Australian carbon tax cash to flow to families: PM (AFP)

SYDNEY (AFP) – Prime Minister Julia Gillard Sunday moved to reassure Australians that her planned carbon tax would not hurt their finances, saying 90 percent of families would be compensated for higher costs.

Labor leader Gillard has been plunging in the polls since she announced plans for a carbon tax earlier this year, seemingly contradicting an election campaign statement there would be no such tax under her government.

She said Sunday she was determined to tackle climate change by placing a price on carbon pollution, which would be paid by the country's major industrial polluters, and using this money to assist families.

"So I can confirm today that nine out of 10 households will get assistance -- that's seven million Australians getting assistance," Gillard told Channel 10's "Meet The Press" programme.

"We want to help people through tax cuts, through changes to family payments, and of course through pension rises as well.

"And the vast majority of people we assist actually won't pay any price, because of the 0assistance that they receive."

The conservative opposition has attacked the proposal for a carbon tax, which is yet to be finalised, saying it will damage industry and cost jobs, at the same time as raising the daily living expenses of Australians.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott, who has accused Gillard of pushing for a tax for which she has no mandate, has vowed to repeal the carbon levy if elected.

Gillard again defended her decision to push for a fixed price on carbon, after initially ruling it out during the campaign, saying she still intended for it to develop into a cap and trade scheme within three to five years.

"I understand (that) people looking at that statement before the last election would say to themselves: 'She said no carbon tax then -- there's going to be a carbon tax now,'" Gillard said.

"But it's a stepping stone to getting to where I always wanted this nation to get to and what I talked about before the election campaign, which is an emissions trading scheme to tackle climate change."

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Families of Western troops grieve in Afghanistan (Reuters)

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Grieving Canadians and Britons said goodbye on Tuesday to fallen relatives on Kandahar Air Field, a rare reminder in the heart of the war in Afghanistan of the human cost to Western armed forces that has made the decade-long conflict so unpopular back home.

Canada organizes family visits after a member of their armed forces is killed in Afghanistan so that relatives can "feel the heat, smell the air, get covered in the dust" that their loved ones knew in their last days, said Rear Admiral Andy Smith.

"It is still very recent, so a visit like this really helps us go through the grieving process," said Guy Scherrer, father of Corporal Yannick Scherrer, who was killed by a homemade bomb in late March, after a memorial service on the base.

"I had many questions inside ... what was this for? And now I have the answer. I see now exactly what his job was, he was here for the protection of men, women and children," he said.

Canada is the only nation fighting in the NATO-led coalition to organize such trips, which are expensive and complicated -- flying civilians into a war zone can be a security worry -- but are powerful experiences for the bereaved.

A British family were invited on what is likely to be the last such trip, with Canadian combat troops due to return home by the end of July, because Captain Ben Babington-Browne died on a Canadian helicopter that crashed.

The effort is a reminder of public unease in Canada about the war, which helped push the government to end its combat mission after nearly 10 years.

After spells in other areas, they spent five years as the lead nation in one of the toughest battlegrounds of the war, Kandahar province, the Taliban's spiritual homeland, where they lost the majority of 155 soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

About 950 Canadian soldiers will still be based in Kabul helping train the Afghan police and army, however. Polls show that most Canadians oppose the mission in Afghanistan.

HOSPITALS, RESTAURANTS AND HELICOPTERS

There are more than 30,000 people living on Kandahar Air Field, and although a war rages outside the heavily fortified walls, inside there are few tangible reminders of the dangers.

"Ramp ceremonies" honor the dead of all nations before they are flown out, but grieving families are normally thousands of miles away.

During the trip, the families eat at the mess halls used by their loved ones, visit the boardwalk area where soldiers relax at TGI Friday's restaurant or play volleyball in their downtime.

They see military aircraft, the base medical center, and the tactical operations center where the war is coordinated.

They have a chance to meet the commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan and ordinary soldiers, some of whom fought with the person they have lost.

There is also a ceremony at a marble war memorial that will be taken back to Canada for permanent installation when the combat troops leave.

"My primary reason was to walk in Kristal's footsteps, to hear the helicopters and the jets ... I can now picture an environment for some of the moments we shared over the telephone, some of her pictures," said Matthew Giesebrecht, husband of Master Corporal Kristal Giesebrecht.

"I've learnt what a big part of her life the military was. I am so proud of who she was, and I am discovering all of that over again."

