Donation-based hospital rescues Afghanistan's wounded

(CBS News) KABUL - In Afghanistan, an American soldier and two Afghans were killed by a car bomb Thursday.

It happened near the U.S. airbase in Kandahar, a few hours after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta left there to meet with Afghan President Karzai.

Taliban attacks have grown more frequent, causing a sharp rise in civilian casualties. There's one place where many of those lives are saved or lost.

The non-profit trauma hospital goes by one name: Emergency. It offers free treatment to the bruised and bloodied victims of this conflict. Every patient who arrives there is a casualty of war.

Dr. Gino Strada

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CBS News

Dr. Gino Strada is the chain-smoking Italian cardiologist who founded emergency in 1999. He told CBS News that he'll take in patients, regardless of whether they're Taliban or whatever their political affiliations may be.

"Otherwise, you're not a doctor anymore," he said, "then you're a judge."

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U.S. serviceman killed in Afghanistan just after Panetta visit
Children give graphic account of Afghan murders

Strada said he's seen a dramatic shift in the types of injuries he treats: Fewer bullet wounds and more from roadside bombs and heavy weapons.

"The weapons which are now used are much more powerful and destructive than those that were available ten or fifteen years ago," Strada said.

This year, the hospital has treated nearly two thousand patients -- an all time high. The vast majority are civilians.

Five-year-old Shayr Mohammed's wrist was fractured and his arm burned when he was hit by shrapnel.

His injuries have healed well. But not all children are so lucky.

Another young boy had picked up what he thought was a toy and it exploded in his pocket. By the time he arrived at Emergency, there was nothing the doctors could do.

"We live in a place where insurgents and police are shooting at each other all the time," his uncle said.

Strada said the fighting is coming closer to the capital and the fighting is becoming more intense.

"This is very worrying because it's very difficult to predict what's going to happen in the near future," he said.

As NATO troops prepare to pull out in 2014, there are fears that the security situation could deteriorate further and that Afghanistan's healthcare system will be overwhelmed.

A patient at the Emergency hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan.

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CBS News

The U.S. has spent nearly a billion dollars on health care in Afghanistan the last ten years. But Strada said there is little to show for it.

"What worries me is particularly is corruption in the health sector. When you look at the amount of international aid that has come to Afghanistan for health, you would expect to find fantastic hospitals everywhere. And you don't see one," Strada said.

But there's no shortage of patients, and the war outside Emergency's walls rages on.

Donations to Emergency are accepted at the links below:

www.emergencyusa.org
www.emergency.it/en-index.html

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Health-Exchange Deadline Looms

All of the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare," doesn't go into effect until 2014, but states are required to set up their own health care exchanges or leave it to the federal government to step in by next year. The deadline for the governors' decisions is Friday.

The health insurance exchanges are one of the key stipulations of the new health care law. They will offer consumers an Internet-based marketplace for purchasing private health insurance plans.

But the president's signature health care plan has become so fraught with politics that whether governors agreed to set up the exchanges has fallen mostly along party lines.

Such partisanship is largely symbolic because if a state opts not to set up the exchange, the Department of Health and Human Services will do it for them as part of the federal program. That would not likely be well-received by Republican governors, either, but the law forces each state's chief executive to make a decision one way or the other.

Here's what it looks like in all 50 states and the District of Columbia:

20 states that have opted out -- N.J., S.C., La., Wis., Ohio, Maine, Ala., Alaska, Ariz., Ga., Pa., Kan., Neb., N.H., N.D., Okla., S.D., Tenn., Texas and Wyo.

Charles Dharapak/AP Photo

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Several Republican governors have said they will not set up the exchanges, including Chris Christie (N.J.), Nikki Haley (S.C.), Bobby Jindal (La.), Scott Walker (Wis.), John Kasich (Ohio), Paul LePage (Maine), Robert Bentley (Ala.), Sean Parnell (Ark.), Jan Brewer (Ariz.), Nathan Deal (Ga.), Tom Corbett (Pa.), Sam Brownback (Kan.), Dave Heineman (Neb.), John Lynch (N.H.), Jack Dalrymple (N.D.), Mary Fallin (Okla.), Dennis Daugaard (S.D.), Bill Haslam (Tenn.), Rick Perry (Texas), and Matt Mead (Wyo.).

