Friend And Foe

(CBS) The Shiites -- the Muslim sect that makes up the majority of Iraq -- have been, for the most part, in favor of the U.S.-led invasion. But there are signs that may be changing.

Five American soldiers were killed recently in a gun battle with an armed Shiite mob, and there have been several bombings in the last two weeks that U.S. forces say may have been carried out by Shiites.

Correspondent Bob Simon conducted the first television interview with the young Shiite cleric Sayed Muqtada al-Sadr, who is believed to be behind so much of the trouble.

But first, you'll hear from Hussein Khomeini, one of America's biggest fans among the Shiites. He is the eldest grandson of the late Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran, who despised the Americans.
posted by Frodgie at 9:07 AM

 

Scalia Ridicules Court's Gay Sex Ruling

WASHINGTON Oct. 23 — Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia ridiculed his court's recent ruling legalizing gay sex, telling an audience of conservative activists Thursday that the ruling ignores the Constitution in favor of a modern, liberal sensibility.
The ruling, Scalia said, "held to be a constitutional right what had been a criminal offense at the time of the founding and for nearly 200 years thereafter."

Scalia adopted a mocking tone to read from the court's June ruling that struck down state antisodomy laws in Texas and elsewhere.

Scalia wrote a bitter dissent in the gay sex case that was longer than the ruling itself.

On Thursday, Scalia said judges, including his colleagues on the Supreme Court, throw over the original meaning of the Constitution when it suits them.


posted by Frodgie at 9:03 AM

 

Iraqi official says limited German, French help won't be forgotten

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- A top Iraqi official attending an international conference on raising funds to rebuild Iraq warned Thursday that France and Germany's limited donations would not be forgotten.

Ayad Allawi, the current head of Iraq's U.S.-appointed governing council, said he hoped German and French officials would reconsider their decision not to boost their contributions beyond funds already pledged through the European Union.


posted by Frodgie at 9:01 AM

 

Dems Ready to Use More Filibusters

"Perhaps we ought to prepare some bumper stickers that say 'Obstruction: It's not just for judges anymore,"' sighed Texas Sen. John Cornyn (search), summing up Republicans' frustration.

On Wednesday, Democrats used their filibuster power to virtually kill a GOP plan to move class-action lawsuits to less friendly federal courts. Democrats plan to use a filibuster next week to block a Republican bill that would override state privacy laws restricting creditor sharing of customers' financial data.

Once a rare occurrence mostly associated with Southern senators blocking civil rights bills, filibusters have become an often-used tool in recent years for whichever party is the minority. This year, that's the Democrats, with 48 senators and an independent, James Jeffords (search) of Vermont, who usually votes with them. Last year, it was the Republicans in the minority.


posted by Frodgie at 9:00 AM

 

A Double Standard for Sex Offenders?

Psychologist Katherine Peterson of the Kentucky Department of Corrections (search) began studying female sex offenders a few years ago and found that the problem is much more prevalent than people realize because the majority of men who are sexually assaulted by women never report it.

Of course, there are famous cases — like that of Seattle teacher Mary Kay Letourneau (search), who is serving seven years in prison after having sexual relations with a 13-year-old student and bearing two of his children.

But Peterson said there are many more women like Letourneau who have never been brought to justice. In addition, she said, those who are caught generally receive lighter sentences than men.

Prosecutors disagree, saying that male and female sex offenders are treated equally under the law

posted by Frodgie at 8:59 AM

 

Gunmen Kill Three Israelis in Gaza Settlement

Military officials said the attackers crossed the exterior fence at Netazarim (search)settlement and began shooting. They did not enter the settlement itself, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Soldiers searching for the attackers shot and killed one, the officials said, and were looking for another. Israel Radio said dense fog hampered the search.

A caller claiming to be a member of Islamic Jihad spoke to the Associated Press, identifying the attacker killed by soldiers as Samir Fouda, 21, a Hamas militant from Gaza's Jebaliya refugee camp, and said the other attacker -- an Islamic Jihad member -- had escaped.


posted by Frodgie at 8:58 AM

 

Gene found for obsessive-compulsive disorder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- U.S. and Japanese researchers said on Thursday they had found a genetic mutation that causes obsessive-compulsive disorder and other mental illnesses and said some patients had a second mutation that made their conditions worse.

