Year after deadly cyclone

OAK-KYIUT, Myanmar — The boat’s owner points to a palm-covered bend in the river where dozens of bamboo huts perched on spindly stilts — until Cyclone Nargis devastated this region a year ago.

Nature has concealed the scars in the Irrawaddy Delta, where most of the more than 138,000 victims drowned when the storm roared through during the night last May 2. But tens of thousands of survivors still struggle to live.

Many lack clean drinking water. Rice fields remain bare, even as food handouts wind down. More than 2,000 schools have reopened, but some are short of teachers. A half million people live in rudimentary shelters.

International relief agencies have embarked on a three-year recovery plan, but response to a global appeal for $691 million in funding has been slow, the groups say.

"Finding that money to help get people back on their feet is the biggest challenge that we face at the moment,” said Andrew Kirkwood, the country director of Save the Children Fund.

The World Food Program initially provided food for more than 1 million cyclone survivors. The number of recipients has fallen to 250,000.

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South Korea will study stem Cell reseach

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea will lift a ban on human stem cell research, a presidential advisory committee announced Wednesday.

The government outlawed research in 2006 following a scandal involving disgraced cloning expert Hwang Woo-suk. Hwang scandalized the international scientific community when it emerged that papers outlining his claim relied on faked data.

Hwang was stripped of the license to carry out the studies.

The National Bioethics Committee, a presidential advisory group, said Wednesday it has decided to allow a Seoul hospital to conduct work on human stem cells.

The committee issued several conditions on Cha Medical Center in exchange for the right to carry out human stem cell research, including hiring more bioethics experts, minimizing the use of human eggs and not citing specific diseases to prevent hopes for cures.

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If North Korea don't get apology they threaten nuclear test

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea threatened Wednesday to conduct nuclear and missile tests unless the U.N. apologizes for criticizing its April 5 rocket launch, dramatically raising its stake in the worsening standoff over its atomic programs.

North Korea is known for harsh rhetoric, but it is unusual for it to threaten a nuclear test.

The North’s ministry also said the country will build a light-water nuclear reactor and start developing technologies to produce nuclear fuel.

Pyongyang conducted its first-ever atomic test blast in 2006 and is thought to have enough plutonium to make at least half a dozen nuclear bombs. But experts have said the country is not believed to have mastered the technology to make a nuclear warhead small enough to put on a missile.

The U.N. Council adopted a statement earlier this month denouncing the North’s rocket launch and calling for tightening sanctions. Pyongyang has claimed the rebuke is unfair because the liftoff was a peaceful satellite launch. But the U.S. and others believe it was a test of long-range missile technology.

Wednesday’s threat came days after the North said it had begun reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods at its Yongbyon nuclear complex — a move aimed at harvesting weapons-grade plutonium.


Maximizing stakes
"The North is trying to maximize the stakes as the United States keeps ignoring it,” professor Kim Yong-hyun at Seoul’s Dongguk University said of the threat.

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Indians in Canada get apology from Pontiff

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI apologized Wednesday to Canadian Indians who were physically and sexually abused at church-run boarding schools they were forced to attend, saying he was sorry for their anguish and was praying they would heal.


The head of the Roman Catholic Church met with a group of former Canadian Indian students and told them of his "personal anguish” over their suffering, they said.

They emerged from the meeting happy and comforted, said Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

From the 19th century until the 1970s, more than 150,000 Indian children in Canada were forced to attend state-funded Christian schools as an effort to assimilate into society.

The Canadian government has admitted that physical and sexual abuse was rampant in the schools, with students beaten for speaking their native languages.

That legacy of abuse and isolation has been cited by Indian leaders as the root cause of epidemic rates of alcoholism and drug addiction on reservations.

The Canadian government has formally apologized and offered billions of dollars in compensation. The Catholic Church itself has paid some $79 million in compensation — but hadn’t issued any type of institutional regret until Wednesday.



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Pakistanis hear call to help offensive toward militants

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s offensive to push Taliban militants from a district near the capital drew little criticism from local politicians and clerics — a sign that insurgents may have gone too far in trying to expand their reign.

But despite that tacit acceptance, the nuclear-armed country remains far from consensus on the seriousness of the extremist threat it faces — and how best to fight it.

Public support for fellow Muslims and a lack of agreement about what Taliban rule would make it difficult for the U.S.-allied government in Islamabad to rally public support against the insurgents.

In a statement Wednesday, President Asif Ali Zardari, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s widower, urged the nation of 170 million to "give pause to their political differences and rise to the occasion” in support of the offensive.

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America asks Europeans to accept Detainees

BERLIN — The U.S. and its allies must make sacrifices to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday in a high-profile appeal for Europe’s help.

Holder spoke to the American Academy in Berlin, not long after telling reporters that the United States had approved the release of about 30 Guantanamo detainees.

"The United States is ready to do its part, and we hope that Europe will join us — not out of a sense of responsibility, but from a commitment to work with one of its oldest allies to confront one of the world’s most pressing challenges,” he said.

There are currently 241 inmates at the facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Holder spent the past several days privately asking European leaders in London, Prague and Berlin for help relocating detainees the United States wants to set free.

In answer to a question about Bush administration officials’ decisions to authorize tough interrogation techniques, Holder said he believed that many of them would, privately, admit to having made some mistakes in the pressure and worry that followed the 9/11 attacks.

Germany’s former justice minister, Herta Daubler-Gmelin, a fierce critic of former President George W. Bush, said Holder "made a very good impression. He’s very honest about this society in transformation in America.”

