Seattle Post Intelligencer
Hundreds flee S. Calif. island wildfire
By ANDREW GLAZERASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
AVALON, Calif. -- Firefighters working through the night turned back flames that threatened Santa Catalina Island's main city and forced hundreds of people to evacuate amid falling ashes.
The wildfire was 4,000 acres, or more than 6 square miles, and was only 10 percent contained early Friday. But worries were eased by the day's favorable weather forecast and the arrival of a massive force of fire trucks and water-dropping aircraft on the narrow, mountainous island 30 miles off Los Angeles.
Flames that had menaced the city the night before were no longer visible from Avalon on Friday.
A puff of smoke rose from a hillside overlooking the crescent harbor and a layer of ash were reminders of a harrowing night.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_SoCal_Fire.html?source=mypi
NASA study: Eastern U.S. to get hotter
By SETH BORENSTEINAP SCIENCE WRITER
WASHINGTON -- Future eastern United States summers look much hotter than originally predicted with daily highs about 10 degrees warmer than in recent years by the mid-2080s, a new NASA study says.
Previous and widely used global warming computer estimates predict too many rainy days, the study says. Because drier weather is hotter, they underestimate how warm it will be east of the Mississippi River, said atmospheric scientists Barry Lynn and Leonard Druyan of Columbia University and NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
"Unless we take some strong action to curtail carbon dioxide emissions, it's going to get a lot hotter," said Lynn, now a scientist at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "It's going to be a lot more dangerous for people who are not in the best of health."
The study got mixed reviews from other climate scientists, in part because the eastern United States has recently been wetter and cooler than forecast.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1501AP_Hot_Future.html?source=mypi
Gates Foundation gives $7.1M to support Gulf Coast housing
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEATTLE -- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said Thursday it would give $7.1 million to help Gulf Coast organizations advocate for affordable housing and workers' rights.
The money, which will be distributed by Oxfam America, is intended to help the people whose homes were destroyed by hurricanes Katrina and Rita and those who have been employed to work on the cleanup.
"During the past year and a half, we have seen how many of the Gulf Coast's neediest residents have been denied the resources they need to rebuild their lives - and how the low-wage workers who are making the rebuilding effort possible have been exploited," Raymond C. Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America, said in a statement.
He said Oxfam works with local community leaders who are advocating for change in Louisiana and Mississippi.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_BRF_Gates_Foundation_Katrina.html
Britain's Brown vows to learn from Iraq
By D'ARCY DORANASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
LONDON -- Gordon Brown launched his campaign to become Britain's next prime minister on Friday, pledging to learn from the mistakes of the Iraq war while honoring "our obligations to the Iraqi people." Brown, who faces no serious opposition after waiting more than a decade for his chance to lead the country, said there needed to be a stronger emphasis on political reconciliation and economic development in Iraq.
"And obviously we've got to more to win the battle of hearts and minds against al-Qaida terrorism."
Prime Minister Tony Blair, who announced he would resign June 27, officially endorsed Brown on Friday. As Treasury chief, Brown is credited with much of Britain's recent economic boom.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Britain_Blair_Brown.html?source=mypi
Ruse to get suspect's DNA upheld -- 'very scary,' privacy expert says
By TRACY JOHNSONP-I REPORTER
Seattle police detectives' elaborate trick to get a murder suspect's DNA was upheld Thursday by the state Supreme Court, a ruling that could give police more leeway and
The 6-3 majority found that the DNA evidence was properly used against John Athan, who was convicted in 2004 of killing a 13-year-old Magnolia girl more than two decades earlier.
"Although the ruse used by detectives in this case violated certain statutes, it was not so outrageous or shocking as to warrant dismissing the case," Justice Charles Johnson wrote.
