Italian actress Monica Bellucci arrives for the screening of her movie “Le Deuxieme souffle” (The Second Wind) Thursday at the Rome Film Festival, Rome. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) (As always, you can click on image to enlarge.)
In other news …
Pentagon to alert 8 National Guard units for Iraq, Afghanistan duty
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is preparing to alert eight National Guard units that they should be ready to go to Iraq or Afghanistan beginning late next summer, The Associated Press has learned.
The U.S. military is reaching out to more Guard units in an effort to maintain needed troop levels, ease some of the strain on the active duty Army and provide security for ports, convoys and other installations.
According to defense officials Wednesday, seven of the units would deploy to Iraq and one to Afghanistan. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the orders had not yet been signed and the announcement is not expected until the end of this week.
Two of the units will be full combat brigades heading to Iraq — between next summer and into 2009, to serve as part of the rotation with active duty troops. There are currently 20 combat brigades in Iraq, but under plans mapped out by President Bush and his top commanders, that number will gradually drop to 15 next year, as the U.S. reduces its troop presence there.
Those two Guard brigades would include about 3,500 soldiers each — generally the size of a combat brigade. But the other five going to Iraq will be much smaller brigades that are tailored for specialized support operations, mostly security and detainee operations. Their sizes vary, but some would be about 1,000 troops.
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State officials say Blackwater won’t be fired, but will probably leave Iraq
WASHINGTON (AP) — A State Department review of private security guards for diplomats in Iraq is unlikely to recommend firing Blackwater USA over the deaths of 17 Iraqis last month, but the company probably is on the way out of that job, U.S. officials said.
Blackwater’s work escorting U.S. diplomats outside the protected Green Zone in Baghdad expires in May, one official said Wednesday, and other officials told The Associated Press they expect the North Carolina company will not continue to work for the embassy after that.
It is likely that Blackwater does not compete to keep the job, one official said. Blackwater probably will not be fired outright or even “eased out,” the official added, but there is a mutual feeling that the Sept. 16 shooting deaths mean the company cannot continue in its current role.
Condoleezza Rice
State Department officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Secretary of State Department officials said no decisions have been made and that Rice has the final say.
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Benazir Bhutto, former Pakistan premier, returns home
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Former prime minister Bhutto was in tears as she descended the steps of the commercial flight that brought her home, where tens of thousands of flag-waving supporters waited to greet her.
When an Associated Press reporter asked her how it felt to be back, she said: “Good. Very good.”
Bhutto, who fled Pakistan in the face of corruption charges in 1999, has chosen to come home during a period of particular uncertainty in Pakistan’s turbulent politics.
With parliamentary elections due in January, she hopes to campaign for a record third premiership — perhaps in tandem with the country’s U.S.-backed military president.
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Senators want answers from Mukasey on eavesdropping, executive privilege and legal shield
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators want to know whether Attorney General-nominee Michael Mukasey would uphold the administration’s view of executive power, the president’s eavesdropping program and a legal shield for reporters before they confirm him as So far, Mukasey has told senators he will reject any White House meddling in Justice Department matters and resign if his legal or ethical concerns about administration policy are ignored.
Jeff Sessions
Senators of both parties liked most of what they have heard. Republicans even grinned at his answer when Sen. “I’m not a bashful person,” Mukasey replied during the proceedings Wednesday in his second day of confirmation hearings. “I’m not going to become a bashful person if confirmed.”
Senate confirmation seemed all but certain, but members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have more questions for him.
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Parents falsely claim religious exemptions to avoid vaccinating young children
BOSTON (AP) — Sabrina Rahim doesn’t practice any particular faith, but she had no problem signing a letter declaring that because of her deeply held religious beliefs, her 4-year-old son should be exempt from the vaccinations required to enter preschool.
She is among a small but growing number of parents around the country who are claiming religious exemptions to avoid vaccinating their children when the real reason may be skepticism of the shots or concern they can cause other illnesses. Some of these parents say they are being forced to lie because of the way the vaccination laws are written in their states.
“It’s misleading,” Rahim admitted, but she said she fears that earlier vaccinations may be to blame for her son’s autism. “I find it very troubling, but for my son’s safety, I feel this is the only option we have.”
An Associated Press examination of states’ vaccination records and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that many states are seeing increases in the rate of religious exemptions claimed for kindergartners.
“Do I think that religious exemptions have become the default? Absolutely,” said Dr. Paul Offit, head of infectious diseases at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia and one of the harshest critics of the anti-vaccine movement. He said the resistance to vaccines is “an irrational, fear-based decision.”
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French transport to stand still in first major strikes against Sarkozy’s reforms
PARIS (AP) — Paris’ subways slowed to a halt and rail lines were disrupted Thursday during a massive strike in France that was expected to give President Unions are protesting Sarkozy’s plan to trim special retirement packages for some workers, part of his pledges to cut back on costly public services. The strikes began late Wednesday and were to last through Thursday.
The first mass-scale problems for travelers and commuters were expected at Thursday morning rush hour. Paris transport authority RATP said traffic would be “virtually nil” on most of its lines. The national rail network said it would be “nearly paralyzed.”
Eurostar trains to London and connections to neighboring European countries were also to be disrupted. With commuters relying on their cars, bottlenecks were expected as early as 5:30 a.m. on major routes into Paris, the national road information service said.
Sarkozy is facing a number of challenges simultaneously as the economy lags, despite his pledges to invigorate it, and signs of discord arise within his own party over the president’s policies.
An up-close-and-personal
look at daily life inside Iraq compiled from
posts from Iraqi journalists in McClatchy's
Baghdad Bureau.
