2 Bush urges patience in economic crisis
By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer
1 hr 1 min ago
| WASHINGTON - Now is not the time for countries to abandon open market policies or make changes that would threaten free enterprise, President Bush said Saturday.
Bush used his weekly radio broadcast to address anxiety about the financial meltdown, which Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress this week had left him in a "state of shocked disbelief."
The president, who is hosting a meeting of world economic leaders on Nov. 15 in Washington, called for patience and expressed confidence the economy would eventually rebound. He called on the leaders at the summit to recommit themselves to the fundamentals of "long-term economic growth - free markets, free enterprise and free trade." |
3 Researchers: 7 orcas missing from Puget Sound
BY PHUONG LE, Associated Press Writer
Sat Oct 25, 10:19 am ET
| SEATTLE - Seven Puget Sound killer whales are missing and presumed dead in what could be the biggest decline among the sound's orcas in nearly a decade, say scientists who carefully track the endangered animals.
"This is a disaster," Ken Balcomb, a senior scientist at the Center for Whale Research on San Juan Island, said Friday. "The population drop is worse than the stock market."
While the official census won't be completed until December, the total number of live "southern resident" orcas now stands at 83. |
4 Democrats headed toward big gains in House, Senate
By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent
Sat Oct 25, 7:24 am ET
| WASHINGTON - Democrats are on track for sizable gains in both houses of Congress on Nov. 4, according to strategists in both parties, although only improbable Southern victories can produce the 60-vote Senate majority they covet to help them pass priority legislation.
A poor economy, President Bush's unpopularity, a lopsided advantage in fundraising and Barack Obama's robust organizational effort in key states are all aiding Democrats in the final days of the congressional campaign.
"I don't think anybody realized it was going to be this tough" for Republicans, Sen. John Ensign, chairman of the party's senatorial campaign committee said recently. "We're dealing with an unpopular president (and) we have a financial crisis," he added. |
5 Appeals court to take up GOP effort in Indiana
By KEN KUSMER, Associated Press Writer
Sat Oct 25, 4:27 am ET
| INDIANAPOLIS - A divided Indiana Supreme Court on Friday rejected a effort by Republicans to shutter satellite early voting sites in three largely Democratic cities near Chicago, but an appeals court later agreed to expedite the case and set oral arguments for five days before the general election.
The state's highest court, voting 3-2, declined to grant a GOP request to rush its appeal of a special judge's ruling this week that the voting centers in the Lake County cities of Gary, Hammond and East Chicago should remain open and that closing them could jeopardize residents' right to vote.
But that left the matter with the Indiana Court of Appeals, which set oral arguments for Oct. 30. Regardless of how the court rules, the case likely will be appealed to the state Supreme Court. |
6 Another dragging death in Texas raises tensions
By JEFF CARLTON, Associated Press Writer
Sat Oct 25, 12:41 am ET
| PARIS, Texas - In a gruesome case with powerful echoes of the dragging death of James Byrd a decade ago, a black man was killed underneath a pickup truck in East Texas and two white men have been charged with murder.
Black activists and the victim's mother are calling last month's killing of 24-year-old Brandon McClelland a racist attack. But prosecutors cast strong doubt on that Friday.
McClelland died after going with two white friends on a late-night beer run across the state line to Oklahoma, investigators said. Authorities said he was run over and dragged as far as 70 feet beneath the truck. His torn-apart body was discovered along a bloodstained rural road on Sept. 16. His mother said pieces of his skull could still be found three days later. |
7 Christian right intensifies attacks on Obama
By ERIC GORSKI and RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writers
Sat Oct 25, 12:15 am ET
| Terrorist strikes on four American cities. Russia rolling into Eastern Europe. Israel hit by a nuclear bomb. Gay marriage in every state. The end of the Boy Scouts.
All are plausible scenarios if Democrat Barack Obama is elected president, according to a new addition to the campaign conversation called "Letter from 2012 in Obama's America," produced by the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family Action.
The imagined look into the future is part of an escalation in rhetoric from Christian right activists who are trying to paint Obama in the worst possible terms as the campaign heads into the final stretch and polls show the Democrat ahead. |
8 2 greenhouse gases on the rise worry scientists
By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer
Sat Oct 25, 12:39 am ET
| WASHINGTON - Carbon dioxide isn't the only greenhouse gas that worries climate scientists. Airborne levels of two other potent gases - one from ancient plants, the other from flat-panel screen technology - are on the rise, too. And that's got scientists concerned about accelerated global warming.
The gases are methane and nitrogen trifluoride. Both pale in comparison to the global warming effects of carbon dioxide, produced by the burning of coal, oil and other fossil fuels. In the past couple of years, however, these other two gases have been on the rise, according to two new studies. The increase is not accounted for in predictions for future global warming and comes as a nasty surprise to climate watchers.