Athan licked a return envelope a few years ago because he thought he was taking part in a class-action lawsuit over parking tickets. Instead, he'd fallen for a police trick -- a letter from a fake law firm -- aimed at getting a sample of his DNA.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/315149_dnatrick11.html
Venture Capital: E-mail by voice -- It's quite a deal
By JOHN COOKP-I REPORTER
You've seen them before, people speeding down Interstate 5 talking incessantly on their cell phone or sitting at a stoplight tapping a message on a BlackBerry.
John Pollard, who left Microsoft last year to create Jott Networks, recognizes those potential hazards as a business opportunity.
Some heavy-hitting investors do too. Jott, which has developed a technology to convert voice to text and then have the messages broadcast via e-mail or text message to individuals or groups of people, has landed $5.4 million in a deal led by Boston-based Bain Capital. Other investors in the 13-month-old mobile startup include Ackerley Partners, Draper Richards and the investment firm of Skype founder Niklas Zennstrom.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/venture/315302_vc11.html
Pro-democracy parties to lead in Serbia
By DUSAN STOJANOVICASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BELGRADE, Serbia -- Serbia's pro-democracy parties have reached a power-sharing deal to form a new government, the hardline parliament speaker said Friday, an agreement that averts the possibility of his radical ultranationalists regaining power.
Western governments and Serbia's neighbors were alarmed this week by the election of an admirer of Serbia's late nationalist President Slobodan Milosevic as the parliament speaker - the No. 2 post in the country.
Earlier Friday, U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns warned that if Tomislav Nikolic's Radical Party came to power in Serbia, it would "seriously harm" the country's relations with the West.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Serbia_Government.html
Fort Dix suspects denied bail
By GEOFF MULVIHILLASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
CAMDEN, N.J. -- Six Muslim men suspected of plotting to massacre U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix were ordered held without bail Friday.
Prosecutors argued that the men, all born outside the United States, pose a flight risk. They are being held at a federal detention center in Philadelphia.
The men were arrested Monday night during what the FBI said was an attempt to buy AK-47 machine guns, M-16s and other weapons. They targeted Fort Dix, a post 25 miles east of Philadelphia that is used primarily to train reservists, partly because one of them had delivered pizzas there and was familiar with the base, according to court filings. Their objective was to kill "as many American soldiers as possible," the documents said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Fort_Dix_Plot.html?source=mypi
Jury acquits first man charged under bestiality law
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TACOMA, Wash. -- A Pierce County jury has acquitted a man accused of having sex with the family dog.
Michael Patrick McPhail, 26, of Spanaway, was found not guilty Wednesday in Pierce County Superior Court of first-degree animal cruelty.
Assistant Pierce County Prosecutor Karen Watson said last fall that McPhail was the first person charged in the county under a new state law that made bestiality a felony.
"I'm glad that justice was able to see it wasn't an action of my doing," McPhail said as he left the court building.
He said he believes his wife made up the story because she is seeking to end their marriage.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Bestiality_Charge.html
Governors worry about depleted Guard units
Conflicts draining equipment levels
By MITCH STACYTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TAMPA, Fla. -- With repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan leaving state National Guards without nearly half of their required equipment, some governors are loudly questioning whether they will be able to handle the next hurricane, wildfire or terrorist attack at home.
"We are not going to be able to continue to rely on the National Guard as a full-time operational force" overseas if the Guardsmen are to do their job at home, North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley said.
Easley said his state has about half the equipment it needs and could probably respond adequately to a hurricane, but "a pandemic or something like that may be a different question."
The widespread problem of permanently losing National Guard equipment to the war was pushed to the forefront this week when Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius complained that shortages of equipment and well-trained personnel slowed Guard response to the killer tornadoes that ravaged her state.
"A lot of equipment has gone to Iraq and the equipment doesn't come back when the troops come back," California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Thursday.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/315291_guard11.html
McKay: Attorney General Gonzales must go
2 fired prosecutors talk of 'dark cloud' over Justice Dept.
