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March 19, 2012 | | INVESTIGATION The Boeing 737, based on a 1960s design, is America’s most popular airplane model. But aviation experts worry that it is prone to cracks in its skin. In this week’s Newsweek, Clive Irving investigates. WHERE’S THE MONEY? Is this his kryptonite? While the president is raising more than the GOP contenders, Obama’s campaign has focused mostly on small donations—and is failing to pull in donations of $2,000 or more. At this point last election, Obama had 23,000 supporters who gave large donations. This year he’s only at 11,000 (when Dubya was running for reelection he had four times that number). While it could be a sign of financial problems to come, some Democrats don’t think so: they blame the lack of big money boosts on the economy, disillusioned wealthy liberals, and lackluster GOP challengers. SHOOTING A gunman on a motorcycle reportedly opened fire Monday morning outside a Jewish school in the French city of Toulouse, killing at least four people, among them a teacher and his two children. The shooting comes days after soldiers in the same region were gunned down by a man on a motorbike in two attacks. Police said a similar gun was used in all three shootings, while Interior Minister Claude Guéant said there are “similarities.” Children were arriving for morning classes at the Ozar Hatorah school when the gunman attacked, then sped off. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he was traveling to the school immediately. AFGHANISTAN While Afghans have expressed outrage over the shooting allegedly carried out by Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, a Taliban commander told reporters Sunday that he wants the man tried in the country. “We want this soldier to be prosecuted in Afghanistan, and according to Islamic law,” the Taliban leader said. “The Afghans should prosecute him.” He went on to say he was skeptical of reports that the shooting was carried out by only one soldier. “The foreigners and the puppet regime are blind to the truth of what happened here,” said the Taliban official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Relations between the United States and Afghanistan have degenerated recently, prompted by the shooting and the burning of copies of the Quran in February by American soldiers. SPARE CASH $100 billion is a lot to keep under the mattress. Apple announced Sunday that it will outline plans for its monstrous stockpile of cash in a conference call Monday. Executives at the company have been devising a strategy with the company’s board of directors, CEO Tim Cook told reporters. “It’s a lot,” he said. “It’s more than we need to run the company.” Some stockholders have been clamoring for a slice, and would like to see the tech giant issue a dividend, while others say they’d prefer a recurring payout instead of a one-shot deal. The amount of cash Apple has on hand grew to $97.6 billion as of last December, a jump from the $59.7 billion it had stashed away a year earlier. | | 
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