The rare finding could make it easier to discover good treatments for the disorder, one of the top 10 leading causes of disability worldwide.

Dr. Norio Ozaki of Fujita Health University School of Medicine in Toyoake, Japan and colleagues at several U.S. institutions -- including the University of Pittsburgh and Yale University -- worked on the study, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.


posted by Frodgie at 8:57 AM

 

Too Bad for the old people...blame the Dems

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Forty-one senators, all but two Democrats, sent a letter to President Bush on Thursday, saying they would oppose a Medicare prescription drug bill -- unless some changes are made.

That number would be enough to block the bill in the Senate, although Democrats said they had not decided whether to filibuster the measure. The bill is currently being negotiated by a House-Senate conference committee.

"We are further away now than at any time since this conference began," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts. "It is at grave risk."

The letter -- signed by 39 Democrats, one Republican and one independent -- includes a long list of objections, but a House proposal that would require Medicare to compete against private health plans appears to be the killer issue for these senators.


posted by Frodgie at 8:42 AM

 

US Puts Blood Ban on Soldiers Returning from Iraq

The precautionary ban was ordered by the Department of Defense and the nation's largest association of blood banks following an outbreak of cutaneous leishmaniasis among U.S. soldiers serving in the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan.

Leishmaniasis, which is endemic in the Middle East, tropics and some parts of southern Europe, is usually spread by the bite of sand flies. Those infected develop painless skin lesions that can, if left untreated, cause scars.

Visceral leishmaniasis, the more serious form of the disease, can damage internal organs and cause death.

The new blood donor restrictions will apply to soldiers for 12 months after their last day in Iraq, according to a report published on Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

posted by Frodgie at 11:34 PM

 

Israel Army Ready to Oust Arafat if Ordered-Report

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Israeli army is ready to "remove" Palestinian President Yasser Arafat if the government gives the order, the Jerusalem Post newspaper reported on Thursday, citing a senior military source.

The report in the right-wing daily, which recently editorialized in favor of killing Arafat, followed a decision in principle by Israel's security cabinet last month to "remove" the Palestinian leader. The ministers did not say how or when.

The threat against Arafat, a 74-year-old symbol of Palestinian nationalism, sparked worldwide outcry and drew cautions from Israel's key ally Washington as it struggles to revive an international "road map" to Middle East peace. "We have presented plans showing the risks and the chances of the operation itself, including the options to remove him alive or not," the Post quoted the military source as saying.

"The government has to make a decision to allow the army to act. The army is ready," the source was quoted as saying. The Post did not provide further details. The army declined comment.

Arafat has been confined to his West Bank compound in Ramallah for much of the past two years, accused by Israel and the United States or fomenting violence in a Palestinian uprising that erupted in September 2000. He denies it.


posted by Frodgie at 9:26 AM

 

Bush Thanks Australia for Help in Iraq, Afghanistan

"America, Australia and other nations acted in Iraq to remove a grave and gathering danger, instead of wishing and waiting while a tragedy drew closer," Bush said near the end of a six-nation, eight-day lobbying campaign to give the war on terrorism among Asian and Pacific allies a shot in the arm.

The president also offered a pointed answer to those who say Operation Iraqi Freedom (search) wasn't worth fighting.

"Who can possibly think that the world would be better off with Saddam Hussein still in power?" Bush asked.

Bush told a divided Parliament that the war in Iraq was right and inevitable, but that Americans and Australians "still have decisive days ahead" and that the broader war on terror could be long and drawn out.


posted by Frodgie at 9:25 AM

 

Cheerleaders Shed Skirts to Wow Fans

Pom-poms, tiny skirts and big smiles are cheerleaders' trademarks, but the eternally perky sets are flashing a lot more than pearly whites on the sidelines this football season.

The teasing sex appeal of classic cheerleading uniforms has been replaced in Philadelphia and a few other stadiums with mini two-piece ensembles that flash skin from cheek to cheek, stirring a variety of reactions from fans.

“I would say it achieved the 'wow' factor, which is something we were going after," said Philadelphia Eagles (search)’ cheerleading director Barbara Zaun. "Jaws were dropping when they debuted on Monday Night Football Sept. 8.”

