World Briefly

By The Associated Press | Clanton Advertiser

Published Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Bush claims executive privilege to keep CIA leak records from Congress; contempt vote delayed

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush invoked executive privilege to keep Congress from seeing the FBI report of an interview with Vice President Dick Cheney and other records related to the administration's leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity in 2003.

The president's decision drew a sharp protest Wednesday from Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of House Oversight Committee, which had subpoenaed Attorney General Michael Mukasey to turn over the documents.

"This unfounded assertion of executive privilege does not protect a principle; it protects a person," the California Democrat said. "If the vice president did nothing wrong, what is there to hide?"

Waxman left little doubt he would soon move for a committee vote to hold Mukasey in contempt of Congress.

Bush's assertion of privilege prevented Mukasey from complying with the House subpoena for records bearing on the unmasking of Plame at a time that the administration was trying to rebut criticism from her husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, of Bush's rationale for going to war in Iraq.

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Pentagon looking for ways to send more US troops to Afghanistan this year to quell violence

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pentagon leaders on Wednesday signaled a surge in U.S. forces in Afghanistan "sooner rather than later" — a shift that could come later this year as they prepare to cut troop levels in Iraq.

Faced with an increasingly sophisticated insurgency, particularly along Afghanistan's border with Pakistan, defense officials said sending more troops would have a significant impact on the violence.

"I think that we are clearly working very hard to see if there are opportunities to send additional forces sooner rather than later," Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Pentagon reporters. But, he added that no final decisions or recommendations have been made.

His comments suggested an acceleration in what had been plans to shift forces there early next year. And they came as the political discourse on Afghanistan as a key military priority escalated on both Capitol Hill and the presidential campaign trail.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who recently returned from meetings with commanders in Afghanistan, said they clearly want more troops now.

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Israeli critics: lopsided prisoner swap could encourage more hostage-taking

JERUSALEM (AP) — Critics of Israel's lopsided prisoner exchange with Lebanese guerrillas said Wednesday that such deals only encourage more hostage-taking — a fear underscored by Gaza militants who said the swap proves that kidnapping is the only language Israel understands.

The deal, in which a notorious Lebanese attacker, four other militants and the bodies of 199 Arab fighters were traded for two dead Israeli soldiers, closed a painful chapter from Israel's 2006 war in Lebanon.

But it also raised questions about whether Israel should reconsider its policy of bringing back every soldier from the battlefield at just about any cost.

Israel has been carrying out unequal prisoner swaps for decades, including handing over 4,600 Palestinian and Lebanese captives in 1983 in exchange for six captured Israeli soldiers. In the past it's even traded live prisoners for bodies, as it did Wednesday.

The rationale for such trades was a wartime ethic seen as essential in Israel's early days to instilling loyalty and commitment from its troops.

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McCain tells NAACP he will help pupils in failing schools; backs vouchers for private schools

CINCINNATI (AP) — John McCain told the NAACP and some skeptical black voters Wednesday that he will expand education opportunities, partly through vouchers for low-income children to attend private school.

The likely Republican presidential nominee addressed the annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the nation's oldest civil rights organization.

In greeting the group, McCain praised Democrat Barack Obama's historic campaign, but said the Illinois senator is wrong to oppose school vouchers for students in failing public schools. It is time, McCain said, to use vouchers and other tools like merit pay for teachers to break from conventional thinking on educational policy.

Obama, he said, has dismissed support for private school vouchers for low-income Americans.

"All of that went over well with the teachers union, but where does it leave families and their children who are stuck in failing schools?" the Arizona senator asked. "No entrenched bureaucracy or union should deny parents that choice and children that opportunity."

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US unveils new air safety rule aimed at preventing fuel tank explosions like TWA 800's

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — A device to prevent airplane fuel tanks from exploding must be installed on certain passenger jets and cargo planes, federal officials said Wednesday, 12 years after such an explosion destroyed TWA Flight 800, killing all 230 people aboard.

The new safety requirement, announced by Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, applies to new passenger and cargo planes that have center wing fuel tanks like TWA 800, a Boeing 747, which exploded over the Atlantic Ocean off Long Island on July 17, 1996, after takeoff from New York's Kennedy Airport.

The rule also requires airlines to retrofit 2,730 existing Airbus and Boeing passenger planes over the next nine years with center wing fuel tanks with the changes. The retrofit schedule is based on the normal aircraft maintenance schedule.

