5/ 1/05 Sunday
A car bomb obliterated a tent packed with mourners at the funeral
of a Kurdish official in northern Iraq today, killing 25 people and
wounding more than 50 in the single deadliest attack since
insurgents started bearing down on Iraq's newly named government
late last week. The blast capped four exceedingly violent days in
which at least 116 people, including 11 Americans, were killed in a
storm of bombings and ambushes blamed on Iraqi insurgents, believed
largely populated by members of the disaffected Sunni Arab
minority.
President Bush's chief of staff appealed for congressional
Democrats to work with the administration and Republicans rather
than complain and stall action on Capitol Hill. Andrew Card,
appearing on three talk shows, also reaffirmed the president's
support for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, the Texas Republican
whose ties to lobbyists have raised ethics questions, and John R.
Bolton, the embattled nominee to be U.S. ambassador to the United
Nations.
Dozens of Titanic relics auctioned for more than $150,000 today,
including a gold pocket watch owned by an Irish immigrant that
stopped ticking the day of the sinking when she was rescued in a
lifeboat. The watch, once owned by Nora Keane of County Limerick,
Ireland, was sold for $24,675, more than three times its estimated
value, said Jon Baddeley, Bonhams & Butterfields auction house's
marine collectibles expert.
5/ 2/05 Monday
Pfc. Lynndie England, the young woman pictured grinning and giving
a thumbs-up in some of the most notorious photos to come out of the
Abu Ghraib scandal, pleaded guilty today to mistreating prisoners,
saying she let her comrades talk her into going along with the
abuse. Wearing her dress green Army uniform and speaking somberly
in a soft voice with her arms close by her side, the 22-year-old
Army reservist told the judge that she initially resisted taking
part in the abuse at the Baghdad prison, but ultimately caved in to
peer pressure.
Italian investigators blamed U.S. military authorities for failing
to signal there was a checkpoint ahead on the Baghdad road where
American soldiers killed an Italian agent, and concluded in a
report released today that stress, inexperience and fatigue played
a role in the shooting. The investigators found no evidence,
however, that the March 4 killing of intelligence agent Nicola
Calipari was deliberate. The Italians also didn't object to many
of the findings of fact contained in a separate American report
made public Saturday.
Iraq's incoming prime minister struggled to find a Sunni Arab to
run the key Defense Ministry in time to join Iraq's first
democratically elected government when it takes office Tuesday. A
torrent of bloodshed - at least 140 killed in five days - followed
the approval of a Cabinet that mostly shut out members of the
disaffected Sunni minority. Disputes persisted over the Defense
Ministry today after Prime Minister-designate Ibrahim al- Jaafari
filled six of the seven Cabinet seats left undecided last week,
said al-Jaafari aide Laith Kuba. The defense portfolio - in charge
of some 70,000 soldiers and national guardsmen - is destined for a
Sunni, part of an attempt to balance the conflicting demands of
Iraq's many religious and ethnic factions.
5/ 3/05 Tuesday
The first democratically elected government in the history of Iraq
was sworn in today against a backdrop of surging violence, and the
new Shiite prime minister pledged before a half-empty parliament
that he would unite the country's rival ethnic factions and fight
terrorism. Despite months of tortuous negotiations, there was no
final decision on seven positions in the 37-member Cabinet -
including the key oil and defense ministries. More critical still,
the partial Cabinet fails to give the country's disaffected Sunni
Arab minority, believed to be driving the insurgency, a meaningful
governing stake.
Prosecutors vowed today there will be no plea bargain in the case
against a former church leader and city employee charged with 10
counts of murder in the BTK serial killings that terrorized Wichita
since the 1970s. "I look forward to a trial of this case because
it is important after 30 years for people to know and for people to
understand and appreciate, not only the work of law enforcement,
but to be able to say, 'It's over, it's over,'" District Attorney
Nola Foulston said after the arraignment of suspect Dennis Rader.
Asia's top automakers reported double-digit U.S. sales gains in
April, further chipping away at the market share of leaders General
Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. GM and Ford both reported lower
sales last month as demand for SUVs and other light trucks, which
generate some of the highest profit margins, slipped against a
backdrop of higher gas prices.
5/ 4/05 Wednesday
A military judge today threw out Pfc. Lynndie England's guilty plea
to abusing Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison, saying he was not
convinced the Army reservist who appeared in some of the most
notorious photos in the scandal knew her actions were wrong at the
time. The mistrial marks a stunning turn in the case and sends it
back to square one.