She expects Germany would eventually be one of the countries that accepts Guantanamo detainees.

The Bush administration had approved about 60 detainees for release. Holder aides would not say if the 30 he was referring to were part of that group.

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Patient sues agency over Privacy violiation

ATLANTA — The Atlanta attorney who caused an international health scare when he flew to Europe for his wedding even though he was infected with a drug-resistant form of tuberculosis is suing federal health officials, claiming they invaded his privacy

Andrew Speaker got worldwide attention in 2007 after he flew knowing he had tuberculosis. Doctors first thought he had a more severe form, but later tests revealed a less dangerous strain.

The lawsuit claims the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention damaged Speaker’s reputation and made him the target of death threats. It accuses the CDC of "unlawfully and unnecessarily” revealing Speaker’s private medical history and other sensitive information during an extensive media blitz in May 2007.

"This is about setting the record straight,” Speaker said in a statement Wednesday. "Having my confidential medical history unnecessarily splashed across the world took a huge toll on me.”

Speaker, a plaintiff’s attorney, claims in the lawsuit that the unwanted attention led to death threats and caused him grave mental anguish.

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Obama and 100 days , are we a better Nation ?

WASHINGTON — Banks failing and the economy in shambles, the new U.S. president reassured a nationwide audience that his administration was putting America back on the right track.

Balancing two wars, a creaky economy and now a flu bug of near-pandemic proportions, on his 100th day in office, Obama used his third prime-time news conference to assure America that its oft-derided government could rise to the challenge. At the same time, he sought to inspire citizens to help themselves rather than rely solely on Washington.

The opening act of the Obama presidency has been head-turning, not only for the dire times in which he took office but his flurry of activity.

But most of what Obama has done so far, as would be expected for little more than three months, amounts to no more than a down payment.

The news conference covered topics ranging from the outbreak of swine flu — which Obama referred to as the H1N1 virus — to abortion and the recent flare-up in violence in Iraq. Here’s a look at what the president said:

Terrorism war
Waterboarding: Obama called waterboarding torture and an act that violates the nation’s ideals and values, and he said that’s why he decided to ban the practice. He said the American people will eventually recognize that banning torture enhances the U.S. position worldwide. The president said the prohibition takes away a recruitment tool for al-Qaida and puts Washington in a stronger position with allies.
Pakistan: The president said he is confident Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal will stay out of militants’ hands. But he said he is "gravely concerned” about that nation’s stability. Obama called the Pakistani government "very fragile” and expressed deep concern about its ability to provide basic services such as education, health care and a judicial system.

Iraq: Obama said recent violence flare-ups in Iraq are a legitimate cause of concern, but noted that civilian deaths are lower than in the past. He said the country’s political system remains intact. But, he also says more work must be done on the political side and the U.S. must keep pressure on Iraqis to make progress.

Health, finance
Economy: Obama warned that "more will be lost” during a recession that has already cost millions of Americans their homes and their jobs. He said he is content with his administration’s progress to fix a staggering economy. But he said big problems remain: the slow flow of credit, the struggling auto industry, the projected long-term deficits and security threats.
Swine flu: The president said health officials aren’t recommending closing the U.S. border with Mexico because of the swine flu outbreak. The president likened that move to — in his words — closing the barn door after the horses are out. He said the outbreak is cause for deep concern but not panic. And he assured that the government was doing everything it can to be on top of the matter.

Abortion: Obama said abortion is both a moral and ethical issue, and abortion rights backers make a mistake when they consider it solely a matter of women’s freedom. He said he supports abortion rights because he thinks a woman is in a better position to make a personal choice than a member of Congress or the president.

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Specter Becomes Democrat

WASHINGTON — Veteran Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania switched parties Tuesday with a suddenness that seemed to stun the Senate, a moderate’s defection that pushed Democrats to within a seat of a 60-vote filibuster-resistant majority.

Specter, 79 and seeking a sixth term in 2010, conceded bluntly that his chances of winning a Pennsylvania Republican primary next year were bleak in a party grown conservative. But he cast his decision as one of principle, rather than fueled by ambition as spurned GOP leaders alleged.

"I have found myself increasingly at odds with the Republican philosophy and more in line with the philosophy of the Democratic Party,” he said at a news conference.

Tuesday’s switch was not Specter’s first. He was a Democrat until 1965, when he ran successfully on the Republican ticket for district attorney in Philadelphia.

Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Tulsa, said Specter’s switch "seems to have been done out of desperation and finding a way, any way, to stay in Washington longer.”

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U.S. deaths Expected from Swine Flu

NEW YORK — The global swine flu outbreak worsened Tuesday as authorities said hundreds of students at a New York school have fallen ill and federal officials said they expected to see U.S. deaths from the virus.

Cuba suspended flights to and from Mexico, becoming the first country to impose a travel ban to the epicenter of the epidemic. The mayor of the capital cracked down further on public life, closing gyms and swimming pools and ordering restaurants to limit service to takeout.

Confirmed cases were reported for the first time as far away as New Zealand and Israel, joining the United States, Canada, Britain and Spain.

Swine flu is believed to have killed more than 150 people in Mexico, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the U.S. has 66 confirmed cases in five states, with 45 in New York, one in Ohio, one in Indiana, two in Kansas, six in Texas and 13 in California.

"I fully expect we will see deaths from this infection," said Richard Besser, acting director of the CDC.

