Nation briefs 11/14/02

FCC approves merger between Comcast, AT&T

WASHINGTON -- The $29.2- billion merger of Comcast and AT&T Broadband was approved by federal regulators Wednesday, clearing the way for creation of the nation's largest cable television company.

The Federal Communications Commission decision is contingent on AT&T and Comcast selling their combined 25 percent ownership of Time Warner Entertainment.

The FCC voted 3-1 for the deal over the objections of consumer groups, which filed a motion last week asking the agency to delay its decision. The groups claim the new cable giant would limit customers' choices in television viewing and Internet access.

But FCC Chairman Michael Powell said "the benefits of this transaction are considerable, the potential harms negligible."

Commissioner Michael Copps, the panel's only Democrat, voted against the deal.

'Rewards for Justice' extended for terrorism

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is offering up to $5 million for information that allows the government to stop the flow of money to terrorists.

The Treasury and State departments announced the reward Wednesday, marking the government's latest effort to sever terrorists from their funding sources, a key component in President Bush's war on terror.

The reward would be offered for "information leading to the dismantling of any system or scheme used to finance a terrorist organization" and information leading to the arrest or conviction of anyone who planned or aided in terrorism against the United States, officials said.

The bounty would come from a long-standing "Rewards for Justice" program administered by the State Department.

Tennessee declared disaster area after storms

MOSSY GROVE, Tenn. -- President Bush declared 16 Tennessee counties disaster areas Wednesday, freeing millions in federal aid for a state that lost 16 people in weekend tornadoes that cut a deadly path across five states.

Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Joe Allbaugh brought the news to still-dazed victims in this mountain community 40 miles northwest of Knoxville.

"You are brave souls," said Allbaugh, who spoke with Bush by telephone as he walked amid neighborhood debris.

Bush reaffirms references to God in pledge, motto

WASHINGTON -- President Bush signed into law on Wednesday a bill reaffirming -- with a slap at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals -- references to God in the Pledge of Allegiance and national motto.

Bush signed the legislation without comment. It reinforces support for the words "under God" in the pledge, and for "In God we trust" as the national motto.

The measure was approved unanimously in the Senate and drew just five no votes in the House. Congress rushed to act after the federal appeals court in California ruled in June that the phrase "under God," inserted into the pledge by Congress in 1954, amounted to a government endorsement of religion in violation of the constitutional separation of church and state.

Study: Inflammation is trigger for heart attacks

BOSTON -- A landmark study done on 28,000 women by Dr. Paul Ridker of Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital offers the strongest evidence yet that simmering, painless inflammation deep within the body is the single most powerful trigger of heart attacks, worse than high cholesterol.

The latest research is likely to encourage many doctors to make blood tests for inflammation part of standard physical exams for middle-aged people, especially those with other conditions that increase their risk of heart trouble.

-- From wire reports