Washington: Medicare changes opposed

President Bush’s plan to seek broad changes to Medicare is meeting early resistance from Democrats who say seniors in the government health insurance program shouldn’t have to endure a major overhaul just to get a prescription drug benefit.

Administration officials on Friday said Bush would send guidelines to Capitol Hill in coming weeks that will include the drug benefit as well as sweeping changes to Medicare. White House officials were said to be still working out the details, and it is believed Bush will reveal more of his plan in his State of the Union address Jan. 28.

Senior officials who discussed the issue only on the grounds of anonymity said a central component of the changes would be competition among providers.

Afghanistan: U.S. claims hot-pursuit right

With U.S. forces coming under increasing fire along the Afghan-Pakistani border, a military spokesman said Friday that the United States reserved the right to pursue Taliban and al-Qaida guerrillas into Pakistan.

“U.S. forces acknowledge the internationally recognized boundaries of Afghanistan but may pursue attackers who attempt to escape into Pakistan to evade capture or retaliation,” said Maj. Stephen Clutter from the military base that serves as headquarters for U.S. and allied troops in Afghanistan.

His comment, made by e-mail to Reuters news service, articulated a policy that had not been publicly described before and sometimes has been vigorously denied. Clutter said the U.S. military has had the right to cross into Pakistan for some time and that “this is done with the express consent of the Pakistani government.” But Pakistani leaders Friday said there was no agreement for so-called hot pursuit and said they would object to uniformed American soldiers crossing into Pakistan.