President Barack Obama asked Congress for $1.5 billion in emergency funds to fight the illness.
Also on Tuesday, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius won Senate confirmation as the nation's health and human services secretary, thrusting her into the middle of the public health emergency. The 65-31 confirmation vote came after Democrats urged quick action so that Sebelius could get to work leading the federal response to the flu outbreak.

In New York, there were growing signs that the virus was moving beyond St. Francis Preparatory school, where sick students started lining up last week at the nurse's office. The outbreak came just days after a
group of students returned from spring break in Cancun.

At the 2,700-student school, the largest Roman Catholic high school in the nation, "many hundreds of students were ill with symptoms that are most likely swine flu," said Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden. The cases haven't been confirmed.

Twelve teachers reported flu-like symptoms as well, said the principal, Brother Leonard Conway.

A nearby public school for special education students was shut down after more than 80 students called in sick. Frieden said that some of the students have siblings at St. Francis.

"It is here and it is spreading," Frieden said.

Some of the New York students who tested positive for swine flu after a trip to Mexico passed it on to others who had not traveled — a significant fact because it suggests the strain suspected in dozens of deaths in Mexico can also spread through communities in other countries, said Keiji Fukuda, assistant director-general of the World Health Organization.

U.S. officials stressed there was no need for panic and noted that flu outbreaks are quite common every year. The CDC estimates about 36,000 people in the U.S. died of flu-related causes each year, on average, in the 1990s.

The increase in cases was not surprising. For days, CDC officials said they expected to see more confirmed cases — and more severe illnesses. Health officials nationwide stepped up efforts to look for symptoms, especially among people who had traveled to Mexico.

Scientists hope to have a key ingredient for a vaccine ready in early May, but it still will take a few months before any shots are available for the first required safety testing. Using samples of the flu taken from people who fell ill in Mexico and the U.S., scientists are engineering a strain that could trigger the immune system without causing illness.



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Flu effecting the ECNOMY

WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve policymakers are weighing whether additional steps are needed to brace the economy as an outbreak of the swine flu has emerged as a potential new danger that could aggravate the recession.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues opened a two-day meeting Tuesday afternoon to take fresh stock of already fragile economic and financial conditions.

The swine flu outbreak, which started in Mexico and has spread to the United States and elsewhere, could force American consumers to retrench further. That would deal a blow to the domestic economy, which has flashed some signs the recession could be letting up a bit.

Some good signs
Other hopeful signals emerged Tuesday. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index rose more than expected in April, jumping 12 points to 39.2, the highest level since November. And a housing index showed home prices dropped sharply in February, but for the first time in 25 months the decline was not a record. To ease the impact of the recession, economists predict the Fed will keep its targeted range for its bank lending rate between zero and 0.25 percent at this week’s meeting and probably well into next year.
With its key rate already at a record low, the Fed will examine the effectiveness of programs already in place to combat the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. Fed policymakers will consider whether programs designed to ease the credit crunch need to be expanded or changed, and whether new relief efforts need to be implemented. Any decisions would come at the conclusion of the Federal Reserve’s meeting this afternoon.


"This is a good meeting for Fed policymakers to pause and take stock of what they’ve done so far and allow programs to do their thing,” said Michael Feroli, economist at JPMorgan Economics.

Feroli and others aren’t expecting the kind of aggressive action the Fed took at its last meeting in mid-March. That was when the Federal Reserve decided to plow $1.2 trillion into the nation’s economy to try to lower interest rates and stimulate borrowing and spending.

Before the swine flu outbreak, many analysts were predicting the recession would ease further, with the economy shrinking at a rate of 2 to 2.5 percent in the current quarter.

However, analysts warn that any severe outbreak of the swine flu would not only clobber tourism, food and transportation industries, but crimp spending on other things if consumers get spooked.

For now, analysts are hopeful that any economic fallout will be limited and short-lived.


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Israel says Palestinians stage for Pontiff , is a security risk

AIDA REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank — Palestinians in a refugee camp near Bethlehem want to receive Pope Benedict XVI in what they say is the most fitting setting — next to the towering cement wall that is part of Israel’s West Bank barrier and borders the camp on two sides.

They are building an outdoor theater next to the wall for the pope’s visit to Aida camp May 13. They say they chose the spot to highlight life under Israeli military occupation.

However, the Israeli government has ordered the construction to stop, saying camp organizers lack the necessary permits and that the theater’s proximity to the wall poses a security risk.

Israel started building the separation barrier in the West Bank in 2002, portraying it as a defense against Palestinian gunmen and suicide bombers. Palestinians have denounced it as a land grab.

The pope is touring the Holy Land from May 8-15, and will visit Bethlehem, Nazareth and Jerusalem, key locations in Jesus’ life.

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Groups want Israelis to stop settlements

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Israel’s previous government built or issued bids for some 9,000 homes for Israelis in Jerusalem and the West Bank, despite its promise to pursue a peace deal with the Palestinians, settlement monitors said Monday, summarizing Ehud Olmert’s three years as prime minister.

The Israeli watchdog groups Peace Now and Ir Amim urged President Barack Obama to step in quickly and pressure Israel’s new prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to halt further settlement expansion, particularly in the areas of Jerusalem the Palestinians want for their future capital.

"The more time the international community and the Obama administration will require to generate a political process, the more adamant they need to be to save Israel from itself, because we are losing the two-state solution,” said Daniel Seidemann of Ir Amim, a group that promotes coexistence in Jerusalem.

Netanyahu supports continued construction in settlements, opposes a division of Jerusalem and has not accepted the notion of a Palestinian state. His positions could lead to growing friction with the international community, though he has said he is reviewing policy.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas insisted Monday that a settlement freeze is a prerequisite for resuming peace talks.