Pakistani commandos nabbed a senior al-Qaida leader, described by
U.S. officials as the group's No. 3 operative, after a shootout
near one of his barren hideouts. Jubilant Pakistani officials said
today his arrest would help in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
President Bush hailed the capture of Abu Farraj al-Libbi, al-
Qaida's alleged operational planner, as a "critical victory" that
"removes a dangerous enemy who is a direct threat to America and
for those who love freedom."
Prosecutors rested their case today in the Michael Jackson trial
after more than two months of dramatic testimony in which they
sought to prove that the pop star molested a teenage cancer patient
and conspired to hold his family captive at his fairy-tale estate.
The defense immediately filed a motion seeking acquittal on grounds
the prosecution did not prove its case. Judge Rodney S. Melville
said the motion would be heard first thing Thursday.
5/ 5/05 Thursday
Tony Blair won a historic third term as prime minister today, but
exit poll projections indicated his Labour Party suffered a sharply
reduced parliamentary majority in punishment for going to war in
Iraq. A chastened Blair said "we will have to respond to that
sensibly and wisely and responsibly." The outcome could set the
stage for Blair to be replaced in midterm by a party rival such as
Gordon Brown. As Treasury chief, Brown was widely credited for the
strong economy that appears to have clinched Labour's victory,
outweighing the bitterness many voters said they felt over Iraq.
The last 58.5 million acres of untouched national forests, which
President Clinton had set aside for protection, were opened to
possible logging, mining and other commercial uses by the Bush
administration today. New rules from the U.S. Forest Service cover
some of the most pristine federal land in 38 states and Puerto
Rico. Ninety-seven percent of it is in 12 states: Alaska, Arizona,
California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon,
Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
A New York rating agency declared billions of dollars of debt owed
by General Motors and Ford to be "junk" today, a significant blow
that will increase borrowing costs and limit fund-raising options
for the nation's two biggest automakers. Shares of GM fell almost
6 percent and Ford shares declined 4.5 percent after Standard &
Poor's Ratings Services downgraded the debt to below investment
grade, which is commonly known as junk or high-yield status.
5/ 6/05 Friday
President Bush, ignoring Moscow's objections about his trip to
former Soviet republics, said today that Russia should treat its
neighbors with respect and not fear the rise of new democracies
along its borders. Bush opened a fast-paced, four-country journey
to mark the 60th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany. He
will meet on Saturday with the leaders of Estonia, Lithuania and
Latvia.
U.S. spy satellites have detected what may be preparations for
North Korea's first test of a nuclear weapon, although analysts
believe it could be a calculated ruse on Pyongyang's part, a U.S.
defense official said today. The satellite images show North Korea
has dug and refilled a significant hole at a suspected test site in
Gilju in the northeastern part of the country, said the official,
discussing intelligence only on the condition of anonymity. The
hole was dug in a manner consistent with preparations for an
underground nuclear test, although it is not known whether the
North Koreans deposited a weapon inside, the official said.
5/ 7/05 Saturday
Two suicide car bombers plowed into a foreign security company
convoy in the heart of Baghdad today, killing at least 22 people -
including two Americans - in an attack that left a busy traffic
circle strewn with burning vehicles, mutilated bodies and bloodied
school children. Nearly 300 people have been killed in insurgent
violence since Iraq's democratically elected government was sworn
in 10 days ago. Seven government posts remained undecided until
today when Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said he would submit
nominations for six of them to the National Assembly for a vote
Sunday.
Second-guessing Franklin D. Roosevelt, President Bush said today
the United States played a role in Europe's painful division after
World War II - a decision that helped cause "one of the greatest
wrongs of history" when the Soviet Union imposed its harsh rule
across Central and Eastern Europe. Bush said the lessons of the
past will not be forgotten as the United States tries to spread
freedom in the Middle East.
Despite all the grumbling about those federal security screeners,
airports are not rushing to replace them with private workers.
Only two airports - in Sioux Falls, S.D., and Elko, Nev. - have
applied to the government to switch back to privately employed
screeners. And the management at Elko is having second thoughts.
"Are the costs going to outweigh the benefits?" asked Cris Jensen,
director of the Elko Regional Airport, "We're not sure."
