Current News (Part 4)

[Littledragon]

Rescuers try to reach downed helicopter.

(CNN) -- Rescuers were battling darkness to reach eastern Afghanistan's Hindu Kush mountains, where a U.S. military helicopter carrying more than a dozen troops went down Tuesday.

The area west of Asadabad, near the Pakistan border, is known for having snow-covered peaks rising as high as 7,000 feet.

The doomed MH-47, a variant of the Army's twin-rotor Chinook transport used by special operations troops, was carrying about 16 military personnel onboard, U.S. military officials said.

Military sources tell CNN an emergency beacon went off when the aircraft went down.

The mission was to bring in reinforcements "in support of U.S. forces currently conducting counter-terrorism operations," the Coalition Press Information Center of the Combined Forces Command in Kabul said in a written statement.

Army and Marine forces have been operating in the area, fighting insurgents believed to be crossing in and out of Pakistan.

Neither the cause of the crash nor the condition of those aboard were known late Tuesday. The military has not released any identities of the members onboard.

"U.S. fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters are currently providing close air support to the forces on the ground," the press center said.

In April, 16 people -- 13 U.S. troops and three military contractors -- were killed when a CH-47 Chinook crashed near Ghazni, 80 miles [128 kilometers] southwest of Kabul. It was returning to Bagram Air Base near the capital. (Full story)

A number of U.S. and coalition troops have died in helicopter crashes since the war began in October 2001.


One U.S. airman died of injuries he received when an Air Force HH-60 Pave Hawk combat search and rescue helicopter accidentally crashed during a medical evacuation mission 105 miles (170 kilometers) east of Shindand, Afghanistan, on October 21, 2004.


One U.S. soldier was killed when a helicopter carrying 15 soldiers and Marines developed mechanical problems and crashed in the eastern Afghan province of Khost, on August 12, 2004.


Five U.S. airmen were killed in the accidental crash of a MH-53M Pave Low special operations helicopter east of Bagram Air Base on November 23, 2003.


Six Air Force rescue team members died when an Air Force HH-60 Pave Hawk combat search and rescue helicopter crashed while on the way to help two injured Afghan children on March 23, 2003.


Four soldiers with the U.S. Army's elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment died when a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed near Bagram Air Base on January 30, 2003.


Seven German soldiers died when a German CH-53 Super Stallion helicopter accidentally crashed near Kabul, Afghanistan, on December 21, 2002.


Seven U.S. soldiers were killed when two U.S. MH-47 Chinook helicopters came under heavy fire on March 4, 2002, during Operation Anaconda, the largest coalition offensive of the war.


Two Marines were killed when a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crashed while on a resupply mission in Afghanistan on January 20, 2002.


Two U.S. Army Rangers died when a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Pakistan on October 19, 2001.

CNN's Barbara Starr and Mike Mount contributed to this report.

 

[Littledragon]

Bush: Iraq 'vital' to U.S. security.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush sought to reclaim a public mandate for his Iraq policy Tuesday, telling the American people the war is "vital" to their security and that insurgents there share "the same murderous ideology" as the 9/11 hijackers.

Bush marked the one-year anniversary of the U.S. handover of sovereignty to Iraqis with a nationally televised speech in front of rows of men and women in uniform at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, which is home to airborne and special operations forces.

The president has flatly rejected calls by a number of Democrats -- and even some Republicans -- to set a timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq.

"Setting an artificial timetable would send the wrong message" to Iraqi citizens, U.S. troops and insurgents, Bush said.

He also rejected calls that the United States should send more troops to help put down the insurgency.

"Sending more Americans would undermine our strategy of encouraging Iraqis to take the lead in this fight," he said. "Sending more Americans would suggest that we intend to stay forever, when we are, in fact, working for the day when Iraq can defend itself."

Bush asked for patience with the U.S. strategy, which he described as two-pronged -- with a military component to combat the insurgency and a political effort to build "the institutions of a free society."

"Our strategy can be summed up this way -- as the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down," he said.

While Vice President Dick Cheney last month told CNN that the Iraq insurgency was in its "last throes," the president said Tuesday that the United States has "more work to do."

"There will be tough moments that test America's resolve," he said. "We will not allow our future to be determined by car bombers and assassins."

Bush called the work in Iraq "difficult and dangerous."

"Like most Americans, I see the images of violence and bloodshed. Every picture is horrifying, and the suffering is real," he said. "It is worth it, and it is vital to the future security of our country."

Bush laid out his case for why the effort is important to U.S. security and said the insurgents in Iraq are failing.

"The terrorists can kill the innocent, but they cannot stop the advance of freedom," Bush said. "The only way our enemies can succeed is if we forget the lessons of September 11, if we abandon the Iraqi people to men like [Abu Musab al-] Zarqawi."

"We are fighting against men with blind hatred," Bush said. "They wear no uniform. They respect no laws of warfare or morality. They are trying to shake our will in Iraq, just as they tried to shake our will on September 11, 2001. They will fail."

Poll: Half of Americans doubt Iraq, 9/11 link
The president faces an American public growing restless with Iraq.

According to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday, just 40 percent of those responding said they approved of Bush's handling of the war; 58 percent said they disapproved -- up 2 percentage points from May. (Full story)

But Bush got higher ratings on how he is handling terrorism, with 55 percent approving and 41 percent disapproving.

The president made repeated references in his speech to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, calling Iraq "the latest battlefield" in the war on terrorism.

But Monday's poll found that half of Americans do not see the war in Iraq as part of the war on terror that began after September 11, 2001.

Responding to critics who don't believe the Iraq campaign is a central front in the war on terror, Bush quoted bin Laden, the al Qaeda terrorist mastermind who called it the "Third World War."

"The terrorists know that the outcome will leave them emboldened or defeated. So they are waging a campaign of murder and destruction," he said.

"We fight today because terrorists want to attack our country and kill our citizens, and Iraq is where they are making their stand," he said. "We will stay in the fight until the fight is won."

Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden, however, rejected the president's attempt to link the Iraq war to 9/11.

"I think the American people are a lot smarter than that," he said. "They've figured this out."

David Gergen, a political analyst who has worked in both Democratic and Republican administrations, said the speech was an attempt to "try to stop the slide" in public support.

"What he's playing for is time, so that there's not enormous pressure put on him to withdraw," Gergen told CNN.

Gergen pointed out that Bush never used the term "insurgent," referring to them instead as "terrorists."

"[September 11] has been all along his trump card," Gergen said. "He played it in the campaign; he's playing it again now."

A third rationale for war in Iraq?
Biden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, acknowledged progress in Iraq.

"I just wish he had leveled with [the American people] more," he said. "We cannot afford to lose."

The senator took issue with Bush's statement that his commanders have told him no more troops are needed in Iraq. Biden said during his recent trip to Iraq, the commanders he met indicated otherwise.

"I don't know who's talking to the president," he said.

While Bush said Iraq has "more than 160,000 security forces trained," Biden countered that an overwhelming majority of those "have a long way to go."

"We have do more to reach out and get the rest of the world in on the game," he said.

Sen. John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, told CNN's "Larry King Live" that the speech offered a transformation into what he said was a third rationale for the war in Iraq.

"The first, of course, was weapons of mass destruction. The second was democracy, and now, tonight, it's to combat the hotbed of terrorism," he said. "But most Americans are aware that the hotbed of terrorism never existed in Iraq until we got there."

Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told "Larry King Live" that he was satisfied Bush made his case.

"I think the president laid out tonight an excellent scenario of what the realities are and what we face. [The American people] needed that. Now we need to show some progress on the ground," he said.

There are about 138,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. More than 1,740 U.S. troops have died there since the war began in March 2003 -- 883 of them after last June's handover.

The Iraqi government has made key strides in the year since it regained sovereignty, including historic elections in January. But the fledgling country has seen no let-up in the insurgency.

Iraq's transitional administrative law calls for a new, permanent constitution to be prepared by August 15 and put to the voters in a referendum by October 15.