By COLIN McDONALDP-I REPORTER
The only way to restore the public's faith in the Justice Department and boost the flagging morale of federal prosecutors nationwide is for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to step down, John McKay, former U.S. attorney for Western Washington, said Thursday.
"The only solution I see coming is for a new attorney general who has the instant respect of the Senate Judiciary Committee," he said. "I think what people fear is another political battle and another Bushie coming in."
McKay and David Iglesias, former U.S. attorney of New Mexico, shared their views with the P-I editorial board. Both said the abrupt, unexplained firings of eight U.S. attorneys -- McKay and Iglesias included -- have put a "dark cloud" over the Justice Department and it's up to President Bush to clear the air.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/315287_usattorneys11.html
Number of legal mercy killings drops in Holland
By MIKE CORDERTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS
THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- The number of euthanasia cases is falling sharply in the Netherlands, where mercy killings were legalized six years ago, a government-funded report said Thursday.
A survey presented to Deputy Health Minister Jet Bussemaker said terminally ill patients are increasingly choosing to be sedated until they die a natural death.
The number of euthanasia cases in 2005 fell to 2,325 from 3,500 in 2001, when the euthanasia law was passed. Assisted suicides dropped to 100 from 300, she said.
The percentage of all deaths by euthanasia dropped to 1.7 percent from 2.6 percent in 2001, Bussemaker said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/315264_netherlands11.html
15,000 police set for Pakistan protests
By ZARAR KHANASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
KARACHI, Pakistan -- Authorities marshaled 15,000 security forces in Pakistan's largest city Friday, fearing clashes during rival protests by opponents of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and a pro-government party with a history of violence.
Government opponents hope to hold their biggest demonstration yet Saturday against Musharraf's decision to suspend the head of the Supreme Court two months ago, a move that has plunged Pakistan into deepening political turmoil.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_Pakistan_Judicial_Crisis.html
Differences in lobbying bills
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Lobbying changes approved by the Senate but under challenge in the House would:
-Require lobbyists to report when they "bundle" campaign contributions from multiple donors into one package.
-Require former lawmakers to wait two years before becoming lobbyists.
-Ban lobbyists from throwing parties for lawmakers at national conventions.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1153AP_Lobbying_Reform_Glance.html
Army strives to keep midlevel officers
By LOLITA C. BALDORASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- The Army will offer incentives to keep midlevel officers as it faces another decade or so in combat around the world, its chief of staff said Friday.
Gen. George Casey, who took over as the Army's chief just a month ago, said the United States will "be in a period of conflict for, I believe, another five or ten years." And the Army, which has been stretched and stressed by five difficult years at war, must be organized and equipped to deal with that challenge, he said.
The general said he is not suggesting that the Iraq or Afghanistan wars will last five more years. But Casey, who was the top commander in Iraq until last month, acknowledged that building a stable, self-governing Iraq is a "long-term proposition."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1152AP_Army_Incentives.html
2 car bombs at Baghdad bridges kill 23
By RAVI NESSMANASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BAGHDAD -- Two suicide car bombers struck checkpoints at Baghdad bridges within minutes of each other Friday, killing at least 23 people and damaging the spans despite increased American efforts to target the insurgent networks planning deadly vehicle attacks.
The U.S. military announced earlier Friday that it had conducted a series of raids against car bombing networks across the country, killing four suspected insurgents and detaining nine.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iraq.html
Olmert wants to appear before war panel
By AMY TEIBELASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Ehud Olmert wants to appear again before the Lebanon war commission, after testimony released by the body showed he blamed the army for shortcomings but acknowledged he ignored warnings that Israeli forces were unprepared for the conflict last summer.
Olmert's office said late Thursday that he wants to counter a statement to the commission from his foreign minister and political rival, Tzipi Livni, that she recommended a diplomatic solution instead of a large-scale military operation the day after Hezbollah guerrillas captured two soldiers and killed three in a cross-border raid. Olmert said there was no such recommendation.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Israel_War_Inquiry.html
Key moments in Gordon Brown's career
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Key moments in the life of Gordon Brown.