5/ 8/05 Sunday
Changing the tone from tough talk to friendship, President Bush and
Vladimir Putin went out of their way to take a unified stand on
Middle East peace and terrorism today after sharp words in recent
days about democratic backsliding and postwar Soviet domination. A
smiling Putin even put Bush behind the wheel of his prized 1956
Volga, a pristine white sedan, and let him take it for a spin
around the grounds of his private compound 25 miles west of
Moscow. Putin also kidded the president about Laura Bush's recent
comedy routine. The happy picture of the two presidents summed up
a theme that aides on both sides described - powerful leaders who
have a strong relationship and can discuss their disagreements.
An explosion of insurgent violence killed seven U.S. servicemembers
in Iraq over the weekend even as the Shiite-dominated parliament
approved four more Sunni Arabs to serve as government ministers.
One of the four Sunnis rejected the post on the grounds of
tokenism, tarnishing the Shiite premier's bid to include the
disaffected minority believed to be driving Iraq's deadly
insurgency.
Death penalty opponents set off today on a five-day walk to protest
the state's plans to execute a serial killer who admitted killing
and raping eight young women in Connecticut and New York in the
early 1980s. About two dozen protesters began the 30-mile journey
that will eventually lead to the prison where Michael Ross is
scheduled to be put to death Friday in what would be the first
execution in New England in 45 years.
5/ 9/05 Monday
Hundreds of American troops backed by helicopter gunships and
warplanes swept into remote desert villages near the Syrian border
today, hunting for followers of Iraq's most wanted terrorist and
reportedly killing as many as 100 militants since the weekend
operation began. The U.S. military said some foreign fighters were
believed among the insurgents killed in the first 48 hours of the
assault, which began late Saturday in the border town of Qaim,
about 200 miles west of Baghdad. At least three Marines were
killed in the region, it said.
Leaders of the victors and the vanquished united today to
commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi
Germany, with Russian President Vladimir Putin hosting President
Bush and dozens of others in a Red Square celebration replete with
goose-stepping soldiers, a hammer-and-sickle flag and other symbols
of the Soviet era. At a lavish military parade, Putin evoked the
alliance that brought victory but he also stressed the Soviets'
huge sacrifice in defeating Adolf Hitler's Germany.
5/10/05 Tuesday
In Zion, Ill., a man was arrested on murder charges today in the
Mother's Day stabbings of his 8-year-old daughter and the little
girl's best friend, who were killed after they went biking in a
park. Jerry Hobbs, who was recently released from prison, had led
police to the bodies just off a wooded bike path early Monday,
claiming he spotted them while searching for his daughter, the
girl's grandfather, Arthur Hollabaugh, told The AP.
A federal bankruptcy judge approved United Airlines' plan to
terminate its employees' pension plans today, clearing the way for
the largest corporate-pension default in American history. The
ruling, which carries broad implications for U.S. airlines and
their workers, shifts responsibility for United's four defined-
benefit plans to the government's pension agency.
In N.C., a Baptist preacher accused of running out nine congregants
who disagreed with his Republican politics resigned today, two days
after calling the issue "a great misunderstanding." Speaking from
the pulpit during a meeting at East Waynesville Baptist Church, the
Rev. Chan Chandler told church members that it would "cause more
hurt for me and my family" if he stayed.
5/11/05 Wednesday
A small plane strayed within three miles of the White House today,
leading to frantic evacuation of the Executive Mansion and the
Capitol with military jets scrambling to intercept the aircraft and
firing flares to steer it away. A pilot and student pilot, en
route from Pennsylvania to an air show in North Carolina, were
taken into custody after their flight sparked a frenzy of activity
that tested the capital's post-Sept. 11 response system.
In Waukegan, Ill., the man accused of stabbing to death his 8-year-
old daughter and her best friend hunted his child down in a park in
a fit of rage because she was supposed to be grounded for stealing
money, prosecutors said today. A judge denied bail for 34-year-old
ex-convict Jerry Hobbs after prosecutors said he admitted in
videotaped and written statements to beating and stabbing his
daughter Laura Hobbs and 9-year-old Krystal Tobias on Mother's Day.
Snow and rain fell across Wyoming and Utah today, unleashing rock
slides and flooding at lower elevations while prompting a mountain
resort to fire up its lifts for extra skiing. The potent spring
storm dropped several inches of rain on northern Wyoming and nearly
2 feet of snow in the mountains, renewing hopes the state could
emerge from a yearslong drought that has devastated rangeland
grasses.