Methane is by far the bigger worry. It is considered the No. 2 greenhouse gas based on the amount of warming it causes and the amount in the atmosphere. The total effect of methane on global warming is about one-third that of man-made carbon dioxide. |
9 Asia, Europe close ranks to ease financial crisis
By Alan Wheatley and Elizabeth Piper, Reuters
13 mins ago
| BEIJING/LONDON (Reuters) - Asian and European leaders closed ranks on Saturday to try to bolster confidence among investors who fear that a global credit crunch has ushered in a deep and damaging world recession.
The worst financial crisis in 80 years has forced countries to work together to find ways to help shore up a financial system crippled by banks fearful of lending to each other.
But with evidence mounting that Europe is already in recession, analysts fear that cooperation in shoring up banking systems could be threatened as governments begin to turn their attention to reviving domestic demand. |
10 Top U.S. Iraq commander visits Turkey on rebels
Reuters
Sat Oct 25, 3:52 am ET
| BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, General Ray Odierno, has met a senior military official in Turkey to discuss Kurdish rebels launching attacks into Turkey from northern Iraq, the U.S. military said.
The meeting Friday with General Hasan Igsiz, deputy chief of the Turkish General Staff, "centered on U.S. forces' ongoing assistance to Turkey in its effort to defeat the Kurdish rebel group known as the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK," the military said in a statement.
Turkey has launched air strikes and shelled rebel areas in recent weeks in the most recent twist of its long campaign to crush the PKK rebels, who have carried out cross-border attacks from camps in mountain areas of Iraq near the Turkish border. |
11 Russia says U.S. sanctions will hit ties
By Guy Faulconbridge, Reuters
Fri Oct 24, 2:27 pm ET
| MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia accused Washington on Friday of breaking international law and weakening cooperation on Iran's nuclear program after it imposed sanctions on companies accused of passing sensitive technology to Tehran.
A U.S. State Department spokesman said the United States had imposed sanctions on firms in China, Russia, Sudan, Venezuela, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates for alleged sales of sensitive technology that could help Iran, North Korea and Syria develop weapons of mass destruction or missile systems.
Spokesman Gordon Duguid said he could not give specific details of the companies' activities because of "intelligence sensitivities." |
12 Air Force plans nuclear command after blunders
Reuters
Fri Oct 24, 4:08 pm ET
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force said on Friday it would create a separate command for nuclear missiles and bombers after blunders undermined confidence in its nuclear mission and led to the dismissal of top officials.
The Air Force announced the plan for Global Strike Command, to be headed by a three-star general, as part of a broader revamp to sharpen the focus on its nuclear mission.
"This is a critical milestone for us. It's a new starting point for reinvigoration of this enterprise," said Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, the service's top civilian. |
13 Chrysler cuts salaried jobs, Europe carmakers warn
By David Bailey and Helen Massy-Beresford, Reuters
Fri Oct 24, 3:00 pm ET
| DETROIT/PARIS (Reuters) - A worsening global auto downturn has forced deep salaried job cuts at Chrysler, where merger talks with General Motors Corp intensified on Friday, and a warning at France's PSA Peugeot Citroen.
Shares of U.S. automakers and parts suppliers also fell under a broader stock market decline on Friday, including a 26-year low at No. 2 U.S.-based automaker Ford Motor Co which is also cutting back due to the industrywide slowdown.
Chrysler aims to cut about 5,000 salaried and contract workers, or 25 percent of the white-collar staff, amid the auto industry downturn, including extending buyout offers starting in November and involuntary cuts by year end. |
14 Iraqi party suspends ties with U.S. over raid
Reuters
10 mins ago
| BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's biggest Sunni Arab political party suspended all dealings with U.S. civilian and military personnel on Saturday after U.S. and Iraqi forces carried out a raid in which a man was killed.
The incident could increase tension in a part of Iraq that was once the heartland of the insurgency against U.S. forces but has become among the quietest parts of the country over the past two years.
U.S. forces said one man had been arrested and one had been killed in a joint U.S.-Iraqi raid against a suspected militant on Friday in the town of Falluja. |
15 Briton, South African shot dead in Afghan capital
AFP
2 hrs 36 mins ago
| KABUL (AFP) - A Briton and a South African working for international courier company DHL were killed along with an Afghan guard in a shoot out in Afghanistan's capital Kabul Saturday, officials said.
It was the second fatal shooting involving the international community in the city in five days with a dual national British-South African aid worker gunned down Monday in a killing claimed by the insurgent Taliban.
