Senator up for re-election blocks Bolton confirmation
Washington – Republican efforts to formally confirm John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations hit an unexpected snag Thursday when a Republican senator in a tough re-election bid said he could not support the diplomat until the Bush administration answers his questions on Middle East policy.
The protest by Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., is only the latest development in the long-running battle to get Bolton confirmed to the post he now holds on a temporary basis.
Last year, Chafee supported Bolton’s confirmation, but the opposition of Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, prompted President Bush to name him to the U.N. post as a recess appointment.
Chafee, who chairs the Foreign Relations subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian affairs, has urged the Bush administration to stop Israel’s construction of 690 new homes in two West Bank settlements.
“It is no secret that I have serious questions about this Administration’s policies in the Middle East,” Chafee wrote Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice earlier this year.
KABUL, Afghanistan
NATO wants more troops vs. Taliban
NATO’s top military commander said Thursday that he needs more troops to fight the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, where a widening insurgency has left hundreds dead.
U.S. Gen. James L. Jones acknowledged NATO had been surprised by the “level of intensity” of Taliban attacks since the alliance took over from U.S.-led coalition forces in August.
Jones later said he was seeking roughly 2,000 to 2,500 extra NATO troops for the south.
He said they would bring the NATO contribution up to 100 percent – up from 85 percent – of the force level pledged by allied governments before the southern deployment. There are now about 20,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan.
MOSCOW
Fire kills two aboard Russian nuclear sub
A short-circuit sparked a fire aboard a Russian nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea, killing two seamen and injuring one other in the latest accident to plague the nation’s struggling navy, officials said Thursday.
There was no radiation leak, and the vessel, the St. Daniil Moskovsky, also known as B-414, returned safely to its Arctic home base, officials said.
The blaze happened Wednesday night when a control panel in one of its sections caught fire, said Russian navy chief Adm. Vladimir Masorin.
PHOENIX
Man held in 2 assaults tied to Baseline Killer
Police arrested a man in two sexual assaults blamed on the city’s elusive Baseline Killer. But they stopped well short of saying Thursday that they have caught the predator who has been spreading fear across the Phoenix area.
Mark Goudeau, a 42-year-old construction worker, was arrested Wednesday and accused of attacking two sisters, ages 21 and 23, in September 2005 while they were walking in a park at night.
Police said forensic evidence tied him to the two crimes, but they would not elaborate and did not say exactly how the women were assaulted.
NEW YORK
Katie Couric’s debut spurs CBS ratings win
Tuesday’s much-hyped debut of “The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric” scored a big opening for the third-ranked newscast.
The launch of the first female solo anchor attracted 13.59 million total viewers, ahead of “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” (7.76 million viewers) and ABC’s “World News with Charles Gibson” (7.58 million viewers).
In Denver, preliminary overnight ratings showed Couric on CBS-owned KCNC-Channel 4 ranked No. 1 with an 8.6 rating, ahead of Williams on NBC affiliate KUSA-Channel 9 (6.1 rating) and Gibson on ABC affiliate KMGH-Channel 7 (2.1 rating).
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.
Atlantis launch slated for today despite snag
Caught in a scheduling squeeze, NASA decided to try to launch space shuttle Atlantis today without replacing a troublesome electrical component.
Today is the last launch day available before the U.S. space agency runs into a scheduling conflict with the Russian space agency. Blastoff is scheduled for 9:41 a.m. MDT.
On Thursday, NASA decided not to change out an electricity- generating fuel cell whose coolant pump had given erratic readings, causing a scrub a day earlier. Replacing the fuel cell could have delayed any launch attempt by several weeks.
After this weekend, the next daylight launch opportunity is not until the end of October. NASA rules say Atlantis must lift off in daylight so its large external fuel tank can be photographed for any signs of broken- off insulating foam.
MIAMI
Storm could whip up high surf, rip currents
Tropical Storm Florence held its strength in the open Atlantic early Thursday, still far from the U.S. but large enough that forecasters warned it could create high surf and rip currents along the East Coast within the next five days.
The storm’s forecast path puts it over the Bermuda area Monday or Tuesday, forecasters said.