5/12/05 Thursday
John R. Bolton, President Bush's sharp-elbowed nominee to become
U.N. ambassador, survived a cliffhanger Senate committee vote today
after renewed criticism from both Democrats and Republicans,
leaving the final confirmation decision to the full Senate. The
Foreign Relations Committee voted 10-8 along party lines to advance
Bolton's nomination without the customary recommendation that the
Senate approve it. The procedural move spared Bush outright defeat
in the Republican-led committee but still represented an
embarrassing setback early in his second term.
Military base closings will be less severe than expected, Defense
Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld indicated today, saying he had scaled
back his recommendations because the military had less surplus
space than once estimated. He predicted that his list of closures
and realignments, if approved, would result in a net savings to the
government of $48.8 billion over 20 years. That figure takes into
account a recurring annual savings of $5.5 billion, partly offset
by billions in closure expenses.
Pretending to be cocaine traffickers, undercover FBI agents in
Arizona snared 16 current and former law enforcement officers and
U.S. soldiers who accepted more than $222,000 in bribes to help
move the drugs past checkpoints, the government said. Those
charged include a former Immigration and Naturalization Service
inspector, a former Army sergeant, a former federal prison guard,
seven members of the Arizona Army National Guard, five members of
the Arizona Department of Corrections and a police officer,
officials said.
5/13/05 Friday
The Pentagon is proposing the most sweeping changes to its network
of military bases in modern history, a plan that would close 33
major facilities in 22 states and reconfigure hundreds of others to
achieve savings and promote cooperation among the armed services.
More than two years in the making, today's recommendations by
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld represented his attempt to
balance a whirl of competing forces. They include the changing
threats facing the nation, massive federal deficits, wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan, the economies of local communities and political
pressures.
The new pope placed John Paul II on an unprecedented fast track for
sainthood today and named San Francisco's archbishop to be the
church's guardian of doctrine - the highest Vatican office ever
held by an American. Pope Benedict XVI's decision to waive the
five-year waiting period for beatification procedures for John Paul
came just six weeks after the pope's death.
The Bush administration is re-imposing quotas on three categories
of clothing imports from China, responding to complaints from
domestic producers that a surge of Chinese imports was threatening
thousands of U.S. jobs. The administration action will impose
limits on the amount of cotton trousers, cotton knit shirts and
underwear that China can ship to this country. American retailers
say that will drive up prices for U.S. consumers.
5/14/05 Saturday
The U.S. military wrapped up a major offensive in a remote desert
region near the Syrian border today, saying it had cleaned out the
insurgent haven and killed more than 125 militants during the
weeklong campaign against followers of Iraq's most wanted terrorist
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Nine U.S. Marines were killed and 40 injured
during Operation Matador - one of the largest American campaigns
since militants were driven from Fallujah six months ago. The
number of civilian casualties was not immediately known.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld is proposing to close and
shrink hundreds of bases to create a leaner, more cost-effective
force. If accepted, the plan would alter the domestic military
landscape and greatly affect the four services branches and
communities that are home to the installations. The plan promises
to shift troops and jobs from the Northeast to the Sunbelt and the
West, and it would consoldiate scores of Reserve and Guard sites
across the map. Mergers throughout the Army, Navy, Air Force and
Marine Corps would create super-sized multipurpose bases.
Pakistan today denied a media report that an unmanned CIA Predator
aircraft killed a senior al-Qaida operative near the Pakistan-
Afghanistan border earlier this week. ABC News, quoting
unidentified intelligence sources, reported Friday that senior al-
Qaida operative Haitham al-Yemeni was killed by a missile fired
from an unmanned CIA Predator aircraft.
5/15/05 Sunday
Newsweek magazine has apologized for errors in a story alleging
that interrogators at the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay
desecrated the Quran, saying it would re-examine the accusations,
which sparked outrage and deadly protests in Afghanistan. Fifteen
people died and scores were injured in violence between protesters
and security forces, prompting U.S. promises to investigate the
allegations. After Muslim leaders in several countries assailed
the U.S. over the allegations, Pentagon officials blamed Newsweek
for the flare-up and accused it of "irresponsible" reporting.
Amid talk of a possible compromise, the Senate's second-most
powerful Republican and Democrat each claimed today to have enough
support for their side's position as the chamber neared a showdown
over the minority party's right to block a president's judicial
nominees. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., intends this
week to call up for a vote the first of the blocked nominees -
Texas judge Priscilla Owen and California judge Janice Rogers
Brown. Bush nominated both for federal judgeships during his first
term, but they and five others were blocked by Democrats.