Separately on Saturday, two Turks and two Bangladeshis were reported kidnapped elsewhere in Afghanistan, which this year has seen a spiral in violence blamed on increasing insurgent attacks and crime. |
16 Brits try to retrieve assets frozen in Icelandic banks
By Mark Rice-Oxley, The Christian Science Monitor
Fri Oct 24, 4:00 am ET
| London - It's a country with a population smaller than Cincinnati and a climate that can only be described as frigid. But for a couple of boom-time years, Iceland was the hottest investment idea around: high returns, a rock-solid credit rating, and a dab of the exotic to go with it.
But now, as the North Sea island goes into financial meltdown - the first sovereign victim of the global financial crisis - hundreds of thousands of people are ruing their decision to park money in Icelandic banks - and many of them are British.
In a striking example of the intertwined nature of global finance, capital, risk, and liability, entire classes of British savers - housewives, expatriates, city halls, police forces, universities, even charities - are scrambling to get billions of pounds' worth of savings back. |
17 Fallout of US-India nuke deal
By Howard Lafranchi, The Christian Science Monitor
Fri Oct 24, 4:00 am ET
| Washington - China's agreement to help Pakistan build two nuclear power plants is prompting warnings that the new US-India civilian nuclear deal is already pushing other countries to pursue their own nuclear relationships.
The concern among South Asia experts and nonproliferation advocates is that the American deal allowing India to pursue an expanded civilian nuclear program with limited safeguards is prompting other countries in a volatile region to seek a similar deal - something the US had said would not happen.
"You can't help but hear about China supplying Pakistan with nuclear power plants and see it as a reaction to the US-India deal," says Michael Krepon, a South Asia nuclear proliferation expert at the Henry L. Stimson Center in Washington. "Pakistan is desperate for energy, as is India, but there are lower-cost and shorter-timeline options for producing it, so there is something else going on here and in the Middle East." |
18 Christians face attacks in eastern India
By TIM SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer
2 hrs 29 mins ago
| TIKKABALLI, India - They still worship in what remains of the little Baptist church not far from this forest town. The church is empty except for the rubble swept neatly into the corners. The sun comes through ragged holes where the mob smashed in the window frames.
On the roof, the crucifix is just twisted metal and broken concrete. It's barely recognizable, and you have to ask to make sure that's what it once was.
Here, prayers are said only in secret. |
19 Premier says China to ensure safe food
By HENRY SANDERSON, Associated Press Writer
Sat Oct 25, 11:01 am ET
| BEIJING - China's premier said Saturday the country will take steps to improve its food safety, saying that tainted milk products that are believed to have killed four babies and sickened thousands of children was a failure of regulation.
Speaking at a 43-nation Asia-Europe Meeting summit, Wen Jiabao said the milk scandal will spur the introduction of China's first major food safety law and China's food exports will meet international standards.
"Food involves a full process from the farmland to the table, it involves many links and many processes," he said. "In every link and every process we need to put in place effective and powerful regulatory measures." |
20 Shiites in Basra protest US-Iraqi pact
By SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press Writer
Sat Oct 25, 10:25 am ET
| BAGHDAD - About 300 Shiites rallied Saturday in the southern city of Basra against a security pact being negotiated that allows U.S. troops to stay in Iraq for three more years. In Baghdad, bombs killed an Iraqi army brigadier general and a soldier, police said.
The protesters were members of a local Muslim charity linked to Iraq's largest Shiite political party, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, or SIIC.
The council has not decided whether to support the security agreement, and its decision will be crucial in determining whether it wins parliamentary approval. Critics oppose the pact as an infringement of national sovereignty. |
21 Taiwan opposition protests visit by Chinese envoy
By DEBBY WU, Associated Press Writer
Sat Oct 25, 7:11 am ET
| TAIPEI, Taiwan - Tens of thousands of opposition supporters marched through Taiwan's capital Saturday to protest an upcoming visit by a senior Chinese envoy, saying the trip was part of Chinese efforts to assert control over the self-ruled island.
The protesters, many wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan "Defend Taiwan," also accused Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou of making too many concessions and moving too fast in relaxing restrictions on trade and investment with China.
"The government has not done enough to protect our own interests when opening up to China," said protester Karin Hsieh. |
22 Guantanamo guards struggle with hunger striker
By BEN FOX, Associated Press Writer
Fri Oct 24, 5:31 pm ET
| SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Three years ago, the man known as Internment Serial Number 669 stopped eating. Ahmed Zaid Zuhair, a father of 10 children in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, had been held at Guantanamo Bay since 2002 without charges and decided to join a mass hunger strike in protest. The U.S. military was determined not to let him succeed.