Feb 20, 1951: Born in Glasgow, Scotland.
June 9, 1983: Wins election to British parliament in second attempt.
May, 12 1994: Tipped as Labour leader following the death of party chief John Smith.
Late May 1994: Brown and Tony Blair - a friend but political rival - reputedly strike deal on leadership at London restaurant. Blair stands as Labour chief, promising Brown control of economic policy.
May 1, 1997: Blair's Labour Party wins 419 of 659 seats in House of Commons, ending 18 years of Conservative government. Brown becomes Treasury chief.
May 6, 1997: Brown pushes through a key early policy: handing power to set interest rates to the Bank of England.
Nov. 5, 1997: Brown sets five economic criteria for British entry of the European single currency, effectively ensuring Britain would not adopt the euro.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Brown_Chronology.html
Zimbabwe likely to head key U.N. body
By EDITH M. LEDERERASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
UNITED NATIONS -- Zimbabwe is likely to win approval to head a key U.N. body charged with promoting economic progress and environmental protection despite protests from some Western countries and human rights organizations.
The 53-member Commission on Sustainable Development is scheduled to vote Friday on its new chair, U.N. officials said. The chair traditionally rotates among regions of the world, and it is Africa's choice this year. The continent has chosen Zimbabwe as its candidate, and the government has nominated Francis Nhema, the minister of environment and tourism for the post.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1105AP_UN_Zimbabwe.html
Zimbabwe lawyer decries intimidation
NEW YORK -- Zimbabwe's government is intimidating, arresting and beating lawyers in an attempt to destroy the beleaguered political opposition's last line of defense, one of the country's leading attorneys said Wednesday.
Although President Robert Mugabe's security forces have roughed up lawyers for years, the mistreatment has increased in recent weeks with the arrests of four prominent attorneys, said Arnold Tsunga, the executive director of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.
Lawyers who protested two of the arrests by demonstrating outside the country's high court on Tuesday were manhandled and struck with riot batons, according to witnesses and the Zimbabwe Law Society. Some were forced into a truck, taken to a suburban field and beaten, they said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1105AP_Zimbabwe_Rights_Lawyer.html
Gunmen kill 2 police in southern Nigeria
By DAN UDOHASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria -- Gunmen wearing military fatigues jumped from their vehicles in Nigeria's southern oil center and killed two police officers Thursday in the latest violence to strike the petroleum-producing region, officials and witnesses said.
The attack in the city of Port Harcourt took place near the offices of major international oil and construction companies, said Rivers State police spokeswoman Irejua Barasua.
"The command will not tolerate the incessant killing of policemen," she said. Seven other officers were killed last month after two police stations were attacked by unknown gunmen.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1105AP_Nigeria_Oil_Unrest.html
Pope says he suppports excommunication
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ROME -- Pope Benedict XVI said Wednesday he supports excommunication for politicians who backed Mexico City's decision to legalize abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Church doctrine calls for automatic excommunication for anyone procuring an abortion.
"It's nothing new, it's normal," Benedict said during an airborne news conference aboard the plane carrying him to Brazil on his first pilgrimage to Latin America.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1101AP_Pope_Mexico.html
Cuba accuses U.S. of violating treaties
By ANITA SNOWASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
HAVANA -- Cuba accused the U.S. government on Friday of violating international anti-terrorism treaties by allowing Luis Posada Carriles, a man Havana accuses of violent acts against the country, to walk free of all charges after an immigration indictment against him was dropped.
"The U.S. government has not only violated its own laws and supposed commitment to its self-proclaimed 'War Against Terrorism,' but also to its own international obligations," said a government declaration published Friday in the Communist Party newspaper Granma.
