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Tuesday, August 3, 2010 – Daily News – 5A WORLD BRIEFING House ethics committee to charge Waters WASHINGTON (AP) — A House panel announced Monday that Rep. Maxine Waters has been charged with violat- ing ethics rules, setting the stage for a second election-season trial for a longtime Democratic law- maker and adding to the party’s political woes. The charges against Waters, a 10-term Califor- nia congresswoman, focus on whether she broke the rules in request- ing federal help for a bank where her husband was a board member and owned stock. She immediately denied the charges. The House ethics com- mittee’s announcement comes just days after it outlined 13 charges against Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., including failing to disclose assets and income, delayed pay- ment of federal taxes and improper use of a subsi- dized New York apart- ment for his campaign office. Rangel, the former Ways and Means Com- mittee chairman who has served for 40 years, faces a trial in the fall. Democrats face certain losses in the congression- al elections, the first midterms for President Barack Obama, and the high-profile trials could further damage the party’s political standing. BP: role of expensive relief wells unclear NEW ORLEANS (AP) — After insisting for months that a pair of cost- ly relief wells were the only surefire way to kill the oil leak at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, BP officials said Monday they may be able to do it just with lines running from a ship to the busted well a mile below. As crews planned test- ing late Monday to deter- mine whether to proceed with a ‘‘static kill’’ to pump mud and perhaps cement down the throat of the well, BP Senior Vice President Kent Wells said if it’s successful the relief wells may not be used, after all, to do the same weeks later from the bot- tom. The primary relief well and a backup, not far- type:italic; from comple- tion, might be used sim- ply to ensure the leak is plugged, he said. Either way, Wells said, ‘‘We want to end up with cement in the bottom of the hole.’’ A plugging plan that abandons use of relief wells, which which can ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● cost about $100 million each, does not necessarily mean that time was wast- ed in killing the leak, which spewed as much as 184 million gallons of oil into the Gulf since April. Officials still say the relief well is the only way to make certain the oil is contained to its vast undersea reservoir. The company began drilling the primary, 18,000-foot relief well May 2, 12 days after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and killed 11 workers, and the second well May 16. The first well is now only about 100 feet from the target, and Wells said it could reach it as early as Aug. 11. US will leave Iraq ’as promised and on schedule’ ATLANTA (AP) — Nearing a milestone in the long and divisive Iraq war, President Barack Obama on Monday hailed this month’s planned withdrawal of all U.S. combat troops — ‘‘as promised and on sched- ule’’ — as a major suc- cess despite deep doubts about the Iraqis’ ability to police and govern their country. Portraying the end of America’s combat role in the 7-year war as a per- sonal promise kept, Obama said Iraq will have 90,000 fewer U.S. troops by September than when he took office — a steady homeward flow he called ‘‘a season of homecom- ings.’’ But there could still be more fighting involving U.S. forces. ‘‘The hard truth is we have not seen the end of American sacrifice in Iraq,’’ the president said in a speech to the national convention of the Dis- abled American Veterans. ‘‘But make no mistake, our commitment in Iraq is changing — from a mili- tary effort led by our troops to a civilian effort led by our diplomats.’’ A transitional force of 50,000 troops will remain, down from the peak of 170,000 in 2007. Their mission will be to train and advise Iraqi security forces, protect U.S. civilians, manage the chain of supplies and equipment out of Iraq and conduct counterterrorism operations. Those soldiers and Marines will remain in harm’s way and will be likely to engage at times in some form of fighting. to prosecute the people involved. ‘‘If people are obtaining enough credit by fraud, we’re back to another finan- cial collapse,’’ said Linda Marshall, an assistant U.S. attorney in Kansas City. ‘‘We tend to talk about it as the next wave.’’ The sellers get around the law by not referring to Social Security numbers. Instead, just as someone might pay for an escort ser- vice instead of a prostitute, they refer to CPNs — for credit profile, credit protec- tion or credit privacy num- bers. Iraqi commanders will be able to ask the U.S. for front-line help. Pakistani flood survivors return home CAMP KOROONA, Pakistan (AP) — Relief efforts in Pakistan’s flood-ravaged northwest picked up pace Monday, but survivors complained about government inac- tion — a worrying sign for authorities seeking public support for the fight against militants in the region. Around 300 people blocked a major road in the hard-hit Nowshera district to protest at receiving little or no aid, witnesses said. Other sur- vivors returned to devas- tated villages, wading through waist-high water to salvage chairs, plates and other possessions — a wall clock, a battered fridge — from beneath mud and debris. ‘‘We have nothing, we are just depending on the mercy of God. Nothing left except this wet wheat,’’ said Marjan Khan, sorting through piles of the grain laid out on wooden beds. Scores of bridges, roads