Since then, according to court documents reviewed by The Associated Press, guards have struggled with him repeatedly, at least once using pepper spray, shackles and brute force to drag him to a restraint chair for his twice-daily dose of a liquid nutrition mix force-fed through his nose.
The documents, filed in federal court in Washington, are a rare look at the military tactics used on hunger strikers, which have sparked international condemnation but remained hidden from view, with officials refusing to even confirm the identity of the men taking part in the protest. |
23 Global crisis threatens to undo all U.N.'s work: Ban
By Patrick Worsnip, Reuters
Fri Oct 24, 8:45 pm ET
| UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned his top lieutenants on Friday that the global financial crisis jeopardized everything the United Nations has done to help the world's poor and hungry.
"It threatens to undermine all our achievements and all our progress," Ban told a meeting of U.N. agency chiefs devoted to the crisis. "Our progress in eradicating poverty and disease. Our efforts to fight climate change and promote development. To ensure that people have enough to eat."
At a meeting also attended by the heads of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, Ban said the credit crunch that has stunned markets worldwide compounded the food crisis, the energy crisis and Africa's development crisis. |
24 Georgian official killed in blast near rebel region
By Margarita Antidze, Reuters
2 hrs 17 mins ago
| TBILISI (Reuters) - A Georgian district governor and a villager were killed in explosions on Saturday near Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia region after police reported mortar fire in the de facto border zone.
It was the latest in a series of security incidents in the area since Russian forces pulled back to within the rebel region early this month, following a five-day war with Georgia in August.
An Interior Ministry spokesman said the governor of Tsalenjikha region had been investigating reports of mortar rounds being fired from Abkhaz territory when what appeared to be landmines exploded followed by incoming fire. |
25 Tsvangirai committed to "equitable" deal with Mugabe
By Mike Saburi, Reuters
Sat Oct 25, 11:16 am ET
| MARONDERA, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said on Saturday he was committed to a genuine power-sharing pact with President Robert Mugabe but would not be bullied into a government in which he would have little authority.
Mugabe and Tsvangirai signed a broad power-sharing deal brokered by South Africa's former president Thabo Mbeki on September 15 but the agreement has since stalled over who should run which ministries.
Tsvangirai, who is set to become prime minister if the power-sharing government takes off, also said Zimbabwe badly needed a political settlement to address a dire economic crisis that had given left millions of people hungry. |
26 Pirates hijack Nigeria oil ship, attack two others
By Nick Tattersall, Reuters
1 hr 50 mins ago
| LAGOS (Reuters) - Pirates in Nigeria attacked at least two oil vessels in the offshore waters of the Niger Delta on Saturday, briefly seizing a group of oil workers including seven French citizens, security sources said.
Gunmen early Saturday hijacked the vessel Bourbon Ajax in the oil-producing delta, also taking 10 Nigerians on board hostage, two private security sources said.
The boat and the captives were released a short time later. One security source said the boat was contracted by Canada's Addax Petroleum. |
27 Tribal fighting displaces thousands in south Darfur
By Alaa Shahine, Reuters
1 hr 43 mins ago
| KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Tribal fighting killed more than 40 people and displaced thousands of civilians, mostly women and children, in the state of South Darfur in Sudan this month, aid workers and a rights group said.
In North Darfur, rebels said on Saturday that government forces clashed with a faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) a day earlier. The Sudanese military could not confirm the incident but said it has forces operating in the area.
The fighting in South Darfur broke out early in October between the Arab Maaliya tribe and the African Zaghawa over cattle and other livestock around the town of Muhajiriya, an international aid source said on Saturday. |
28 Asia, Europe join calls for freedom in Myanmar
by Dan Martin, AFP
Sat Oct 25, 10:41 am ET
| BEIJING (AFP) - Asian and European leaders urged Myanmar's ruling junta on Saturday to release detained opposition members and implement democracy in the poverty-stricken Southeast Asian nation.
The appeal followed heavy lobbying for the Asia-Europe Meeting here, chaired by Myanmar's ally China and attended by leaders from more than 40 countries, to come out strongly in support of democratic freedoms in the country.
"(Leaders) encouraged the Myanmar government to engage all stakeholders in an inclusive political process in order to achieve national reconciliation and economic and social development," they said in a joint statement. |
29 India police arrest 1,000 student at Bihar protest
AFP
Sat Oct 25, 11:03 am ET
| PATNA, India (AFP) - Police arrested more than 1,000 students in India's eastern Bihar state on Saturday after their protests over the release on bail of a firebrand politician turned violent.
Raj Thackeray was arrested on Monday for allegedly inciting violence against migrant workers travelling from poor states like Bihar to the Indian financial capital Mumbai, but was freed two days later.