The declaration detailed several international treaties it said the United States had violated, but did not say whether it would take any diplomatic action.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1102AP_Cuban_Militant.html
Cuba frees journalist after 22 months
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HAVANA -- Cuba has released an journalist who served 22-months in prison for participating in an anti-government rally, a local activist and a foreign media watchdog group said Thursday.
Roberto de Jesus Guerra Perez, who reported for U.S. Web sites, was released from Valle Grande prison outside Havana on Tuesday, according to veteran dissident Martha Beatriz Roque, who said she spoke with Guerra shortly after he was freed.
Guerra has been a contributor to Miami's Payolibre and Nueva Prensa Cubana, as well as the U.S. government-funded Radio Marti.
He was among six dissidents who were picked up during a street protest on July 13, 2005, the 11th anniversary of the deadly sinking of a migrant-filled tugboat. Government opponents say the boat was rammed by the Cuban coast guard and that 41 people died, but authorities called it an accidental collision with 32 dead.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1102AP_Cuba_Journalist_Freed.html
Haiti migrants angry by alleged ramming
By STEVENSON JACOBSASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Survivors of the worst disaster to hit Haitian migrants in years were "angry and revolted" as they accused a Turks and Caicos police vessel of ramming their crowded boat twice before it capsized, killing dozens in shark-infested waters, a senior official said Wednesday.
The shocking allegation against the British territory's police boat didn't come out until Tuesday because the 78 survivors of the disaster have been locked in a jail-like detention center and barred from speaking to journalists.
Officials say about 160 migrants were jammed onto a rickety sailboat that capsized before dawn last Friday, spilling most of them into the Atlantic Ocean a half-mile off one of the islands in the Turks and Caicos, 125 miles north of Haiti.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1102AP_Haitian_Boat_Capsizes.html
Bush passes the buck on Iraq
By HELEN THOMASHEARST NEWSPAPERS
WASHINGTON -- President Bush still has to learn "the buck stops here" when it comes to presidential decisions.
The "decider" and commander in chief seems to be trying to pass the buck, particularly if the war in Iraq implodes and he has to bring troops home from his disastrous invasion of Iraq.
The president is counting on Gen. David Petraeus -- the top military commander in Iraq -- and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to take the fall if his troop "surge" fails.
Bush is a long way from that mirage even with an expected Pentagon buildup of U.S. troops to 160,000 by midsummer.
Bush's war of choice -- now in its fifth year -- has taken 3,368 American lives and wounded thousands more Americans.
The death toll for the Iraqi people is reportedly in the hundreds of thousands, although the Iraqi Health Ministry says it will no longer disclose the casualty figures.
Bush had a 25-minute telephone call with al-Maliki earlier this week after feeling the domestic political pressure following his veto of war funding legislation that called for U.S. troops to withdraw, starting Oct. 1.
Vice President Dick Cheney followed up with a personal visit with al-Maliki in Baghdad, where he told the Iraqi that the U.S. has a dim view of the Iraqi parliament's plan to take a two-month vacation this summer.
Both Bush and Congress have laid down the law to the beleaguered al-Maliki with this message: If his government doesn't pass an oil law divvying up Iraq's vast oil reserves among the three ethnic-religious groups and if he fails to reconcile the various Iraqi factions, the U.S. just might just pack up and leave.
This is the same Bush administration trying to throw its weight around after destroying Iraq and destabilizing the entire Middle East. But al-Maliki will be there to catch the blame.
Last week in a speech to the Associated General Contractors of America, Bush put the burden on Petraeus and quoted the commander as saying that "it's going to be at least until the end of this summer that he will know whether or not the new strategy (of escalating the troops by thousands) has achieved successes."
But White House spokesman Tony Snow rejected any suggestion that Petraeus' comments pointed to September as a deadline. The president was not accepting any troop withdrawal date, Snow insisted.
More ominous is a report Wednesday by Washington Post columnist David Ignatius that an unnamed Saudi source said Bush told the Saudis that he will not withdraw from Iraq during his presidency.
