African Union clashes over Sudan chief’s leadership bid
Khartoum, Sudan – African leaders were bitterly divided Monday over a bid by President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan to become chairman of the African Union. Some were working to prevent what they called the embarrassing prospect of having a leader accused of fomenting war in his own country take the helm of a continent wide body that advocates peace.
After considerable behind-the- scenes jockeying over his proposal in advance of a two-day summit that opened Monday, Africa’s leaders opted to set up a committee that will recommend who should replace President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria as the African Union’s chairman.
Given the controversy, Sudan suggested it would abandon Bashir’s bid if it continued to divide the union’s members.
Bashir’s government has been accused of launching attacks on civilians in the western Darfur region and arming militia fighters who continue to terrorize the population there.
WASHINGTON
Report warned of Katrina’s storm surge
The Homeland Security Department was warned a day before Hurricane Katrina hit that the storm’s surge could breach levees and leave New Orleans flooded for weeks or months, documents released Monday show.
An Aug. 28 report by the department’s National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center concluded that a Category 4 or 5 hurricane would cause severe damage in the city, including power outages and a direct economic hit of up to $10 billion for the first week.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.
Bountiful harvest may ease tomato shortage
A bountiful winter harvest should ease the nationwide tomato shortage caused by hurricanes that hit Florida last year, a top state official said Monday.
Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson said the harvest should soon fill grocery shelves across the nation with plentiful, cheap tomatoes.
“An unusually large amount of No. 1 tomatoes are ready to go,” Bronson said.
TORONTO
Alberta animal tests positive for mad cow
A 6-year-old cow from an Alberta farm has tested positive for mad cow disease, officials said Monday.
Dr. Brian Evans, Canada’s chief veterinary officer, said the affected animal had not entered the human food or animal-feed systems. The announcement came after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Sunday that officials were testing a “suspicious sample.”
ISTANBUL, Turkey
Charges dropped in free-expression case
A Turkish court dropped charges against the country’s best-known novelist Monday but left unresolved a conflict between nationalist opponents of free expression and Western- leaning advocates of European values.
Orhan Pamuk, who gained international acclaim for books including “Snow,” “Istanbul” and “My Name is Red,” was on trial for “insulting Turkishness” after he said Turks have killed more than 1 million Armenians and more than 30,000 Kurds. He could have faced up to three years in prison.