3 States Out, but a Little More Complicated -- Mont., Ind. and Mo.

The Montana outgoing and incoming governors are both Democrats, but the Republican state legislature rejected the Democratic state auditor's request to start setting up a state exchange. So a federal exchange will be set up in Montana as well.

The Indiana outgoing and incoming governors are both Republicans and outgoing Gov. Mitch Daniels deferred the decision to governor-elect and U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, who said his preference is not to set up a state health care exchange, paving the way for the feds to come in too.

In Missouri, Gov. Jay Nixon is a Democrat, but Prop E passed on Nov. 6, which barred his administration from creating a state-based exchange without a public vote or the approval of the state legislature. After the election, he sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services saying he would be unable to set up a state-based exchange, meaning the federal government would have to set up its own.

1 State Waiting for the White House -- Utah

Utah already has a state exchange set up, a Web-based tool where small-business employees can shop and compare health insurance with contributions from their employee. In a letter Republican Gov. Gary Herbert sent to the White House Tuesday, he asked for its exchange, called Avenue H, to be approved as a state-based exchange under the Affordable Care Act as long as state officials can open it to individuals and larger businesses.

Norm Thurston, the state's health reform implementation coordinator, says authorities there "haven't received an official response" from the White House, but "we anticipate getting one soon."

There are some sticking points that don't comply with the exchanges envisioned by the Affordable Care Act and Utah would like to keep it that way.

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UK government urged to consider relaxing drug rules

JUST say yes to considering relaxed drug controls, urged a panel of UK parliamentarians this week - but Prime Minister David Cameron has rejected the calls.

Many countries have loosened their penalties for drug use, including the Czech Republic and Portugal, which introduced a "de-penalisation" strategy in 2000. Citizens caught in possession avoid criminal records but must attend drug advice sessions. Last month, the US states of Colorado and Washington voted to legalise the recreational use of cannabis.

The UK report calls for the effects of these legal moves to be monitored. "Drugs policy ought to be evidence-based as much as possible," it concludes. "We recommend that the government fund a detailed research project to monitor the effects of each legalisation system."

The report notes that 21 countries have now introduced some form of decriminalisation. But the government's response has been lukewarm. "I don't support decriminalisation," said Cameron. "We have a policy which actually is working in Britain. Drugs use is coming down."

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Unsafe ride-on animal toy recalled

SINGAPORE: SPRING Singapore has found that a toy given out as a free gift contains unsafe levels of phthalates, commonly used as a plasticiser in toys.

The free gift comes in the shape of cows, deers and ponies.

SPRING had sent samples of the toy for testing in response to a consumer's complaint.

As a precaution, SPRING had asked the retailer Aura Roboclean Singapore Pte Ltd to immediately stop distributing the product.

The retailer is contacting customers who were given the toys to stop using them and dispose of them immediately, or return them to the company.

So far, between 300 and 400 toy animals have been given out.

- CNA/ck

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Opinion: 401(k) plans endangered

IBM plans to contribute only once every December to its employees' 401(k) accounts.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• IBM said it would contribute once every December to its employees' 401(k) plans


• Teresa Ghilarducci: This type of payment benefits the company rather than workers


• She says relative to other companies, IBM actually has a good retirement plan


• Ghilarducci: Most companies are reducing retirement benefits; workers lose

Editor's note: Teresa Ghilarducci is a professor of economics and director of the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at The New School.

(CNN) -- IBM, one of America's largest companies, shook the employee compensation world when it announced recently that it would contribute only once every December to its employees' 401(k) accounts. Any employee who leaves before December would not be able to collect the company's match.

Workers at IBM aren't marching to the picket line like Walmart workers and longshoreman who protest pay and working conditions, but you just never know.

Only about 9% of the nation's employers make matches once a year. IBM's move is paving the way for big companies to go down this road.

If I were an IBM manager, I would love this once-a-year lump payment. First, my buddies in Human Resources would have much less hassle with fewer deposits to make. By delaying payment to the end of the year, "the float" -- interest accrued -- would go to the company instead of the workers. In other words, the company saves money.

Moreover, few IBM workers are going to voluntarily leave before December, which means projects can be planned better and employees can be asked to do more.

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A few years ago, in 2008, IBM made news by transforming its traditional defined benefit plan, a pension, into a 401(k)-type plan. That move saved money, but the company lost an important personnel tool.

Defined benefit plans are designed to encourage employees to exit or retire when it is optimal for the company. A 401(k) is cheaper, but it is a "cash and carry" account that does not have the element of timing finesse. A 401(k) plan does not reward loyalty, and its value is not predictable as it fluctuates all over the place depending on the financial markets.