If true, that's more in line with speculation that Bush wants to run out the clock and pass the war on to his successor at the White House.
However, it's not far-fetched to believe that Republicans will wake up and see their re-election chances flame out if Bush continues the war until 2008.
The latest CBS-New York Times poll said the president has dropped to 24 percent in his approval ratings on his handling of the war. President Nixon's Watergate scandal-plagued polls fell to 23 percent when he was forced to resign from office.
But the same CBS-TV poll said 56 percent of those sampled believe that congressional Democrats should fund the war -- despite a presidential veto of a bill that included a withdrawal timetable.
The White House has translated any effort to withhold war funding as a signal that Congress is failing to support the troops, tying the hands of the generals and acquiescing to "surrender."
In his remarks to the contractors, the president blamed al-Qaida -- the terrorist network -- for ratcheting up the sectarian violence in Baghdad between the Shiites and the Sunnis and the high-profile suicide bombings.
"The most visible and violent front of this global war is Iraq," Bush said. "It's a tough fight ... . Illegal armed groups continue their attacks, insurgents remain deadly" and have to be dealt with.
"Al-Qaida is public enemy No. 1 in Iraq," Bush declared. "It's in our interest to stay in the fight."
Soon after the war started and all the false rationales justifying the invasion were falling like 10 pins, Ari Fleischer, Bush's first press secretary, stepped up to the podium in the White House pressroom and picked the battleground, declaring: "Iraq is the central front in the war on terrorism." And al-Qaida took him at his word.
The mantra for Bush's new strategy in the war is called "the way forward." But if Americans have any say, it should be "the way out."
Helen Thomas is a columnist for Hearst Newspapers. E-mail: helent@hearstdc.com. Copyright 2007 Hearst Newspapers.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/315244_thomas11.html
General testifies in Haditha deaths case
By THOMAS WATKINS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
Marine Corps Capt. Randy Stone, right, arrives with an unidentified woman, left, for his Article 32 Investigation hearing at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base in San Diego county, Calif., Tuesday, May 8, 2007. Stone is one of four officers who are charged with failing to properly investigate the Nov. 19, 2005 killings of 24 Iraqis. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- A Marine general testified Thursday that he initially saw no reason to investigate the killing of women and children by troops in the Iraqi town of Haditha, and said he didn't learn about allegations that civilians were intentionally targeted until three months later.
Maj. Gen. Richard A. Huck was the top general in charge of Marines in Iraq's Al Anbar province when 24 civilians were killed in Haditha on Nov. 19, 2005. He testified that he knew about the deaths that day but considered them simply a "truly unfortunate" consequence of war at the time.
"I had no information that a law of armed conflict violation had been committed," Huck said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Marines_Haditha.html
Gunman shoots 5 aboard Chicago city bus
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO -- Five teenage passengers were shot while riding a Chicago Transit Authority bus on the city's South Side on Thursday, authorities said.
The victims were all taken to area hospitals, said Chicago Police spokesman Tom Polick. Two teenage boys and one girl were in critical condition, while another girl was in good condition, officials said. A fifth passenger's condition was unknown.
"A lone, armed offender boarded the bus and shortly after boarding the bus fired multiple shots," Assistant Deputy Superintendent Eugene Williams said at a news conference.
The male suspect exited the bus and ran south after the shooting, said Williams, who asked the public to call in with tips.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Chicago_Bus_Shooting.html
Police, bomb dog search Colo. school
By COLLEEN SLEVIN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
Boulder Police SWAT team members leave Boulder High School in Boulder, Colo., after spending more than five hours searching the school on Thursday, May 10, 2007. Police launched a room-to-room search of Boulder High School early Thursday after a cook reported seeing two suspicious men in the building, both wearing camouflage and one wearing a ski mask. Classes were canceled for the day. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)
BOULDER, Colo. -- Police searched a high school room by room Thursday after a cook reported seeing two suspicious men in the building around dawn, both wearing camouflage and one in a ski mask.
