World Briefly

By The Associated Press | Clanton Advertiser

Published Thursday, January 22, 2009

Obama moves closely to reshape US national-security policy, ordering Gitmo closed within year

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama moved quickly Thursday to reshape U.S. national-security policy, ordering the Guantanamo Bay prison camp closed within a year, forbidding the harshest treatment of terror suspects and naming new envoys to the Middle East and Afghanistan-Pakistan.

"We have no time to lose," he said at the State Department as he welcomed newly confirmed Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to help him forge what he called "a new era of American leadership" in the world.

He said his administration is committed to lead. "We can no longer afford drift, and we can no longer afford delay, nor can we cede ground to those who seek destruction," he said.

On his second full day in office, Obama moved to reverse some of the most contentious policies of his predecessor, George W. Bush.

By ordering shut the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, closing any remaining CIA secret prisons overseas and banning harsh interrogation practices, Obama said he was signaling that the U.S. would confront global violence without sacrificing "our values and our ideals."

"First, I can say without exception or equivocation that the United States will not torture," he said. "Second, we will close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp and determine how to deal with those who have been held there."

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Clinton takes charge of State Department, proclaims new era of robust US diplomacy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton took charge of the State Department on Thursday, proclaiming the start of a new era of robust U.S. diplomacy to tackle the world's crises and improve America's standing abroad.

Before a raucous, cheering crowd of about 1,000 people, the nation's 67th secretary of state pledged to boost the morale and resources of the diplomatic corps and promised them a difficult but exciting road ahead.

"I believe with all of my heart that this is a new era for America," she said to loud applause in the main lobby of the department's headquarters, which President Barack Obama visited later in the day to underscore his administration's commitment to diplomacy.

With Obama at her side in the ornate Ben Franklin Room, Clinton introduced former Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell, D-Maine, as a special envoy for the Middle East. Former U.N. ambassador Richard Holbrooke was announced as a special adviser on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The posts are the first of several new special envoys the administration plans to name to deal with particularly vexing problems abroad.

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Person who's worked with Kennedy says decision to drop Senate bid unrelated to uncle's health

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Caroline Kennedy withdrew her Senate bid because of a personal matter unrelated to her ill uncle, rejecting the governor's attempt to get her to reconsider, a person who worked closely with her said Thursday.

Kennedy discussed withdrawing from the race with Gov. David Paterson on Wednesday, and Paterson asked her to reconsider for 24 hours, the person said.

But by 11 p.m. Wednesday, the associate said, Kennedy decided she couldn't take the job if appointed, and she issued a statement shortly after midnight saying she was withdrawing.

Kennedy did not decide to bow out because her uncle, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, suffered a seizure during an inaugural luncheon Tuesday, the person said. The 76-year-old Massachusetts senator was diagnosed in May with an aggressive type of brain tumor.

The person wasn't authorized to disclose the conversation between Kennedy and the governor and spoke on condition of anonymity. The person would give no other details about the personal matter.

Kennedy's one-sentence statement ended hours of uncertainty as she appeared to waver.

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Finance Committee approves Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary despite his tax mistakes

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Finance Committee has cleared the nomination of Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary despite unhappiness over his mistakes in paying his taxes.

The committee approved the nomination on an 18-5 vote, sending it to the full Senate. President Barack Obama is hoping for quick approval so that the point man for the administration's economic rescue effort can begin work.

The committee vote came a day after Geithner appeared before the panel to apologize for what he called "careless mistakes" in failing to pay $34,000 in taxes earlier in the decade, when he worked at the International Monetary Fund.

Geithner paid the back taxes plus interest for the years 2003 and 2004 after being audited by the Internal Revenue Service. But he did not pay taxes he owed for 2001 and 2002, even though he had made the same mistakes for those years, until shortly before he was nominated by Obama last November to be treasury secretary.

The nomination was expected to win approval by the full Senate, with many lawmakers saying that given the serious economic crisis facing the country, the new president deserved to have the services of a man of Geithner's abilities and experience.

Geithner has been the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for the past six years and was a key participant in decisions made by the Bush administration to deal with the worst financial crisis to hit the country since the Great Depression.

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Investors: Ind. adviser accused of faking plane crash death had taken money, forged forms

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indiana financial adviser accused of trying to fake his death in a plane crash improperly moved money from accounts, forged signatures on investment documents and charged exorbitant fees for years, investors testified at a hearing Thursday.

An administrative law judge in Indiana heard from investors and their relatives who claim Marcus Schrenker bilked them out of hundreds of thousands of dollars before last week's plane crash in Florida.

While that hearing was going on, Schrenker was in federal court in Pensacola, Fla., where he pleaded not guilty to charges of deliberately crashing his airplane and making a false distress call. Judge Roger Vinson ordered the 38-year-old amateur pilot sent for a psychiatric evaluation after Schrenker's attorney claimed he is not mentally competent for trial.

Schrenker was arrested Jan. 13 at a campground near Tallahassee, Fla., where federal agents say he tried to kill himself after parachuting from his plane in Alabama and driving off on a motorcycle he had stashed nearby. His plane continued on autopilot for 200 miles before crashing in the Florida Panhandle. Authorities say he faced mounting legal problems and his wife had filed for divorce.

