World Briefly

By The Associated Press | Clanton Advertiser

Published Tuesday, February 24, 2009

AP EXCLUSIVE: Officials say Obama to announce most US troops to be out of Iraq by August 2010

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama plans to order that all U.S. combat troops be withdrawn from Iraq by August 2010, administration officials said Tuesday, ending the war that defined his upstart presidential campaign three months later than he had promised.

Obama's plan would pull out all combat troops 19 months after his inauguration, although he had promised repeatedly during the 2008 campaign that he would withdraw them 16 months after taking office. That schedule, based on removing roughly one brigade a month, was predicated on commanders determining that it would not endanger U.S. troops left behind or Iraq's fragile security.

Pledging to end the war in 16 months helped to build enormous grass-roots support for Obama's White House bid.

The withdrawal plan — an announcement could come as early as this week — calls for leaving a large contingent of troops behind, between 30,000 and 50,000 troops, to advise and train Iraqi security forces and to protect U.S. interests.

Also staying beyond the 19 months would be intelligence and surveillance specialists and their equipment, including unmanned aircraft, according to two administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan has not been made public.

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Obama to ask worried Americans to pull together, says US will emerge stronger than before

WASHINGTON (AP) — Addressing a nation on an economic precipice, President Barack Obama asked worried Americans to pull together Tuesday night and declared reassuringly that the U.S. "will emerge stronger than before." Obama aimed to balance candor with can-do in his first address to a joint session of Congress.

"The weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this nation," Obama said. "Tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before."

The comments were included in excerpts from the speech that were released early by the White House.

Set to address an ebullient Democratic congressional majority and an embattled but reinvigorated GOP minority as well as millions of anxious viewers at home, Obama was arguing that his still-unfolding economic revival plan has room for — even demands — a broader agenda including dramatic increases in health care coverage and wiser, "greener" fuel use.

"The answers to our problems don't lie beyond our reach. They exist in our laboratories and universities, in our fields and our factories, in the imaginations of our entrepreneurs and the pride of the hardest-working people on Earth," he said. "What is required now is for this country to pull together, confront boldly the challenges we face and take responsibility for our future once more."

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Sen. Roland Burris refuses to resign despite suggestion from fellow Sen. Dick Durbin

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Roland Burris refused to resign on Tuesday, rebuffing a call from the Senate's No. 2 Democrat who made it clear that the embattled Illinois lawmaker has little hope next year of winning the seat vacated by President Barack Obama.

"I told him that under the circumstances, I would resign," fellow Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin told reporters after an hour-long meeting with Burris. "He said, 'I'm not going to resign.'"

"I can't force him," Durbin added.

Burris was appointed by disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was impeached and driven from office after he was accused of trying to sell the Senate seat.

Burris repeatedly changed his story about how he was appointed. He is facing calls for his resignation after he admitted trying to raise money for Blagojevich. Burris has said he did nothing wrong.

Emerging from the hour-long private meeting with Durbin, Burris looked a bit shaken and inexplicably said he was under orders not to comment, other than to say the session was a "great discussion."

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Police say infant, 5 others shot along Mardi Gras parade route; Suspects in custody

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An infant and at least five other people were shot Tuesday along a parade route packed with Mardi Gras revelers, police said. Two suspects were in custody and the victims were recovering.

The shootings happened near the Garden District about 1:40 p.m. after the last major parade of the celebration, Rex, had ended. Hundreds of truck floats that follow the parade were passing when gunfire broke out.

"It sounded like a string of fireworks, so I knew it was more than one shooter," said Toni Labat, 29, a window company manager. She was with her two children, a 2-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl.

"Everybody was petrified. They hit the ground, the floats stopped, everybody on the floats ducked," Labat said.

Labat said one man dragged himself on the ground screaming for help after being wounded and another man was gasping for air and bleeding from his mouth.

Police spokesman Bob Young said the victims were taken to local hospitals. The infant was grazed by a bullet and not seriously hurt, Young said.

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NKorea making 'brisk headway' in plans to launch satellite; SKorea suspects long-range missile

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea declared Tuesday it is making "brisk headway" in plans to send a satellite into orbit as part of its space program, a launch regional powers fear is a cover up for testing a long-range ballistic missile capable of striking Alaska and the western United States.