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British Bill seeking Equality

LONDON — Is the end near for the English gentleman of privilege?

Britain has proposed an affirmative action bill meant to tackle thorny class divisions and encourage equal opportunities for women and minorities — a proposal already causing an uproar in some social circles.

Under the proposed act, white male job applicants could lose out to women and minorities with equal qualifications. Private companies with 250 employees or more would have to disclose salary discrepancies between male and female employees.

The Labour-led government hopes to push the bill through before next year’s general election.

The bill, which would collect a raft of anti-discrimination provisions in a single act, would likely fail under a Conservative-led government.

Business leaders say the proposals are ill-timed, as industries grapple with the worldwide recession.

"This bill will discourage job creation and make employers fearful of the recruitment process,” said David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce.



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Aftershock Rocks Mexico

MEXICO CITY — A strong earthquake struck central Mexico on Monday, swaying tall buildings in the capital and rattling nerves in a city already tense from a swine flu outbreak suspected of killing as many as 149 people nationwide.

Near the epicenter in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero, two women aged 67 and 75 died of heart attacks shortly after the quake.

Four homes and a perimeter wall collapsed in and around the resort of Acapulco, police reported.


‘So much fear’
"I’m scared,” said Sarai Luna Pajas, a 22-year-old social services worker standing outside her Mexico City office building moments after the earthquake rattled the city.

"We Mexicans are not used to living with so much fear, but all that is happening — the economic crisis, the illnesses and now this — it feels like the Apocalypse.”

Co-worker Harold Gutierrez, 21, said the country was taking comfort from religious faith, but he too was gripped by the sensation that the world might be coming to an end.

"If it is, it is God’s plan,” Gutierrez said, speaking over a green mask he wore to ward off swine flu.

There were no reports of injuries or major damages in Mexico City.

The earthquake had a magnitude of 5.6 and was centered near Chilpancingo, about 130 miles southwest of Mexico City or 50 miles from Acapulco, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Tourists also streamed out of hotels in Acapulco and congregated on sidewalks and medians for several minutes. Local Civil Protection officer Silvia Rodriguez said there were no injuries there.

USGS earthquake analyst Don Blakeman said the quake was felt strongly in Mexico City because the epicenter was relatively shallow and the ground under the capital — which is built on a former lake bed — tends to intensify shock waves.

"Distant quakes are often felt” strongly in the city, Blakeman said.

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Military takes noissues with Casket Coverage

DOVER, Del. — In the weeks since the Pentagon ended an 18-year ban on media coverage of fallen service members returning to the U.S., most families given the option have allowed reporters and photographers to witness the solemn ceremonies that mark the arrival of flag-draped transfer cases.

Critics had warned that military families needed privacy and peace activists might exploit the images, but so far the coverage has not caused problems.

Air Force Tech Sgt. Phillip A. Myers, 30, of Hopewell, Va., who died April 4 in Afghanistan, was the first combat casualty whose return to American soil was witnessed by the news media. He was buried with full military honors Monday afternoon at Arlington National Cemetery, where Defense Secretary Robert Gates joined representatives from all branches of the military in paying their respects.

Air Force civil engineer Maj. Gen. Del Eulberg, who traveled to Dover Air Force Base earlier this month for the return of Myers’ body, also attended the ceremony at Arlington, where he presented U.S. flags to Myers’ widow, Aimee, and other relatives.

With permission from Aimee Myers, the military opened the Dover base earlier this month so reporters and photographers could chronicle the return of her husband’s body. The mortuary there is the entry point for service members killed overseas.

Since the ban was lifted, 19 families have been asked whether they wanted media coverage of their loved one’s return and 14 have said yes.

"That’s a pretty good majority,” said Lt. Col. Les Melnyk, a Pentagon spokesman. He said, though, that it’s too early to tell whether military families favor the policy.

Rose Alexander, an Air Force spokeswoman, said reporters have been cooperative and there haven’t been any problems.

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Drinking arrest Ignited Kent State Riots

KENT, Ohio — Police say a weekend brawl and riot near Kent State University in Ohio started with the arrest of a female for underage drinking.

Kent Police Chief James Peach said 50 people were arrested Saturday at the "College Fest.” The annual party is not an approved Kent State activity.

Fires were intentionally set. Peach said a large crowd chanted and challenged police and firefighters by throwing bottles, rocks and other items. Most of the people arrested were charged with misdemeanor counts of failure to disperse.

The police chief also said Monday that one police officer who responded, from nearby Lakemore, had a heart attack later at his home and died.

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Two companies looking at Lawsuit , in the attack at sea

HOUSTON — A member of the crew on the U.S.-flagged ship hijacked by African pirates sued the owner and another company Monday, accusing them of knowingly putting sailors in danger.

Richard E. Hicks alleges in the lawsuit that owner Maersk Line Limited and Waterman Steamship Corp., which provided the crew, ignored requests to improve safety measures for vessels sailing along the Somali coast.

Hicks was chief cook on the Maersk Alabama. Pirates held the ship’s captain hostage for five days until the U.S. Navy rescued him.

Hicks’ lawsuit seeks at least $75,000 in damages and improved safety.

Officials for Norfolk, Va.-based Maersk Line and Mobile, Ala.-based Waterman said their companies don’t comment on pending litigation.

Hicks asked that the two companies improve safety for ships by providing armed security or allowing crew members to carry weapons, sending ships through safer routes, and placing such safety measures on ships as barbed wire that would prevent pirates from being able to board vessels.