(Editing by Paul Tait and Alex Richardson)

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Should bin Laden bounty go to 9/11 victims' families?

New York (CNN) -- Any unclaimed bounty money from the death of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden should go to the first responders, victims' families and survivors of the 9/11 terror attacks, a pair of New York congressmen said Sunday.

Reps. Anthony Weiner and Jerrold Nadler have introduced legislation that would award up to $50 million of the bounty approved by Congress to help fund organizations that provide health care, psychological care and other resources to those most directly affected in the September 11, 2001, attacks.

"These programs are ones that desperately need funding that are still everyday dealing with the ramifications of September 11," Weiner said at a news conference from ground zero.

"Hopefully they will now benefit from this reward money."

The bounty is part of the Rewards for Justice program run by the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security. Since its creation in 1984, it has paid out over $100 million to more than 60 people.

The State Department approved a bounty of up to $25 million for bin Laden in 2001. Three years later, Congress authorized raising the figure to $50 million, although it was never increased by the State Department.

The program grants money to people who provided "actionable information that put terrorists behind bars or prevented acts of international terrorism worldwide," according to its website.

"The department does not generally discuss nominations for awards," State Department spokesman Harry Edwards said shortly after bin Laden was killed last week. The offer, he added, is for a maximum of $25 million. "If it were paid, it could be less."

It is possible that no reward money will be granted. Unidentified detainees provided a key piece of information that helped investigators locate bin Laden, Obama administration officials said.

Even if only a portion of the reward money is given out, the lawmakers plan to introduce legislation to Congress that would funnel the remainder to groups that help survivors and family members "so it doesn't sit fallow in a bank account." Weiner said

"[The reward] was allocated for 9/11 victims in effect, and this is simply, saying use it more effectively for the purpose that it was set up in the first place," Nadler said.

The September 11 Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 paid out an average of $2.1 million to thousands of victims' family members who filed claims in the wake of the terrorist attacks, the fund's website said. In addition, survivors who filed personal injury claims with the fund were awarded payments ranging from $500 to $8.6 million.

The State Department spokeswoman Joanne Moore had no comment on the possible legislation Sunday night.

CNN's Ben Rooney contributed to this report.

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Emotions swirl for families of U.S. troops

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — As mourners filed out of the church, two by two, the organist struck up an unusual tune for a funeral: America the Beautiful. Outside, military pallbearers in ceremonial dress carried the flag-draped casket of 1st Lt. Omar Vazquez to the waiting hearse, while a dozen retired servicemen saluted, flags in hand.

Maria Vazquez, the mother of Army 1st Lt. Omar J. Vazquez, holds medals, including a Bronze Star, that were given to her and Omar's father, Pablo, by an Army honor guard during a funeral in Hamilton Township, N.J.

About 60 miles away, President Obama was laying a wreath at Ground Zero — another dramatic moment in a week of celebration and somber reflection that began with news of the death of Osama bin Laden.

Families and friends of U.S. troops recently killed in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan face a swirl of emotions as they bury their dead while the nation marks the killing of the terrorist mastermind of 9/11.

"I was angry at first, because he didn't get to see what he was actually fighting for," said Vazquez's cousin Marilyn Rodriguez.

Vazquez was killed by an improvised explosive device on April 22 in Iraq — nine days before Navy SEALs stormed a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Family members said the 25-year-old officer from Trenton had known since he was a little boy that he wanted to serve in the Army and defend his country from people like bin Laden.

"He would be proud, because they were out to make peace and get the people who hurt other people, to make sure it didn't happen to other families," Rodriguez said.

Sitting in the back pews of the Catholic church, under a golden inscription reading "The Lord is Here — He is Calling You," a soldier who served with Vazquez reflected on the many funerals he's attended for friends killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"It's the only time I wear this uniform," said Sgt. Andrew Soto, who served with Vazquez for about three years when Vazquez was a cadet.

Soto said this funeral was different because Vazquez died while the military is preparing to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. But he said the knowledge that bin Laden is no longer threat was helping him heal.

"My first thought was, 'My friend died, but almost at the same time, we got the person we were fighting to get,'" Soto said. "If he was here now, he'd be smiling."

In the hours after Americans learned that the nation's archenemy had been killed, crowds outside the White House and throughout New York City erupted in patriotic fervor, chanting "U-S-A" and singing the national anthem. Students at many college campuses around the nation also rushed outdoors to celebrate.

