Bombs kill 8 more in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Two car bombs claimed at least eight lives and left about 30 people wounded in Iraq Tuesday, police said.

A local police source, speaking anonymously, told the Chinese news agency Xinhua the two blasts occurred "almost at the same time" in the al-Amin district of southeastern Baghdad. One occurred near the al-Muhesen Al-Muhesen Shiite mosque and the other near a coffee shop.

The two explosions came a day after bombs across Iraq killed more than 50 people, CNN noted.

Obama condemns Suu Kyi conviction

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday condemned the sentencing of Myanmar pro-Democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi to additional home detention.

Obama called for Suu Kyi's "immediate unconditional release" in a statement issued by the White House while he was in Portsmouth, N.H., for a healthcare reform town hall meeting.

A Myanmar military court Tuesday extended the Nobel Peace Prize laureate's detention by 18 months, ruling she had violated house arrest rules after an internationally condemned trial. The 64-year-old opposition leader has spent 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest.

"The conviction and sentencing of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi today on charges related to an uninvited intrusion into her home violate universal principles of human rights, run counter to Burma's commitments under the ASEAN charter, and demonstrate continued disregard for U.N. Security Council statements," Obama said.

"Daw" is an honorific title afforded respected older women.

Suu Kyi was tried on accusations of allowing American John William Yettaw into her home, a charge she had denied. Yettaw, who swam across a lake to her home in May, was sentenced to seven years of hard labor after being convicted of violating immigration and other laws.

Madoff aide: 'It was all fake'

NEW YORK, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- A former aide to imprisoned financial guru Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty to fraud in New York Tuesday and gave details on Madoff's $65 million Ponzi scheme.

Frank DiPascali, 52, pleaded guilty to 10 counts of fraud, money laundering and falsifying financial records in what The New York Times called one of the biggest frauds in the history of Wall Street.

DiPascali described how he and others created fake bank accounts, shuffled money between accounts, created fake trade blotters, sent out fraudulent statements and kept feeding clients a story that they were making money through Bernard L. Madoff Investment Services, the Times said. All the while, he said, fake wire transfers were sent between Madoff's London and New York offices to create the illusion the investment service was earning commissions from stock trading.

"No purchases or sales of securities were actually taking place in their accounts," DiPascali said. "It was all fake. It was all fictitious. It was wrong, and I knew it was wrong at the time."

DiPascali said he knew nothing about finance when he went to work for Madoff in 1975.

The government and DiPascali have agreed to a bond of $2.5 million, and the government asked for sentencing in May 2010. DiPascali is cooperating with the government.

Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison. His auditing accountant, David G. Friehling, has been charged with securities fraud and has pleaded not guilt.

Report: Insurance discrimination common

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Recent studies have shown many U.S. residents have been denied health insurance because of pre-existing conditions, federal officials said Tuesday.

The Department of Health and Human Services released a report, "Coverage Denied: How the Current Health Insurance System Leaves Millions Behind." The report is part of a push by the Obama administration to increase support for healthcare reform.

One survey found that more than one-third of adults below age 65 trying to buy private insurance, a total of 12.6 million people, reported that during the last three years insurance companies denied them coverage, charged higher premiums or would not cover a pre-existing condition, the report said.

Another survey reported that 10 percent of people with cancer could not get insurance coverage and 6 percent said they lost insurance.

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