Gusty Irene may get bigger but poses no threat to land
Miami – Tropical Storm Irene started moving away from the East Coast on Sunday and posed no threat to land, forecasters said.
Irene was about 335 miles east of Cape Hatteras, N.C., according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, and had maximum sustained wind of 70 mph.
Meteorologists said Irene could turn into a hurricane with top winds of 74 mph Sunday night or early today.
Elsewhere, the Atlantic hurricane season’s 10th tropical depression appeared to be dissipating, just a day after it developed.
The depression was centered about 1,000 miles east of the Leeward Islands, with sustained wind estimated at 30 mph. The hurricane center said it planned no more advisories on the depression unless it strengthens.
CRAWFORD, Texas
Bush stresses revamp of Social Security
President Bush used the anniversary of Social Security on Sunday to reaffirm his commitment to revamp the system to meet the needs of future generations.
“On this 70th anniversary, we renew our commitment to save and strengthen Social Security for our children and grandchildren and keep the promise of Social Security for future generations,” he said in a statement issued from his Texas ranch.
With a fight brewing this fall, Bush has yet to build a groundswell for his proposals to shift a portion of Social Security payroll taxes to individual accounts for younger workers, and to address looming gaps in the government retirement program by trimming future benefits for high- and middle-income earners.
That debate had faded by summer, but House Republicans still hope to vote on some version of the revisions this fall.
COCOA BEACH, Fla.
S.C. prison escapees nabbed on beach
Two men who escaped from a South Carolina jail while awaiting sentencing on federal bank robbery charges were arrested on a Florida beach after a three- week manhunt, authorities said Sunday.
Ted Evan Doughty and Daniel Ryan Pilson, both 21, were taken into custody late Saturday after a stolen car was spotted in front of a surf shop.
According to the FBI, the two had been stealing cars and switching license plates to avoid capture as they led authorities on a chase from Lexington, S.C., to Charlotte, N.C., to Chesapeake, Va., and Jupiter, Fla.
Authorities said the pair escaped July 22 from the Lexington County Detention Center.
A Jupiter hotel employee reported seeing them driving away in a silver car Saturday morning, but after police tried to pull the car over, the driver and passenger abandoned it and ran.
They were found about 100 miles to the north.
WASHINGTON
Fake bomb prompts hotel’s evacuation
A major Washington hotel was evacuated for more than an hour Sunday after a suspicious package was discovered in the basement, but police bomb technicians found nothing dangerous inside it.
The discovery prompted bomb technicians and the FBI terrorism task force to evacuate about 350 guests and employees from the Mayflower Hotel, which is four blocks north of the White House.
“Someone tried to make this look like a real bomb,” a bomb expert said.
Bomb technicians from the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department disrupted the package with a small explosive charge but found no evidence of anything dangerous inside.
“It was found to be a hoax device,” the expert said.
VATICAN CITY
Pope hopes youth day spurs wave of faith
Pope Benedict XVI voiced hope that his upcoming trip to his native Germany for a youth gathering would spur a new European wave of faith to counter what he described as a spiritual “fatigue” on the traditionally Christian continent.
The pope will fly to Cologne on Thursday to begin a four-day visit for World Youth Day, a Catholic jamboree of rallies and religious services with young people.
His predecessor, Polish- born John Paul II, had announced the choice of Cologne for the event, which is held every couple of years in a different part of the world and draws hundreds of thousands of participants.
In 1993, it was held in Denver.
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan
President says nation to take its own course
Kyrgyzstan’s new president said Sunday that the Central Asian country will pursue an independent foreign policy and will not be “a place for the fulfillment of someone else’s geopolitical interests.”
Kurmanbek Bakiyev, a former opposition leader who has been acting president since coming to power during a March 24 popular uprising, won a landslide victory in a July 10 presidential election and was inaugurated Sunday to lead the former Soviet republic.
Kyrgyzstan hosts about 1,000 U.S.-led troops to support combat operations in Afghanistan.
Bakiyev had said after his election that the necessity of the U.S. base in his country should be discussed, but Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld later won Kyrgyz assurances that American troops can stay as long as needed to stabilize Afghanistan.
BEIJING
Earthquake injures 26 in southern China
A moderate earthquake struck southern China, destroying houses and injuring 26 people, state media reported Sunday.
The magnitude-5.3 quake that hit Yunnan province Saturday afternoon also damaged reservoirs, highways and telecommunications networks, the official Xinhua News Agency said. No deaths were reported, but an undetermined number of people were left homeless.
“The local government has organized immediately disaster- relief work and sent a large amount of tents and quilts to the disaster-afflicted areas,” Xinhua said, citing Zhang Jihua, director of a local civil affairs bureau.