The rejoicing seemed entirely appropriate to Willie Ransom, whose son was one of nine Americans gunned down April 27 by a disgruntled Afghan pilot at an airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Capt. Charles Ransom was assigned to help train the Afghan National Security Forces. His funeral is scheduled for Friday in his hometown of Midlothian, Va.

"I think it's wonderful people celebrate, but the bottom line is somebody had to make the ultimate sacrifice to get this man," Ransom said. "The same people who destroyed him, some of their buddies had to die, too."

In Arizona, personnel at Luke Air Force Base were preparing for the arrival of the body of Lt. Col. Frank D. "Bruiser" Bryant. The 37-year-old from Knoxville, Tenn., was killed in the same attack as Ransom.

The base will hold a memorial service for Bryant on Monday before his body is interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

"Bruiser was a legitimate, full-up American hero," said Major Stephen Anderson, who served as a flight instructor with Bryant for about three years. "He was a poster child for what it means to be a man, a good leader, a great fighter pilot and a great instructor."

Speaking by telephone from Sheppard Air Force Base near Wichita Falls, Texas, Anderson said he felt a flood of relief when he learned his fellow troops had killed the man who embodied everything the United States went to war to stop. He said Bryant would have viewed bin Laden's killing as "achievement of a national objective" — and that Bryant was exceedingly proud to be defending American freedom.

"Osama's death was bought with the blood of Bruiser," said Anderson.

He added that, offered the choice between the two, "I think I'd rather have my friend back."

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Obama lays wreath at Ground Zero, meets with families, firefighters, cops

NEW YORK — President Obama punctuated his success in tracking down Osama bin Laden with a visit Thursday to those on the front line of the terrorist attack — families and colleagues of those killed on Sept. 11, 2001.

President Obama hugs Diane Wall, from Rumson, NJ, as her daughters and a family friend watch. Both families lost fathers on 9/11.

Under sunny skies and the unfinished bulk of the first tower to rise at Ground Zero, Obama laid a wreath on the plaza of the emerging 9/11 Memorial on the site of the World Trade Center. In a solemn, silent ceremony, he placed flowers in front of a tree that survived the towers' collapse and hugged and greeted family members, police officers and firefighters.

He gave a fist bump to Christopher Cannizzaro, 10, who was an infant when his firefighter father, Brian, was killed. In return, Christopher gave the president a prayer card for his dad.

His mother, Jackie Cannizzaro-Hawkins, said she told the president, "Thank you. Thank you for seeing it through." Obama's visit to the WTC site "means the world to me. It was appropriate. He never forgot."

Obama hugged Payton Wall, 14, and her friend Madison Robertson, 14. Both girls from Rumson, N.J., lost their dads on 9/11 and had written letters to the president several months ago.

They also had written to teen idol Justin Bieber. "I just wanted to share my story," Payton said.

"He just said how proud of us he is," Madison said.

En route to the ceremony, the president ate lunch — including eggplant parmigiana — at a firehouse, Engine 54, which on 9/11 lost all 15 members on duty.

"When we say we will never forget, we mean what we say," Obama told the firefighters.

He visited a Manhattan police station, where he signed the log book. "I am here basically to shake your hand and say how proud I am of all of you," Obama told them.

The city seemed to return the sentiment as crowds lined streets to cheer. It was Obama's first visit to Ground Zero since he became president.

Dorothy Francis, who worked in the neighborhood when the attack occurred, said she turned out "to do honor to the families. And it's a compliment on the bin Laden thing. … It's a relief to know that he's gone. It's a solemn day, really, just to know what was accomplished."

Chuck Alf, 41, visiting from Buffalo, was at the site for the first time since he went to dinner at Windows on the World, atop the north tower, in 2000. "There's a sense of pride there, to see your leader," he said. The mood on the street during the ceremony, even though no one could see the wreath laying, was solemn, he said. "For as many people as were on that street corner, it was amazingly quiet." He shared the sentiment, even though he's glad bin Laden has been killed. "I have no interest in hooting and hollering," he said. "There's a very solemn sense of some closure."

Obama spent an hour with about 60 relatives of the nearly 3,000 people who died in the attacks. They gathered at the 9/11 Memorial Preview Center, just outside the Trade Center site.