 

[Littledragon]

Milk-threat study issued over objections.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The National Academy of Sciences is proceeding with publication of a study outlining how terrorists could contaminate the U.S. milk supply with botulism -- despite complaints that the article is a "road map for terrorists."

The article theorizes that hundreds of thousands of people could be poisoned if terrorists exploited vulnerabilities in milk processing.

It includes information on milk pasteurization, the dose of botulinum toxin for humans, the toxin's heat sensitivity and the capacities of the silos in which milk is stored.

The paper "is a road map for terrorists and publication is not in the interests of the United States," Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Stewart Simonson wrote in a May letter to Dr. Bruce Alberts, the science academy chief. (Full story)

But in an editorial accompanying the article, Alberts wrote that all of this information is "immediately accessible on the World Wide Web through a simple Google search."

"A terrorist who wants to do great damage will therefore not find anything in the article that is likely to increase his or her certainty concerning the minimum level of toxin to use," Alberts wrote.

Dr. Lawrence Wein, the Stanford University professor who wrote the article, praised the academy for acting "honorably and professionally."

He said the article offers concrete suggestions on how the security of the milk supply could be improved.

"There has been very little shift from food safety to food security," Wein said. "I hope this paper would help nudge the food industry in that direction ... and [the] government."

Wein told CNN he sent the paper to the Department of Health and Human Services for review in October but never heard back and assumed there were no objections to its content.

The paper appeared briefly May 30 on a password-protected area of the NAS Web site.

When Simonson wrote to the National Academy of Sciences in May asking it not to publish the study, Wein said he was "surprised."

HHS spokesman Mark Wolfson told CNN it was department officials' understanding that Wein would let them know if he submitted the study for publication; he didn't, so they never told him their thoughts.

After HHS raised objections, NAS postponed publication and met with government officials to discuss their concerns.

In his editorial, Alberts said the publication of terrorism-related analysis in open scientific literature can make the nation safer by contributing to the design of new defenses and preventing the federal government from overestimating or underestimating a particular threat.

"Protecting ourselves optimally against terrorist acts will require that both national and state governments, as well as the public, be cognizant of the real dangers," Alberts wrote.

Wolfson said Simonson "respects the academy's decision" to publish the study, but "he doesn't agree with it."

"Good and reasonable people will disagree, but he feels the academy is wrong and that the consequences of publishing could be dire," Wolfson said.

"And it will be HHS and not the academy that will have to deal with the consequences

"He still feels strongly that they shouldn't have published. But he can't stop them, so they are going to do it."

Other scientists have already raised questions about the scientific validity of Wein's study.

Alberts wrote, "This kind of give-and-take lies at the heart of scientific progress and is precisely why scientific analyses are made available in the open literature."

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit society of scientists and engineers chartered by Congress to advise the government on science and technology.

 

[Littledragon]

Supreme Court to tackle abortion protests.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Supreme Court announced Tuesday it will consider limits on anti-abortion protesters outside clinics in the fall.

The court said it will hear an appeal over a 20-year-old campaign against abortion providers. At issue: whether federal laws against racketeering and extortion can be used against those who, according to the official court filing, organize "sit-ins and demonstrations that obstruct public's access" to medical clinics.

Abortion rights supporters say those laws were the only solution against what they call dangerous, often violent behavior aimed at those seeking or providing abortion. They filed suit in federal court more than a decade ago.

Operation Rescue argues that the case is about free speech and the right of assembly. Jay Sekulow, head of the American Center of Law and Justice, which is representing anti-abortion groups, accused opponents of prolonging a "meritless marathon" suit.

The Supreme Court has been at odds over the issue in recent years. In 1998 it concluded that the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, traditionally used against gangsters and organized crime, also applied to anti-abortion groups.

But five years later, in 2003, the court reversed itself, saying RICO was wrongly used against Operation Rescue and other leaders of the anti-abortion movement.

In the latter ruling the court found that protesters cannot be prosecuted for harassing patients and staff, blocking doors, and engaging in other disruptive behavior.

Writing for the majority then, Chief Justice William Rehnquist conceded protesters were disruptive and may have broken the law, but those acts did not constitute "extortion" under the RICO guidelines.

Because the protesters "did not obtain or attempt to obtain (clinic) property, both the state extortion claims and the claim of attempting or conspiring to commit state extortion were fatally flawed," wrote Rehnquist. And "even when their acts of interference and disruption achieved their ultimate goal of 'shutting down' a clinic that performed abortions, such acts did not constitute extortion."

The 2003 ruling lifted a nationwide ban on such protests and applied to a variety of political and ideological protests. Many free-speech advocates, including some that support abortion rights groups, welcomed the decision.

But with the court's approval, a federal appeals panel took another look at the case and concluded that RICO laws had a broad reach and could apply to anti-abortion groups that coordinate acts of violence or menacing threats, not just extortion.

As far back as the mid 1980s anti-abortion groups began offering "classes" on abortion clinic protest strategies. In the past, the Supreme Court has ruled on just how protests can be carried out at abortion clinics, from specifying what kind of conduct is permissible to the distance between the protesters and the clinics.

In addition to the RICO case, the Supreme Court said it also plans to hear a high-profile case involving access to abortion. A federal appeals court dismissed a New Hampshire law on parental notification because it did not provide adequate exceptions for an abortion during a medical emergency.

New Hampshire officials say existing laws provide for such contingencies.

Both cases could carry political resonance, if a Supreme Court retirement is announced in the next few weeks. Rehnquist, 80, has been suffering from thyroid cancer, leading to speculation he might step down.

Any successor will likely face confirmation hearings that could center to a great extent on that person's views and previous rulings on abortion.

So far, there has been no word on retirement from any of the nine justices.

The court's fall term begins October 3.

 

[Lollipop]

US high court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to retire

Supreme Court Justice O'Connor retiring• US high court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to retire

WASHINGTON - Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court and a key swing vote on issues such as abortion and the death penalty, said Friday she is retiring. .

O’Connor, 75, said she will leave before the start of the court’s next term in October, or when the Senate confirms her successor. There was no immediate word from the White House on who might be nominated to replace O’Connor.

It’s been 11 years since the last opening on the court, one of the longest uninterrupted stretches in history. O’Connor’s decision gives Bush his first opportunity to appoint a justice.
Story continues below ↓ advertisement

“This is to inform you of my decision to retire from my position as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, effective upon the nomination and confirmation of my successor. It has been a great privilege indeed to have served as a member of the court for 24 terms. I will leave it with enormous respect for the integrity of the court and its role under our constitutional structure.”

The White House has refused to comment on any possible nominees, or whether Bush would name a woman to succeed O’Connor. Her departure leaves Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the only other woman among the current justices.

Court watchers had expected a Supreme Court vacancy during Bush's second term. There was talk that O'Connor and Justice John Paul Stevens, 85, might consider stepping down. And Chief Justice William Rehnquist, 80, has cancer.

 

[TDWoj]

Bush rejects Kyoto-style deal ahead of G-8 meet

CTV.ca News Staff

Ahead of a meeting with leaders of the world's most powerful nations, U.S. President George Bush has made it clear he's not about to budge on the issue of climate change.

In an interview to be broadcast on Britain's ITV Monday evening, Bush admits that global warming is "a significant, long-term issue," but stresses he will not sign any agreement that even resembles the 1997 UN Kyoto Protocol.

The so-called Kyoto accord, which takes effect in February, calls for a global 5.2 per cent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2012.

The U.S. has refused to sign on, however, citing concerns that adhering to its strict emissions limits would imperil their economy.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has made no secret of his hope of announcing a new Kyoto-style at the summit of G-8 leaders in Gleneagles, Scotland later this week.

But in his interview with ITV's Tonight With Trevor McDonald, Bush made it clear his position on a deal to curb global warming hasn't changed.

"The Kyoto treaty would have wrecked our economy, if I can be blunt," he said, promising to keep rejecting any similar deals in the future.

