Copyright 2009 The New York Sun Tue, 19 May 2009 01:04:17 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss National :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/national istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us IRA STOLL http://www.nysun.com/national/netanyahus-man-in-washington-offers-a-preview/86868/ Mon, 27 Apr 2009 09:40:27 EST Reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu will appoint Michael Oren as ambassador to the United States had guests at last night’s dinner in New York of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America listening especially carefully to Mr. Oren’s keynote address. If it was intended as a preview of how Mr. Oren will conduct himself as the top Israeli diplomat in America at a time when many are predicting tense relations between Mr. Netanyahu and President Obama, than at least this... JOSH GERSTEIN http://www.nysun.com/national/feingold-bill-would-limit-searches-of-travelers/86838/ Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Senator Feingold of Wisconsin is offering the most detailed legislative proposal yet to rein in the essentially unfettered authority customs officials have claimed to search laptops, cell phones, and other electronic devices travelers bring into or out of America. Under a 29-page bill Mr. Feingold introduced on Friday, customs agents at airports and borders would need to document a "reasonable suspicion" before inspecting a computer or similar device carried by an American resident and could... Staff Reporters of the Sun http://www.nysun.com/national/palin-mccain-decrty-gotcha-journalism/86834/ Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Governor Palin said yesterday that her comment about attacking terrorist targets in Pakistan, which appeared to contradict the position of Senator McCain, was a response to a "gotcha" question from a voter. "This was a voter, a constituent, hollering out a question from across an area asking, 'What are you gonna do about Pakistan? You better have an answer to Pakistan.' I said we're gonna do what we have to do to protect the United States of America," Ms. Palin told the "CBS Evening News" in an... LOLITA C. BALDOR http://www.nysun.com/national/gates-calls-for-a-balanced-military/86808/ Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON — Defeating the enemies of tomorrow — from rogue nations to terror networks — will require a balanced and nimble military that can coax or confound an adversary as well as it can crush one, Defense Secretary Gates said yesterday. Speaking to a class at the National Defense University, Mr. Gates said the Pentagon must have a broad range of capabilities, but should not try to buy its way out of every problem. Instead, he said that lessons learned in Iraq and Afghanistan show that the... MATT APUZZO and TOM HAYS http://www.nysun.com/national/dispute-over-witness-disrupts-stevens-trial/86818/ Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON — A behind-the-scenes move by prosecutors — sending an ailing potential witness home to Alaska — has angered a federal judge and given Senator Ted Stevens an opening to renew allegations that the government isn't playing fair in his corruption case. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan rejected the defense's bid yesterday to pull the plug on Mr. Stevens's trial and throw out charges accusing the Alaska lawmaker of accepting more than $250,000 in unreported home renovations. But the... Associated Press http://www.nysun.com/national/heart-patients-need-screening-for-depression/86819/ Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST DALLAS — Heart patients should be regularly screened for signs of depression, the American Heart Association recommended yesterday. Depression is about three times more common in heart attack survivors and those hospitalized with heart problems than the general population, according to the recommendations published in the journal Circulation. The authors said that only about half of heart doctors say they treat depression in their patients — and not all those diagnosed with depression are... BRIAN SKOLOFF http://www.nysun.com/national/little-progress-made-in-effort-to-restore/86820/ Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST WEST PALM BEACH, Florida — A multibillion-dollar effort to restore Florida's Everglades has made little progress amid funding shortfalls, bureaucratic red tape, and disagreements, according to a congressionally mandated report that warns the vast wetland is in peril. The National Research Council, in findings yesterday, warned that degradation of the Everglades could become irreversible if action isn't taken quickly. "The Everglades ecosystem is continuing to decline. It's our estimate that... GLEN JOHNSON http://www.nysun.com/national/rockefeller-impostor-enters-plea/86821/ Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST BOSTON — A German citizen who calls himself Clark Rockefeller pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges related to the kidnapping of his 7-year-old daughter off a Boston street in July. Magistrate Gary Wilson set bail at a sum befitting a true Rockefeller — $50 million. Investigators say "Rockefeller" is really Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, who has been living under fake identities since coming to America in 1978. He also has been identified as a "person of interest" in the 1985 disappearance of... ERICA WERNER http://www.nysun.com/national/rail-safety-bill-advances-in-senate/86822/ Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON — A sweeping rail safety reform bill that includes billions of dollars for Amtrak cleared a key vote in the Senate yesterday, as lawmakers invoked the September 12 train collision in Los Angeles that killed 25 people. Senators voted 69-17 to proceed to a final vote on the bill, which requires more rest for workers and technology that can stop a train in its tracks if it's headed for collision. The vote on final passage will happen tomorrow, Majority Leader Harry Reid said. The House... RUSSELL BERMAN http://www.nysun.com/national/at-debate-biden-told-ignore-palin/86746/ Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST As Senator Biden prepares to face off against Governor Palin on Thursday night in the campaign's lone vice presidential debate, Democratic strategists have a few words of advice for the lawmaker of Delaware: Ignore the Alaskan. Mr. Biden's 35 years in the Senate dwarf Ms. Palin's single month of experience on the national stage, but Democrats are worried that his penchant for verbal missteps and his occasionally aggressive style could be a liability as he faces only the second woman to serve as... STEPHEN MAJORS http://www.nysun.com/national/ohio-supreme-court-upholds-early-voting-window/86804/ Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:10:11 EST COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two courts tooday upheld a weeklong period in Ohio in which new voters can register and cast an absentee ballot on the same day. Another court decision was expected later in the day over the early voting window, which begins tomorrow and has become a highly partisan battle in a swing state where President Bush narrowly clinched re-election in 2004. In a 4-3 decision the Ohio Supreme Court said Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner was correct in her interpretation that voters... JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN http://www.nysun.com/national/bailout-plan-would-shift-capital-power/86791/ Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON — Congress will vote today on whether to give the Treasury secretary unprecedented power to purchase troubled assets from financial institutions. Advocates say the aim of the legislation is to precipitate an upturn in the nation's economy and end Wall Street's woes. The bill would authorize the Treasury secretary to spend $700 billion to buy illiquid assets — mortgage-related and otherwise — off the books of banks and other financial firms. The treasury department has told lawmakers... RUSSELL BERMAN http://www.nysun.com/national/passed-by-congress-25b-automaker-loan-bill-heads/86745/ Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST President Bush is expected to approve $25 billion in loans for American automakers after the Senate approved the measure overwhelmingly on Saturday. The legislation, which would provide backing for investments in more fuel efficient vehicles, was included as part of a broader $630 billion spending bill that funds the federal government through March. The bill passed 78-12 after advancing in the House last week. The Big Three automakers in Detroit — Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors — lobbied... Staff Reporters of the Sun http://www.nysun.com/national/mccain-defends-palin-over-pakistan-comment/86751/ Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Senator McCain yesterday defended his running mate, Governor Palin, even as she contradicted his policy against talking publicly about attacking terrorist targets in Pakistan. Mr. McCain chided Senator Obama during Friday's presidential debate for saying publicly he supports striking terrorist targets inside Pakistan if the Pakistani government is unable or unwilling to do so. But on Saturday, Ms. Palin said much the same thing to a customer at a Philadelphia restaurant, with the press nearby... Staff Reporter of the Sun http://www.nysun.com/national/palin-only-flag-in-my-office-is-israeli/86671/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST PALIN: 'ONLY FLAG IN MY OFFICE' IS ISRAELI President Peres of Israel yesterday met for the first time with Governor Palin and with Senator McCain, who called the veteran Israeli statesman "my old friend." The warm handshake and exchange of broad smiles occurred during an international gathering known as the Clinton Global Initiative, hosted by President Clinton. "I wanted to meet you for many years," Ms. Palin told Mr. Peres, according to an aide to the president. "The only flag at my office is... RUSSELL BERMAN http://www.nysun.com/national/mccain-sets-off-a-high-stakes-gamble/86606/ Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON — Senator McCain's decision to suspend his campaign and call for the postponement of the first presidential debate tomorrow night is a high-stakes gamble that puts him front and center in the wrangling over a proposed $700 billion government bailout of the