The Eagles hired celebrity bridal gown designer Vera Wang (search) to create new 2003 cheerleader uniforms, which do away with the skirts, in favor of boy shorts and a plunging top.


posted by Frodgie at 9:23 AM

 

Government Begins Sweep for Illegal Immigrants

The operation targeted employees of companies that conduct cleaning services for Wal-Mart (search), sources said. People currently being picked up by the government are believed to be among the illegal immigrants at 60 different stores in 21 states.

The Wal-Mart chain was built by Sam Walton.

In addition, some Wal-Mart executives are expected to be slapped with grand jury subpoenas as part of this investigation, sources told Fox News. Investigators are looking into whether Wal-Mart executives knew that their contracted cleaning companies may have been hiring illegal immigrants for years.

The individuals picked up in the immigration sweep could face deportation proceedings (search), sources said.


posted by Frodgie at 9:21 AM

 

Vaccine for advanced breast cancer shows promise

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- After five major surgeries for a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer, Patricia Thomas called the little pinprick she received in a government study the simplest procedure she's undergone.

That pinprick above her knee was an experimental vaccine derived from tiny bits of tumor protein that researchers hope will keep the 70-year-old Arlington, Virginia, woman's cancer from relapsing.

Though only preliminary, early results in Thomas and 13 other vaccinated survivors of advanced breast cancer suggest the researchers might be on the right path.

They have detected signs that the vaccine triggered an immune-system response in all 14 that might potentially fight recurring cancer cells, said co-researcher Dr. George Peoples Jr. of Walter Reed Army Medical Center.


posted by Frodgie at 9:20 AM

 

Captain of ferry in crash suspended

NEW YORK (CNN) -- City officials Wednesday suspended without pay the captain of the Staten Island ferry in last week's deadly crash after he failed to meet federal transportation investigators for the second consecutive day.

Michael Gansas was already under subpoena to meet with National Transportation Safety Board investigators after he failed to show up for a scheduled session Tuesday. (Full story)

The NTSB is leading the inquiry into last Wednesday's crash of the 310-foot Andrew J. Barberi that killed 10 people and injured dozens more. (Full story)

Gansas' attorney, Stephen Sheinbaum, cited health problems for his client's failure to appear.


posted by Frodgie at 9:19 AM

 

Rumsfeld predicts 'long, hard slog' in Iraq

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will be "a long, hard slog," and the United States lacks good measures of its progress in the war on terrorism, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told top aides in a memo published Wednesday.

The memo, dated October 16, asks a handful of top military and civilian Department of Defense officials to consider several questions about the progress of the war. It says U.S. forces are having "mixed results" in the battle against al Qaeda, and that U.S. forces "lack metrics to know if we are winning or losing the global war on terror."

"Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas [Islamic fundamentalist schools] and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?" Rumsfeld asks in the memo.

In the text, Rumsfeld cites "reasonable progress" in capturing or killing the 55 most-wanted Iraqis and "somewhat slower progress" tracking down the Taliban in Afghanistan.

"It is pretty clear that the coalition can win in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way or another, but it will be a long, hard slog," Rumsfeld wrote.


posted by Frodgie at 3:20 PM

 

Israel Defies U.N. Order on Wall

Israeli troops, meanwhile, shot and killed three Palestinian militants in a series of raids and clashes in the West Bank. Two Jewish settlers were wounded.

Israel's police minister, Tzachi Hanegbi, secretly toured a disputed holy site in Jerusalem — the first visit by a senior Israeli official since Israeli-Palestinian fighting erupted there three years ago. Muslim administrators of the site called the visit a provocation, though Hanegbi said it was coordinated with them.

A day after the United Nations approved a nonbinding resolution on the security barrier, Israel's vice premier, Ehud Olmert (search), said construction of the disputed fence would continue.

"We have to worry about Israel's security, and it is clear that we will not act according to the instructions of a hostile, automatic majority ... which has always acted against Israel," Olmert told Israel Radio.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called the U.N. decision a victory for peace.

"The world has just sent a powerful message that the shortest way to peace is not through settlements and walls, but rather through a meaningful peace process that will end the Israeli occupation that began in 1967," Erekat told The Associated Press.


posted by Frodgie at 1:50 PM

 

Sniper fires himself

Muhammad changed his mind Wednesday after only one day of cross-examining witnesses.

Circuit Judge LeRoy F. Millette Jr. (search) informed the jury of Muhammad's decision after a half-hour conference at the judge's bench. Jonathan Shapiro (search) and Peter Greenspun (search), who had been advising him on standby since his decision Monday, returned to their former roles as his defense lawyers.