Students in Bihar enforced a strike on Saturday in protest against his release, attacking several railway stations, blocking national highways and clashing with police in some areas of the state. |
30 Croatian EU membership threatened by crime: warning
AFP
Fri Oct 24, 3:34 pm ET
| ZAGREB (AFP) - Croatia was warned Friday that its chances of European Union membership were threatened by organised crime, the day after a car bomb killed a prominent journalist and a colleague.
"I am deeply worried," about the situation in the country, Hannes Swoboda, the European parliament's rapporteur on Croatia told national radio.
"It is a shock which pushes Croatia back in its ambitions to become a member of the EU." |
31 Tearful London cop recalls shooting innocent Brazilian
AFP
Fri Oct 24, 1:07 pm ET
| LONDON (AFP) - A police marksman who shot dead an innocent Brazilian after bomb attacks in London broke down in court Friday as he recalled how he was convinced the man was a suicide bomber about to strike.
Speaking about the shooting in public for the first time, the officer, identified only as C12, said he was certain he had to kill Jean Charles de Menezes to stop another atrocity.
He told an inquest, attended by De Menezes's mother, that knowing he was responsible for the death of an innocent man was "something I have got to live with for the rest of my life." |
32 Iraq's prime minister won't sign U.S. troop deal
By Roy Gutman, McClatchy Newspapers
Fri Oct 24, 6:07 pm ET
| BAGHDAD - Fearing political division in the parliament and the country at large, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki won't sign the just-completed agreement on the status of U.S. troops in Iraq , a leading lawmaker said on Friday.
Shelving the new accord would constitute a major setback both for the Bush administration, which has been seeking to establish a legal basis for the extended presence of the 151,000 U.S. troops in this country, and for Iraq , which gained notable concessions in the draft accord reached one week ago.
"No, he will not" submit the agreement to the parliament, Sheikh Jalal al Din al Sagheer , the deputy head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq , told McClatchy . "For this matter, we need national consensus." |
33 How Iraqi Democracy May Mean An Early U.S. Withdrawal
By TONY KARON, Time Magazine
Fri Oct 24, 12:00 pm ET
| Asked earlier this week by Wolf Blitzer whether he'd honor an agreement between the U.S. and Iraq to withdraw American troops by the end of 2011, presidential candidate John McCain chided the CNN anchor: "You know better than that, Wolf. You know it's condition-based, and that's what the big fight was all about," McCain said, referring to his difference with Barack Obama over when and how to withraw U.S. forces from Iraq. Whereas Obama has sought to set a 16-month deadline for U.S. withdrawal, McCain has denounced that as defeatist and insisted that any decision to withdraw should be based on U.S. commanders' assessment of security conditions on the ground. |
34 Austrian Far-Right Leader Haider Outed in Death?
By ANDREW PURVIS / BERLIN, Time Magazine
Sat Oct 25, 12:25 pm ET
| In life, Austria's best-known far-right politician, Joerg Haider, was a media staple. In death, interest in him has skyrocketed again, thanks to the revelation that he may have been gay or bisexual. |
35 Time and Money Running Out for Pakistan
By OMAR WARAICH/ISLAMABAD, Time Magazine
Sat Oct 25, 12:25 pm E
| You wouldn't want to be the President of Pakistan: Even as the military finds itself embroiled in a war against militants that much of the country's elected leadership (and even more of the electorate) opposes, it's hard even to keep the lights on as the limits of the country's electricity supply mean daily blackouts in major cities. The economy, meanwhile, is in a perilous state, with inflation running rampant, the currency having lost a third of its value, and foreign currency reserves reduced to the point that they can finance no more than six weeks of imports. Pakistan, in fact, is in danger of defaulting on its substantial foreign debt if it can't get help either from its friends or from the IMF - and the price of such help will be politically unpopular: a stepped up effort against the Taliban and, perhaps, some tough domestic economic reforms. |
| From Yahoo News U.S. News |
36 Sharpton calls for inquiry in alleged NYPD assault
By DAVID B. CARUSO, Associated Press
6 mins ago
| NEW YORK - Saying that police brutality is not an issue of color, the Rev. Al Sharpton on Saturday joined the cause of a white man who claims that a group of officers sodomized him with a walkie-talkie.
Sharpton called for a thorough, independent investigation of Michael Mineo's allegation that five officers tackled him in a subway station, then violated him with a radio antenna after his baggy pants either fell down or were pulled off.