5/16/05 Monday
Newsweek magazine, under fire for publishing a story that led to
deadly protests in Afghanistan, said today it was retracting its
report that a military probe had found evidence of desecration of
the Quran by U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay. Earlier today,
Bush administration officials had brushed off an apology that
Newsweek's editor Mark Whitaker had made in an editor's note and
criticized the magazine's handling of the story.
A commission charged with reviewing the Pentagon's proposal to
close or downsize 62 major domestic military facilities sounded
largely receptive as Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld testified
today that the sweeping reorganization was vital to U.S. success in
the war on terrorism. "The changes are essential in helping us win
in this conflict," the Pentagon chief said, adding that eliminating
unneeded property to save money for combat capabilities was "more
necessary, not less, during a time of war."
5/17/05 Tuesday
Senate Republicans today picked Texas judge Priscilla Owen to be
the flashpoint of a historic battle between President Bush and
Senate Democrats over shaping the federal judiciary, with a final
showdown looming early next week. A small group of moderate
senators worked furiously behind the scenes to head off a clash
over whether the parliamentary tactic of the filibuster can be used
to block judicial nominees. If majority Republicans opt to change
the rules to disallow filibusters of judicial nominees - a move
dubbed the "nuclear option" - parliamentary warfare between
Democrats and Republicans could escalate and stall Bush's
legislative agenda.
British lawmaker George Galloway denounced U.S. senators on their
home turf today, denying accusations that he profited from the U.N.
oil-for-food program and accusing them of unfairly tarnishing his
name. Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., questioned Galloway's honesty
and told reporters, "If in fact he lied to this committee, there
will have to be consequences."
5/18/05 Wednesday
More than a dozen senators trying to head off a showdown over
judicial filibusters failed to work out a deal today to confirm
some of President Bush's controversial judicial appointments while
rejecting others. The Senate's party leaders, Republican Bill
Frist of Tennessee and Democrat Harry Reid of Nevada, opened formal
debate on Texas jurist Priscilla Owen - the nominee that will test
the Democrats' ability to continue blocking judges with
filibusters.
A hand grenade that landed within 100 feet of President Bush during
his visit last week to a former Soviet republic was a threat to his
life and the safety of the tens of thousands in the crowd, the FBI
said today. The grenade was live but did not explode.
John R. Bolton planned to ask then-CIA Director George Tenet to
help punish a government intelligence analyst who disagreed with
Bolton, and then misled a Senate committee about the matter, a
Democratic Senate report said today. Bolton pushed for months to
have the analyst removed from his job or otherwise disciplined,
according to details revealed for the first time in the report, but
he testified under oath at his confirmation hearing to be United
Nations ambassador that he "made no effort to have discipline
imposed" on the man.
As Wednesday night gave way to the Thursday morning arrival of the
latest "Star Wars" film, the Force swept across the United States
with the speed and precision of a Jedi light saber. People waiting
in lines outside theaters for days and in some cases weeks could
hardly contain their enthusiasm as the clock wound down toward
midnight showings of "Episode III - Revenge of the Sith." Some put
on costumes of their favorite characters, and many arranged to take
the day off from work Thursday to recover from the all-night
adventure.
5/19/05 Thursday
Republicans and Democrats injected racial politics into the
struggle over President Bush's judicial nominees and the Senate's
filibuster rules today, underscoring partisan differences while
compromise-minded senators from both parties pursued an elusive
agreement. "The attempt to do away with the filibuster is nothing
short of clearing the trees for the confirmation of an unacceptable
nominee to the Supreme Court," said Democratic leader Harry Reid.
He accused the president of an attempt to "rewrite the Constitution
and reinvent reality" with his demand for a yes-or-no vote on all
nominees.
Hurricane Adrian slammed into El Salvador late today, cutting off
power and unleashing heavy rains that could cause severe flooding.
Some 14,000 people were evacuated as the storm bore down.
Salvadoran officials evacuated some 10,000 people and closed
schools today as Hurricane Adrian steamed toward the country's
coast. El Salvador and Guatemala declared emergencies as the
eastern Pacific's first named tropical storm of the season, gained
force and headed directly for the coast, carrying heavy rains that
forecasters said could cause devastating flooding.