"If this looks like Kyoto, the answer is no," he said.

Bush also brushed aside the suggestion his support on climate change would be political payback for Tony Blair's support of the unpopular war in Iraq.

"Tony Blair made decisions on what he thought was best for keeping the peace and winning the war on terror, as I did," Bush said.

"So I go to the G-8 not really trying to make him look bad or good, but I go to the G-8 with an agenda that I think is best for our country."

But the president conceded he may be nevertheless willing to soften his position, as he described climate change as "a significant, long-term issue that we've got to deal with."

When asked whether he believes climate change is man-made, Bush offered an uncharacteristic response.

"To a certain extent it is, obviously," he said. "I mean, if fossil fuels create greenhouse gases, we're burning fossil fuel, as is a lot of other countries."

Noting his country's investment in such clean energy technologies as sequestration of carbon dioxide, hydrogen-powered cars and zero emission power stations, Bush said he is still holding out for other G8 leaders to "move beyond the Kyoto debate."

Bush said he would be willing to sit down with any nations willing "to come together and share technologies and develop technologies ... and spend money on research and development, just like the United States is, to help us diversify away from fossil fuels."

The other G-8 nations -- Britain, Canada , France, Germany, Japan, Italy and Russia -- have all signed on to the Kyoto protocol.

Complaining not only of its high costs, but also of its exclusion of developing nations, Bush pulled out of the deal in 2001.

On that issue, Bush said he hopes to make some progress this week.

"Some of the discussions we're going to have at the G-8 ... is to work with India and China as to how to share technology with them, so that we can all work together to clean up the environment, and at the same time have sustained economic growth."

In addition to Chinese and Indian leaders, officials from Mexico, Brazil and South Africa have also been invited attend the three-day G-8 summit in Gleneagles.
---------------------

TD's comment: Bush's assertion that developing alternate, non-oil-using technologies will harm the economy is a load of hogwash. The real reason is his desire to protect the profits made by the oil producers in the U.S. Research, development and implementation of new technologies to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases can significantly contribute to the economy because it will require intellectual and engineering expertise and new manufacturing facilities, thus creating a plethora of new jobs, not to mention increasing the number of those requiring higher education in order to develop the new tech.

It's a good story, Mr. Bush; I'm not buying it.

 

[Littledragon]

Judge orders two Aruba suspects freed.

ORANJESTAD, Aruba (CNN) -- A judge has ordered the release of two of the three suspects being held in the disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba, court officials said Monday.

But the judge ordered suspect Joran Van Der Sloot held for another 60 days while police continue their investigation.

Authorities have interrogated the suspects -- Deepak Kalpoe, 21; his brother Satish, 18; and Van Der Sloot, 17 -- numerous times since their arrests June 9. The three were not charged, and defense attorneys have said they are innocent.

Under Aruban law, prosecutors can request extensions for holding suspects. Each time, they must meet a higher standard for proving the necessity of keeping the suspects in custody before a judge can approve the request.

Prosecutors asked a judge to order the three held for another two months while police continue their search for Holloway, 18. She was last seen early May 30 leaving a nightclub on the Caribbean island with the trio.

After Monday's hearings but before the judge's order was announced, Deepak Kalpoe's attorney, Rudy Oomen, told reporters: "What was presented, in my view, is beneficiary -- is good for my client."

"I feel that there's no grounds to keep my client any longer in detention than he's already had," Oomen said.

Holloway's mother, Beth Holloway Twitty, and stepfather, George "Jug" Twitty, went to the courthouse Monday but weren't allowed inside the hearings because the hearings were closed.

"We just felt like it was important for us to be here," George Twitty told reporters. "We're anxiously awaiting a decision."

Police took the three suspects separately Sunday to a stretch of beach near a Marriott hotel, said Ruben Trapenberg, an Aruban government spokesman.

"Investigators wanted to make sure that their stories matched," Trapenberg said.

At first, the Kalpoe brothers and Van Der Sloot reportedly told prosecutors they dropped Holloway off at the Holiday Inn where she was staying. But police said that account fell apart under questioning.

The Kalpoes' mother has said one of her sons admitted lying to protect Van Der Sloot and said he and his brother took the Dutch youth and Holloway to a beach and dropped them off.

Anita Van Der Sloot also has said her son changed his story and admitted being alone with Holloway on the beach, saying he then left her because she wanted to stay there.

Holloway, from Mountain Brook, Alabama, a Birmingham suburb, was celebrating her high school graduation with classmates and parent chaperones when she disappeared.

Aruban authorities have conducted a widespread search but have found no trace of the American teenager.

The Dutch military have dispatched three F-16s from the Netherlands and 40 air force personnel to assist in the hunt. The aircraft, equipped with lasers and special cameras, are due to arrive Monday evening, the Dutch Defense Ministry said in a news release. (Full story)

Specially trained air force photo interpreters will analyze pictures from each plane.

Aruba is a self-governing island off Venezuela under the protection of the Netherlands.

Specialists from Texas who arrived last weekend also are scouring the island.

Paul Van Der Sloot, Joran's father, was arrested June 23 but released three days later. Aruba's chief prosecutor, Karin Janssen, said the elder Van Der Sloot and his wife, Anita, interfered in the case by asking one of their son's friends what he had told authorities when they questioned him.

Janssen said Van Der Sloot, a judge, also spoke about the case with his son and the two other suspects "some days after" Holloway's disappearance.

"They were speaking about the situation that if you don't have a body, there is no case," Janssen said.

When investigators -- who learned about the conversation during their questioning of one of the Kalpoes -- asked Paul Van Der Sloot about the remarks, the father told them he was speaking about such a situation generally, according to Janssen.

CNN has tried unsuccessfully to contact Paul Van Der Sloot and his wife as well as attorneys representing the father and son.

CNN's Tracy Sabo contributed to this report.

 

[Amos Stevens]

Bike tour raises awareness about war wounded

Bike tour raises awareness about war wounded

Tuesday, July 12, 2005; Posted: 12:47 p.m. EDT (16:47
GMT)


ANNAPOLIS, Maryland (AP) -- Missing two legs he lost
in the Iraq war, Heath Calhoun is nearing the end of a
4,200-mile cross-county journey by hand-propelled
bicycle. His goal: to remind Americans the war is not
over and that wounded soldiers are returning home with
their lives changed forever.

"More than anything, we just want people to know that
their troops are coming back and they need your
support, whether you support the war or not," Calhoun
said as he and a band of fellow Iraq veterans arrived
in Annapolis Monday.

The former soldiers are raising money for the Wounded
Warrior Project, a private organization that provides
services to help those who were seriously wounded in
the war.

"Money is desperately needed," Calhoun said, adding
that the group helped him "when just getting out of
bed seemed impossible."

Calhoun, 24, is one of three people -- along with Ryan
Kelly and Chris Carney -- who have made the entire
Soldier Ride National Tour, which began May 21 in
Marina Del Ray, California, and is scheduled to end
July 19 in Montauk, New York. Other veterans have
joined for one or more stages along the way.

Carney, who helped to organize the trip, is not a
military veteran, but Kelly lost a leg after a
roadside bomb exploded south of Baghdad three years
ago. He said the Wounded Warrior Project was also
there to help him.

The organization provides backpacks containing items
like underwear, telephone cards and CD players for
soldiers who may arrive at hospitals in the United
States with nothing but the clothes they're wearing,
said John Melia, a former Marine who was injured in a
helicopter crash in Somalia and helped found the group
in 2003.

The Wounded Warrior Project also provides other
services, such as counseling and opportunities for
wounded soldiers to engage in athletics. So far, the
group has raised about $4.5 million, including $3
million through the Internet.

More than 1,700 American soldiers have died in Iraq,
but many more have returned wounded -- some seriously.
Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.,
has treated more than 4,200 patients from the Iraq
war, 1,150 of them with combat injuries, and more than
300 wounded troops from Afghanistan.