Mineo, 24, was hospitalized for four days after the Oct. 15 incident. He was back in the hospital this weekend being treated for what his lawyers said was continued bleeding, problems urinating and severe pain. |
37 Prosecutors widen Chicago police torture probe
By MIKE ROBINSON, Associated Press Writer
1 hr 27 mins ago
| CHICAGO - The investigation of decades-old claims that Chicago police tortured suspects with beatings, electric shocks and games of Russian roulette won't stop with last week's federal indictment of a controversial homicide commander.
Dozens of former detectives and other officers can expect to be called before a federal grand jury as the panel digs deeper into a scandal that has haunted Chicago for more than 20 years.
Prosecutors hint that fresh charges could be on the way. |
38 Ordinary Joes have mixed feelings on wealth
By ADAM GELLER, AP National Writer
Sat Oct 25, 12:22 pm ET
| NEW YORK - The war of words waged by John McCain and Barack Obama for the votes of plumbers and other average Joes is a reminder of the nation's long-standing doubts about concentrated wealth - and its qualms about doing something about it.
Americans have voiced concerns about putting too much wealth in to too few hands since the country was founded, but the public's views also come with contradictions.
Now it's clearer than ever - thanks to Obama's much scrutinized talk about taxes with a certain Ohio voter and McCain's dogged criticism - that these mixed feelings about income inequality are a long way from being resolved. |
39 Utah residents make polygamy forefront of AG race
By BROCK VERGAKIS, Associated Press Writer
24 mins ago
| SALT LAKE CITY - Polygamy is never far from the minds of Utah residents - even when it occurs in another state.
A raid on a polygamist compound in Texas earlier this year that put more 400 kids in state custody has become one of the biggest issues in the race for Utah attorney general.
Republican Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and Democratic challenger Jean Welch Hill both told The Associated Press that the first question they are asked by voters is always about polygamy, even as they try to focus on other issues. |
40 Mo. man to donate land the size of Central Park
By BETSY TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer
1 hr 18 mins ago
| CEDAR HILL, Mo. - A long, bumpy road leads through the woods to Don Robinson's unfinished house, where he lives in conditions he calls a step above camping.
Wearing dirty sneakers, worn corduroys and a shirt with visible holes, Robinson doesn't look like a man who owns hundreds of acres of rustic property here. But he does - and he has made arrangements to donate a piece of it as large as New York's Central Park to create a new Missouri state park.
Robinson - when asked his age he says "I'm not going to tell you, but in 19 years, I'll be 100" - will turn at least 843 acres of his land over to Missouri's Department of Natural Resources after his death, along with a trust fund to help maintain the property. That's the same acreage as New York's signature park. |
41 Hawaii has battle over constitutional redo
By MARK NIESSE, Associated Press Writer
55 mins ago
| HONOLULU - Presidential candidate Barack Obama may be running on change but some residents of his home state don't want to shake up things too much.
A ballot proposal to call a constitutional convention in Hawaii is raising fears it could have unexpected results, perhaps weakening unions or reducing the country's only recognition of Native Hawaiian rights, and that its multimillion-dollar cost would come at the expense of other public programs in a tough economic time.
Hawaii is one of three states proposing a constitutional convention this election year. In Connecticut, opponents of gay marriage hope a convention will help override a state Supreme Court decision allowing same-sex couples to wed. Illinois voters are pushing for a convention to address ethics reform, school funding and the state pension system. |
42 Afghan charged in NY with Taliban terrorist support
Reuters
Fri Oct 24, 2:42 pm ET
| NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. authorities accused an Afghan man on Friday of running a global drug trafficking group and using the money to fund Taliban terrorist activities.
Haji Juma Khan, 54, was handed over to U.S. officials by Indonesia after he arrived in Jakarta from Dubai. The United States had posted an Interpol notice for his arrest. As a result Indonesia denied him entry and alerted U.S. officials.
Khan is charged with conspiracy to distribute narcotics with intent to support a terrorist organization. U.S. authorities say he is among the first defendants to be prosecuted under a 2006 federal narco-terrorism statute. |
43 Aggressive vaccine effort could cut cervical cancer
By Julie Steenhuysen, Reuters
Sat Oct 25, 12:16 pm ET
| CHICAGO (Reuters) - An aggressive strategy of vaccinating older women against cervical cancer could deliver a crippling blow against the disease, cutting rates for that type of cancer in half for women through age 45, U.S. researchers said on Saturday.
Using a mathematical model, they showed that vaccinating women in the United States by ages 12 through 45 against the cancer-causing human papillomavirus, or HPV, could reduce cases of cervical cancer by 85 percent for 12-year-olds and up to 55 percent for 45-year-old women.