Authorities said no classes or groups were meeting in Boulder High School at the time. Police sealed off the building, and school officials canceled classes for the day.
A four-hour search by 23 officers in three SWAT teams found no signs of a break-in, Police Chief Mark Beckner said. The search included utility-access tunnels under the building and at one point two officers could be seen on the roof, their rifles drawn.
Beckner said there was no indication the intruders were armed.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_School_Lockdown.html
House rejects nine-month Iraq withdrawal
By DAVID ESPO
AP SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., second from left, accompanied by fellow House Democratic leaders, talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, May 10, 2007, after a closed-door meeting to discuss Iraq war legislation. From left are, House Majority Whip James Clyburn of S.C., Pelosi, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill. and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Md. (AP
View related video
WASHINGTON -- The Democratic-controlled House defeated legislation Thursday to require the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq within nine months, then pivoted quickly to a fresh challenge of President Bush's handling of the unpopular war.
The vote on the nine-month withdrawal measure was 255-171.
On a day of complex maneuvering, Democrats said they would approve legislation funding the war on an installment plan, and Bush said he would veto it. But the president, under pressure from lawmakers in both parties, coupled his threat with an offer to accept a spending bill that sets out standards for the Iraqi government to meet.
"Time's running out, because the longer we wait the more strain we're going to put on the military," said Bush, who previously had insisted on what he termed a "clean" war funding bill.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1151AP_US_Iraq.html?source=mypi
Final Fla. officer guilty in FBI probe
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The last of four police officers pleaded guilty Thursday to helping protect what they thought was a mob shipment of heroin during an undercover FBI probe.
Hollywood Sgt. Jeffry Courtney, 52, admitted to a federal charge of heroin conspiracy. Sentencing was set for July 27.
The charge carries a potential sentence of 10 years to life in prison, but under sentencing guidelines Courtney would likely get between nine and 14 years.
Courtney and the three other Hollywood officers were arrested in February, following the two-year corruption probe dubbed "Operation Tarnished Badge." Court documents say the officers took part in illegal activities including gambling, stolen valuables and the drug escort, although all the operations were FBI setups.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Police_Corruption.html
Teacher's husband indicted in teen death
By DUNCAN MANSFIELD
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- A grand jury indicted a man accused of killing his wife's teenage lover on a murder charge, but not the first-degree count prosecutors had sought, according to court documents released Thursday.
The second-degree murder count against Eric McLean carries a 25-year maximum sentence, instead of the life term the higher-level charge carries. The Knox County grand jury reached the decision May 2 after hearing from several witnesses, including McLean's wife.
"Needless to say I am just thrilled as I can be," defense attorney Bruce Poston said. "This is a major, major positive step for Eric McLean. When you take first (-degree murder) off the table, it changes the whole trial strategy."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Teacher_Sex_Slaying.html
New Orleans' state-run schools score low
By JANET MCCONNAUGHEY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
NEW ORLEANS, La. -- About two-thirds of students in New Orleans high schools that were taken over by the state after Hurricane Katrina flunked the state graduation exam, according to figures released Thursday.
About 40 percent of the city's fourth graders and a third of the eighth-graders in those schools failed promotion exams.
When Katrina hit on Aug. 29, 2005, and flooded 80 percent of the city, it also shut down the city's already troubled public school system, which ran more than 100 schools.
Since then, 58 have reopened: 22 are run by the state's Recovery School District, five remain under the authority of the city's school board, and 31 have been handed over to private charter organizations.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_New_Orleans_Schools.html
Informants scrutinized in Fort Dix case
By GEOFF MULVIHILL
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
Ismail Badat, left, a trustee of the Islamic Center of South Jersey, stands in the mosque in Palmyra, N.J., Thursday, May 10, 2007. Badat said several of the six men accused of plotting to kill U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix Army base regularly attended Friday prayer services at the mosque. (AP Photo/Mike Derer)
CHERRY HILL, N.J. -- He railed against the United States, helped scout out military installations for attack, offered to introduce his comrades to an arms dealer, and gave them a list of weapons he could procure, including machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
These were not the actions of a terrorist, but of a paid FBI informant who helped bring down an alleged plot by six Muslim men to massacre U.S. soldiers at New Jersey's Fort Dix.