5/20/05 Friday
The U.S. military condemned the publication today of photographs
showing an imprisoned Saddam Hussein naked except for his white
underwear, and ordered an investigation of how the pictures were
leaked to a tabloid. Some Iraqis expressed anger, but President
Bush said he did not think the images would incite further anti-
American sentiment. More revealing pictures were published
Saturday in the British tabloid, The Sun, including one of Saddam
seen through barbed wire wearing a white robe-like garment, and
another of Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known as "Chemical Ali," in
a bathrobe and holding a towel.
Senate Republicans set the stage for a showdown Tuesday over the
filibusters blocking several of President Bush's judicial nominees,
a historic vote that could determine whether an out-of-power party
can stop a president from placing like-minded jurists on the
nation's highest courts. Unless compromise-minded centrists can
strike a deal before then, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist will
force a test vote Tuesday on Texas judge Priscilla Owen's
nomination to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Security leading up to tonight's wedding of Mary Kay Letourneau and
her former sixth-grade student rivaled that of a top-secret
government operation - from secret instructions to a hush-hush
rendezvous and identity checks. Letourneau, 43, and Vili Fualaau,
22, have been in the spotlight since she was imprisoned in 1997 for
raping Fualaau. But when she was released last August, the couple
- who have two daughters together - reunited.
5/21/05 Saturday
A British tabloid published more surreptitiously taken prison
pictures of Saddam Hussein today, and Iraq's once-dominant Sunni
Muslim minority sought to break out of its deepening isolation by
forming an alliance of tribal, political and religious groups. But
the new Sunni group's first act, a demand the interior minister
resign, threatened to fuel sectarian tensions following the recent
killing of several Sunni clerics that they have blamed on Shiite-
dominated security forces.
Hours before flying to Washington for talks with President Bush,
Afghan leader Hamid Karzai demanded greater control today over
American military operations in his country and called for vigorous
punishment of any U.S. troops who mistreat prisoners. He also said
he wants the United States to hand over all Afghan prisoners still
in U.S. custody.
5/22/05 Sunday
Laura Bush waded into Middle East tensions today during chaotic
visits to sacred religious sites, where crowds and hecklers grew so
rowdy that armed guards had to restrain them. America's first lady
said what she witnessed showed that passions are running high among
Palestinians and Israelis. "The United States will do what they
can in this process," she said, urging both sides to work for
peace.
Seven Iraqi battalions backed by U.S. forces launched an offensive
in the capital today in an effort to stanch the violence that has
killed more than 550 people in less than a month, targeting
insurgents who have attacked the dangerous road to Baghdad's
airport and Abu Ghraib prison. Aides to a radical anti-American
Shiite cleric, meanwhile, sought to defuse tension between Sunnis
and the majority Shiites after a recent series of sectarian
killings.
U.S. airstrikes and ground troops killed 12 insurgents who had
attacked a coalition patrol in eastern Afghanistan's border region
in the latest wave of fighting with Taliban-led rebels, the U.S.
military said today. The United Nations called for Afghan human
rights investigators to be allowed into Bagram, the main U.S. base
in Afghanistan, after the New York Times reported poorly trained
U.S. soldiers there had repeatedly abused prisoners.
5/23/05 Monday
A string of car bombs and suicide attacks across Iraq killed at
least 49 Iraqis and wounded more than 130 today, striking a Baghdad
restaurant popular with police, a Shiite mosque and the home of a
community leader near Mosul. Insurgents also assassinated a senior
Iraqi general in the capital, and the U.S. military reported that
four American soldiers were killed in combat Sunday in northern
Iraq and a fifth died in an accident.
In a dramatic reach across party lines, Senate centrists sealed a
compromise tonight that cleared the way for confirmation of many of
President Bush's stalled judicial nominees, left others in limbo
and preserved venerable filibuster rules. "We have reached an
agreement to try to avert a crisis in the United States Senate and
pull the institution back from a precipice," said Sen. John McCain,
R-Ariz., adding the deal was based on "trust, respect and mutual
desire to .... protect the rights of the minority.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai left the White House today with no
promise of more control over thousands of American troops in his
country and with strains in his relationship with the United States
on full display. Despite a chummy side-by-side news conference
with President Bush that was designed to showcase U.S. support for
Afghanistan's first democratically elected leader, Karzai also got
no promise of the quick repatriation of Afghan prisoners now in
U.S. custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and elsewhere.
5/24/05 Tuesday
Ignoring President Bush's veto threat, the House voted today to
lift limits on embryonic stem cell research, a measure supporters
said could accelerate cures for diseases but opponents viewed as
akin to abortion. Bush called the bill a mistake and said he would
veto it. The House approved it by a 238-194 vote, far short of the
two-thirds majority that would be needed to override a veto.