Muhammad had stunned the judge and even his own attorneys when he demanded the right to represent himself, just as opening arguments were to begin in his death penalty trial.


posted by Frodgie at 1:46 PM

 

Fla. Governor Orders Feeding Tube Be Reinserted

A judge later rejected a request by the woman's husband to overturn the governor's order.

Terri Schiavo (search) was being rehydrated intravenously after the Legislature rushed to pass a bill designed to save her life, according to her parents' lawyer. Schiavo's parents have fought to keep her alive. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, says she would rather die.

An ambulance took Schiavo from a Pinellas Park hospice to Morton Plant Hospital after Bush issued his order to resume feeding her. A crowd cheered outside as she left.

"I'm ecstatic she's being fed again," said her brother, Bob Schindler Jr. "I don't think I can describe the way I feel right now. It's been unreal."


posted by Frodgie at 6:49 AM

 

Yankees turn duel into drubbing

But the Yankees employed their Pedro Martinez Rope-A-Dope in Game 3 of the World Series Tuesday. Mussina kept the game tied through seven innings, and when Beckett finally tired in the eighth, the Yankees slugged away at the Florida bullpen. Three batters after Beckett was replaced, Hideki Matsui singled off Dontrelle Willis to score Derek Jeter and break a 1-1 tie, and the Yankees added four runs in the ninth to beat the Marlins, 6-1.

Now the Yankees lead the best-of-seven series 2-1, and they won't have to deal with Beckett again until Game 7, if the World Series lasts that long. Clemens will make what is expected to be the last start of his 20-year career in Game 4 Wednesday, against Florida's Carl Pavano.


posted by Frodgie at 6:42 AM

 

Senate OKs Partial-Birth Abortion Ban

"This is an enormous day. It's been a long seven-year fight about the issue of partial-birth abortion," Sen. Sam Brownback (search), R-Kan, said of Tuesday's vote. He was a leader of the drive to end abortions, generally carried out in the second or third trimester, in which a fetus is partially delivered before being killed.

Bush, traveling in Asia, said in a statement, "This is very important legislation that will end an abhorrent practice and continue to build a culture of life in America."


posted by Frodgie at 6:40 AM

 

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia in secret nuke pact

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have concluded a secret agreement on "nuclear cooperation" that will provide the Saudis with nuclear-weapons technology in exchange for cheap oil, according to a ranking Pakistani insider.
The disclosure came at the end of a 26-hour state visit to Islamabad last weekend by Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, who flew across the Arabian Sea with an entourage of 200, including Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal and several Cabinet ministers.
posted by Frodgie at 6:38 AM

 

U.S. officials say 9/11 mastermind killed Pearl

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. officials say they believe Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks, killed Daniel Pearl, The Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped and slain in Pakistan.

Pearl, 38, the newspaper's South Asia bureau chief, was taken hostage in January 2002 and killed. A videotape of the killing was distributed, but the face of the person who slit Pearl's throat cannot be seen.

U.S. officials declined to say why they are convinced that Mohammed killed Pearl. But they point to testimony in the September 2002 trial of some in Pakistan accused of involvement in the case that indicated Mohammed did the killing.


posted by Frodgie at 6:36 AM

 

Captain of crashed New York ferry subpoenaed

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The National Transportation Safety Board issued a subpoena Tuesday for the captain of the ferry that crashed into a Staten Island pier last week, killing 10 people and injuring dozens more.

The subpoena calls for Capt. Michael Gansas to appear before investigators Wednesday. Gansas did not meet with NTSB investigators as planned Tuesday.

Steven Scheinbaum, Gansas' attorney, said the meeting with investigators was canceled because the captain needed to prepare for their possible questions.

"While Mr. Gansas has every intention to cooperate, we are still in the process of gathering all the facts and reviewing all the applicable rules and regulations," Scheinbaum said.

