Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/14356
8A – Daily News – Thursday, August 5, 2010 WORLD BRIEFING Mud finally plugs Gulf gusher NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In the end, it was a crush of mud that finally plugged the blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexi- co, three months after the offshore drilling rig explosion that unleashed a gusher of oil and a sum- mer of misery along the Gulf Coast. The government stopped just short of pro- nouncing the well dead, cautioning that cement and mud must still be pumped in from the bot- tom to seal it off for good. President Barack Obama declared that the battle to contain one of the world’s worst oil spills is ‘‘finally close to coming to an end.’’ Yet after months of liv- ing with lost income, fouled shorelines and dying wildlife, some Gulf Coast residents weren’t so sure. ‘‘I don’t think we’ve finished with this,’’ said 59-year-old Harry ‘‘Cho- cho’’ Cheramie, who grew up in Grand Isle, La. ‘‘We haven’t really started to deal with it yet. We don’t know what effect it’s going to have on our seafood in the long run.’’ Confirmation assured, GOP to criticize nominee WASHINGTON (AP) — Elena Kagan marched toward certain Senate confirmation Wednesday, winning enough declared supporters to become the fourth female justice ever to serve on the Supreme Court over increasingly grave Republican objec- tions. A parade of GOP sena- tors took to the Senate floor to outline the case against Kagan even as it became clear that Presi- dent Barack Obama’s nominee had drawn a majority for confirmation. Republicans portrayed the 50-year-old solicitor gen- eral as a partisan figure who would be unable to prevent her liberal lean- ings from interfering with a justice’s responsibility of Obama’s agenda in the fall midterm elections, and that could make a dif- ference in some states with close congressional races that could decide the balance of power in Washington. On Tuesday, Missouri voters cast 71 percent of their ballots in favor of a state measure to bar the government from requir- ing people to carry health insurance, and penalizing those who don’t. to rule impartially. ‘‘Put simply, Ms. Kagan is a political activist, not a jurist,’’ Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said. ‘‘Throughout her confirmation hearings, she failed to explain where her political philos- ophy ends and her judicial philosophy begins.’’ Democrats sang Kagan’s praises, calling her a glass ceiling-shatter- ing nominee who would bring a fresh perspective, strong legal mind, and flair for building consen- sus to the Supreme Court. She would be the third woman currently on the court. The former Harvard Law School dean is not expected to alter the ideo- logical balance on the court in succeeding retired Justice John Paul Stevens, regarded as a leader of the court’s liber- al wing. Missouri rejection could affect fall midterms WASHINGTON (AP) — Missouri voters’ over- whelming opposition to requiring nearly all Amer- icans to buy health insur- ance puts one of the least popular parts of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul law back in the political crosshairs. Even if the vote sets no legally binding precedent, it will help mobilize foes That approach is at the heart of the federal health care law that Obama signed in March. Starting in 2014, Americans would be required to carry coverage, with exceptions for financial hardship. Government would help pay premiums for millions, but those who still refuse to sign up would face a tax. There’s little chance that Missouri can wall itself off from the insur- ance requirement, since federal law usually super- sedes state law. But spon- sors of the measure were looking to send another kind of message. Conservative group sues to stop mosque NEW YORK (AP) — The debate over a planned Islamic community center and mosque near ground zero became a court fight Wednesday, as a conserv- ative advocacy group sued to try to stop a pro- ject that has become a ful- crum for balancing reli- gious freedom and the legacy of the Sept. 11 attacks. The American Center for Law and Justice, founded by the Rev. Pat Robertson, filed suit Wednesday to challenge a city panel’s decision to let developers tear down a building to make way for the mosque two blocks from ground zero. The city Landmarks Preservation Commission moved too fast in making a decision, underappreci- ated the building’s his- toric value and ‘‘allowed the intended use of the building and political considerations to taint the deliberative process,’’ lawyer Brett Joshpe wrote in papers filed in a Man- hattan state court. The Washington, D.C.