Nation briefs 9/16/06

Ford cuts 10,000 more salaried jobs, 2 plants

DETROIT -- Ford took drastic steps on Friday to remold itself into a smaller, more competitive company, slashing thousands of jobs and shuttering two additional plants to cut costs and fend off a financial crisis. The company announced it would cut 10,000 more white-collar positions in addition to offering buyout and early retirement packages to all of its 75,000 hourly employees. It also suspended its dividend. Ford's shares slumped nearly 12 percent. The announcement came as Chrysler's parent said it would cut U.S. production through the end of 2006 and follows big cutbacks at General Motors earlier this year.

Poll: Both parties able to protect country

WASHINGTON --Americans view Republicans and Democrats equally capable for protecting the country, according to a new Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Friday. A poll of 1,501 adults conducted Monday through Wednesday showed President Bush's public support has increased and Republicans have erased an advantage Democrats had last month on the measure of which party would best protect the country.

Study: Drug helps prevent diabetes

The largest diabetes prevention study ever done has found that a drug already used to treat the disease also can help keep "pre-diabetics" from developing it. But many experts say that losing weight and exercising remain a safer, cheaper approach. The drug, rosiglitazone, or Avandia, appeared to cut the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by more than half, doctors reported Friday. Type 2 is the most common form of diabetes that afflicts more than 200 million people worldwide.

Madrid enacts first ban on overly thin models

MADRID, Spain --Thin is not in -- at least in Madrid. Madrid's Fashion Week is turning away models with a Body Mass Index (a height to weight ratio) below 18, saying they are too thin. That means 30 percent of the models won't make the cut in Madrid. (Someone who has a BMI of 18 is a person 5 feet 9 inches tall who weighs about 125 pounds.) Show organizers, and the Madrid regional government, imposed the ban after last year's Fashion Week drew protests that some of the models were too thin. They say they want to project an image of beauty and health -- not the waif-like lollipop look.

School bus crash in Mich. injures at least 23

LAKE ODESSA, Mich. -- A car collided Friday morning with a school bus filled with students, knocking the bus onto its side and injuring several people, the Ionia County sheriff's office said. Mike O'Mara, interim superintendent of Lakewood Public Schools, said he was told by paramedics that none of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening. He also said at least 23 people were treated at hospitals. Deputies said an 18-year-old woman drove through a stop sign and broadsided the bus.

-- From wire reports