By making workers stay until December before they can receive the company's 401(k) match, IBM is putting back, albeit with an anemic substitute, a reward for workers to stay at least until December.

The company can be pretty sure that there will be very few workers exiting during crunch time season: September, October and November. It would really be IBM's choice in determining which employees to let go. This incremental addition to IBM's control over their employees is surely the main reason IBM changed its 401(k) payment timing.

But let's step back. Relative to other companies, IBM actually has a good retirement plan. It matches more than 6% of a worker's contribution, which is above the national average. Only 7% of companies do not make matches to 401(k) plans, so at least IBM is, for now, in the majority of companies that match their employees' contributions. Not many people know that just because a company sponsors a 401(k) plan doesn't mean that it will pay a cent.

In the Great Recession of 2008 to 2009, more than 11% of companies stopped their 401(k) match. Because they are voluntary, most workers do not even have a retirement account plan, which means many middle-class and upper-middle-class workers will only have Social Security to rely on for retirement.

These workers face considerable chance of downward mobility later in life because Social Security is not designed to replace pre-retirement living standards for anyone but the lowest paid workers. Middle-class workers will need at least a $500,000 payout on top of Social Security checks to have a chance of remaining middle class when they retire. Most of us could only dream of accumulating that amount or its equivalent by saving for retirement at work or being in a pension plan.

IBM looks better than most companies because most companies are whacking their workers' retirement plans or don't sponsor any at all. GM offered its salaried, white-collar workers a lump sum -- the worst way to get a retirement account because people spend a lump sum too fast -- instead of an annuity. Ford will follow GM's example next year. Fortunately, very few auto managers and workers are taking up such an offer; they must know an annuity is more valuable.

What is there to stop companies from ending retirement accounts altogether? Nothing.

Unions represent less than 11% of the private sector workforce and the unemployment rate is high enough that anyone who has a job feels lucky to have a job. I don't see anything on the horizon that will encourage companies to maintain or improve retirement programs at the workplace.

Political leadership and bravery is needed to call out the failure of the voluntary retirement system and to secure retirement income and savings for all American workers.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Teresa Ghilarducci.

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In cautionary move, Europe centralizes bank oversight

BRUSSELSEuropean Union finance ministers reached an agreement early Thursday to create a single supervisor for their banks - one of the most significant transfers of authority from national governments to regional authorities since the creation of the euro currency.

Under the deal, banks with more than $39 billion in assets supervised or those that represent a significant proportion of their national economies will be placed under the oversight of the European Central Bank.

The deal gives the ECB broad powers, including the ability to grant and withdraw banking licenses, investigate institutions, and financially sanction banks that don't follow the rules.

But perhaps most important is that it paves the way for Europe's rescue fund to directly rescue the continent's troubled banks.

"It's real progress that opens up interesting possibilities," said French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici, without giving a specific date for when the first banks could seek direct aid.

That step is crucial because weak banks remain at the core of Europe's financial problems. Many are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy after the investments they made up in boom times plummeted in value. Some governments have stepped in to save their banks, only to worsen their own finances in the process.

European leaders want to shield troubled governments from the burden of supporting their banks. That would be a huge relief to countries like Spain, which are facing the prospect of taking on enormous debts - and worrying markets - in order to bail out their banks.

The magnitude of the deal was reflected in the in size of the fight: Concerns ranged from which banks would be covered to how the ECB would manage to insulate its monetary responsibilities from the new powers to how the deal would affect EU countries that chose not to submit their banks to the ECB's oversight.

This last point was a major contention: Countries that don't use the euro worried their voices in the body that creates banking regulation - the European Banking Authority - would be drowned out by the new euro-machine, particularly since countries with other currencies can opt into the supervision.

The EBA sets all of the rules that govern EU banking, and Britain, in particular - a non-euro country with Europe's largest banking sector - was nervous that the new supervision would mean all the banks under the ECB would vote together at the EBA, effectively steamrolling everyone else.

Ministers reached a compromise that ensures that measures can't pass in the EBA without at least some support from countries outside of the ECB's supervision.

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McAfee Lands in Miami: I'm Free

Software mogul John McAfee has been released from detention in Guatemala City and has landed in Miami.