And those actions have raised questions of whether the government crossed the line and pushed the six men down a path they would not have otherwise followed.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Fort_Dix_Plot.html
U.S. charges suspected bin Laden driver
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The United States filed charges of conspiracy and providing support for terrorism Thursday against a Guantanamo detainee accused of working as a driver and bodyguard for Osama bin Laden.
Salim Ahmed Hamdan is the third Guantanamo detainee to be charged under a new set of rules signed last year by President Bush after the Supreme Court rejected the previous system.
Hamdan, who is from Yemen, has been detained at Guantanamo since May 2002. It was his legal challenge that forced the Bush administration and Congress to draft new rules for the military trials, known as commissions, for the men held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center in eastern Cuba.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1102AP_Guantanamo_Charges.html?source=mypi
China names special envoy for Darfur
By ALEXA OLESEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BEIJING -- China announced the appointment of a special envoy dedicated to the Darfur crisis Thursday as Beijing faces international pressure to do more to resolve the conflict and the possibility of an Olympic boycott if it fails to act.
The move came a day after a group of U.S. politicians demanded China use its influence as one of Sudan's biggest trade partners to persuade the African nation to stop the bloodshed in Darfur.
It also followed the release of an Amnesty International report this week claiming China and Russia breached a U.N. arms embargo by letting weapons into Sudan. Both countries denied the charge.
China has been widely accused of not doing enough on Darfur, given that it buys two-thirds of Sudan's oil exports and sells the Khartoum regime weapons and military aircraft. As a veto-holding permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, China has blocked efforts to send U.N. peacekeepers to Darfur without Sudan's consent.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_China_Sudan.html
Koreas put final touches on agreement
By JAE-SOON CHANG
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
South Korean delegator Army Col. Moon Sung-mook, center, and other delegates are guided by North Korean soldiers after they crossed the border for a military meeting at the North side of the border village of Panmunjom, North Korea, Wednesday, May 9, 2007. Inter-Korean military talks entered a rocky second day Wednesday after the North complained about the South's tardiness to the negotiations, which aim to pave the way for a historic run of trains across their border. (AP Photo/ Korea Pool)
SEOUL, South Korea -- Military officers from the two Koreas put the final touches on a security agreement for a test-run of trains across their heavily armed border as their talks stretched into an unscheduled fourth day Friday.
The planned test would be the first time trains have crossed the tightly sealed border in more than half a century. Inter-Korean rail links were severed during the 1950-53 Korean War, but two tracks have been reconnected as part of a series of reconciliation projects launched since the two sides held the first meeting of their leaders in 2000.
North Korea's military consented Wednesday to providing security for next week's trial run on a one-time basis, but the South was seeking to expand the agreement to cover similar future border crossings as well, according to pool reports.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_Koreas_Talks.html
Taliban says it abducted local spokesman
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KABUL, Afghanistan -- A Taliban commander said the militant group kidnapped the spokesman for a provincial governor Thursday, and a police chief said authorities were investigating.
The Taliban kidnapped Uruzgan governor spokesman Qayum Qayumi while he was traveling in a vehicle near Tirin Kot, the provincial capital of the southern province, said Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Bari.
Gen. Abdul Qassim, the provincial police chief, said Qayumi was last seen at Tirin Kot's main market just before noon Thursday. He said police were investigating Qayumi's whereabouts.
In Helmand province, meanwhile, Afghan civilians fought with Taliban militants who hit a checkpoint near Sangin on Wednesday, leaving three of the attackers dead, the Interior Ministry said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_Afghan_Violence.html
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