Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens (R) has asked the Senate Ethics Committee for permission to create a legal expense fund to help pay for costs related to his legal defense. Stevens was recently indicted on seven felony counts of failing to report more than $250,000 in gifts and home repairs. If granted, individuals and political action committees will be allowed to contribute up to $10,000 to the expense fund. (McClatchy)
A new New York Times/CBS News poll finds that the economy is voters’ top concern this year, with four in 10 citing it as the main issue; just 15 percent said the Iraq war. Pocketbook issues — “including the economy, jobs, gas prices and energy policy — were the leading concerns of more than half of those surveyed.”
NBA clears basketball teams to negotiate with Iranians.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control granted NBA teams clearance to negotiate with Iranian center Hamed Ehadadi. “The NBA sent out an email to executives late Wednesday afternoon informing its 30 teams they were free to enter into negotiations with the 7-foot-2 Iranian Olympian, as well as one of his teammates on Iran’s national team: guard Mohammadsamad Nik Khahbahrami.” The NBA had originally advised teams that it would be illegal to engage in business dealings with Ehadadi.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control granted NBA teams clearance to negotiate with Iranian center Hamed Ehadadi. “The NBA sent out an email to executives late Wednesday afternoon informing its 30 teams they were free to enter into negotiations with the 7-foot-2 Iranian Olympian, as well as one of his teammates on Iran’s national team: guard Mohammadsamad Nik Khahbahrami.” The NBA had originally advised teams that it would be illegal to engage in business dealings with Ehadadi.
International Olympic Committee launches probe into He Kexin's age — Tim Reid in Washington, Jeremy Griffin and Jane Macartney in Beijing — The International Olympic Committee has ordered an investigation into mounting allegations that Chinese authorities covered up the true age
Video: Volleyball team wins gold, blindsides NBC with shout-out to Bush — A palate cleanser by popular request; you'll remember our heroines here from the Butt-Pat That Wasn't. The official Olympics site has highlights of the match but this snippet had to be rescued from oblivion by Tivo.
Two McCain offices evacuated after letter threat --Several Colo. staffers hospitalized Two offices of John McCain's U.S. presidential campaign, in Colorado and New Hampshire, were evacuated on Thursday, and several staffers were hospitalized, after a threatening letter arrived in the mail containing an unidentified white powder. But within hours, the letter was traced by authorities to a Colorado jail inmate... and initial tests of the envelope and its contents turned up negative for hazardous materials, the U.S. Secret Service said. The New Hampshire scare over a second envelope there was later deemed to be an unrelated incident brought about by anxiety over the threatening letter received in Colorado.
New Guidelines Would Give F.B.I. Broader Powers --New guidelines would allow the F.B.I. to open an investigation of an American, conduct surveillance, pry into private records and take other investigative steps 'without any basis for suspicion.' A Justice Department plan would loosen restrictions on the Federal Bureau of Investigation to allow agents to open a national security or criminal investigation against someone without any clear basis for suspicion, Democratic lawmakers briefed on the details said Wednesday. Little is known about its precise language, but civil liberties advocates say they fear it could give the government even broader license to open terrorism investigations.
Video: Volleyball team wins gold, blindsides NBC with shout-out to Bush — A palate cleanser by popular request; you'll remember our heroines here from the Butt-Pat That Wasn't. The official Olympics site has highlights of the match but this snippet had to be rescued from oblivion by Tivo.
Two McCain offices evacuated after letter threat --Several Colo. staffers hospitalized Two offices of John McCain's U.S. presidential campaign, in Colorado and New Hampshire, were evacuated on Thursday, and several staffers were hospitalized, after a threatening letter arrived in the mail containing an unidentified white powder. But within hours, the letter was traced by authorities to a Colorado jail inmate... and initial tests of the envelope and its contents turned up negative for hazardous materials, the U.S. Secret Service said. The New Hampshire scare over a second envelope there was later deemed to be an unrelated incident brought about by anxiety over the threatening letter received in Colorado.
New Guidelines Would Give F.B.I. Broader Powers --New guidelines would allow the F.B.I. to open an investigation of an American, conduct surveillance, pry into private records and take other investigative steps 'without any basis for suspicion.' A Justice Department plan would loosen restrictions on the Federal Bureau of Investigation to allow agents to open a national security or criminal investigation against someone without any clear basis for suspicion, Democratic lawmakers briefed on the details said Wednesday. Little is known about its precise language, but civil liberties advocates say they fear it could give the government even broader license to open terrorism investigations.
Congressional staff members got a glimpse of some of the details in closed briefings this month, and four Democratic senators told Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey in a letter on Wednesday that they were troubled by what they heard.
U.S. demands Russia leave Georgia "now" Washington demanded on Friday that Russia pull its troops out of Georgia "now", but Moscow said it would be another 10 days before the bulk of its force left Georgian soil.
China and Iraq Finalize Oil Contract, as Western Oil Majors Waver China and Iraq will sign a deal next week to develop the Ahdab oil field, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad.. The new agreement, valued at $1.2 billion, is a variation of a deal struck with the state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. in 1997, when Iraq was governed by Saddam Hussein.
U.S. military frees Reuters cameraman in Iraq The U.S. military freed a Reuters television cameraman on Thursday after holding him for three weeks in Iraq without charges. Ali al-Mashhadani, who also works freelance for the BBC and Washington-based National Public Radio, was detained in Baghdad on July 30 while he was in the Green Zone government compound for routine checks for a U.S. military press card.
UK accused of Musharraf exit deal One of Pakistan's most prominent pro-democracy leaders, Aitzaz Ahsan, has accused a senior British diplomat of undermining his country's rule of law. Sir Mark Lyall Grant was in Pakistan recently and reportedly urged the government to give President Musharraf immunity if he resigned. Mr Ahsan said that any deal to give the president "safe passage" was wrong. Mr Musharraf stepped down on Monday after nine years in power to avoid a move by the government to impeach him.
Feds: Fire took down building next to twin towers --Government scientists rebut 'conspiracy' theories, say fire brought down trade center building Federal investigators said Thursday they have solved a mystery of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks: the collapse of World Trade Center building 7, a source of long-running conspiracy theories. The 47-story trapezoid-shaped building sat north of the World Trade Center towers, across Vesey Street in lower Manhattan in New York. On Sept. 11, it was set on fire by falling debris from the burning towers, but skeptics long have argued that fire and debris alone should not have brought down such a big steel-and-concrete structure.
Ex-soldier sues over terror watch list claim A former Army pilot and convert to Islam who said his name is on the U.S. government’s secret terrorist watch list has fought back, filing a federal lawsuit against the Homeland Security Department and various other federal agencies. Erich Scherfen said unless his name is removed from the list, he faces losing not only his job as a commercial airline pilot but the ability to make a living in his chosen profession.
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