Analysts called Pyongyang's announcement yet another bid for President Barack Obama's attention as he met in Washington with Prime Minister Taro Aso of Japan, a key ally in the regional push to get North Korea to give up its nuclear program.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters Tuesday that North Korea should focus on its commitments to international negotiators working to rid the North of its nuclear weapons.

"Intimidation and threats are not helpful to try to bring about regional stability," Wood said.

North Korea's declaration came just days after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, on a trip to Asia, urged the country to put an end to "provocative actions."

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Brother of Conn. woman mauled by chimpanzee says he's preparing to sue — but he won't say whom

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — The brother of a woman mauled by a 200-pound chimpanzee last week was appointed her conservator Tuesday as she remains in a medically induced coma.

Michael Nash was named temporary conservator of his twin sister, Charla Nash, who was critically injured Feb. 16 when a chimp owned by her friend, Sandra Herold of Stamford, attacked her.

In the order, Stamford Probate Judge Gerald M. Fox Jr. said Nash was in grave condition at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio with serious injuries to her face, head and hands. The conservator is needed to make medical decisions after consulting with doctors, according to court papers.

Also in court papers, Michael Nash said he could protect his sister's ability to recover damages in future litigation as her conservator.

Neither he nor the family's attorney, Matthew Newman, would comment on whom they might sue. "We're pursuing all potential legal avenues," Newman said.

Herold, who owned the 14-year-old chimp for nearly all his life, fed Travis the finest foods, including steak, lobster, cheesecake and wine. She said Travis combed her hair and slept with her.

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Million-woman study provides more evidence linking moderate drinking and certain cancers

WASHINGTON (AP) — A study of nearly 1.3 million British women offers yet more evidence that moderate alcohol consumption increases the risk of a handful of cancers.

British researchers surveyed middle-aged women at breast cancer screening clinics about their drinking habits, and tracked their health for seven years.

A quarter of the women reported no alcohol use. Nearly all the rest reported fewer than three drinks a day; the average was one drink a day. Researchers compared the lightest drinkers — two or fewer drinks a week — with people who drank more.

Each extra drink per day increased the risk of breast, rectal and liver cancer, University of Oxford researchers reported Tuesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The type of alcohol — wine, beer or liquor — didn't matter.

That supports earlier research, but the new wrinkle: Alcohol consumption was linked to esophageal and oral cancers only when smokers drank.

Also, moderate drinkers actually had a lower risk of thyroid cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and renal cell cancer.

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Grandfather of octuplets says Nadya Suleman was under duress during NBC interview

CHICAGO (AP) — Nadya Suleman's father told Oprah Winfrey on her talk show that his daughter was under duress before giving an interview to NBC and should have been given time to recover from giving birth to octuplets.

"They took her out of the hospital by midnight to a secret location," Suleman's father Ed Doud told Winfrey on the show that aired Tuesday. "They did not even give her a chance to rest, to sleep, where she's still under medication and not feeling well.

"They bombard her with all these cameras," Doud said. "I am not saying that they kidnapped her. What I am saying is that it absolutely should have given her a little time until she heals at least and not be under so much medication."

The NBC interviews with Suleman aired Feb. 9 and 10 on the network's "Today" and "Dateline" shows. She gave birth to the eight babies Jan. 26 and was released from the hospital Feb. 5 after a more than two-month stay.

"NBC News stands by every aspect of our interview with Nadya Suleman," NBC said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press. "Contrary to her father's allegations, we did not take Nadya from the hospital and the interview, which was conducted with respect, took place at a time of her choosing."

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The best part of waking up? For some in Maine, it's a trip to the topless coffee shop

VASSALBORO, Maine (AP) — Cup size has more than one meaning at a new central Maine coffeehouse.

Servers are topless at the Grand View Topless Coffee Shop, which opened its doors Monday on a busy road in Vassalboro. A sign outside says, "Over 18 only." Another says, "No cameras, no touching, cash only."

On Tuesday, two men sipped coffee at a booth while three topless waitresses and a bare-chested waiter stood nearby. Topless waitress Susie Wiley said men, women and couples have stopped by.

The coffee shop raised the ire of dozens of residents when it went before the town planning board last month. Town officials said the coffee shop met the letter of the law.

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Information from: Kennebec Journal, http://www.kjonline.com/

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