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First day for online insurance markets brings surge of consumer interest, technical glitches
• CHICAGO (AP) -- For millions of Americans trying to log in, the online insurance marketplaces created by the new health care law began with a stalled website, an error message or a menu that didn't work.
• But the debut of the new insurance marketplaces might have been a victim of the law's own success. The initial sign-up day appeared to draw heavy interest that suggested pent-up demand for just the kind of coverage now being offered.
• Tennessee State University student Sam Rutherford, 31, said he signed up for a policy on Tuesday, some 15 years after a sledding accident that resulted in him losing several organs.
• "I've been virtually uninsurable since that time," he said.
• In 36 states where the federal government is running the marketplaces, a snag involving security questions on users' accounts cropped up repeatedly, preventing many from completing their enrollment.
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US dialogue with Iran neutralizes Israeli threat to take military action
• JERUSALEM (AP) -- President Barack Obama's decision to open a dialogue with Iran's new president appears to have robbed Israel of a key asset in its campaign to prevent the Islamic Republic from developing a nuclear weapon: the threat of unilaterally attacking Iranian nuclear facilities.
• Despite some tough rhetoric in a speech to the U.N. by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it will be all but impossible for Israel to take military action once negotiations between Iran and world powers resume.
• As a result, Israel could find itself sidelined in the international debate over how to handle the suspect Iranian nuclear program over the coming months and reliant on the United States at a time when American credibility in the region is in question.
• For years, Netanyahu has warned that Iran is steadily marching toward the development of nuclear weapons, an assessment widely shared by the West. While welcoming international sanctions and diplomacy to engage Iran, Netanyahu has repeatedly said these efforts must be backed by a "credible" military threat. Iran says its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes.
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