Scheinbaum confirmed receipt of the subpoena late Tuesday but did not say whether Gansas would fight it.


posted by Frodgie at 6:34 AM

 

SEAT Sport Launches the "Adrenalina" Line for TDI...from VORTEX

SEAT Sport, the Spanish brand's sporty division, is launching an electronic engine thrust enhancing module, aimed at customers seeking to increase their vehicle's performance and sporty character.
In the initial phase, this option is exclusively available to enhance the three 1.9 TDi engines in the SEAT range - on the 100 hp Ibiza and Córdoba models, the 110 hp León and Toledo and the 115 hp Alhambra. The 100 and 110 hp engine thrust will increase to 125 hp, whereas the 115 hp Alhambra engine will deliver 140 hp performance.

The module can be installed at dealership garages and official SEAT service centres, and the modifications will not affect the car's warranty conditions.

Electronic engine thrust enhancing module

The electronic engine thrust enhancing module optimises engine management, providing increased vehicle dynamism and sporty driving pleasure without diminishing the engine's life-cycle.

This electronic modification increases engine thrust and torque throughout the entire rev range. At low and medium revolutions the increased torque will result in quicker, more effective engine response, giving greater driving comfort and safety.

With the SEAT Sport trademark

True to the quality standards of SEAT Sport, the engine thrust enhancing module has undergone thorough testing in the development process, passing several controls in order to guarantee its correct operation and ensure it does not affect any other elements of the vehicle.

Besides, the system complies with current environmental pollution legislation, including gas emission and fuel consumption.

posted by Frodgie at 4:09 PM

 

Senate Expected to Approve Ban on Abortion Procedure Today

The Senate was expected to pass the ban on the procedure, described by abortion foes as "partial birth abortion," before the end of business today. With House passage of the bill three weeks ago, the Senate's expected action today will send the bill to President Bush (news - web sites), who is eager to sign it.


With Mr. Bush's signature, the bill will become — on paper, if not in effect — the first federal ban on a specific abortion method since a woman's constitutional right to have an abortion was established in 1973 by the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade (news - web sites) decision.


"We believe that this bill is constitutionally sound and obviously very, very necessary in terms of who we are as a society," said Senator Rick Santorum, the Pennsylvania Republican who is the bill's chief sponsor and one of the Senate's most outspoken opponents of abortion.


Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California, expressed an opposite view. Anticipating the Senate vote, she said the legislation "for the first time in history bans a medical procedure without making any exception for the health of the woman." She predicted that it was "clearly going to be declared unconstitutional."


The law moving through the Senate today would make it a crime for doctors to perform what is known in the medical profession as "intact dilation and extraction," a procedure occasionally used in the second and third trimesters.


posted by Frodgie at 4:03 PM

 

Saudi raids net weapons, terrorism suspects

KUWAIT CITY (CNN) -- Saudi Arabia said Monday that it seized huge quantities of weapons and explosives, including bomb belts worn by suicide attackers, in raids that also resulted in the capture of an undisclosed number of terrorism suspects.

Some of them may be linked to the bombings at a complex housing Westerners that killed almost two dozen people and 12 suspected attackers in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, in May.

Monday's raids were staged in a shopping district in Riyadh, a villa in Jeddah, an underground storage cache in Mecca, and homes, farms and desert wells around the kingdom, said a statement from the Saudi Interior Ministry.

The number of people taken in for questioning was not disclosed, but sources said some already were wanted on suspicion of possible links to the May attacks. Nine of those killed were Americans.


posted by Frodgie at 9:18 AM

 

Senate Set to Ban Partial Birth Abortion

WASHINGTON - Congress is set to ban a specific abortion procedure, a legislative landmark that could lead to a fierce legal fight affecting a woman's right to end a pregnancy. The ban on what opponents call partial birth abortion is likely to pass by a wide margin when it comes up for a vote scheduled in the Senate on Tuesday. Three weeks ago, the House passed the bill with a 281-142 vote, and Senate action would send it to President Bush (news - web sites), who strongly supports the ban.

The legislation bans a procedure, generally performed in the second or third trimester, in which a fetus is partially delivered before a doctor punctures the skull. Doctors who violate the ban could be subject to up to two years in jail.


posted by Frodgie at 9:15 AM

 

Victims of NYC Ferry Crash Laid to Rest

The men, who lived in a New Jersey suburb still aching from the loss of 37 residents on Sept. 11, 2001, were mourned themselves Monday as victims of the crash of a Staten Island (search) ferry.

At St. Leo the Great Church in Middletown, N.J., Healy was remembered as a devoted family man, baseball coach and avid Yankees fan. Healy, 44, a father of four, left the office early to take his son to baseball practice.