Kelly, 24, said he knows wounded veterans are in the
minds of many Americans, but that isn't enough.

"Thoughts and prayers are important, but they don't
teach a kid how to ski after losing a leg," he said.
"The project needs funds. I decided it was important
enough that I could give up two months of my life.
They were just there to fill in all the gaps."

Among those making the trip from Washington, D.C., to
Annapolis Monday was Stephen Rice, 24, who lost a leg
after a roadside bomb exploded near him in Iraq in
2003. He said the Wounded Warrior Project also helped
him adjust to the loss of his leg.

"I decided the amputation was sort of a new beginning.
It's a way to get back to the person I used to be," he
said.

After visiting Annapolis, where Kelly and Carney met
Gov. Robert Ehrlich, the group concluded the 11th leg
of their journey in Baltimore in the afternoon with a
visit to a VA hospital.

Baltimore native Robert White, 73, who served in
Korea, waved a small U.S. flag as the soldiers stopped
at the Baltimore VA Medical Center.

"They just don't give up, and they're not letting
anything discourage them," he said. "No matter what,
veterans always find a way to come out on top."

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.

 

[Littledragon]

Hurricane Season

Since there will be alot more Hurricanes to come, instead of posting another thread on every hurricane that's on its way, post them here!


(CNN) -- Hurricane Emily picked up strength Thursday in the eastern Caribbean, growing to a Category 2 status as a storm with top winds near 100 mph (160 kph), said the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida.

Emily is the latest storm in the Atlantic, with five tropical systems developing in the first six weeks of the hurricane season, which began June 1.

Hurricane Dennis was the earliest Category 4 hurricane ever recorded in the Caribbean basin. It was blamed for five deaths this week in Florida and Georgia after claiming more than three dozen lives in Cuba and Haiti.

On its current trajectory, Emily does not appear to be a threat to the United States. However, such projections often can change.

At 11 a.m. ET Thursday, Emily was about 560 miles (901 kilometers) southeast of the Dominican Republic's capital of Santo Domingo, moving to the west-northwest at 18 mph (30 kph), forecasters said. That general motion was expected to continue for the next 24 hours.

A Category 2 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale of strength will cause damage to roofing material, doors and windows and will cause greater damage to shrubs, plants and trees, according to the hurricane center's Web site. It also can harm mobile homes and piers.

A Category 5 storm is the most destructive hurricane class, with winds greater than 155 mph (249 kph).

On Wednesday night, the center of Emily crossed the Windward Islands, a north-south chain at the eastern edge of the Caribbean north of the island of Tobago.

Dominican and Haitian authorities have issued tropical storm watches for much of the island of Hispaniola -- from Puntas Salinas in the Dominican Republic to the border with Haiti and in Haiti from the Dominican border west to Port au Prince.

In the storm's expected path, a tropical storm warning was issued for most of the northern Venezuelan coast from Pedernales west to Punto Fijo on the Paraguana Peninsula, including Isla Margarita and offshore islands north of the mainland. The area includes Caracas, Venezuela's capital.

The government of the Netherlands Antilles has issued a tropical storm warning for the islands of Bonaire, Curacao and Aruba. The warning means tropical storm conditions -- including winds of 39 mph to 73 mph (62 kph to 117 kph) -- are expected in the area in the next 24 hours.

The latest five-day forecast path from the hurricane center has the storm moving northwest across the Caribbean off Venezuela and Colombia on Thursday and Friday, brushing by Jamaica on Saturday and making landfall on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula early Monday.

In portions of the Windwards, northern Venezuela and the Netherlands Antilles, Emily was forecast to dump 3 to 6 inches of rain, with isolated amounts up to 12 inches over mountainous areas. Forecasters warned there could be dangerous flooding and mudslides.

A coastal storm surge of 2 to 4 feet above normal tide levels also was forecast.

 

[Littledragon]

Suspected leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq captured.

(CNN) -- U.S.-led coalition forces have captured two alleged leaders of the insurgent group al Qaeda in Iraq, including a man suspected in the death of an Egyptian envoy, an American military spokesman said Thursday.

Troops caught Khamis Farhan Khalaf abd al Fahdawi, also known as Abu Seba, on Saturday in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, after intelligence led them there.

Abu Seba reportedly is a senior lieutenant for` Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and is suspected in this month's attacks on Bahraini and Pakistani diplomats and the killing of Ihab al-Sherif, who came to Iraq to be Egypt's ambassador. (Full story)

Al-Sherif was kidnapped in Baghdad on July 2, and the Egyptian government confirmed his death five days later. (Full story)

In addition, forces detained Abdulla Ibrahim Muhammed Hassan al Shadad, also known as Abu Abdul Aziz, on Sunday in Baghdad. He reportedly is the leader of al-Zarqawi's operations in the Iraqi capital and a key officer for the insurgent group.

The U.S. spokesman said the arrests and recent raids yielded evidence and equipment implicating the men in al-Zarqawi's leadership cell.

Al-Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for car bombings, kidnappings and beheadings in Iraq.

The United States has posted a $25 million reward for information leading to al-Zarqawi's capture. He has been described as the most wanted man in Iraq.

Suicide blasts at Green Zone
A double-suicide bombing targeted a checkpoint to Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone on Thursday, killing one person and wounding five others, police said.

A suicide car bomber struck at around 8:45 a.m. (12:45 a.m. ET), followed seconds later by a bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives.

Among the wounded was a potential third suicide bomber, police said -- a critically wounded man outfitted with a suspected explosive device that had not detonated.

Police discovered wires coming from the wounded man's clothing as they began to move him. He was isolated while an explosives team came to disarm the device.

The U.S. military said the man ran after the second bomber detonated and Iraqi police shot him before discovering the explosives vest.

Two police officers were among the wounded.

The Green Zone is the seat of Iraq's government and U.S. operations.

In other violence Thursday, gunmen attacked a checkpoint near the headquarters of the Iraqi Police Major Crimes Unit in western Baghdad, killing two police officers and wounding four others.

Thursday's attacks come on the heels of a suicide car bombing the day before in the Iraqi capital that killed 27 people -- many of them children.

The bomb went off near a U.S. military convoy as soldiers were handing out treats to children in eastern Baghdad's al-Jaddeda neighborhood.

Iraqi police said most of the dead were children.

The U.S. military said at least seven children and an American soldier were killed and three soldiers were wounded. The attack also left 20 people wounded.

Since the start of the war, 1,756 U.S. troops have died in Iraq.

In another suicide attack, a bomber detonated explosives Tuesday inside a Sunni mosque in Jalawlah, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of the eastern city of Baquba, killing two people and wounding 16 others, police said.

The bomber was wearing an explosives-packed vest, a police official said.

Jalawlah is an ethnically mixed town of Kurds and Arabs.

Detainee deaths investigated
The Iraqi interior minister expressed outrage Wednesday at reports on the deaths of detainees in the custody of Iraq's special police commandos.

The circumstances of the deaths are not entirely clear, but police sources said 12 Iraqis were locked in a police van for several hours and nine of them may have suffocated.

"I will not tolerate any human rights abuses by any member of the Ministry of Interior forces," the minister, Baqir Jabbur, said in a written statement. "Any person or persons who are found to be guilty of such behavior will be fired and punished to the fullest extent allowed by law."

Police officers were suspended and taken into custody pending a full investigation, Jabbur said.

Police commandos had arrested 12 Iraqi men at a Baghdad hospital on Sunday and taken them into custody, police sources said. The men had brought an injured comrade to the hospital after a skirmish between insurgents and Iraqi and U.S. forces in Baghdad, sources said.

The commandos returned to the hospital later Sunday with the bodies of nine of the men and three others who were unconscious, police sources said.

 

[Littledragon]

.

(CNN) -- Insurgents in Baghdad launched seven car bomb attacks throughout the Iraqi capital on Friday, killing at least 26 Iraqis, authorities in Iraq said.

