Hello on this Wednesday, October 10, 2007. I'm Kristin Volk with a UPI Headline Update.
Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson laid out a traditional Republican fiscal agenda in his first GOP debate last night held in Michigan. The former actor, who appeared nervous at the beginning, promoted small government and free trade and called attention to the long-term problems with Social Security and Medicare. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney took on Rudolph Guiliani over his fiscal record as New York mayor. That led Guiliani to criticize Romney far more harshly than he has before.
Five Democratic presidential candidates have announced they're not going to take part in the Democratic primary in Michigan. Senators Barack Obama, Joe Biden, former Senator John Edwards, Governor Bill Richardson and Rep. Dennis Kucinich all say they're sitting out. That leaves Senators Hillary Clinton and Christopher Dodd who both say they're staying in. The Democrats have been under tremendous pressure from Iowa and New Hampshire to not campaign in Michigan and Florida because both states have violated rules by moving up their primaries. Michigan is holding its primary January 15, ahead of February 5 when many other big states are voting.
The wife of senator and White House hopeful Barack Obama was involved in a car crash yesterday. Michelle Obama and staff members escaped injury when a motorcyclist struck their campaign van in Iowa. The accident happened as they were en route to a campaign stop. The motorcyclist was injured and taken to a nearby hospital. Obama says her thoughts and prayers are with the victim and his family at this time.
The U.S. Supreme Court is refusing to hear an appeal that alleges the CIA kidnapped, beat and drugged a German citizen. Khaled el-Masri sued the U.S. government, saying he was mistakenly abducted in Macedonia and taken to a U.S.-run detention facility in Afghanistan as part of a secret program aimed at suspected terrorists. U.S. officials reportedly say the Bush administration privately has confirmed to Germany that man was captured by mistake, but it has not made a public admission. The court gave no reason for its decision yesterday.
That's all for now. Go to upi.com to watch part 3 of our abandoned babies series. Thanks for watching.

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