A Bronx (search) native, Healy had tickets to Game 2 on Sunday and had planned to take sons John Jr. and Brian as a treat for Brian's 10th birthday.

"After he escaped the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, didn't he teach us the value of cherishing every day as a gift from God?" the Rev. Leonard Lang asked during Monday's service.

Healy, a lawyer for Kemper Insurance, survived the terror attack by being late for work, having taken his daughter to school. The Kemper offices were on the 35th and 36th floors of the World Trade Center (search).


posted by Frodgie at 9:12 AM

 

Man Survives Plunge Over Niagara Falls

NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario — A man survived a plunge over Niagara Falls (search) with only the clothes on his back, witnesses said, the first person known to have done it and lived.

Witnesses described seeing the man float by Monday in the swift Niagara River (search), go headfirst over the churning 180-foot waterfall and then pull himself out of the water onto rocks below.

"He just looked calm. He just was gliding by so fast. I was in shock really that I saw a person go by," Brenda McMullen told WIVB-TV in Buffalo (search).

Water rushes over the falls at a rate of 150,000 gallons per second.

"I saw him disappear over the edge of the falls," McMullen's husband, Terry McMullen, said. The Columbus, Ohio, tourists snapped photographs afterward, showing the man dressed in street clothes, apparently lying on the shoreline at the base of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls.


posted by Frodgie at 9:08 AM

 

Palestinians Threaten Revenge for Air Strikes

The seven, ranging in age from 11 to 49, were bystanders crowding around a car after it was targeted by a first missile, Palestinian security officials said. The Israeli military said it believed three of the dead were militants in the car. However, the vehicle did not take a direct hit, and witnesses said the wanted men escaped.

The attack in Nusseirat was one of five air strikes in the Gaza Strip (search) on Monday, one of the most intense single-day assaults with helicopters and warplanes in three years of fighting. In addition to the seven killed in Nusseirat (search), three more Palestinians — two Hamas (search) militants and a bystander — were killed in the other strikes.


posted by Frodgie at 9:08 AM

 

Conjoined twins procedure goes 'smoothly'

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Conjoined 18-month-old twins from the Philippines completed the first step on their road to separation Monday.

Doctors in New York began the first in a series of operations to separate the Filipino twin boys, who were born joined at the head, by inserting balloons beneath their scalps to expand the skin.

The procedure "went absolutely smoothly and completely according to plan," a spokeswoman for Children's Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx said.

Carl and Clarence Aguirre went into surgery shortly after 9 a.m. EDT Monday.

Doctors placed the balloons underneath their scalps in a process called tissue expansion. The balloons will be gradually inflated with sterile saline, stretching and expanding the scalp so that enough skin is available to cover their heads after separation.


posted by Frodgie at 9:06 AM

 

Iran agrees to tougher inspections

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iran has agreed to allow tougher U.N. inspections of its nuclear facilities and to suspend its uranium enrichment program, a top Iranian official announced after meeting with three European foreign ministers.

Dr. Hassan Rowhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said Iran is voluntarily making the moves to "promote international good will, create stability, and put an end to tensions."

Rowhani said that Iran would also cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

He said the suspension of uranium enrichment would begin immediately but that some portions of the plan must be approved by the Iranian parliament. He gave no timetable for when that would happen.


posted by Frodgie at 9:04 AM

 

Oscar-Winning Actor De Niro Diagnosed with Cancer

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Academy Award winning actor Robert De Niro (news), 60, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer (news - web sites), but his prospects for a full recovery are good, his publicist announced on Monday.

"Doctors say the condition was detected at an early stage because of regular checkups," publicist Stan Rosenfield said in a statement. "Because of the early detection and his excellent physical condition, doctors project a full recovery."


De Niro won an Oscar as best actor in 1981 for "Raging Bull," and was named best supporting actor in 1975 for his role in "The Godfather: Part II."


The native New Yorker, who shot to prominence in Martin Scorsese (news)'s 1973 film "Mean Streets," has received four other Oscar nominations as best actor in "Cape Fear" (1991), "Awakenings" (1990), "The Deer Hunter" (1978) and "Taxi Driver" (1976).