Officials also announced two U.S. Marines had been killed on Thursday.

The U.S. military in Baghdad said 15 civilians and five Iraqi soldiers died in three suicide bomb attacks. The blasts wounded 17 civilians and six soldiers, the military said in a statement.

Police in Iraq said a suicide car bomb targeting an Iraqi police commando patrol in the southwestern Baghdad neighborhood of al-Shurat al-Khamsa killed five people and wounded 20 others Friday.

A car bomb targeting a U.S. military convoy in the western Baghdad neighborhood of al-Amriya neighborhood killed at least one person and wounded three others.

No one was killed but people were injured in the two other car bomb attacks.

The two U.S. Marines were killed Thursday when their vehicle was hit by a homemade bomb during combat operations near Trebil, in Anbar province, the U.S. military said.

This brings the number of U.S. troops killed in the war to 1,758.

Insurgent suspects captured
U.S.-led coalition forces have captured two suspected leaders of the insurgent group al Qaeda in Iraq, including a man suspected in the death of an Egyptian envoy, an American military spokesman said Thursday.

Troops caught Khamis Farhan Khalaf abd al-Fahdawi, also known as Abu Seba, on Saturday in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, after intelligence led them there.

Abu Seba reportedly is a senior lieutenant for Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and is suspected in this month's attacks on Bahraini and Pakistani diplomats and the killing of Ihab al-Sherif, who came to Iraq to be Egypt's ambassador. (Full story)

Al-Sherif was kidnapped in Baghdad on July 2, and the Egyptian government confirmed his death five days later. (Full story)

In addition, forces detained Abdulla Ibrahim Muhammed Hassan al-Shadad, also known as Abu Abdul Aziz, on Sunday in Baghdad. He is believed to be the leader of al-Zarqawi's operations in the Iraqi capital and a key officer for the insurgent group.

The U.S. spokesman said the arrests and recent raids yielded evidence and equipment implicating the men in al-Zarqawi's leadership cell.

Al-Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for car bombings, kidnappings and beheadings in Iraq.

The United States has posted a $25 million reward for information leading to al-Zarqawi's capture.

Other developments

A double-suicide bombing targeted a checkpoint to Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone on Thursday, killing one person and wounding five others, police said. Among the wounded was a potential third suicide bomber, police said -- a critically wounded man outfitted with a suspected explosive device that had not detonated.


Gunmen attacked a checkpoint near the headquarters of the Iraqi Police Major Crimes Unit in western Baghdad on Thursday, killing two police officers and wounding four others.


Two Iraqi civilians were killed in separate incidents Thursday in northern Iraq. One died in an insurgent mortar attack near a military checkpoint in Tal Afar, the U.S. military said. Another Iraqi civilian was killed after failing to slow his car as he approached a patrol in Mosul, the military said. The driver didn't yield to warning shots, according to a military statement.

 

[Littledragon]

Hurricane Emily Menaces Jamaica!

(CNN) -- Hurricane Emily, a Category 4 storm packing sustained winds of 150 mph, began to sweep past south Jamaica Saturday, and meteorologists said bands of rain were spreading over the Caribbean island.

The latest long-range forecast from the National Hurricane Center shows that the storm poses a threat to eastern Mexico and possibly the Texas Gulf Coast by late Tuesday, although such projections often change because of the unpredictable nature of hurricane movement.

The Mexican government issued a hurricane watch Saturday for the eastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula from Chetumal to Cabo Catoche, including the Islas Mujeres.

Forecasters expect Emily to move west toward the Cayman Islands late Saturday night or early Sunday morning.

As of 11 a.m. ET, the storm was about 130 miles south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and 335 miles southeast of Grand Cayman, moving west-northwest at about 18 mph.

A deluge of up to 8 inches of rain was forecast for Jamaica and the Caymans, with up to 15 inches in the mountains, which forecasters warned could trigger flash floods and mudslides.

The hurricane center said Emily's hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 70 miles from the center, and tropical storm-force winds extended outward to 150 miles.

Forecasters said the storm's strength could fluctuate Saturday, as it did Friday.

At Category 4, Emily is capable of causing extensive structural damage and coastal flooding with storm surges of up to 18 feet over normal tide.

A hurricane warning was in effect for Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, meaning hurricane conditions -- including sustained winds in excess of 73 mph -- are expected within the next 24 hours.

Hurricane-force winds are possible later Saturday in gusts along the Jamaican coast, with possible sustained hurricane-force winds at higher elevations, the National Hurricane Center said.

In those locations, "preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion," forecasters said.

Tropical storm warnings were in place for the southern coast of Haiti -- where the storm system was expected to dump 3 to 6 inches of rain -- but a similar warning for the southern coast of the Dominican Republic was canceled early Saturday.

The Belize government also has issued a tropical storm watch for its coastline from Belize City north to the Belize-Mexico border.

The center's latest five-day projection of Emily's path shows the storm making a brief landfall on the tip of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula early Monday, then heading into the Gulf of Mexico.

The storm's projected path has it on a trajectory to hit the Gulf Coast just south of the U.S.-Mexico border early Wednesday. However, the potential landfall path stretches hundreds of miles from Matagorda Bay in Texas south to near Veracruz, Mexico.

Emily has been blamed for one death in Grenada, which took a near-direct hit from the storm early Thursday.

The hurricane is the latest storm in what has so far been an active 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, with five tropical systems developing in the first six weeks.

All five systems have reached at least tropical storm strength, two became Category 4 hurricanes, and Dennis -- which packed 150 mph winds at one point -- was the earliest Category 4 hurricane ever recorded in the Caribbean basin.

The storm caused extensive damage in Cuba and the northern U.S. Gulf Coast, killing more than three dozen people.

 

[GlimmerMan]

Any need to delete those last posts, TD? Not much changes on here, I see.

 

[TDWoj]

They were off-topic.

 

[Littledragon]

Hurricane Emily borders on Category 5.

(CNN) -- Rainbands of Hurricane Emily -- an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm with winds near 155 mph according to the National Hurricane Center -- soaked Jamaica and the Cayman Islands Saturday night.

Both were under a hurricane warning, and forecasters urged that "preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion."

Emily is just shy of Category 5 strength, which requires winds to exceed 155 mph, and the National Hurricane Center said Emily could reach Category 5 status "at times."

Such strength is capable of producing catastrophic damage and flooding.

Hurricane Emily's eye will continue moving away from Jamaica and near Grand Cayman Sunday morning.

The latest long-range forecast from the National Hurricane Center shows that the storm could cross the Yucatan Monday and approach mainland Mexico near the Texas border by late Tuesday.

Such projections often change, however, because of the unpredictable nature of hurricane movement.

At 8 p.m. ET, the hurricane was centered about 140 miles (230 km) southwest of Montego Bay, Jamaica, and 195 miles (375 km) southeast of Grand Cayman, moving west-northwest at about 18 mph.

Emily's hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 60 miles from the center and were possible along the Jamaican coast, the National Hurricane Center said.

Tropical storm-force winds extended outward up to 150 miles, the center said.

The southern coasts of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands could also experience large, dangerous waves, along with above-normal tides, the center said.

A deluge of up to 8 inches of rain was forecast for both, with up to 15 inches in the mountains. Forecasters warned that rain could trigger flash floods and mudslides.

Southeastern Cuba may get 1 to 3 inches of rain.

The eastern and northern coasts of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula were under a hurricane watch, and a tropical storm watch was in effect for the Belize coastline from Belize City north to the Mexican border.

The Yucatan peninsula may receive up to 8 inches of rain, with some areas getting up to a foot.

Mexican authorities asked tourists to leave Cancun ahead of the storm. Mexican officials estimate 50,000 tourists are in Cancun and 130,000 total on the coast south of the city, which lies along what's called the Mayan Riviera. (Full story)

The Caymans are still recovering from Ivan -- a Category 5 storm -- which has been blamed for more than 100 deaths and extensive damage.

