Associated Press
February 25, 2008 08:30 am
—
Roadside blast kills 3 Shiite pilgrims; police say death toll from
suicide bombing at 56
BAGHDAD (AP) — A roadside bomb killed three Shiite pilgrims Monday in the outskirts of Baghdad, while the death toll from a suicide bombing targeting pilgrims resting in a tent the day before rose to 56, authorities said.
In all, extremists have attacked pilgrims headed to the holy city of Karbala three times in the past two days.
The suicide bomber targeted travelers enjoying tea and refreshments in a tent near Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of Baghdad, as authorities have fortified the capital and Karbala to try to keep away extremists.
Karbala is burial site of Imam Hussein, one of Shiite Islam's most revered figures, where ceremonies will culminate Wednesday to commemorate the end of the 40-day mourning period following the anniversary of his death.
Sunday's blast killed at least 56 people and injured 68, according to police and Dr. Mahmoud Abdul-Rida, director of the Babil health department.
Raul Castro is Cuba's new president, but old team leaves little room for new generation
HAVANA (AP) — Raul Castro, Cuba's first new president in nearly half a century, crushed hopes that a new generation would shape the country's future by promising to defer to his ailing brother Fidel and the Communist Party's old guard on major matters.
Shunning younger candidates, the island's parliament tapped 77-year-old revolutionary leader Jose Ramon Machado for the government's No. 2 spot, meaning Raul Castro's constitutional successor is even older than he is, by a year.
The retirement of 81-year-old Fidel Castro capped a career in which he frustrated efforts by 10 U.S. presidents to oust him. But despite finally emerging from his brother's shadow, Raul made it clear that Fidel will continue to play a key role in running Cuba.
"Fidel is Fidel, we all know it very well," the younger Castro told parliament after lawmakers unanimously approved the succession with a show of hands. "Fidel is irreplaceable and the people will continue his work when he is no longer physically with us."
He suggested that no quick or major economic or political overhauls are in Cuba's future, and that the Communist Party collectively would take over the role long held by his brother, who still has the important position of party head.
Oscars become Coen country as 'No Country for Old Men' wins big
LOS ANGELES (AP) — They ground up Steve Buscemi in a wood-chipper. They made baby-snatchers out of Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter. They turned mythic Greek wanderer Odysseus into a Depression-era roots-music minstrel with George Clooney's face.
Two of the most imaginatively twisted minds in modern film, Joel and Ethan Coen, completed their journey from the fringes to Hollywood's mainstream on Sunday as their crime saga "No Country for Old Men" won a leading four Academy Awards, including best picture.
In a year when the quirky, offbeat and just plain weird storytelling of the Coens triumphed at the biggest ceremony in show business, the oddball brothers found a lot to like in their fellow nominees.
"It sounds like a cliche, but all the movies that were nominated were really interesting to me personally, and that isn't always the case," Joel Coen said. "All of them to me personally I thought were fantastically good movies."
The Coens' brooding, bloody tale of violence in a desolate corner of west Texas was the American standard-bearer for an Oscar show that otherwise had an international flair.
Musharraf spokesman dismisses talks of leader's political exit after election defeat
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — President Pervez Musharraf's spokesman on Monday dismissed suggestions from three U.S. senators that the embattled Pakistani leader make a "graceful" retreat from power after his opponents' recent election victory.
Musharraf was elected to a new five-year presidential term last year by Pakistani lawmakers, "not by any senator from the United States," his spokesman Rashid Qureshi told Dawn News television. "So I don't think he needs to respond to anything that is said by these people."
Several senators met Musharraf after last week's parliamentary vote in which his political allies were routed. Some Pakistani leaders and many media commentators have called for him to resign.
The Bush administration appears to want Musharraf, a key U.S. ally in the war on terror whose own country faces rising Islamic militancy, to continue in office.
However, Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Sunday that he would advise Musharraf to seek a dignified way to leave office.
Defense Secretary Gates moves to enhance US ties with Indonesia
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Defense Secretary Robert Gates vowed Monday to help Indonesia reform its military, saying the U.S. was ready to help provide airlift and other maritime capabilities the country needs.
And in what appeared to be a response to previous Indonesian criticism that the United States can be overbearing in its foreign and military policies, Gates said the U.S. can play a supportive role as countries like Indonesia map out their own futures.
"From time to time, we have strayed from our ideals and we have been arrogant in dealing with others," Gates said in a speech to the Indonesian Council on World Affairs. "In the end, we have always realized that our own democracy's strength ultimately depends on the strength and independence of other democracies around the world — including new ones such as Indonesia."