"We’ve had safety meetings every month for the last three years and made suggestions of what should be done and they have been ignored,” Hicks said. "I’m just trying to make sure this is a lot better for other seamen.”

Hicks said he doesn’t know if he will ever work on a ship again.



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Networks turns down Obama

NEW YORK — Fox became the first broadcast network to turn down a request by President Barack Obama for time, opting to show its drama "Lie to Me” on Wednesday instead of the president’s prime-time news conference.

Fox will direct viewers interested in the news conference to Fox News Channel and the Fox Business Network, which will both carry it. ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC and CNBC are all carrying the 7 p.m. CDT event, on Obama’s 100th day in office.

This will be Obama’s third prime-time news conference as president, a schedule that has caused some private grumbling among network executives. Carrying a news conference costs the four broadcast networks an estimated $10 million-plus in lost advertising revenue.

Executives at Fox would not comment on the decision Monday. Fox didn’t carry a prime-time speech by President George W. Bush in November 2001 despite a request from the White House.

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In Iowa , Same-Sex couples Marries

DES MOINES, April 27 -- Same-sex couples in Iowa began holding hastily planned weddings Monday as the state became the third to allow gay marriage.

Within hours of a state Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage taking effect, several same-sex couples had exchanged vows on the steps of the Polk County Administrative Building.

"It's not very romantic, is it?" Melisa Keeton joked, referring to the location of the ceremony and the media attention, before marrying Shelley Wolfe.

The couple were allowed to wed after getting a judge to waive the state's three-day waiting period. The waiver was granted after the couple said the wait was stressful to Keeton, who is pregnant and due in August.

The couple, who will go by the last name Keeton, were married by the Rev. Peg Esperanza of the Church of the Holy Spirit. Esperanza, a lesbian who plans to marry her partner in October, later solemnized the weddings of at least two other couples.

On April 3, the Iowa justices upheld a lower court ruling that rejected a state law restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples. With the decision, Iowa joins Massachusetts and Connecticut in allowing same-sex marriages. A Vermont law legalizing gay marriage will take effect in September.

A handful of Iowa's largest counties saw a rush of marriage applications from same-sex couples Monday. Officials said the Polk County Recorder's Office had received 82 such applications by 4 p.m.

One was filed by Alicia Zacher, 24, and Jessica Roach, 22. They later got a waiver and planned to get married as soon as possible, noting that California voters reinstated a ban on same-sex marriage last year.

"You just never know when they'll try to take it away," Roach said.

Some judges refused to issue waivers to same-sex couples.

In Cerro Gordo County, District Court Judge Colleen Weiland said she was presented with two applications from same-sex couples and denied both.


"Some judges, frankly, interpret it a lot more leniently than I do," she said of Iowa's law concerning waivers. "The ones that were presented this morning I didn't believe to be an emergency or extraordinary circumstance."

A poll by the University of Iowa taken just before the high court's ruling showed 26 percent of Iowans support gay marriage. That number rises to more than 50 percent when people were asked whether they supported either gay marriage or civil unions.

Bryan English of the Iowa Family Policy Center, which opposes same-sex marriage, said the legislature and Gov. Chet Culver (D) had put some "poor county recorders in an awfully tough position today" by not working to block the court's ruling from taking effect.

The group wants the state to begin the multiyear process of amending Iowa's constitution to overturn the court decision.

Culver and majority Democrats have refused, which Republicans said will hurt Democrats in the 2010 elections.

The only recourse available to gay-marriage opponents in Iowa appears to be a constitutional amendment, which cannot get on the ballot until 2012 at the earliest. A constitutional convention could be called earlier but is unlikely.



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Ethiopia accuses Professor

NAIROBI, Kenya — The Ethiopian government has arrested 35 people suspected of a coup attempt allegedly backed by an Ethiopian economist now teaching at a Pennsylvania university, a government spokesman said Saturday.

Government spokesman Ermias Legesse said the group, which calls itself "May 15” after the date of controversial 2005 elections in Ethiopia, was led from the U.S. by former opposition leader Berhanu Nega, who is an associate professor of economics at Bucknell University.

"It is the party led by Berhanu Nega,” Ermias said. "If he comes to Ethiopia, we’ll arrest him.”

He said the alleged plotters were arrested Friday.

"They were caught with weapons, uniforms, even plans,” Ermias said. "I don’t want to give details about the plans; it’s for the court case.”

Ermias said the charges have not been set and court proceedings will begin soon.



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Clinton vows to support troops as they exit Iraq

BAGHDAD — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton tried to reassure nervous Iraqis that the U.S. won’t abandon them, even as she said the American troop withdrawal would stay on schedule despite a recent surge in violence.

On her first visit to Baghdad as chief U.S. diplomat, Clinton said Saturday that Washington remains committed to moving U.S. soldiers out of urban areas by June 30 and pulling out combat troops from the country by 2011.

"Our strategy in working with you may be in a new phase, but we pledge our full and continuing commitment to Iraq and the Iraqi people,” she said after meeting Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.

Suicide bombings Thursday and Friday killed more than 150 people. But she said the attacks "do not reflect any diversion from security progress.”

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U.S. and Russia work on Arms treaty

ROME — U.S. and Russian negotiators emerged optimistic Friday after discussions aimed at creating a deal to reduce their nuclear weapon stockpiles.

The goal is to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty before it expires in December. The deal capped the number of warheads and reduced ways of delivering them. Both sides have said they are ready for further cuts.