He was last seen in movie theaters reprising his comic turn as mobster Paul Vitti in the film "Analyze That" with Billy Crystal (news).

posted by Frodgie at 9:03 AM

 

Israel launches 3 strikes in Gaza City

IN THAT ATTACK, Apache helicopters launched two missiles at a car. One hit the vehicle, destroying it, while the other landed unexploded in a nearby field. The car’s passengers apparently fled before the missile hit, witnesses said.
That air strike took place near the border with Israel, where Palestinian militants often launch mortar shells and homemade rockets into Israel. Smoke was billowing from the scene of the strike.
The strikes came a day after Palestinian militants fired a barrage of homemade rockets into southern Israel from Gaza. Also Sunday, a Palestinian ambush in the West Bank killed three Israeli soldiers and wounded a fourth.
The Hamas members were traveling in a white pickup truck that was hit by two missiles fired by Israeli helicopters. Witnesses said the truck was spotted earlier in the day near the alleged weapons workshop targeted in the first air strike in the Sajaiya neighborhood of Gaza City.
The pickup had stopped at a traffic light near a gas station, on a busy street crowded with schoolchildren, when the missiles hit the front of the vehicle. A kindergarten and an elementary school had just let out students for the day.
“Schoolchildren were trying to cross the road (at the time),” said bus driver Ahmed Sobeh, who was driving behind the pickup at the time. “I saw a person in the car being evacuated and his body was completely burned. I also saw a teenager on the side of the street covered with blood but he was alive.”
posted by Frodgie at 10:11 AM

 

16 Words to the Wife

When I first heard about Wilson's wife, my immediate thought was: Wilson created the very circumstance he now complains about. He voluntarily drew attention to himself and, by extension, his family. He interjected himself into an intense international policy dispute regarding the war with Iraq. And it was his op-ed in the New York Times that caused the so-called "16-word controversy" in which President Bush was criticized for relying on British intelligence when he declared that Iraq had sought uranium from Niger.

Wilson was a much sought-after guest and either appeared on news programs, or was cited as an authoritative source. And Wilson clearly relished every second of his 15 minutes of fame.

This raises another question: Why would the CIA choose Wilson as the administration's fact-finder on the Niger uranium issue knowing that his wife's activities might become exposed? Well, in the same Robert Novak column that reveals the identity of Wilson's wife, Novak reports that it was Plame herself who recommended her husband for the job!

Shouldn't it have occurred to someone in CIA management that sending the husband of an agency operative on a highly sensitive, high-profile mission could jeopardize that operative's activities?


posted by Frodgie at 10:10 AM

 

Pitching on three days' rest, Pettitte evens another series for Yankees

NEW YORK (AP) -- Andy Pettitte has become the New York Yankees' great equalizer.

Three times, New York has lost the opener of a postseason series. Three times, Pettitte has helped the Yankees pull even.

Pettitte pitched a masterpiece Sunday night, stopping the Florida Marlins cold. He came within one out of a shutout, allowing six hits over 8 2/3 innings in leading New York to a 6-1 win that tied the World Series at one game apiece.

"So far, after Game 1, all it's been doing this postseason is adding a little more gray hair to my head going into Game 2," he said.

He struggled in the first inning, going to 3-2 counts on his first three batters and throwing 21 pitches. Then Hideki Matsui hit a three-run homer in the bottom half. After that, Pettitte breezed.

"For being on three days' rest, I was just thankful I felt as strong as I did," he said.


posted by Frodgie at 9:58 AM

 

Pope beatifies Mother Teresa

VATICAN CITY (CNN) -- Hundreds of thousands crowded St. Peter's Square on Sunday, celebrating Pope John Paul II's beatification of Mother Teresa, known as the "Saint of the Gutters" for her work with the poor.

"Brothers and sisters, even in our days God inspires new models of sainthood," John Paul told the crowd of about 300,000. "Some impose themselves for their radicalness, like that offered by Mother Teresa of Kolkata, whom today we add to the ranks of the blessed."

"In her, we perceive the urgency to put oneself in a state of service, especially for the poorest and most forgotten, the last of the last," the 83-year old pontiff said in a slow and shaky voice.


posted by Frodgie at 9:55 AM

 

Student May Face Charges Over Box Cutters

Heatwole, a 20-year-old junior at Guilford College (search) in Greensboro, N.C., was expected to be the focus of a hearing in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on Monday.