It could lower rates by 34 to 67 percent for 25-year-old women, Warner Huh of the University of Alabama told a meeting in Washington of the American Society for Microbiology and the Infectious Diseases Society of America. |
44 U.S. agency loses $4 billion, seeks to reassure retirees
By John Crawley, Reuters
Fri Oct 24, 4:51 pm ET
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The agency that insures corporate pensions has enough money to pay long-term benefits despite $4 billion in estimated investment losses and ongoing U.S. economic turmoil, its director said on Friday.
"The people who depend on us should not be concerned," said Charles Millard, director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp (PBGC), told a House of Representatives Health and Labor Committee hearing.
There has long been concern about the health of the deficit-ridden PBGC but fears of a taxpayer bailout have eased in recent years as returns improved significantly and its deficit narrowed sharply. |
45 California opera delights fans, puzzles critics
By David Lawsky, Reuters
Fri Oct 24, 8:52 pm ET
| SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Writer Amy Tan's opera "The Bonesetter's Daughter" finished its premiere engagement here recently, but the unusual production fusing European and Chinese tradition has created a buzz that lingers among fans of the art form.
The New York Times, for one, illustrated a recent article about new operas using a photo from the exotic visual spectacle, about a woman who bridges the generational and cultural gap separating her from her mother.
When "Bonesetter's Daughter" opened in September as a production of the San Francisco Opera, critics gave it mixed reviews, but audiences were enthusiastic and the opera's creators attended every show during the sold-out run. |
46 Government tells states not to privatize lotteries
Reuters
Fri Oct 24, 8:57 pm ET
| NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice has told states that federal law bars them from privatizing lotteries, a money-raising strategy several hoped to use for investments in education, roads, bridges and the like, Indiana's Republican governor said in a statement on Friday.
The federal Office of Legal Counsel determined "that states may contract with private management firms to operate their lotteries, but that the state must maintain control over significant business decisions made by the lottery," Gov Mitch Daniels said in a statement.
Daniels added: "In addition, the opinion says that the management firm may not receive more than 'a de minimus interest in the profits and losses of the business.'" |
47 U.S. bargain-seekers hunt closer to home than Canada
By Scott Anderson, Reuters
Fri Oct 24, 3:16 pm ET
| TORONTO (Reuters) - There's unlikely to be a rush of bargain-hunting U.S. shoppers flooding into Canada to take advantage of a rapidly weakening Canadian dollar because tough times at home will keep them away.
While the low-cost loonie, the Canadian currency's nickname, has been a big draw for American shoppers in the past, things are different now due to the U.S. housing crisis and general economic malaise. It hardly matters that the value of the Canadian dollar has slipped more than 20 percent this year, and that it was around 79 U.S. cents on Friday -- its weakest point against the U.S. dollar since September 2004.
"Americans are going through a tough time right now and so even while they may be hunting for bargains, they probably will tend to hunt closer to home," said Peter Woolford, vice-president of policy development and research at the Retail Council of Canada. |
48 NY council extends term limit so Bloomberg can run
By Edith Honan, Reuters
Fri Oct 24, 9:03 am ET
| NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mayor Michael Bloomberg won the right to seek re-election as New York's City Council voted on Thursday to extend the two-term limit for elected officials as the city grapples with the global financial crisis.
Bloomberg, a former Wall Street trader and self-made billionaire who was elected in 2001 and in 2005, wants to run again on grounds that his financial experience will be valuable in guiding the city through lean fiscal times ahead.
The 51-member council voted 29-22 to approve the measure. About two-thirds of the council would have been forced out of office under the two-term limit, but they can now run for a third term in the November 2009 election. |
49 Facing ethics probe, Palin testifies to investigators
AFP
2 hrs 14 mins ago
| WASHINGTON (AFP) - Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said she welcomed a chance to testify under oath in a second investigation into whether she abused her office in a case that has dogged the Republican vice presidential nominee, US media reported on Saturday.
Palin's lawyer said she gave detailed testimony in three hours of questioning Friday by the Alaska state Personnel Board, which is investigating whether she violated ethics rules when she dismissed her public safety commissioner in July.
"The governor was very pleased to finally get the chance to get an opportunity to get the whole truth out to an unbiased and independent investigator," Palin's lawyer Thomas Van Flein said, quoted by CNN. |
50 McCain volunteer admits she made up attack: police
AFP
Sat Oct 25, 2:12 am ET
| WASHINGTON, (AFP) - A John McCain campaign volunteer admitted she made up a racially and politically charged story of being robbed and having the letter "B" carved into her cheek by an assailant who saw a McCain sticker on her car, police said.
Ashley Todd, who is white, is being charged with filing a false police report after telling police she was assaulted by a large black man as she was withdrawing money from an automatic teller machine in an area of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, according to the city's assistant chief of police investigations division, Maurita Bryant.
