart, Carl Bildt, to officially rebut the 'shocking and appalling' piece. Tel Aviv's envoy to Sweden, Benny Dagan, was to make a similar request during a Friday meeting with the kingdom's deputy foreign minister. Bildt, however, responded that he would not condemn the article, asserting that such a measure would be in violation of freedom of expression and counter to the Swedish constitution. Condemnation of anti-Semitism is "the only issue on which there has ever been complete unity in the Swedish parliament"...