Friday’s meeting focused on procedural issues, setting the agenda for further discussions. More meetings will take place in the next two months, officials said.

The two sides hope to meet the deadline for a new deal, said Anatoly Antonov, chief of security and disarmament issues at the Russian Foreign Ministry.

A treaty would not only boost relations, but would also help efforts by the U.S. and the international community to stop nuclear programs by countries like Iran and North Korea, said Giuseppe Anzera, an international relations professor at Rome’s La Sapienza university.

"When the United States and Russia take such a position in favor of nonproliferation, they have much more weight in dealing with those countries who are trying to develop nuclear weapon programs,” he said.

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Iqaqi Bombing , has killed 145 in two days, General says more attacks are ahead

BAGHDAD — It’s been a season of jarring flashbacks in Iraq: a spate of major suicide bombings, including more than 145 dead over two days of bloodshed capped by a blast Friday outside a Shiite shrine.

The spike in attacks since March suggests suspected Sunni insurgents are still capable of striking back hard and recruiting fighters even as the Pentagon increasingly shifts its attention to Afghanistan.

The violence also brings wider questions about the ability of Iraqi security forces to control a resilient insurgency led by al-Qaida in Iraq and how that could influence the U.S. military withdrawal timetable — the next step calls for American forces to leave bases inside cities by the end of June.

In Washington, Gen. David Petraeus told a House panel that attacks in Iraq will persist for some time. He said some of the suicide bombers may be linked to militants from Tunisia brought in to replace dwindling ranks of Iraqis willing to carry out such attacks.

On Friday, at least 60 worshippers were killed in twin suicide bombings at Baghdad’s most important Shiite shrine. A day earlier — the bloodiest single day in Iraq in more than a year — at least 88 people died in suicide blasts in central Baghdad and at a restaurant filled with Iranian pilgrims north of the capital.

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Swine Flu , outbreak worries Mexico

MEXICO CITY — A unique strain of swine flu is the suspected killer of dozens of people in Mexico, where authorities closed schools, museums, libraries and theaters in the capital city on Friday to try to contain an outbreak that has spurred concerns of a global flu epidemic.

The worrisome new virus — which combines genetic material from pigs, birds and humans in a way researchers have not seen before — also sickened at least eight people in Texas and California, though there have been no deaths in the United States.

"We are very, very concerned,” World Health Organization spokesman Thomas Abraham said. "We have what appears to be a novel virus and it has spread from human to human … It’s all hands on deck at the moment.”

The outbreak caused alarm in Mexico, where more than 1,000 people have been sickened. Residents of the capital donned surgical masks and authorities ordered the most sweeping shutdown of public gathering places in a quarter century.

There is no vaccine that specifically protects against swine flu.

The WHO was convening an expert panel to consider whether to raise the pandemic alert level or issue travel advisories.

Mexican authorities urged people to avoid hospitals unless they had an emergency. They also said people should refrain from customary greetings such as shaking hands. At Mexico City’s international airport, passengers were questioned to try to prevent anyone with flu symptoms from boarding.



by the associated press

South African Election , division

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — South African elections results released today show the African National Congress might have fallen short of winning its cherished two-thirds parliamentary majority. But the tally affirmed the ruling party’s overall victory and set the stage for the controversial Jacob Zuma rise to the presidency.

The near-complete results also showed that the ANC lost power in the country’s second richest province because of hostility from mixed-race voters and conservatives.

The party views Zuma as the first leader who can energize voters since Nelson Mandela. But others say Zuma is too beholden to unions and leftists.

The results in the Western Cape were a reminder that South Africa’s racial divides still run deep. It is the heart of the country’s wine and tourism industries, and also a region where mixed-race voters account for more than half the population while they are a minority nationwide.

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94 years later, Killings still Haunting Armenians

YEREVAN, Armenia — Tens of thousands of Armenians marched through the capital on Friday to commemorate the 94th anniversary of the start of mass killings by Ottoman Turks, many calling on Turkey to recognize the slayings as genocide.

Armenia and Turkey said Thursday they are close to restoring full relations and reopening their border after 15 years. But neither side has indicated how they might resolve the dispute over the killings.

Throngs marched through Yerevan, with torches and candles to mark the anniversary of the rounding-up of a few hundred Armenian intellectuals in what was then known as Constantinople — present-day Istanbul — by Ottoman authorities.

Their arrest was followed by the military’s forced evacuation of Armenians from their homes in actions that spiraled into the mass slaughter of the Armenian population.

Armenia says up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Turks in what was then the Ottoman Empire, while Turkey says the killings occurred at a time of civil conflict and that the casualty figures are inflated. Scholars widely view the event as the first genocide of the 20th century.

Friday’s procession began with a burning of Turkish flags, and many carried placards blaming Turkey for spilling the "blood of millions” and calling on Ankara to acknowledge the killings as genocide. It ended in central Yerevan at a monument to the victims of the killings, and a liturgy was served at churches.

"Crimes against humanity don’t expire in the memory of nations,” Armenian President Serge Sarkisian said. "Recognition and condemnation of the Armenian genocide … is a matter of restoring historic justice.”

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Kennedy's Daughter Leaks

ALBANY, N.Y. — A New York state ethics panel is reviewing a request from three watchdog groups asking for an investigation into whether the governor’s office leaked personal information about Caroline Kennedy when she was under consideration for the U.S. Senate, the New York Public Integrity Commission’s spokesman Walter Ayres said Friday.

