Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8575627.stm

Hundreds of Cuban government supporters have heckled members of the "Ladies in White" rights group marching in protest through the streets of Havana. The women - wives and mothers of jailed dissidents - are staging a week of protests on the anniversary of Fidel Castro's 2003 Black Spring crackdown.

Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7068012.ece

A leprechaun bank robber and his getaway driver were killed in a shootout with police after a St Patrick’s Day raid in Tennessee.

Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7066903.ece

The biggest swindler in the history of Wall Street has reportedly been beaten up in prison by a drug dealer with a black belt in judo in a dispute over money.

Link: http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2010/03/19/why-we-reform-1

One way or another, the fate of health care reform is going to be decided in the next few days. If House Democratic leaders find 216 votes, reform will almost immediately become the law of the land. If they don’t, reform may well be put off for many years — possibly a decade or more.

Link: http://content.usatoday.net/dist/custom/gci/InsidePage.aspx?cId=courierpostonline&sParam=33053469.story

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Wednesday took to the Fox News Channel, derided by his White House as a wing of the Republican Party, to sell his embattled health care overhaul in an interview punctuated with interruptions from the host and chiding from the guest.

Link: http://www.afp.com/afpcom/en/taglibrary/thematic/economy

US President Barack Obama signs the HIRE Act, a 17.6 billion dollar jobs bill that encourages businesses to hire workers, alongside lawmakers during a ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC on Thursday. The legislation includes tax breaks for businesses that hire new workers and infrastructure investments.

Link: http://www.seattlepi.com/business/1310ap_us_immigration.html?source=mypi

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama, facing criticism from advocates of immigration reform, pledged Thursday "to do everything in my power" to get immigration legislation moving in Congress this year.

Link: http://www.economyincrisis.org/content/chinese-asking-us-look-other-way

The Chinese government is fiercely resisting U.S. and international pressure to allow its currency to appreciate to a market-based level, launching an offensive on multiple fronts to try and discredit the allegations, garner international sympathy and lobby behind the scenes to prevent any action from being taken.

Link: http://www.economyincrisis.org/

“Joint venture agreements that allow American jobs to be outsourced in the midst of attempting to recover from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression cannot be allowed. Now is not the time to make it easier to ship jobs overseas,” Rep. Tim Bishop said.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/19/business/19toyota.html?ref=us

Federal safety regulators investigating the crash of a Toyota Prius in suburban New York said Thursday that the car’s computer showed no evidence of braking by the driver at the time of the crash.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/19/us/19jane.html?ref=us

The Pennsylvania woman accused of recruiting men on the Internet to wage jihad in southern Asia and Europe pleaded not guilty Thursday to all counts in federal court in Philadelphia.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/mar2010/illi-m18.shtml

As the budget crisis in Illinois deepens, the state government is more openly seeking to use its deficits to push through long-planned attacks on the working class. Many of the measures being planned will severely impact students and youth, as well as teachers and educational workers, both active and retired.

Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/03/20103181762775614.html

Barack Obama, the US president, has postponed his trip to Indonesia and Australia in an attempt to push his historic healthcare reform bill through Congress.

Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/03/2010318153714888868.html

Russia and the United States have made "substantial progress" in negotiating a new nuclear arms disarmament deal, the US secretary of state has said.