Manufacturers have two years in which to comply with the rule, although Boeing is already making some new planes with the changes.

"We believe this will save lives," said National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark Rosenker, who joined Peters at a press conference at the safety board's training facility here, where TWA Flight 800 has been partially reconstructed from pieces of the aircraft retrieved from the ocean. "This is the big one for us as it relates to important solutions for fuel tank safety."

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Police say man kills woman, himself in shooting at suburban St. Louis mall; building evacuated

FLORISSANT, Mo. (AP) — A man shot and killed a woman in a shopping mall outside St. Louis on Wednesday and then killed himself, police said. The pair were cousins, according to a man who said he was a relative.

No one else was injured but the Jamestown Mall was evacuated.

Marcus Gwynn said he heard four shots as he was walking into the mall to begin his shift at a Radio Shack store.

"I seen a lady on the ground face down, then he sits on the ground and shot himself in the head," said Gwynn, 21. He described both the man and the woman as in their mid-40s.

Deborah and Michael Mingo said they were shopping at Sears when they heard several shots. She said she asked a clerk about the noise and was told it was likely construction, but a short time later people in the store were telling them to get out.

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Study: Low-carb and Mediterranean diets help shed more pounds than low-fat regimen

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atkins diet may have proved itself after all: A low-carb diet and a Mediterranean-style regimen helped people lose more weight than a traditional low-fat diet in one of the longest and largest studies to compare the dueling weight-loss techniques.

A bigger surprise: The low-carb diet improved cholesterol more than the other two. Some critics had predicted the opposite.

"It is a vindication," said Abby Bloch of the Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Foundation, a philanthropy group that honors the Atkins' diet's creator and was the study's main funder.

However, all three approaches — the low-carb diet, a low-fat diet and a so-called Mediterranean diet — achieved weight loss and improved cholesterol.

The study is remarkable not only because it lasted two years, much longer than most, but also because of the huge proportion of people who stuck with the diets — 85 percent.___

Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood enters rehab for alcoholism

LONDON (AP) — Ronnie Wood entered a rehabilitation facility Wednesday for help with alcoholism, said a spokeswoman for the Rolling Stones guitarist.

"Following Ronnie's continued battle with alcohol he has entered a period of rehab," the spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity as required by her agency. "His close family and friends say he is seeking help and look forward to his recovery."

Wood, 61, has fought a long battle with alcoholism during his rock 'n' roll career, which started in the 1960s when he played with the band The Faces.

His spokeswoman didn't release any details about the treatment he will receive or the clinic that he entered.

The craggy guitarist had seemed to be in good health in recent years. He has developed a strong second career as an artist, selling his paintings at some of London's respected art galleries.

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Swede turns to burning wood for fuel — as he did during WWII — to cope with high gas prices

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — Record-high gasoline prices have stirred up anger and anxiety around the world. But in a small village in northern Sweden, retiree Tore Blomqvist is happily cruising around in his car.

Blomqvist, a 78-year-old former mechanic, said he recently cut his fuel costs by some 86 percent by using the same type of fuel he employed to cope with the gasoline shortages of World War II: wood gas.

Swedes commonly used wood gas during the war, when fuel was sparse and expensive. Wood gas is produced by burning wood in a container in the back of the car.

"I am an old man and I grew up using wood gas," Blomqvist said Wednesday. "It seemed suitable to start using it again now when the fuel prices are so high."

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Cavaliers make first move of offseason, sign Daniel Gibson to 5-year deal

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cavaliers finally made a move this offseason, signing sharpshooter Daniel Gibson to a five-year contract Wednesday. Bringing back Gibson, a restricted free agent, was one of Cleveland's top priorities. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The guard averaged a career-high 10.4 points on 43 percent shooting last season. He sprained his left ankle in a Feb. 20 game at Indiana and missed 18 games.

Gibson, a popular player known by the nickname "Boobie," had arthroscopic surgery last month on the ankle. He's already back to playing basketball and is expected to be ready for training camp.

"He's got a great smile on the court. He can shoot the heck out of the ball and bring energy to our group because guys just love playing with him," Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry said.

Aside from signing first-round draft pick J.J. Hickson last week, the Cavs have been quiet this offseason. Ferry hasn't been active in free agency because the Cavaliers are over the salary cap.