Immediately upon landing, according to passengers on the plane, McAfee's name was called and he was whisked off the aircraft. Federal officials escorted the 67-year-old Internet antivirus pioneer through customs spirit him out a side door, out of the view of reporters, according to Miami International Airport's communication director, Greg Chin.

It was not clear whether officials intended to help McAfee avoid the inevitable media circus or wanted to question him. However, he has not been charged with committing a crime in Guatemala or Belize, where the authorities have sought to question him about the murder of his neighbor.

McAfee's departure from Guatemala came earlier today.

"They took me out of my cell and put me on a freaking airplane," he told ABC News. "I had no choice in the matter."

McAfee said, however, that Guatemalan authorities had been "nice" and that his exit from the Central American country was "not at all" unpleasant.

"It was the most gracious expulsion I've ever experienced," he said. "Compared to my past two wives that expelled me this isn't a terrible trip."

McAfee said he would not be accompanied by his 20-year-old Belizean girlfriend, but is seeking a visa for her. He also said he had retained a lawyer in the U.S.

Guatemala's National Police/AP Photo

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When he was released earlier today, McAfee told the Associated Press, "I'm free. ... I'm going to America."

McAfee, who had been living in a beachfront house in Belize, went on the run after the Nov. 10 murder of his neighbor, fellow American expatriate Greg Faull. Belize police said they wanted to question McAfee about the murder, but McAfee said he feared for his life in Belizean custody.

He entered Guatemala last week seeking asylum, but was arrested and taken to an immigration detention center. He was taken to the hospital after suffering a nervous collapse and then returned to the detention center. The U.S. State Department has visited McAfee, who is a dual U.S.-British citizen, several times during his stay in Guatemala.

During his three-week journey, said McAfee, he disguised himself as handicapped, dyed his hair seven times and hid in many different places during his three-week journey.

He dismissed accounts of erratic behavior and reports that he had been using the synthetic drug bath salts. He said he had never used the drug, and said statements that he had were part of an elaborate prank.

Investigators in Belize said that McAfee was not a suspect in the death of Faull, a former developer who was found shot in the head in his house.

McAfee told ABC News that the poisoning death of his dogs and the murder just hours later of Faull, who had complained about his dogs, was a coincidence.

Click Here for the Blotter Homepage.

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Today on New Scientist: 11 December 2012

Out-of-season's greetings from the Arctic frost flowers

Season's regards from an icy meadow in the Arctic, but it's no winter wonderland and please don't dash out into it

How hacking a mosquito's heart could eradicate malaria

Watch how a double-pronged trick helps mosquitoes remain healthy while carrying disease, a process that could be exploited to eliminate malaria

New drug lifts hard-to-treat depression in hours

A new class of drugs that changes the way neurons interact in the brain can rapidly lift people out of depression

E. O. Wilson and poet laureate on altruism and mystery

Leading evolutionary biologist E. O. Wilson and former US poet laureate Robert Hass discuss free will, wilderness and the mysterious origin of the arts

Souped-up immune cells force leukaemia into remission

Genetically engineered white blood cells have been shown to have a strong impact on leukaemia after just three months

War of words: The language paradox explained

If language evolved for communication, how come most people can't understand what most other people are saying?

AC/DC's Highway to Hell sent via a drone's laser beam

A dose of rock music proves that a drone's reconnaisance data can be sent via reflected laser beam instead of radio

'Biology is a manufacturing capability'

Soon we'll be able to engineer living things with mechanical precision, says Tom Knight, father of synthetic biology

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Birds, fish replace queen on Fiji currency

SUVA: Fiji dropped the image of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II from a new range of bank notes and coins, replacing her with plants and animals native to the Pacific island state.

Fiji President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau said on Wednesday the new currency was a milestone for the former British colony, which became independent in 1970 and declared itself a republic in 1987 following a military coup.

Nailatikau said the royal family had featured on Fiji's currency since 1934 but it was time for the country to move on and introduce new coins and notes, which will enter circulation in January.

"With the new series comes a little sadness for many of us," he said.

"We will witness a historical change. A change involving much feeling and sentiment and representing an emotional severance of a link to the British crown.

"But it is a change that is necessary. Our notes and coins will no longer feature the portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II -- some will liken this to the dawning of a new era."

He said Fiji was "forever grateful" to the royal family for allowing it to use their likenesses on the currency, adding: "It is now time to move forward as we strive to create our own identity synonymous to what Fiji is all about."