Emily has been blamed for one death in Grenada, which took a near-direct hit from the storm early Thursday.

The hurricane is the latest storm in what has so far been an active 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, with five tropical systems developing in the first six weeks.

All five systems have reached at least tropical storm strength, two became Category 4 hurricanes, and Dennis -- which packed 150 mph winds at one point -- was the earliest Category 4 hurricane ever recorded in the Caribbean basin.

Dennis caused extensive damage in Cuba and the northern U.S. Gulf Coast, killing more than 36 people.

 

[Amos Stevens]

Turkish bomb not suicide attack

Official: Turkish Bomb Not Suicide Attack



By BENJAMIN HARVEY
Associated Press Writer

July 17, 2005, 11:45 AM EDT


ISTANBUL, Turkey -- The bomb that destroyed a minibus in a popular Aegean beach resort town, killing five people, was placed under a seat and detonated by timer or remote control, not by a suicide bomber, a regional governor said Sunday.

Turkish police also boosted security at Aegean coastal resorts a day after the blast killed two Western tourists in Kusadasi. Bomb experts completed on-scene investigations and returned to Ankara, the Turkish capital, to evaluate the evidence, Aydin province Gov. Mustafa Malay said.


"Right now, we have two possibilities," Malay said. "It's possible the explosive was timed or that it was remote-controlled. There was no suicide bomber."

The bomb was placed under a seat near the back of the minibus, Malay said. At least 12 people were injured.

No group has claimed responsibility for Saturday's blast, but suspicion immediately fell on Kurdish guerrillas. Turkey's main rebel group denied responsibility for the bombing, which left a palm-tree-lined street strewn with twisted metal and bodies.

Police and paramilitary personnel with bomb-sniffing dogs began stopping and searching all vehicles entering the resort towns of Bodrum and Marmaris, security officials said. Dozens of additional police officers were sent in.

Similar measures were being taken in Kusadasi and a bomb team was investigating the blast, a local official said. Turkish investigators would not say whether they had any suspects.

A British tourist killed in the blast was identified as Helen Bennett, 21, the Foreign Office in London said Sunday. Also killed was an Irish tourist, 17-year-old Tara Whelan, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin.

As the wreckage was cleared, residents and victims' relatives laid flowers and wreaths at the site. British Ambassador Peter Westmacott visited the wounded at a hospital; five of the wounded are British.

Minibus drivers hung black ribbons and Turkish flags on their vehicles, the Anatolia news agency reported.

A top commander of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, Zubeyir Aydar, condemned the Kusadasi attack in a statement Saturday to the Germany-based Mezopotamya News Agency, which often carries rebel statements. The PKK's military wing also issued a statement through Mezopotamya on Sunday saying it had nothing to do with the bombing.

But the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons Organization, a hardline group believed to be linked to the PKK, claimed responsibility for a bombing attack last Sunday in the nearby resort of Cesme that wounded 21 people.

The group, believed to be made up of Kurds in Turkey's large cities, has vowed to continue attacks, and the governor of Aydin province, where Kusadasi is located, said there were similarities between the Kusadasi and Cesme bombings. Malay said police were investigating a possible link between the two.

The PKK's military wing, meanwhile, sought to distance itself from the Falcons in its statement Sunday, pointing to the possibility of a rift between the groups.

Turkey's largest legal pro-Kurdish party, DEHAP, also condemned the attack.

"We feel deep sadness and condemn the incident," party leader Tuncer Bakirhan said Sunday in a statement. "We hope that these kinds of incidents don't occur again."

French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin called the attack "disgusting" and emphasized the importance of standing united in the fight against terror.

Kurdish rebels have stepped up attacks in Turkey in recent months.

More than 37,000 people have died in Turkey since 1984 in fighting between Kurdish rebels and Turkish security forces. Leftist and Islamic groups are also active in Turkey and have been responsible for previous bombings.

Turkey is a favorite tourist destination for European vacationers; the country was expecting more than 22 million visitors this year, bringing in some $19.5 billion.

 

[Littledragon]

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- -- The Iraqi Special Tribunal has brought its first charges against Saddam Hussein for alleged crimes during his reign, the tribunal announced Sunday.

The charges were announced by Judge Raed Juhi, chief investigative judge of the tribunal. They are connected with a 1982 series of detentions and executions after an assassination attempt against Saddam in Dujayl.

Charges against five other men were announced in February. The men will not be tried individually.

No trial date was announced, but under Iraqi law Saddam could stand trial as early as September, because of a minimum 45-day period following referral for trial.

On July 8, 1982, a convoy carrying Saddam traveled through the town of Dujayl, a Shiite village north of Baghdad, and was attacked by a small band of residents. A series of detentions and executions in the town followed the incident. According to the tribunal, 15 people were summarily executed and some 1,500 others spent years in prison with no charges and no trial date. Ultimately, another 143 were put on "show trials" and executed, according to the tribunal.

Saddam has been in custody since December 2003, when he was captured by U.S. troops.

The tribunal is facing pressure from Iraq's new government, as well as residents, who are eager for the former president to face justice.

"These accused have been referred to courts in this case, but they are also being investigated in other cases," Juhi said. "We look forward to concluding this investigation in other cases."

Mass graves are also being investigated under the tribunal's supervision, he said. "We are carrying out lab tests, and we are investigating all the remains of the bodies in these mass graves. We are continuing with these investigations, aiming to reach justice, to bring justice for those victims."

 

[Littledragon]

Shuttle managers optimistic problem fixed.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) -- The countdown clocks began ticking again Saturday for NASA's return to space, as shuttle managers voiced optimism -- but not certainty -- that they had fixed the fuel gauge problem that thwarted the first launch attempt.

"No doubt there is some degree of finger crossing," NASA test director Pete Nickolenko said before the start of the second countdown in two weeks.

"But the other side of the coin is that we have really performed a very thorough troubleshooting analysis to a great degree, an excruciating degree of detail with all the shuttle program experts and the contractors that we can get."

NASA aims for a Tuesday morning liftoff of Discovery on the first shuttle mission since Columbia's disastrous re-entry in 2003. The countdown was delayed by two weeks after one of four hydrogen fuel gauges in Discovery's big external tank failed a routine test on July 13, just two hours before the initial scheduled liftoff.

In the past few days, NASA has repaired three areas of spotty electrical grounding and scoured the spacecraft for any electromagnetic interference that might have exacerbated the fuel gauge problem.

Technicians switched the wiring between the troublesome fuel gauge and another one, in an attempt to better understand the sensor problem if it recurs.

The 14 engineering teams that have been working nonstop on this problem have eliminated more than 300 possible causes, Nickolenko said. All that remains in the so-called fault tree are faulty electrical grounding in the shuttle's aft fuselage, which has been fixed, and possible electromagnetic interference, which may still be out there.

No interference has been found, but the true test will come when the shuttle is fueled and all its systems are running right before liftoff.

Nickolenko said he and others are confident the system will work the way it is supposed to come Tuesday. But he hastily added, "We were confident that we were going to be in that case for the first launch attempt, too."

Mission managers are considering launching Discovery and its crew of seven even if one of the fuel gauges malfunctions, as long as the problem is reminiscent of what happened two weeks earlier and is thought to be well understood. The same problem spoiled a fueling test back in April.

NASA's own launch rules require that all four fuel gauges be working, even though only two are needed to ensure that the main engines don't shut down too soon or too late, both potentially deadly situations. Any rule change at the last minute, to allow less than four good gauges, would almost certainly raise eyebrows.

Technical issues aside, the weather could end up interfering.

Forecasters are putting the odds of acceptable launch conditions at 60 percent because of the threat of rain.

NASA has until the beginning of August to launch Discovery to the international space station, or it must wait until September to ensure good lighting throughout the ascent. The space agency is insisting on a daylight liftoff for good camera views in case the shuttle is hit by fuel-tank foam insulation, ice or other debris.