In Indiana, the state Department of Insurance has asked Judge Douglas Webber to permanently revoke Schrenker's license, fine him $270,000 and order him to pay $320,000 in restitution. He also faces two felony charges there accusing him of working as an investment adviser without being registered.

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AP ENTERPRISE: Iraq cuts funds for rebuilding as oil price plummets and US prepares to leave

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's government will have dramatically less money to spend this year than expected because of plunging oil prices — a dire economic situation that's already forced the country to slash rebuilding plans by 40 percent, The Associated Press has learned. As the U.S. seeks a timetable for withdrawal, cutbacks on spending and jobs could trigger heightened violence.

U.S. commanders have repeatedly warned that without speedy economic development and reconstruction, the sharp improvements in security since the U.S. troop surge of 2007 could be at risk in a country where about 38 percent of the work force is estimated to have no job or just part-time employment.

But rebuilding requires money. And with oil prices plummeting, the government has been forced to cut planned spending — by one-third overall and 40 percent for rebuilding, Iraqi officials told the AP — and to consider even deeper reductions.

It's an ironic turnaround from just months ago when U.S. lawmakers complained that Iraq was swimming in cash from high oil revenues and should do more to help itself, rather than spend U.S. taxpayer money to rebuild.

Iraq is almost entirely dependent on oil money. More than 90 percent of the government's revenues come from oil sales. The government says it earned about $60 billion from oil sales in 2008 but hasn't said publicly how much it expects to take in this year.

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Authorities say more time needed to recover engine of plane that splash-landed on Hudson River

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal authorities say more time is needed to recover an engine that broke off a US Airways plane that splashed down in the Hudson River.

It was thought the engine — located by police divers Wednesday about 65 feet below the icy water — could be pulled up as early as Thursday. But the National Transportation Safety Board now says it will need another day or two to coordinate the recovery.

Investigators want to closely inspect the engine to better understand if it conked out after colliding with a flock of birds shortly after the plane's takeoff from LaGuardia Airport.

Investigators on Wednesday found the remains of what may be a bird in the other engine, which was recovered.

The Airbus A320 splash-landed in the Hudson after losing thrust in both engines. All 155 people on board the Charlotte, N.C.-bound flight survived.

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Scientists believe they have solved puzzle of 3 seemingly different fish: They're all the same

WASHINGTON (AP) — Researchers believe they have solved the puzzle of three seemingly different fish, one all males, one all females and one all juveniles. They're the same fish, and undergo remarkable changes as they mature.

"You can imagine it was a pretty exciting discovery," said G. David Johnson, an ichthyologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. "The pieces kept falling into place."

"And it tells you how little we know about the deep sea, Johnson said in a telephone interview.

The fish live in the sparsely populated deep water thousands of feet below the surface, though as youngsters they rise to shallower levels where there is more to eat.

Cetomimidae, a type of whalefish, had been known since the 19th century, but only females had been found.

Seemingly related species called Mirapinnidae, or tapetails, and Megalomycteridae, or bignose fish, were identified in the 1950s and 1960s. Tapetails were only found as juveniles and bignoses only as males.

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Campus police use pepper spray and arrest a student during huge snowball fight at NC college

GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Authorities at a North Carolina college say a huge snowball fight got out of control, forcing campus police to use pepper spray on some students to contain the rowdy crowd.

Police were called to a dormitory at East Carolina University three times Tuesday as hundreds of students pelted each other with snow, The Daily Reflector of Greenville reported. The college is in a part of the state which doesn't get snow often, but a rare storm dropped several inches on campus that day.

Police said some students were getting too aggressive and an officer used pepper spray on a group that rushed officers trying to make an arrest.

Junior Brandon Davis said "it all started in good nature, but then people were throwing them as hard as they could at each other." Junior Matt Lunchick said an officer chased and arrested a student after being hit in the back with a snowball.

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Basketball star Alonzo Mourning announces retirement rather than trying comeback with Heat

MIAMI (AP) — Alonzo Mourning has decided to retire rather than mount another NBA comeback at age 38.

The seven-time All-Star center said Thursday he won't return from a devastating leg injury in 2007. He's not under contract but had been working out at the Miami Heat's complex and still had a spot in the team's locker room.

Mourning hasn't played since tearing the patella tendon and quadriceps muscle in his right leg on Dec. 19, 2007, the fourth anniversary of his lifesaving kidney transplant. He said he feared another return would put his health in jeopardy.

"I truly feel it's best that I retire," Mourning said at a news conference. "When you've got something you love and you're passionate about, it's hard to let that go. But at 38 I feel I've physically done all I can for this game. It has been an amazing ride."

Mourning, who turns 39 next month, played at Georgetown and was the second overall pick in the 1992 draft by the Charlotte Hornets. He also played for New Jersey but spent the majority of his career with the Heat, helping them reach the playoffs six consecutive years. He was the backup center to Shaquille O'Neal when Miami won the NBA title in 2006.

At age 30, Mourning was diagnosed in October 2000 with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a career-threatening kidney disease. He missed most of the ensuing season but rejoined the Heat in March 2001 and made the All-Star team the following year.

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