"Miss Todd stated that she made up the story which snowballed and got out of control," Bryant said at a briefing aired on local television channel WTAE's website. "Miss Todd stated she was not robbed and there was no six foot four (1m 93cm) black male attacker." |
51 Wall Street sees rocky road as Fed meeting looms
AFP
1 hr 32 mins ago
| NEW YORK (AFP) - Bruised and battered Wall Street faces another test in the coming week with more data to highlight dire economic conditions and a Federal Reserve meeting expected to offer a fresh rate cut.
A major question for investors is whether the horrific market action of recent weeks reflects worries of tougher economic conditions ahead or is the result of hedge funds and portfolio managers pulling out cash at any cost to meet redemptions.
In the week to Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 5.35 percent to 8,378.95 and is now off a whopping 37 percent so far for 2008. |
52 Another 11th-hour stay for US death row inmate Troy Davis
by Karin Zeitvogel
Fri Oct 24, 3:00 pm ET
| WASHINGTON (AFP) - Troy Davis, a black American who has spent 17 years on death row for the murder of a white policeman, was Friday granted a stay of execution, three days before he was due to be put to death, court documents showed.
"Upon our thorough review of the record, we conclude that Davis has met the burden for a provisional stay of execution," said the decision taken by three judges sitting on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in the southern state of Georgia, a copy of which was sent to AFP.
Davis, 40, was scheduled to die Monday at 7 pm (2300 GMT) by lethal injection for the 1989 killing of 27-year-old white policeman Mark Allan MacPhail in Savannah, Georgia. |
53 PNC to buy National City in deal creating fifth-largest US bank
by Veronica Smith, AFP
Fri Oct 24, 3:25 pm ET
| WASHINGTON (AFP) - PNC, tapping into a Treasury emergency fund, said Friday it is buying National City in a 5.6 billion-dollar deal to create the nation's fifth largest bank by deposits.
PNC was the first regional bank to announce it had been approved for a capital injection under the Treasury's new 700-billion-dollar Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
Last week the Treasury set a November 14 deadline for banks to apply for a massive financial rescue from the 250 billion dollars available in exchange for equity stakes to help restore credit flows. |
54 Ringling Bros circus to go on trial for elephant abuse
AFP
Thu Oct 23, 6:57 pm ET
| WASHINGTON (AFP) - The legendary Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus goes on trial Monday in Washington for allegedly abusing the elephants that perform in the group's shows.
On October 27 the federal district court in Washington will hear the animal abuse case against Ringling Bros. and its parent company Feld Entertainment, eight years after a former employee teamed up with animal advocates to launch the lawsuit.
The case will focus on whether the company, billed as "The Greatest Show on Earth," violated the Endangered Species Act by training its Asian elephants with sharp bull hooks and chaining the animals for days on end. |
55 US economists nearly flunk McCain on women's issues
by Karin Zeitvogel, AFP
Thu Oct 23, 5:15 pm ET
| WASHINGTON (AFP) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain barely got a passing grade on issues that matter to women while his Democratic rival Barack Obama scored a "B" in report cards awarded Thursday to the two men by US economists.
The Economists' Policy Group on Women's Issues (EPGWI), made up of economics professors and researchers from 25 US universities, gave McCain two "Fs" -- the failing grade -- for his positions on pay and jobs equity and reproductive rights.
The 72-year-old Republican also got six "Ds", one mark short of failing, and two Cs, with his grade averaging out to D overall. |
56 With a Pre-PSAT, the Joys of Testing Start Even Earlier
By KATHLEEN KINGSBURY, Time Magazine
Sat Oct 25, 11:55 am ET
| Parents, get ready to start stressing out even earlier about whether your kid will get into a good college. The College Board, the nonprofit that owns the PSAT and SAT, on Oct. 22 unveiled a new exam designed to assess eighth graders' readiness for high school and college courses. The two-hour test, known as ReadiStep, will launch next fall, using a multiple-choice format divided into sections that evaluate students' reading, writing and math skills. |
57 America: The Lost Leader
By MICHAEL ELLIOTT, Time Magazine
Fri Oct 24, 1:35 pm ET
| In the U.S. presidential election campaign, the speeches of the candidates on foreign policy have often turned on a single word, and a shared analysis. The word is "leadership," and the analysis is this. After World War II, the U.S. built an international system that protected those who signed up to its values, and that provided the means for contesting Soviet communism. Now, with the end of the Cold War, and in the messy world that has taken shape in its aftermath, it is time for America to show leadership again. In his set-piece speech on foreign policy in Chicago in April 2007, for example, Barack Obama identified no less than five ways in which the U.S. should lead the world. But John McCain made the point with greatest clarity in his speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council in March. |
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