Columbia was brought down by a 1 1/2-pound chunk of foam that pierced the left wing. The gaping hole led to the shuttle's destruction during re-entry on February 1, 2003, and the deaths of all seven astronauts.

 

[Littledragon]

Bush names Bolton as U.N. ambassador.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Ending a five-month standoff over a controversial nomination, President Bush on Monday used a recess appointment to name John Bolton the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

"This post is too important to leave vacant any longer, especially during a war and a vital debate about U.N. reform," Bush said from the Roosevelt Room at the White House.

The move bypasses the confirmation process in the Senate, where Democrats had blocked the nomination in a dispute over documents and accusations that Bolton lacks the temperament to hold the U.N. post.

"A majority of United States senators agree that he's the right man for the job," Bush said. "Yet because of partisan-delaying tactics by a handful of senators, John was unfairly denied the up-or-down vote that he deserves."

Senate GOP leaders twice failed to muster the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster and move Bolton's nomination to a floor vote.

Although the split was largely along party lines, one Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, joined Democrats in opposing Bolton's nomination.

Under the Constitution, the president has the power to make temporary appointments without Senate confirmation when Congress goes into recess. Lawmakers began their current break Friday.

A recess appointment puts Bolton at the United Nations through the end of 2006.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bolton planned to take the oath of office and head to U.N. headquarters in New York on Monday.

Standing beside Bush on Monday, Bolton said he was "profoundly honored."

"I am prepared to work tirelessly to carry out the agenda and initiatives that you [Bush] and Secretary [of State Condoleezza] Rice direct," Bolton said. "We seek a stronger, more effective organization true to the ideals of its founders and agile enough to act in the 21st century.

"It will be a distinct privilege to be an advocate for America's values and interests at the U.N."

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, criticized the recess appointment.

"The abuse of power and the cloak of secrecy from the White House continues," Kennedy said in a statement.

"It's bad enough that the administration stonewalled the Senate by refusing to disclose documents highly relevant to the Bolton nomination. It's even worse for the administration to abuse the recess appointment power by making the appointment while Congress is in this five-week recess. It's a devious maneuver that evades the constitutional requirement of Senate consent and only further darkens the cloud over Mr. Bolton's credibility at the U.N."

Sen. Dick Lugar, R-Indiana, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, lamented that Bolton failed to receive a vote from the full Senate but said the appointment "was necessary to ensure our representation at the United Nations and to provide momentum to the vital process of U.N. reform."

Commenting before the announcement, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Arizona, said that "everybody at the U.N. will know that he's the president's man."

"Yes, he's a tough guy, but I think they appreciate the fact that the president felt at this time in the U.N.'s history, when it could use a little tough love, John Bolton is the kind of guy to do the job that the president wants done there," Kyl said.

Hints of recess appointment
Democrats have said Bolton, who was a State Department undersecretary, lacked the diplomatic skills for the post, arguing he dismissed the value of the United Nations and often intimidated subordinates until they agreed with his viewpoint.

A former colleague testified in April that Bolton was "a quintessential kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy."

Senate Democrats held up the nomination after the White House refused, citing executive privilege, to provide records of communications intercepts Bolton sought from the National Security Agency when he was the State Department's point man on arms control.

In recent days, Democrats also complained that Bolton gave the Senate false information.

The State Department last week acknowledged that Bolton incorrectly told the Foreign Relations Committee in a questionnaire that he had not been interviewed as part of any investigation within the past five years.

The department said its inspector general interviewed Bolton as part of a joint probe by the State Department and CIA into alleged attempts by Iraq to procure uranium from Niger.

That admission prompted one of the committee's Democrats, Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, to call on Bush to pull Bolton's nomination.

McClellan hinted Friday at a recess appointment, saying it was important to have an ambassador by September, when the U.N.'s General Assembly will meet.

"We need our permanent representative in place at the United Nations at this critical time," he said. "There is an effort under way to move forward on comprehensive reform. We have outlined the comprehensive reforms that we want to see put in place to make sure that the United Nations is an effective multilateral organization."

The United States has been without a permanent representative at the United Nations since January when former Sen. John Danforth resigned to spend more time with his ailing wife. Acting Ambassador Anne Patterson is leading the U.N. mission in New York.

At U.N. headquarters, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, "We look forward to working with [Bolton], as I do with the other 190 ambassadors. And we will welcome him at a time when we are in the midst of major reform."

Annan said he knows Bolton and considers him "very bright." He said he was notified of the president's decision before the announcement.

 

[Littledragon]

Saudi King Fahd dead.

(CNN) -- Saudi Arabia's King Fahd -- whose reign was marked by unprecedented prosperity, but whose close ties with the United States stirred the passions of Islamic militants -- has died, Saudi Arabia's information minister announced Monday.

His exact age remains uncertain -- believed to be between 82 and 84.

A source told CNN's Nic Robertson that Fahd died Sunday evening. His burial is scheduled for Tuesday at 3 p.m. (8 a.m. EDT) in Riyadh.

The former Crown Prince Abdullah, Fahd's half brother, has been named the new Saudi king and Defense Minister Prince Sultan has replaced Abdullah as crown prince. (Abdullah profile)

"King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz has chosen Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz as Crown prince in accordance with Article 5 of the basic system of government," a statement from the Saudi royal court said.

"Allegiance will be paid by the public to King Abdullah and Prince Sultan after the noon prayers on Wednesday."

The Saudi monarch had been in and out of the hospital in recent months, most recently suffering from pneumonia-like symptoms. Fahd yielded day-to-day control of the kingdom a decade ago after suffering a stroke, with Abdullah serving as the de facto ruler since then.

Fahd assumed the throne on June 13, 1982, becoming the fifth king of Saudi Arabia. He was the son of King Abdul Aziz Bin Abdul Rahman Al-Saud, the founder of the modern Saudi Arabia.

"I will be father to the young, brother to the elderly," he once said. "I am but one of you; whatever troubles you, troubles me; whatever pleases you, pleases me."

The Saudi monarch was held in high esteem across the Arab and Muslim worlds because of his role as the custodian of the two holy mosques -- the major shrines of Islam in Mecca and Medina.

As king, he supervised projects to facilitate the hajj for the more than 2 million pilgrims from around the world who visit each year. Under his rule, Mecca was expanded to 3.5 million square feet to accommodate 1 million worshippers; Medina has grown to nearly 1.8 million square feet to accommodate 500,000 people, according to his official biography.

He was also an ardent supporter of the mujahedeen in the 1980s in their fight against the former Soviet Union in Afghanistan -- where Saudi-born terror leader Osama bin Laden first gained a following.

But it was Fahd's decision to allow U.S. forces to be based out of Saudi Arabia during the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq that outraged Islamic fundamentalists, including bin Laden who criticized his homeland for allowing "infidels" to attack another Arab country from its soil.

The United States also used a highly secret base in the kingdom to conduct special operations from during the early days of the Iraq invasion in 2003.

Al Qaeda terrorists have launched several attacks inside the kingdom in recent years. And 15 of the 19 hijackers in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States were from Saudi Arabia -- a fact that did not sit well with many in Washington who have been skeptical of the kingdom.


Crown Prince Abdullah has been named the new Saudi king.But the Bush administration has remained staunchly behind the kingdom since 9/11, calling Riyadh a key ally in the war on terror.

"The Saudis have been very aggressive in hunting down the terrorist cells that are in Saudi Arabia and we've had a good deal of success also on the terrorist financing front," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said during a foreign policy speech in May 2005.

Born in 1923, Fahd attended one of the kingdom's first educational institutions during his youth, and in 1953 he became Saudi's first minister of education.

For the next two decades, he served increasingly important roles, including interior minister, deputy prime minister and crown prince. In 1977, he met with U.S. President Jimmy Carter and U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance about the importance of American involvement in trying to forge a lasting settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

"I believe the U.S. can play an important part in solving the problem if we take into account not only American influence worldwide, but also the strong relationship between America and Israel," he said at the time.