About 1,000 U.S. Marines, sailors and soldiers encircled the
Euphrates River city of Haditha in the troubled Anbar province,
killing at least three insurgents after launching the second major
operation in this vast western region in less than a month, an
official said. The offensives are aimed at uprooting insurgents
who have killed more than 620 people since a new Iraqi government
was announced on April 28.
5/25/05 Wednesday
Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen won Senate confirmation
as a federal appeals judge today after a ferocious four-year
battle, a personal triumph that also marked a victory for President
Bush in his drive to install conservatives on the nation's highest
courts. The 55-43 vote was largely along party lines, and made the
50-year-old jurist the first of Bush's long- blocked nominees to
win approval under a newly minted agreement by Senate centrists
meant to end years of partisan gridlock.
The United States closed its embassy and all other diplomatic
offices in Indonesia, citing a security threat. The decision comes
a week after Australia urged its citizens to avoid traveling to
Indonesia because of a warning by police in Jakarta about possible
suicide bombings, particularly at embassies, international schools,
office buildings and shopping malls.
More than 1,000 U.S. troops today swept into Haditha, on the road
to Syria to root out insurgents - including those loyal to
terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - after rebels damaged
the hospital, knocked out the electricity and prevented police from
entering. The American troops killed at least 10 suspected
militants in Haditha, a Euphrates River city of 90,000 people - one
of whom told the Marines that insurgents had recently killed her
husband.
5/26/05 Thursday
Iraq announced plans today to deploy 40,000 police and soldiers in
the capital and ring the city with hundreds of checkpoints "like a
bracelet" in the largest show of Iraqi force since the fall of
Saddam Hussein. Two U.S. soldiers died when their helicopter was
shot down. In a reminder of the difficulty Iraqi security forces
face in stopping insurgent attacks, violence claimed at least 15
lives today in Baghdad including a car bomb that exploded near a
police patrol, killing five people and wounding 17.
Democrats forced a delay today in a confirmation vote for John R.
Bolton, yet another setback for President Bush's tough-talking
choice as U.N. ambassador and a renewal of intense partisanship in
the Senate after a brief respite. The vote to advance Bolton's
nomination to an immediate confirmation vote was 56-42 - four short
of the 60 votes that Bolton's Republican backers needed.
President Bush embraced Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas today as a
courageous democratic reformer and bolstered his standing at home
with $50 million in assistance to improve the quality of life in
Gaza. Abbas, the first top Palestinian leader to visit the White
House during Bush's presidency, said Palestinians were "in dire
need to have freedom" from Israeli control and that the need for
U.S. help was urgent. He spoke just weeks before scheduled
parliamentary elections in which his supporters are vying against
the militant group Hamas.
5/27/05 Friday
Speaking out for the first time in favor of controversial base
closings, President Bush said today the nation is wasting billions
of dollars on unnecessary military facilities and needs the money
for the war on terrorism. Bush, who faces opposition from many
states to shutting down bases, tried to be reassuring. He said the
bases would be chosen fairly and the government would do all it
could to help affected communities recover.
Federal health officials are probing reports of blindness among
dozens of men who used Viagra and other impotence drugs - but at
the same time cautioning that the vision loss can be linked to the
same illnesses that lead to impotence. The Food and Drug
Administration disclosed today that it was in discussions with the
makers of Viagra, Cialis and Levitra about what the labels of those
drugs should say about the rare cases of varying degrees of vision
loss, including blindness. The maker of Cialis already has
voluntarily added a one-line mention to its label.
A monthlong conference to toughen global controls on nuclear arms
ended today with nothing to show for its four weeks of divisive
work. From Japan's "extreme regret" to Norway's "profound
disappointment," delegates expressed frustration that the failure
to agree on an action plan for growing nuclear threats might weaken
the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the pact that has helped keep
a lid on doomsday weapons for 35 years.
5/28/05 Saturday
Two of Iraq's most influential Shiite and Sunni organizations
agreed today to try to ease sectarian tensions pushing the country
toward civil war as the government prepared to take its battle
against the insurgency to Baghdad's streets. The new effort to
make peace came as attacks killed a U.S. soldier and at least 45
Iraqis over the past two days - including 10 people returning from
a religious pilgrimage in Syria whose bodies were left in the
border city of Qaim, as well as three suicide bombers and three men
killed when a roadside bomb they planted exploded prematurely.