financial markets. The Republican nominee is bidding for a bold demonstration of nonpartisan leadership on the crisis now roiling the American economy, but analysts warned that it could backfire if voters view the move, which comes... JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN http://www.nysun.com/national/president-asserts-that-our-entire-economy-is/86594/ Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON — Warning that a "long and painful recession" could loom unless the Treasury Department intervenes on Wall Street, President Bush is pressing to convince the nation that there is no alternative to his $700 billion bailout plan. During a nationally televised address in which he stated that "democratic capitalism is the best system ever devised" and that his "natural instinct is to avoid government intervention," Mr. Bush nonetheless spoke in the firmest terms against leaving the... JOSH GERSTEIN http://www.nysun.com/national/hmong-heroes-may-have-acted-for-cia/86605/ Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST PALO ALTO, Calif. — Evidence is mounting that at least some of the 11 men indicted in California last year for allegedly planning the overthrow of the government of Laos may have believed their plan had the tacit approval or even the outright support of the CIA. Documents filed in federal court in Sacramento last week show that in 2004 a retired CIA employee held detailed discussions about a military intervention in Laos with one of the key defendants in the case, General Vang Pao, an aging... JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS http://www.nysun.com/national/bush-confident-bailout-bill-will-stabilize-economy/86797/ Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:00:28 EST WASHINGTON — President Bush is urging lawmakers to pass the compromise financial system bailout bill they fashioned in marathon weekend bargaining, saying it is needed to "keep the crisis in our financial industry from spreading" across the economy. Mr. Bush made the statement at the White House this morning, seeking to assure Americans that approving his administration's $700 billion rescue plan is the right thing to do. He spoke amid continued nervousness in financial markets at home and... JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS http://www.nysun.com/national/house-begins-vote-on-wall-street-bailout-plan/86803/ Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:35:24 EST WASHINGTON — In a stunning vote that shocked the capital and worldwide markets, the House today defeated a $700 billion emergency rescue for the nation's financial system, ignoring urgent warnings from President Bush and congressional leaders of both parties that the economy could nosedive without it. Stocks plummeted on Wall Street even before the 228-205 vote to reject the bill was officially announced on the House floor. As a digital screen in the House chamber recorded a cascade of "no"... CHARLES BABINGTON and ALAN FRAM http://www.nysun.com/national/deal-reached-on-financial-markets-bailout/86725/ Sun, 28 Sep 2008 01:24:00 EST WASHINGTON (AP) - Congressional leaders and the Bush administration reached a tentative deal early Sunday on a landmark bailout of imperiled financial markets whose collapse could plunge the nation into a deep recession. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the $700 billion accord just after midnight but said it still has to be put on paper. "We've still got more to do to finalize it, but I think we're there," said Treasury Secretary Paulson, who also participated in the negotiations in the... TOM RAUM http://www.nysun.com/national/delicate-embrace-by-obama-mccain-of-700b-bailout/86726/ Sun, 28 Sep 2008 13:42:33 EST WASHINGTON — Senators Obama and McCain on Sunday gingerly embraced a newly negotiated congressional deal for a $700 billion bailout of the hobbled financial industry. "This is something that all of us will swallow hard and go forward with. The option of doing nothing is simply not an acceptable option," Mr. McCain said. Mr. Obama said he was inclined to back it "because I think Main Street is now at stake." True to form after a week of posturing, both campaigns sought to take at least partial... JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS http://www.nysun.com/national/congress-expected-to-pass-rescue-package/86727/ Sun, 28 Sep 2008 13:57:10 EST WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders and the White House agreed today to a $700 billion rescue of the ailing financial industry after lawmakers insisted on sharing spending controls with the Bush administration. The biggest American bailout in history won the tentative support of both presidential candidates and goes to the House for a vote tomorrow. The plan, bollixed up for days by election-year politics, would give the administration broad power to use taxpayers' money to purchase billions... JULIET WILLIAMS http://www.nysun.com/national/california-conservatives-postpone-schwarzenegger/86731/ Sun, 28 Sep 2008 17:34:23 EST ANAHEIM, Calif. — A conservative wing of the California Republican Party postponed a plan to vote Saturday on whether to endorse a recall campaign against GoveronorSchwarzenegger. Earlier, a former governor, Pete