He continued to try to work for Mideast peace over the years, including on his first visit to the United States as king in 1985 when met with President Ronald Reagan about the need for a renewed American role in the Mideast peace process.

During Fahd's tenure, the kingdom saw an economic, agricultural and educational transformation, building on its oil wealth to become an international and regional power.

"With the blessing and grace of Almighty God and with the assistance of the faithful Saudi people, we shall continue the welfare march of construction and development and maintain the gains which are reflected by comprehensive achievements in various fields," he recently said.

 

[Littledragon]

NASA set to try again for shuttle landing.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida (CNN) -- NASA officials vowed to land Discovery early Tuesday at one of three locations after weather conditions forced them to scrub the shuttle's scheduled return Monday morning.

The next opportunity is scheduled for Tuesday at 5:07 a.m. ET at the Florida landing site. It would be the first landing for a shuttle since the 2003 Columbia disaster.

The crew was scheduled to have arisen at 7:39 p.m. ET Monday from their final rest break in space to begin de-orbit preparations.

Mission controller LeRoy Cain said NASA's weather forecast for Tuesday morning at the Florida site called for similar conditions, including possible clouds, light and variable winds, and a chance for rain within 30 miles.

Alternative sites were prepared at Edwards Air Force Base in California as a second choice and at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico as a third choice.

"We'll land somewhere tomorrow," he said.

Officials would prefer to land at Kennedy Space Center to avoid the cost and inconvenience of flying the shuttle back to its launch site from the alternative landing strips.

NASA said Edwards is forecast to have acceptable conditions for landing Tuesday; the forecast for White Sands includes a chance of showers.

Of the 111 previous shuttle landings, 61 touched down in Florida, 49 at Edwards and one at White Sands.

"We are going to come in and make a real earnest attempt at the first two opportunities to [Kennedy]," Cain said. "If we can't make it there, we will be looking at Edwards."

Cloud cover in Florida on Monday, although within NASA's safety limits for landing, was enough to prompt mission controllers to scrub two chances for landing.

"We just can't get comfortable with the stability of the situation for this particular opportunity. So we're going to officially wave you off for 24 hours," Ken Ham at Mission Control told the shuttle.

"OK, Houston we copy that. We'll be a wave off for today," responded shuttle commander Eileen Collins.

Mike Fincke, an astronaut who spent six months in space on the international space station, told CNN that Collins wouldn't have had much time to see the runway clearly.

"Eileen Collins is an experienced test pilot, and she'd be able to land almost blindfolded. But there's no reason to take that risk," he said.

"This morning we thought there might be a cloud deck of about 500 feet, and that would have obscured the runway."

Mark Polansky, a pilot during a 2001 mission aboard the shuttle Atlantis, said the waiting is easier for orbiting crew members than it is for their families.

"It's much harder for people on the ground," Polansky said. "Loved ones don't know when their people are coming home."

Polansky and astronaut Nicholas Patrick are assigned to a shuttle mission aboard Discovery in 2006. Patrick said the orbiting astronauts have more than enough supplies.

"In between powering down today and preparing for Tuesday's landing attempt, they'll be taking care of some housekeeping and perhaps finding more time to be looking out the windows," Patrick said.

Doors re-opened
Following the decision to remain in space another day, Discovery received permission to re-open its payload bay doors and began powering down systems that had been poised to fire engines to take it out of orbit.

During the de-orbital burn before Tuesday's scheduled landing, the spacecraft's engines will ignite for about three minutes, slowing it enough to begin its fiery journey through the atmosphere.

Discovery's pilot, astronaut James Kelly, said Sunday that returning to Earth is much like riding on "a runaway train."

It's "a very exciting and exhilarating process that ends with being at home," Kelly said.

Though it launches into orbit like a rocket, the shuttle returns to Earth like an airplane. As it begins to transition from space, computer-controlled jets guide the shuttle.

Once the atmosphere thickens, Discovery's wing flaps and rudder steer it much like they would a conventional aircraft.

When the shuttle slows below the speed of sound, it triggers a sonic boom that alerts Florida residents that the spacecraft is returning home.

It was during re-entry in February 2003 that Columbia broke apart, killing its seven crew members.

Investigators later determined that super-heated gases that normally surround the orbiter as it returns to Earth entered Columbia's left wing through a hole created when insulating foam fell from the shuttle's fuel tank and struck the vehicle during launch.

The Columbia break-up left a trail of debris across Texas and Louisiana and resulted in vows from NASA that tighter safety precautions would be taken on future trips -- and that the problem of falling foam would be solved.

Under new guidelines, Discovery will follow a trajectory that takes it largely over ocean.

Mission STS-114 largely was designed to improve safety on future shuttle journeys, although the program has been suspended while NASA investigates its failure to solve the problem of foam falling from the shuttle's external liquid fuel tank during launch.

Video from the July 26 launch showed debris falling from the fuel tank, but NASA said it did not appear to have struck the orbiter.

Once in space, Discovery's crew used cameras to scrutinize the craft's exterior for possible damage that might pose a threat during re-entry.

The shuttle spent most of the mission docked to the international space station, delivering much-needed supplies and performing maintenance on the outpost.

Astronaut Steve Robinson performed an unprecedented shuttle repair mission by plucking two pieces of filler material protruding between tiles on Discovery's underside.

NASA wanted them removed to ensure they wouldn't overheat, damaging Discovery's belly during re-entry.

 

[Littledragon]

Ex-U.N. officer pleads guilty in oil-for-food case.

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- A former U.N. official pleaded guilty to corruption charges Monday in the first case involving a U.N staffer stemming from investigations into the Iraq oil-for-food program.

Alexander Yakovlev pleaded guilty in a federal court in New York to wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, U.S. Attorney David Kelley's office announced.

"Yakovlev received wire transfers sent to bank accounts in Antigua and Switzerland from foreign companies in exchange for providing information to companies about United Nations contracts that were up for bid and for assisting companies to obtain United Nations contracts," Kelley said in a written statement.

U.N. officials stripped Yakovlev of his diplomatic immunity Monday afternoon, and he was released on $400,000 bail after pleading guilty.

Yakovlev, 52, resigned his job as a senior procurement officer in June amid allegations that he helped his son get a job with a firm doing business with the world body.

The criminal charges are the first to stem from probes into the now-disbanded oil-for-food program, which supplied Iraq with food and medicine during years of international sanctions. However, they are not directly related to that program.

A U.N.-backed report on the program released Monday found that Yakovlev solicited a bribe from a French company that bid unsuccessfully on an oil-for-food contract -- and that he had received hundreds of thousands of dollars from U.N. contractors working on other programs. (Full story)

The Independent Inquiry Committee investigation, led by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, found no evidence that the company Yakovlev solicited in the oil-for-food program had paid the bribe.

But investigators found that more than $1.3 million had been wired by other companies to a bank account Yakovlev controlled on the Caribbean island of Antigua since 2000.

"More than $950,000 of these payments came from various companies or persons affiliated with such companies that collectively won more than $79 million in United Nations contracts and purchase orders," the report found.

Mark Malloch Brown, chief of staff to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said the United Nations brought the allegations to the U.S. attorney's office in New York "more than a month ago" and has been sharing information with prosecutors as part of efforts to reform the world body.

Volcker's panel also said that the former head of the oil-for-food program allegedly received more than $147,000 in kickbacks from oil sold under the program. (Full story)

The panel's report concluded that Benon Sevan "corruptly derived substantial financial benefits" from a company that purchased Iraqi oil under the program, which supplied Iraq with food and medicine during years of international sanctions.

The money was used to shore up Sevan's "precarious" personal finances from 1998 to 2002, the report concluded.

Sevan resigned Sunday from the United Nations.

In his resignation letter, Sevan called his management of the program "transparent" and denied any wrongdoing. (Full story)

CNN's Phil Hirschkorn contributed to this report.