FBI spokesman Bill Carter said Sunday the FBI had no other information on the proceedings and directed calls to the U.S. Attorney's office in Baltimore. Messages left with the U.S. Attorney's office Sunday weren't returned.

On Thursday night, Southwest Airlines (search) maintenance workers found small plastic bags containing box cutters, bleach, matches and modeling clay in lavatory compartments on planes in New Orleans and Houston.

Notes in the bags "indicated the items were intended to challenge Transportation Security Administration checkpoint security procedures," according to a statement from Southwest Airlines.

A Bush administration official has said the suspected perpetrator last month sent the government an e-mail warning of his intention to conceal suspicious items on six planes and provided dates and locations for the plan.


posted by Frodgie at 9:51 AM

 

PC whiz cleared in Houston hacking

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- A British court cleared a teenager on Friday of hacking into the computer of the U.S. port of Houston, Texas, after the youth testified his own computer had been taken over by someone else to mount the attack.

Aaron Caffrey, 19, could have faced up to five years in prison in what would have been a landmark computer hacking case. "Hacking" is the term for using a computer to break into another computer network.

Police charged him last year after a lengthy investigation, accusing him of unleashing a digital attack that crippled the computer navigation system of one of the world's largest ports.


posted by Frodgie at 9:48 AM

 

Frail pope asserts his determination to continue

"The courage to proclaim the Gospel must never fade," said his speech to the gathering of cardinals, archbishops and heads of episcopal conferences.


"Furthermore, it must be our main commitment until the final breath, faced with an ever-renewed dedication," said his address, which had to be finished by an aide.


At a special mass on Thursday to mark his 25 years as pope, the pontiff urged Catholics to pray for the strength to allow him to continue to lead them.


John Paul II, whose failing health because of worsening Parkinson's disease (news - web sites) has concerned Church leaders, appeared to be in relatively good form on Saturday but as in recent weeks, he left much of his address to an aide to read.


The audience with the cardinals marked the official end of four days of discussions on his 25-year pontificate, which included debate on the problems facing the 2,000-year old institution. The pontiff was present only the final day.


Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, one of the senior cardinals closest to the pope, paid tribute to John Paul II for "bringing the light of God to the world despite a sky obscured by clouds" of conflict and injustice.


posted by Frodgie at 9:44 AM

 

Bush rules out U.S.-North Korea non-aggression pact

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- President Bush on Sunday restated his opposition to a bilateral non-aggression pact with North Korea, shortly after he arrived in the Thai capital for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Bush addressed the issue after a meeting with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and before a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao that will factor prominently in the strategy for resuming dialogue with North Korea.

He said the United States is open to being a part of a broader agreement involving other Asian nations if North Korea abandons its nuclear ambitions and agrees to a strict verification regime.

In an address to Thai and U.S. troops, Bush praised the Thai government for its anti-terror efforts, notably the arrest of Hambali, the senior al Qaeda strategist for Southeast Asia who was captured two months ago in Thailand.


posted by Frodgie at 10:52 AM

 

U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq During Routine Patrol

In a third incident, three apparent Iraqi attackers were also reported killed.

There were no reports of casualties in the Sunday morning attack against what appeared to be a U.S. ammunition truck here in Fallujah (search), 35 miles west of Baghdad in the "Sunni Triangle."

Dozens of Iraqi youths cheered and danced in celebration as contents of the flaming vehicles continued to explode.

U.S. troops and Iraqi police kept journalists away from the scene, but from a distance it appeared that three American vehicles, including at least one truck and one Humvee, were ablaze.


posted by Frodgie at 10:49 AM

 

U.S. Troops Order Comfort, With Fries on the Side

BAGHDAD -- Welcome to Iraq, home of the Whopper.
Deep inside Baghdad International Airport, past a vehicle search, a body search and four checkpoints, soldiers are lined up for burgers and fries. They have come by plane from Mosul, 220 miles north, for onion rings. They have picked up Chicken Royale sandwiches while picking up buddies flying back from a two-week home leave. They have begged and borrowed Humvees, making up any excuse for a trip to the airport and a reminder of what the pink mixture of ketchup and mayonnaise oozing from a fresh Whopper tastes like.

"It tastes like home, yes it does," said Staff Sgt. Mark Williams, 50, from Pittsburgh, after tearing off a chunk of his Whopper with cheese.


posted by Frodgie at 10:48 AM