-based group represents a fire- fighter who responded to and survived the terrorist attack at the World Trade Center. City attorneys are con- fident the landmarks group adhered to legal standards and procedures, Law Department spokes- woman Kate O’Brien Ahlers said. A spokesman for the planned Islamic center, Oz Sultan, declined to comment on the lawsuit but said orga- nizers were continuing to work toward choosing an architect. The mosque has become a national politi- cal flashpoint, pitting sev- eral influential Republi- cans and the nation’s most prominent Jewish civil rights group against New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and others. In one of the latest signs of the issue’s political reach beyond Manhattan, Mass- achusetts Gov. Deval Patrick expressed support Wednesday for the pro- posed mosque. Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah seen as key JERUSALEM (AP) — It took no more than cut- ting down a tree to shatter four years of calm on the Israel-Lebanon border. With Israel uneasy about the growing arsenal of Hezbollah, the real power in the Lebanese border area, and Lebanon influenced by the Iranian- backed group’s clout, the clash that left four dead showed how a small spark could ignite another war. On Wednesday all sides appeared to be try- ing to restore calm, but the key was clearly in the hands of Hezbollah. Had it entered the fray with a rocket attack on Israel’s north, Israel would likely have retaliat- ed, and another round of Mideast violence would have been under way — following the pattern of the monthlong conflict in 2006, when Hezbollah fired almost 4,000 rockets as Israel’s military bombed strategic targets all over Lebanon and swept through the border area. Instead, Hezbollah suf- ficed with threats against Israel, and after nightfall Wednesday, representa- tives of the Israeli and Lebanese armies met with U.N. peacekeepers. Black members of tea party dispute claims of racism WASHINGTON (AP) — Black members of the tea party movement on Wednesday rejected charges that the group’s activists are racist, saying they oppose President Barack Obama because of his policies not his skin color. The members gathered at a Washington news conference in the wake of allegations about its rank and file, heightened by the recent split with a Tea Party Express leader who had posted a letter on his blog written from ‘‘Col- ored People’’ to Abraham Lincoln. The post sug- gested that black people would choose slavery over having to do real work. The black members said the racism that has been attributed to the tea party movement came from outsiders who infil- trated the groups to dis- credit their work and it should be rejected. ‘‘These people do not oppose Barack Obama because of his skin color. They oppose him because of his policies,’’ said Lloyd Marcus, a spokesman for the group. The NAACP last month approved a resolu- tion condemning racism within the tea party move- ment and called on activists to ‘‘repudiate the racist element and activi- ties’’ within the political movement. Agency warns of iWeakness BERLIN (AP) — Sev- eral versions of Apple’s iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch have potentially serious security prob- lems, a German govern- ment agency said in an official warning Wednes- day. Apple’s iOS operating system has ‘‘two critical weak points for which no patch exists,’’ the Feder- al Office for Information Security said. Opening a manipulat- ed website or a PDF file could allow criminals to spy on passwords, plan- ners, photos, text mes- sages, e-mails and even listen in to phone conver- sations, the agency said in a statement. ‘‘This allows potential attackers access to the complete system, includ- ing administrator rights,’’ it added, urging users not to open PDF files on their mobile devices and only use trustworthy websites until Apple Inc. publish- es a software update. A spokesman for Apple in Germany, Georg Albrecht, told The Associated Press that the company is looking into the matter. Anna Nicole Smith drug conspiracy trial in LA LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two doctors violated their responsibility to protect Anna Nicole Smith by prescribing massive amounts of drugs with the con- nivance of her lawyer- boyfriend, even though they knew she was addicted to painkillers, a prosecutor argued Wednesday. But a defense attor- ney for Howard K. Stern said he loved Smith and depended on doctors to prescribe the right med- ications for her chronic pain. He said she was not an addict. Smith’s mother, Vir- gie Arthur, was in the courtroom with other relatives — a reminder of protracted court bat- tles in the Bahamas and Florida after Smith died of a drug overdose in February 2007. The contentions of Deputy District Attor- ney Renee Rose came during opening state- ments at the conspiracy trial of Stern, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor and Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, who are accused of pro- viding vast amounts of powerful opiates and sedatives for the Play- boy model under multi- ple names. ‘‘None of it could have happened without Mr. Stern,’’ Rose added during her two-hour presentation in Superior Court. FREE KIDS HAIR CUTS Sun. Aug. 15 2-6 pm Red Bluff River Park FREE FOOD ★ KIDS GAMES LIVE MUSIC 529-4074 Beauticians needed Barber Shop $ Cheers 600 Open 6 days 570-2304 259 S. 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