and buildings have been washed away by the torrents, which were trig- gered by exceptionally heavy monsoon rain. The floods are the worst in a generation, and weather forecasters say more rains are due to fall south and central Pakistan. The death toll was at least 1,200 on Monday, with up to 2 million sur- vivors requiring assis- tance. FBI expands billboard campaign RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Photos of a bald- ing, stocky man believed to have robbed 25 banks in 13 states will be plas- tered on billboards around the country as authorities try to catch the ‘‘Grand- dad Bandit,’’ the FBI announced Monday. The agency recently traced the string of rob- beries back to a 2008 holdup of a SunTrust Bank in downtown Rich- mond. Since then, he is believed to have robbed banks all over the eastern and central U.S. While it’s not clear if the robber is actually a grandfather, agents said the name was devised to help law enforcement and the public easily identify the suspect. ‘‘He just looks like everyone’s granddad,’’ said supervisory special agent Amanda Moran. The ‘‘Granddad Ban- dit’’ is described as a 45- to-60-year-old white man, about 6 feet tall and 230 pounds, balding with short grayish hair on the sides. He usually wears wire-rimmed glasses, short-sleeved collared shirts and ball caps. UAE to block BlackBerry services for visitors, too DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates’ looming crackdown on BlackBerry services will extend to foreign visitors, putting the government’s concerns over the smart phones in direct conflict with the country’s ambi- tions to be a business and tourism haven. The Emirates’ tele- coms regulator said Mon- day that travelers to the city-state of Dubai and the important oil industry center of Abu Dhabi will — like the 500,000 local subscribers — have to do without BlackBerry e- mail, messaging and Web services starting Oct. 11, even when they carry phones issued in other countries. The handsets ALSCO, INC. Since 1948 535 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff 440 Antelope Blvd. #12 25 years professional experience. 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The themselves will still be allowed for phone calls. Emirati authorities say the move is based on security concerns because BlackBerry data are auto- matically shipped to com- pany computers abroad, where it is difficult for local authorities to moni- tor for illegal activity or abuse. Critics of the crack- down say it is also a way for the country’s conserv- ative government to fur- ther control content it deems politically or morally objectionable. About 100,000 travel- ers pass through Dubai’s airport every day, making it the busiest in the Mid- dle East. The new restric- tions could leave time- pressed business travelers hurrying through, many of them changing planes for other destinations, without access to their e- mail or the Web. New ID theft targets kids’ SS numbers KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The latest form of identity theft doesn’t depend on stealing your Social Security number. Now thieves are targeting your kid’s number long before the little one even has a bank account. Hundreds of online busi- nesses are using computers to find dormant Social Security numbers — usual- ly those assigned to children who don’t use them — then selling those numbers under another name to help people establish phony credit and run up huge debts they will never pay off. Authorities say the scheme could pose a new threat to the nation’s credit system. Because the num- bers exist in a legal gray area, federal investigators have not figured out a way Let’s Party Aug. 2-7 Hawaiian Days Look for the orange star burst Hoyt-Cole Chapel of the Flowers owns and operates the only on-site crematory in Tehama County. 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Contact us today so we may answer your questions. Hoyt-Cole Chapel of the Flowers Funerals • Cremations • Prearrangements 816 Walnut Street | Red Bluff (530) 527-1174 www.chapeloftheflowers.net Mitch Miller dies at 99 NEW YORK (AP) — Mitch Miller, the goateed orchestra leader who asked Americans to ‘‘Sing Along With Mitch’’ on television and records and produced hits for Tony Bennett, Patti Page and other performers, has died at age 99. His daughter, Margaret Miller Reuther, said Mon- day that Miller died Satur- day in Lenox Hill Hospital after a short illness. Miller was a key record executive at Columbia Records in the pre-rock ’n’ roll era, making hits with singers Bennett, Page, Rosemary Clooney and Johnny Mathis. As a pro- ducer and arranger, Miller had misses, too, famously striking out on projects with Frank Sinatra and a young Aretha Franklin and in gen- eral scorning the rise of rock. ‘‘Sing Along With Mitch’’ started as a series of records, then became a pop- ular NBC show starting in early 1961. Miller’s stiff- armed conducting style and signature goatee became famous. The TV show ranked in the top 20 for the 1961-62 season, and soon children everywhere were parodying Miller’s stiff- armed conducting. An all- male chorus sang old stan- dards, joined by a few female singers, most promi- nently Leslie Uggams. Viewers were invited to join in with lyrics superimposed on the screen and followed with a bouncing ball. ‘‘He is an odd-looking man,’’ New York Times critic Brooks Atkinson wrote in 1962. ‘‘His sharp beard, twinkling eyes, wrin- kled forehead and mechani- cal beat make him look like a little puppet as he peers hopefully into the camera. 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