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him down and cut off his fingers, leaving only his thumbs.
• Fourteen years later, he and other voters go to the polls Saturday to choose a leader they hope will assure continued peace and finally bring some measure of prosperity to this war-ravaged country that remains among the world's poorest.
• "Life is very, very rough. Poverty is always at our door," Kamara says. "That's my prayer each day: God help me to survive and make a good future for my children."
• After his horrible run-in with the rebels in the jungles of northern Sierra Leone in 1998, Kamara survived for days without medical attention. After years of rehabilitation, he learned to write again and became the most educated member of his family.
• Now the married father of two young children works as a receptionist in the capital, but many of those wounded during Sierra Leone's 1991-2002 civil war have not been as successful.
• ___

• WASHINGTON (AP) -- After two years of political battles and a Supreme Court case, many if not most states are expected to tell the federal government Friday if they're willing carry out a key part of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
• At issue is the creation of new health insurance markets, where millions of middle-class households and small businesses will shop for private coverage. The so-called exchanges will open for business Jan. 1, 2014, and most of their customers will be eligible for government subsidies to help pay premiums. The exchanges will also steer low-income people into expanded Medicaid programs, if states choose to broaden their safety net coverage.
• Thursday evening, the Obama administration responded to a request for more time from Republican governors by granting states a month's extension, until Dec. 14.
• Ahead of the original deadline, a check by The Associated Press found that 21 states plus the District of Columbia, have already indicated they want to become involved, either by building and running their own exchanges or partnering with Washington. The 16 that want to build their own exchanges, plus the District of Columbia, face a Jan. 1 deadline for the federal government to approve their plans.
• This group of 16 includes mainly Democratic-led states such as California and New York, but also some Republican-led ones such as Mississippi and New Mexico.

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