Japanese diplomats pressed ahead today with efforts to contact two
World War II soldiers reportedly living in the southern Philippines
since they were separated from their division six decades ago. The
men - who would be in their 80s - were said to have been separated
from the 30th Division of the Imperial Japanese Army and then
stayed in the remote mountains on Mindanao island for fear of being
court-martialed in Japan.
Could the petroleum joyride - cheap, abundant oil that has sent the
global economy whizzing along with the pedal to the metal and the
AC blasting for decades - be coming to an end? Some observers of
the oil industry think so. They predict that this year, maybe next
- almost certainly by the end of the decade - the world's oil
production, having grown exuberantly for more than a century, will
peak and begin to decline. And then it really will be all
downhill. The price of oil will increase drastically. Major oil-
consuming countries will experience crippling inflation,
unemployment and economic instability. Princeton University
geologist Kenneth S. Deffeyes predicts "a permanent state of oil
shortage."
5/29/05 Sunday
French voters soundly rejected the European Union's first
constitution today, a stinging repudiation of President Jacques
Chirac's leadership and the ambitious, decades-long effort to
further unite the continent. Chirac, who had urged voters to
approve the charter in the bitterly contested referendum, announced
the result in a brief, televised address. He said the process of
ratifying the treaty would continue in other EU countries.
Iraqi police fought pitched battles with insurgents today as
thousands of security forces backed by American troops swept
through Baghdad's streets to flush out militants responsible for
killing more than 720 people since Iraq's new government was
announced in April. Insurgents lashed back - killing at least 30
people, including a British soldier - and a senior U.S. military
intelligence official acknowledged there are few indications they
"are packing their bags."
Thousands of motorcycles rolled down the streets of the nation's
capital today in a rally organized by Rolling Thunder, a biker
group that supports veterans' rights. The group has been staging
the rally on Memorial Day weekend since 1988 to focus attention on
POW-MIA issues.
5/30/05 Monday
Quoting letters of the fallen from the war in Iraq, President Bush
vowed today to a Memorial Day audience of military families and
soldiers in uniform that the nation will honor its dead by striving
for peace and democracy, no matter the cost. "We must honor them
by completing the mission for which they gave their lives; by
defeating the terrorists," the president told a supportive crowd of
several thousand people at Arlington National Cemetery.
The U.S. military nearly set off a sectarian crisis today by
mistakenly arresting the leader of Iraq's top Sunni Muslim
political party, while two suicide bombers killed about 30 police,
and U.S. fighter jets destroyed insurgent strongholds near Syria's
border. An Iraqi Air Force aircraft crash has killed four U.S. Air
Force personnel and one Iraqi, the American military confirmed.
In Bellefontaine, Ohio, a teen about to graduate from high school
shot to death his grandparents, mother and two friends, then
wounded his younger sister before committing suicide, authorities
said today. The rampage perplexed school officials, who said he
seemed to have been in good spirits. Logan County Sheriff Michael
Henry said today he did not know if authorities would ever find out
why Scott Moody acted as he did, "but we're going to try."
Hotel heiress and "The Simple Life" reality TV star Paris Hilton is
engaged to her boyfriend, Greek shipping heir Paris Latsis, her
spokesman said today. "They are happy and excited," said Hilton
spokesman Rob Shuter, confirming the story first reported on People
magazine's Web site.
5/31/05 Tuesday
President Bush today dismissed a human rights report as "absurd"
for its harsh criticism of U.S. treatment of terrorist suspects at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying the allegations were made by prisoners
"who hate America." "It's an absurd allegation. The United States
is a country that promotes freedom around the world," Bush said of
the Amnesty International report that compared Guantanamo to a
Soviet-era gulag.
Watergate whistleblower Deep Throat played a central role in one of
the biggest White House scandals ever, helping bring down a
president and inspire a political mystery so famous his nickname
earned an entry in Webster's. Thirty years later, the source is
secret no more. At age 91, after decades of hiding his role as The
Washington Post's tipster from politicians, the public and even his
family, former FBI official W. Mark Felt told his secret to a
lawyer his family had consulted on whether Felt should come
forward.
Iraq's foreign minister said he's concerned the United States may
pull out of the country before the army and police are ready to
take responsibility for the nation's security Foreign Minister
Hoshyar Zebari meets with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on
Wednesday and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley on Thursday,
and his wide-ranging agenda includes "the continued engagement" of
the United States in Iraq.
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