"It was like the bride at her wedding: He went to every table," said Jefferson Crowther, whose son Welles died after helping get injured Trade Center workers to safety. "He hugged the ladies, he shook the hands of the gentlemen."

Some family members had been upset not to have been included in the invitation-only event, so Mary and Frank Fetchet, founders of Voices of September 11 took letters to Obama that family members who were not invited posted on the group's Facebook page.

The message from Alexandra Luckett, who lost her brother in the collapse of the north tower, was heartfelt: "Please thank President Obama from everyone in Ted Luckett's family for finally bringing us some justice!" she wrote on Facebook. "I hope this brings a little peace to this country and that the war will soon come to an end. I love the Navy SEALs! Great job. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!"

Frank Fetchet, whose son Bradley was killed, said he had been among those who met with Obama at the beginning of his presidency in 2009.

"I felt this was kind of a bookend to that,"Fetchet said. With the death of bin Laden, "this phase of our journey from 9/11 is completed. ? There was a real pride in the room that this was done, and relief and thanks for the hard work of our military."

Jim Riches, a retired deputy chief with the city fire department and father of Jimmy Riches, a firefighter who was killed in the collapse of the north tower, was among those scheduled to meet with Obama. He recalled that at a meeting in 2009, Obama told the 9/11 families that he was determined to get bin Laden.

"He did a great job,and he deserves credit for it. He had the conviction to do it," Riches said Wednesday evening.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button. Read more.

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Bin Laden's death scares military families

Priscilla Thurman, with her husband, Sgt. Shawn Thurman, and kids, says she's concerned about his upcoming deployment.News of Osama bin Laden's death met with a mix of elation and fear by military families
Threat of retaliation is shared among many as security alert levels raised
Tonja Dreke, along with other military wives, says, "We are all worried about retribution"
What's your take? Post a video on CNN iReport or sound off in the comments below

(CNN) -- When Priscilla Thurman first heard the news that terrorist leader Osama bin Laden was killed, she was relieved. Soon after though, she said she started to worry about the threat of retaliation directed at U.S. troops.

Thurman, who lives in Killeen, Texas, is anxiously counting down the days until her husband, Sgt. Shawn Thurman, makes his third military deployment, this time to Afghanistan. Bin Laden's death makes the departure even more nerve-racking, she said.

"While most woke up joyous and thinking it's over or we're all safe now, I woke up feeling very uneasy," Thurman wrote on CNN iReport. The 29-year-old mother of three said she was compelled "to share my opinion because I don't know if there's anyone who feels like I do."

As it turns out, Thurman isn't alone. She's among dozens of military wives, mothers and family members who posted iReports and comments on CNN.com expressing concern about the threat of retribution in light of bin Laden's death. As celebrations erupted on college campuses and at monuments across the United States until the wee hours of Monday, the reactions from military families painted a much more somber portrait.

Lori Burdette of Augusta, Georgia, spent Monday morning exchanging text messages and Facebook posts with other military wives concerned about their husbands' safety. "I just feel that the general public doesn't realize what this could mean to our military," she said. "They want to think that this might end the war, but what I'm hearing and feeling from other military wives is fear -- fear that this will escalate the evil and cause more harm to our men and women in uniform."

Read Burdette's thoughts on CNN iReport

Although bin Laden's death undoubtedly weakened al Qaeda, many said they expect the terrorist organization to strike back. The U.S. State Department has issued a worldwide travel advisory for Americans traveling abroad, and a soldier in a special forces unit based in Georgia told CNN on Monday that elite military units have sprung into high alert.

"We are all worried about retribution," said Tonja Dreke, who lives at the Schofield Barracks Army post in Wahiawa, Hawaii. "We are scared for the service members currently deployed; we are scared to live on post, where we have the potential to also be a target."

"I just feel that the general public doesn't realize what this could mean to our military.
--Lori Burdette

Since September 11, her husband has been deployed to Iraq twice and Afghanistan once. Dreke knows that bin Laden's death doesn't mean the threat of deployments will end anytime soon, but she said she does feel some sense of relief.

"I really thought that the man would probably die in the mountains of his own health-related issues. That wasn't the way any of us wanted to see him go," she said. "Whether morally wrong to feel this way, we wanted the U.S. to get him. We wanted it to be our guys who killed him. There's a bit more satisfaction in that than to just know he was gone."