The confidential information was leaked in January after Kennedy dropped out of contention for Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vacant Senate seat.

New York Gov. David Paterson initially said a Kennedy campaign staffer leaked unsubstantiated claims that she faced possible tax, nanny and marital problems.

After more than week of denying involvement, Paterson said in February he took responsibility for the actions of one of his staffers who leaked information about the daughter of President John F. Kennedy.

"We are confident there were no violations of the Public Officers Law with respect to this matter, and any investigation into these allegations will confirm that,” Paterson’s office said Friday.

At the time of the Jan. 22 leak, Robert Freeman, executive director of the state Committee on Open Government, said that if the information came from confidential questionnaires, it could have violated state privacy law.

The New York Public Integrity Commission said there’s no timetable for a decision on whether to investigate the case.

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New York Democrat wins in House Race

GLENS FALLS, N.Y. — Almost a month after a special election in a heavily Republican congressional district, the Democratic candidate claimed victory Friday when his GOP opponent conceded in a race that focused attention on President Barack Obama’s stimulus plan.

After the March 31 election in New York’s 20th District, Democrat Scott Murphy and Republican Jim Tedisco were separated by a handful of votes with thousands of absentee ballots to be counted. For nearly four weeks, the lead flipped back and forth, but Murphy’s advantage started to grow this week and was more than 400 votes on Thursday.

Murphy, a venture capitalist multimillionaire from Missouri who has lived in New York for more than a decade, is the third straight Democrat to win the seat. He replaces Kirsten Gillibrand, who succeeded Hillary Rodham Clinton in the U.S. Senate after Clinton was chosen to be secretary of state.

Obama’s $787 billion stimulus plan was an issue on the campaign trail.

Tedisco attacked Murphy for supporting the plan, while Murphy criticized Tedisco for refusing to take a stance on the stimulus for most of the campaign, a misstep that hurt the assemblyman.

Tedisco congratulated Murphy and said he’d work with him in his role as a state assemblyman.

"It became clear that the numbers were not going our way,” he said. "In the interest of the citizens of the 20th Congressional District and our nation, I wish Scott the very best.”

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House split over Climate Bill

WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Al Gore, a leading voice on climate change, urged lawmakers Friday to overcome partisan differences and take action to reduce greenhouse gases, but Democrats and Republicans sparred even more vigorously over the cost of dealing with global warming.

Gore, who won a Nobel prize, told a congressional hearing that "the dire and growing threat” of a warmer earth requires the parties to unite to deal with the threat. He endorsed a House Democratic bill that would limit carbon dioxide and other pollution linked to warming.

But former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., argued that the Democratic proposal to reduce greenhouse gases would "punish the American people” by imposing higher energy costs and threatening jobs.

"This bill is an energy tax,” Gingrich said. "An energy tax punishes senior citizens, it punishes rural Americans, if you use electricity it punishes you.”

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee that is writing the bill, shot back that Gingrich was resorting to "the old scare tactics” designed to undermine any congressional effort to address the problem.

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Lost Airplane makes military to responsed

WASHINGTON — A small, single-engine plane strayed into restricted air space near the U.S. Capitol on Friday, forcing anxious officials to place the White House in temporary lock down and take steps to evacuate the U.S. Capitol.

The episode was over within minutes as two F-16 fighter jets and two Coast Guard helicopters were dispatched to intercept the plane and escort it to an airport in Maryland, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The owner of the Indian Head Airport in Charles County, Md., said a technology problem on the Cessna 180, rather than anything nefarious, forced the plane to enter restricted air space.

"It was just a navigation mistake,” owner Gil Bauserman said. He identified the pilot as William Wales.


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Obama college loan Bid , has no support

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Friday renewed his call for the government to stop backing private loans to college students and replace them with direct financial aid to young people, a challenge to a program with strong congressional support.

Obama’s plan to eliminate the Federal Family Education Loan program could save $48 billion for taxpayers over the next decade, but critics warn it could turn the Education Department into a national bank. Lenders and some college officials oppose the proposal, which Obama backed as a U.S. senator and pushed during the presidential campaign.

Under that system, students at some colleges borrow directly from the government, while others get loans from banks, non-profits or state agencies that in turn receive subsidies from Washington.

Helping students?
Republicans are concerned about the costs of that and even some Democratic lawmakers oppose the switch. They argue that ending a successful lending program and giving more power to Washington and Education Secretary Arne Duncan would not help students.

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Churches , still waiting on IRS reply

MILWAUKEE — Nearly seven months after defying a prohibition on endorsing candidates from the pulpit, 33 churches across the country are still waiting to learn whether the Internal Revenue Service will take action.

The goal of "Pulpit Freedom Sunday” was to trigger a legal fight and overturn regulations that prevent places of worship from supporting or opposing candidates for office. But a conservative legal group that organized the effort says the IRS has yet to notify the churches of any investigation.

Legal experts suggest many possibilities: The IRS has nothing to gain from a costly and symbolic battle; it has limited resources; or it could still be deciding how to respond.

On Sept. 28, participating pastors urged worshippers to vote according to conservative views on abortion and gay marriage. Several endorsed GOP presidential candidate John McCain.

Under the IRS code, places of worship can distribute voter guides, run nonpartisan voter-registration drives and hold forums on issues, but they cannot endorse a candidate.

Churches that violate the rule can lose their tax-exempt status.

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First Amendemt Rights in Philly

PHILADELPHIA — In a courtroom just a block from Independence Hall — the heart of the city’s tourist district and the birthplace of the Constitution — a federal judge is weighing whether an ordinance to test and license local tour guides violates the First Amendment.