He emphasized America's ongoing commitment to the region, but also said nations in the area must also work more together.
"Countries have sometimes found it hard to work with us, or with each other," Gates said. "But we believe that the nations of the region must move in a more multilateral direction in order to deal with the most pressing threats in this era."
Trial to begin for 3 NYC officers charged in groom's shooting death
NEW YORK (AP) — On the morning of her wedding day, Nicole Paultre Bell learned her groom-to-be was dead.
Sean Bell, who had been spending his last night as a single man partying, was killed in a barrage of 50 police bullets outside a strip club.
The three police officers indicted in the shooting were to go on trial Monday in a case that has sparked protests and debate over excessive force and police conduct in New York City.
Bell's fiancee was expected to be the first witness at the trial, and she has said she plans to be in court every day.
"I feel like I need to know. I need to know why this happened," said Paultre Bell, who had her maiden name legally changed after her fiance's death. "I wake up one day and my world is turned upside down. I have to know why this happened; my family deserves to know."
———
Northern Illinois University classes to resume for the first time since shooting rampage
DEKALB, Ill. (AP) — It's not violence that Northern Illinois University senior Kristen Bortolotti fears when classes resume — it's the memories.
"It's not necessarily that we're scared that there's going to be someone with a gun," said the 24-year-old from Elgin. "It's the memories of what we saw."
Classes were to begin Monday for the first time since the Feb. 14 shootings, in which former NIU graduate student Steve Kazmierczak opened fire on students — killing five and wounding 17 — before committing suicide.
On Sunday night, more than 12,000 people gathered in the school's Convocation Center for a memorial remembering those who lost their lives.
In honor of the students killed, five bouquets of red and white flowers were placed on the stage. Outside the arena, school officials posted a large banner reading, "Forward, together forward."
———
New York Philharmonic arrives on unprecedented visit to North Korea
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — The New York Philharmonic arrived in North Korea Monday, becoming the most prominent American cultural institution to visit the isolated, nuclear-armed country.
North Korea made unprecedented accommodations for the orchestra, allowing a delegation of nearly 300 people, including musicians, staff and journalists to fly into Pyongyang on a chartered plane for 48 hours.
The Philharmonic's concert Tuesday will be broadcast live on North Korea's state-run TV and radio, unheard of in the impoverished country, where events are carefully choreographed to bolster the personality cult of leader Kim Jong Il.
The Philharmonic accepted the North's invitation to play last year with the encouragement of the U.S. government at a time of rare optimism in the long-running nuclear standoff involving the two countries.
After successfully testing an atomic bomb in October 2006, North Korea shut down its main nuclear reactor in July and is working to disable it in exchange for aid and removal from U.S. terrorism and sanctions blacklists.
———
Top economists see growing signs that the country has toppled into a recession
WASHINGTON (AP) — Job growth is faltering, consumer confidence plunging. The fallout from the worst housing slump in a quarter-century grows. Wherever you look, the signs are unmistakable that the economy is in trouble.
Because of all the bad news, more and more economists foresee the country falling into a recession, according to the latest survey by the National Association for Business Economics.
The group said in a report being released Monday that 45 percent of the economists on its forecasting panel expect a recession this year. In September, only one in four economists was pessimistic enough to put the chance of a recession at 35 percent or higher.
The drumbeat of bad news since last fall has caused many analysts to consider a recession more likely now, said Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, chief economist at Ford Motor Co. and NABE's current president.
The survey shows that 55 percent still believe the country will be able to skate by without falling into an actual downturn, typically defined as two consecutive quarters of declines in the gross domestic output, the broadest measure of economic health. All the analysts, however, expect growth to slow considerably this year.
———
Tiger Woods dominates Stewart Cink to win Match Play Championship and sweep World Golf titles
MARANA, Ariz. (AP) — Not even the most unpredictable tournament in golf could keep Tiger Woods from an inevitable victory. There seems to be no stopping him.
Stewart Cink barely put up a fight Sunday in the Accenture Match Play Championship, where Woods broke a scoring record for the fourth straight tournament, collected his fifth straight victory worldwide and didn't so much as crack a smile when someone asked him if a perfect season was within reach.
"That's my intent," he said. "That's why you play. It you don't believe you can win an event, don't show up."
Relentless as ever, Woods made 14 birdies in 29 holes in the high desert of Dove Mountain to overwhelm Stewart Cink for an 8-and-7 victory, the largest margin in the final match in the 10-year history of his fickle event.
Woods captured his 15th World Golf Championship, holding all three world title for the first time.
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.