Despite all the fears of retaliation, there were moments of celebration, too. Andrew Tyler McDermott, a student at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, captured photos of Navy midshipmen celebrating the death of the terrorist leader Sunday night. The images show a mob of students cheering and running across campus.

McDermott said it was a touching sight. "It was very inspiring when they sang the national anthem; some people even began to cry," he said.

And for Tosha Phillips of Macon, Georgia, bin Laden's death brings her some much-needed closure. She was just 27 when her husband, Staff Sgt. Ronald Phillips Jr., was killed in Iraq in October 2008.

See CNN's Home and Away tribute page to Sgt. Phillips

When she heard the reports that bin Laden had been killed, she cried tears of joy. "Now I feel that my husband's death was for a reason," she said.

Phillips imagined her husband dancing in heaven upon hearing the news of bin Laden's demise. "It gave me hope that one day this war will end, and one day the troops will come home," she said.

CNN's David Williams and Daphne Sashin contributed to this report.

CNN

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Alabama Weighs Changes to Child Custody Laws Aimed at Uniting Broken Families

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The Alabama Senate is considering rewriting the state's child custody laws based on a controversial plan that has divided lawmakers over uniting broken families.

The bill would require divorced parents to share equal custody unless one is declared unfit. Supporters say the bill will inject fairness into custody battles that usually favors mothers, and allows both parents to raise their children. But opponents say the bill could hurt children by destabilizing their lives.

The Senate Children, Youth Affairs and Human Resources Committee narrowly passed the legislation this week in a 3-2 vote and it now heads to the full state Senate.

Republican Sen. Paul Bussman, a divorced father who says he got little time with his children when they were growing up, sponsored the bill.

Bussman told the Birmingham News that he saw his children every other weekend and once during the week in the wake of his divorce 15 years ago.

"I'm over the anger, but I understand the problem," he told the newspaper.

Democratic Sen. Vivian Davis Figures opposes the concept.

"This is a bad bill," Democratic Sen. Vivian Davis Figures told the newspaper. "We cannot have a one size fits all (approach) where children are concerned. You just can't."

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Federal employees, military families breathe sigh of relief

Obama: Gov't will be open for businessSTORY HIGHLIGHTSDemocrats and Republicans in Washington reach a deal to avert a shutdownThe short-term deal will fund government through the middle of next weekHad a shutdown occurred, 800,000 government workers would have been furloughed Washington (CNN) -- An 11th-hour deal reached late Friday in Washington brought relief to military families and government workers who had feared a federal government shutdown and its impact on their lives.

Kasey Long of Jacksonville, North Carolina, said she was worried about how her family would manage if politicians didn't reach a budget deal.

"I'm just really elated," Kasey Long of Jacksonville, North Carolina, said after hearing news of the agreement.

Her husband, a Marine sergeant at Camp Lejeune, is deployed overseas and is the family's sole breadwinner. The family was living paycheck to paycheck and concerned about making ends meet, Long said late Friday.

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Transocean executives donate safety bonuses to rig victims' families

Transocean CEO Steven L. Newman and four other executives executives will donate more than $250,000. STORY HIGHLIGHTSTransocean Ltd. senior executives will donate safety bonusesExecutives get pay raises in part for the safety record, earlier SEC filing saysCash awards based in part on company safety recordDespite Gulf explosion oil spill, company called 2010 "best year in safety" (CNN) -- Top executives of the company that owned the Deepwater Horizon oil rig announced Tuesday they will donate their safety bonuses to the families of the 11 workers killed in the April 2010 explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

The announcement follows criticism of a Transocean Ltd. financial filing that claimed 2010 was its "best year" in safety.

"The executive team made this decision because we believe it is the right thing to do," Chief Executive Officer Steven Newman said in a statement Tuesday. "Nothing is more important to Transocean than our people, and it was never our intent to diminish the effect the Macondo tragedy has had on those who lost loved ones," he said. "We offer our most sincere apologies and we regret the impact this matter has had on the entire Transocean family."

The five executives will donate more than $250,000 to the Deepwater Horizon Memorial Fund, which Transocean established. The fund has distributed more than $1.6 million to the 11 families.

The executives were identified as Newman; Ricardo H. Rosa, senior vice president and chief financial officer; Arnaud A.Y. Bobillier, executive vice president, asset and performance; Eric Brown, executive vice president, legal & administration; and Ihab M. Toma, executive vice president, global business.

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