Images on the polymer bank notes include the rare kulawai lorikeet, the beli fish and the tagimoucia flower, while the coins depict flying foxes, parrots and the banded iguana.

Reserve Bank governor Barry Whiteside said the new currency was more relevant to Fiji and would encourage pride in its environment.

"We've been a republic for 25 years, which means the queen has not been our head of state for 25 years," he said.

"We're just looking at the natural wonders around us and trying to reflect that in this issue."

- AFP/ck

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Two victims, gunman dead after shooting at Oregon mall

Gunman opens fire in Oregon mall

Gunman opens fire in Oregon mall

Gunman opens fire in Oregon mall

Gunman opens fire in Oregon mall

Gunman opens fire in Oregon mall

Gunman opens fire in Oregon mall

Gunman opens fire in Oregon mall

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: One witness says he tried to help a woman who was shot in the chest


• The gunman died of a self-inflicted gunshot, a sheriff's official says


• The mall's Santa says he heard gunshots and "hit the floor"


• One witness in Macy's says she saw a man wearing a hockey mask

Editor's note: Follow continuing local coverage on CNN affiliates KPTV, KATU, KGW and KOIN.

(CNN) -- Panicked customers rushed to the exits when a gunman opened fire Tuesday at a mall outside Portland, Oregon. Some people huddled behind store counters and hid behind racks of clothing. The mall's Santa dropped to the ground.

Three people were killed, including the shooter, said Lt. James Rhodes of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office. The shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot, he said. One person suffered a traumatic injury.

A witness told CNN he tried to help a wounded woman who was lying on the ground by a cell phone store.

"She had apparently been shot in the chest, and I couldn't get her turned over to help her," said Antonio Charro, who had been shopping at the mall with his daughters. "There was no one around. She wasn't breathing."

Witnesses said a masked man with a gun headed toward the food court at the two-story Clackamas Town Center mall, located about 11 miles southeast of downtown Portland.

Read tweets from people at the scene

A woman told CNN affiliate KOIN that she saw a man wearing a hockey mask jogging through Macy's and wielding an assault rifle.

"Everyone ran toward the exits at that point to get out," she said.

Outside Macy's, gunshots echoed where a man portraying Santa Claus was snapping photos with kids.

"I heard two shots, then 15 or 16 more shots," he told CNN affiliate KGW. "I hit the floor."

The sounds of gunfire rang out through the mall, witnesses said.

"We heard one gunshot. It sounded like something fell," David Moran, an employee at the mall, told CNN. "Then it was a matter of two or three seconds, and then it was just rapid gunfire."

Customers and employees alike started running for the exits, Moran said.

"I thought I was going to die," he said. "The gunshots were so loud, it was very scary. ... Kids were crying. Parents were crying, too."

Inside Sears, some customers burst into tears as word spread of the shooter going store to store, Christina Fisher told KOIN.

"We were told to stand in a group by the top of the escalators and stay away from the windows out of the aisle. ... We stood there for probably a good 20 minutes," she said. "All of the sudden, somebody came through with a radio, yelling 'get down!'"

Are you there? Share your stories, videos and images.

A group of customers inside Sears watched television news reports about the shooting inside the store's entertainment center, witness Tylor Pedersen told CNN affiliate KGW.

Pedersen said he heard about the shooting when people ran into the store, saying they had heard shots fired in the middle of the mall.

"I didn't think it was real at first until I saw the reactions on their faces," he said. "They were serious."

Authorities put the mall on lockdown as they searched for the shooter, witnesses said.

Later, they escorted people outside.

"All of us had to have our hands raised, because they didn't know who the shooter was yet," said Larisa Terekhova, who posted a video online that showed people leaving the mall with their arms in the air.

Gov. John Kitzhaber praised first responders for reacting quickly to the shooting.

"I have directed State Police to make any and all necessary resources available to local law enforcement," he said in a statement.

Authorities closed entrances and exits into the mall parking lot Tuesday evening, said Lt. Gregg Hastings of the Oregon State Police.

A spokesman for General Growth Properties, which owns the mall, referred questions about the shooting to the sheriff's office.

"Our hearts and prayers are with everyone who was in the mall at the time of this incident," said David Keating, vice president of corporate communications. "Our priority is always for their safety and well-being."

Timeline: Worst mass shootings in U.S.

CNN's Chandler Friedman, Cristy Lenz, Tom Watkins, John Fricke, AnneClaire Stapleton and Joe Sutton contributed to this report.

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