BRIEFS

New PM candidate named for Czech Republic

PRAGUE (AP):

The dominant party in Czech coalition has named the parliamentary speaker as its candidate for prime minister after Petr Necas resigned amid a spy and bribery scandal. Miroslava Nemcova was approved yesterday by the conservative Civic Democratic Party. He resigned on Monday after police arrested eight people, including his closest aide, who was charged with ordering a military intelligence agency to spy on Necas' estranged wife, and bribery. The Opposition wants early elections.

Proposed bill may worsen illegal immigration

WASHINGTON (AP):

Illegal immigration into the United States would decrease by only 25 per cent under a far-reaching Senate immigration bill, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that also finds the measure reduces federal deficits by billions. But the CBO report also found that the bill, which takes steps to prevent people coming to the US illegally, while offering the hope of citizenship to some 11 million people already there without authorisation, does not come close to ending illegal immigration. Indeed, some aspects of the bill would make the problem worse, the report said.

Europe should remedy youth unemployment - Obama

BERLIN (AP):

President Barack Obama raised the prospect yesterday that Europe might need to adjust its economic policies to tackle high youth unemployment and make sure that some countries don't "lose a generation". Obama warned during his visit to Berlin that while he was confident the euro area's leaders will resolve their debt crisis, austerity and structural reforms must not cause policymakers to lose sight of the main goal: improving people's lives.

Primary care physician shortage could get worse

CHICAGO (AP):

As hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans become newly eligible for health insurance next year, their search for adequate medical services will be most difficult in pockets of the state where a shortage of primary care physicians could be made more acute by the federal health overhaul. Illinois is slightly above average compared to other states in its overall supply of primary care doctors. The problem, as in most states, is that doctors aren't evenly distributed, leaving some areas relying on nurses and physician assistants to provide care.