U.S. District Judge Jan DuBois, who heard arguments Friday, said it’s clear that both sides in the litigation want the city’s guides to be trustworthy and accurate. The question is whether the city is muzzling free speech by requiring guides to take an examination first.

DuBois deferred a ruling pending submission of additional briefs May 1.

Historical tourism is big business in Philadelphia, and lawyers for the city contend tour guides should have an occupational license similar to that of a real estate agent. But the plaintiffs — three tour guides — say the law unfairly restricts speech, could cause financial hardships and will not result in more accurate tours.

The Philadelphia City Council passed the ordinance last year hoping to ensure tourists aren’t misinformed by poorly trained guides who tell them Benjamin Franklin’s statue is atop City Hall. (It’s a statue of William Penn.) The ordinance requires guides to pay application fees, take a multiple-choice exam and obtain liability insurance, in case a visitor is injured.

Plaintiffs’ attorney Robert McNamara argued Friday that the tour guide industry differs from occupations in which someone’s words can affect a client’s health and safety, such as an attorney giving advice on a guilty plea, or a financial adviser talking about investments.

He also said that anyone who conveys information to someone else for compensation might need a license, like a math tutor or a law professor.

Deputy City Solicitor Elise Bruhl noted that guides will not be monitored once they are licensed, and they still are free to say anything they want.

"The tour guides are selling themselves as experts,” Bruhl said

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Levees must be stronger , Enginers say

NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans must increase the strength of new levees being built to protect against catastrophic hurricanes, elevate more houses and abandon neighborhoods that rest below sea level, an independent research panel said Friday.

Levees under construction by the Army Corps of Engineers aren’t being built to a high-enough flood protection standard, said the report by the National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council.

The independent panel was asked by the federal government to review the corps’ investigation of levee failures during Hurricane Katrina and its work to avoid such a catastrophe again. The corps is spending about $14 billion to raise levees and build floodgates able to withstand a "100-year” storm, or a moderately dangerous hurricane with a 1-in-100 chance of hitting in any given year. The corps plans to finish by 2011.

"For heavily populated urban areas, where the failure of protective structures would be catastrophic — such as New Orleans — this standard is inadequate,” the panel said in the report.

Instead, New Orleans should be protected by a "500-year or maybe 1,000-year protection,” the type of engineering standards used in earthquake zones or along major rivers, said Richard Luettich Jr., the director of the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of North Carolina.

The corps is considering construction of a system that would offer protection against a 500-year storm, but its studies are still in early phases.

Friday’s report was the final review of work done by a team of engineers investigating levee failures.

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Coastal Firefight

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Firefighters responded twice to a weekend yard fire that South Carolina officials believe rekindled four days later, igniting a wildfire that has destroyed 70 homes and continued to char 31 square miles near Myrtle Beach on Friday.

Officials said homes were threatened by the flames but late-Friday winds had not cause it to spread farther.

Meanwhile, the wife and neighbors of Marc Torchi, the man being fined for setting the yard fire, said county firefighters who responded twice Saturday to the small blaze should take the blame, not him.

"They came back again, put the fire out again and said we were all fine — ‘Don’t worry about it.’ And then four days later, the wildfire broke out,” said Torchi’s wife, Megan Brogan. She said the family was getting death threats.

Forestry Commission Forest Protection Chief Darryl Jones said it’s common for brush fires to appear to be out but then smolder underground and rekindle. However, he said, blame belongs to the person who set it.

The fire department didn’t start it, Jones said.

The blaze has scorched 20,000 acres but officials said Friday night that firefighters had it 80 percent contained after ridding the area of underbrush that serves as fuel. Breezes were keeping the fire inland, still away from the main tourist areas.

Crews continued to plow firebreaks into critical areas and burn underbrush and trees ahead of the blaze to rob its fuel. The state Forestry Commission hoped the winds would stay calm into today so they could make even more progress.

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Combat militants plan Recruiting in Afghan

FORWARD OPERATING BASE AIRBORNE, Afghanistan — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff began a review Wednesday of a new community-based defense program recently deployed to fight rising violence in a province on the doorstep of Kabul.

Adm. Mike Mullen visited Wardak province, where U.S. troops deployed in large numbers for the first time this year. The program he’s assessing draws volunteers from Afghan communities to defend their villages.

Critics say the force is a state-sponsored militia that is likely to worsen the security situation. But its supporters say it creates a community-based security apparatus.

"The early reviews are positive,” Mullen said.

Wardak province hit the headlines last year after militants started attacking military convoys and U.S. helicopters patrolling its valleys, creating an impression that the Taliban was on the capital’s gates.



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Actvists question the war on Gaza

JERUSALEM — Human rights activists, some charging whitewash, demanded an independent war crimes investigation after Israel’s military on Wednesday cleared itself of wrongdoing over civilian deaths in the Gaza war.

At least 1,100 people in Gaza were killed during the three-week offensive against Hamas that ended Jan. 18, according to counts by both sides. Israel insisted a majority of the war dead were militants, while the Palestinians said most were civilians.

The U.N. has appointed former war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone to lead an investigation. Israel says it’s very unlikely it will cooperate, alleging the U.N. agency is biased. Hamas, Gaza’s sole ruler since a violent takeover in 2007, said it would work with the investigator.

If Israel has nothing to hide, it should cooperate with Goldstone, a coalition of Israeli human rights groups and the New York-based Human Rights Watch said Wednesday.

by the associated press