Wilson, urged his fellow Republicans not to make light of the recall threat launched by the state prison guards union seriously, even if it isn't likely to succeed. "I hope that I don't have to tell you what an ill-considered idea that is. We did it once; we did not do it lightly," he... DAVID SHARP http://www.nysun.com/national/hurricane-watch-ends-in-maine-as-kyle-heads/86747/ Sun, 28 Sep 2008 20:26:55 EST MACHIAS, Maine — Fishermen moved boats to shelter from a rare burst of tropical weather along Maine's rugged eastern coast today as a weakening Hurricane Kyle spun past on its way to Canada, threatening a glancing blow equivalent to a classic nor'easter. A hurricane watch for Maine was discontinued today, but a tropical storm warning remained in effect from Stonington, at the mouth of Penobscot Bay, to Eastport on the Canadian border, the National Hurricane Center said. The Canadian Hurricane... JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS http://www.nysun.com/national/house-republican-leaders-urge-members-to-back/86749/ Sun, 28 Sep 2008 21:02:34 EST WASHINGTON — House GOP leaders say they support the $700 billion bailout for the financial industry and will try to get fellow Republicans to back it. "Nobody wants to have to support this bill," Rep. John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, the minority leader, said. But, he added, "I'm encouraging every member whose conscience will allow them to support this." Senior House Republicans emerged from a lengthy closed-door meeting with rank-and-file lawmakers saying the bill was needed to avert an economic... JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS http://www.nysun.com/national/bailout-progress-frank-sees-accord-by-sunday/86719/ Sat, 27 Sep 2008 08:09:52 EST WASHINGTON — Lawmakers say they're making progress and hope to reach an agreement over the weekend on a $700 billion government bailout to rescue Wall Street bankers from the bad loans that threaten to derail the economy and send it into a deep and long depression. In a sign of movement, House Republicans dispatched their second-ranking leader, Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri, to join the talks after their objections to an emerging compromise had brought negotiations to a standstill... CHARLES BABINGTON http://www.nysun.com/national/bush-renews-call-for-congressional-action/86712/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 09:49:30 EST WASHINGTON — President Bush scrambled today to bring rebellious members of his own party behind a multibillion-dollar government bailout of the financial system amid bitter political recriminations from both Democrats and Republicans over collapsed negotiations. Mr. Bush delivered a terse statement from outside the Oval Office of the White House, acknowledging that lawmakers have a right to express their doubts and work through disagreements, but declaring they must "rise to the occasion" and... NEDRA PICKLER http://www.nysun.com/national/report-mccain-will-participate-in-tonights-debate/86714/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:31:30 EST WASHINGTON — Senator McCain agreed to attend the first presidential debate tonight even though Congress doesn't have a bailout deal, reversing an earlier decision to delay the forum until Washington had addressed the financial crisis. With less than 10 hours until the debate was scheduled to start, the McCain campaign announced that the Arizona senator would travel to the University of Mississippi. The campaign said that afterward Mr. McCain would fly back to Washington to continue working on... JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and CHARLES BABINGTON http://www.nysun.com/national/congress-restarts-troubled-bailout-talks/86715/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:10:58 EST WASHINGTON — President Bush told Congress today it must "rise to the occasion" and pass legislation bailing out the struggling financial system, and leading lawmakers arranged to resume difficult negotiations. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, struggling to keep an emerging bipartisan accord on the plan from imploding, was set to attend the restart of talks at midday. House Republicans said they would send a top leader to the closed-door session after the House GOP earlier boycotted bargaining... GLEN JOHNSON http://www.nysun.com/national/senator-kennedy-taken-to-hospital/86716/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:27:08 EST BOSTON — Senator Kennedy, who has brain cancer, was taken by ambulance to a hospital today near his Cape Cod vacation home after complaining of feeling ill but returned home a few hours later. A statement issued by the 76-year-old senator's office attributed the episode to a change in medications. Senator Kerry said his fellow Massachusetts Democrat was well and planned to watch the evening's presidential debate between Senators McCain and Obama. A 911 call from the Kennedy compound in Hyannis... BETH FOUHY http://www.nysun.com/national/mccain-obama-argue-over-war-taxes-in-1st-debate/86717/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 23:53:15 EST OXFORD, Miss. — Senator McCain accused Senator Obama of compiling "the most liberal voting record in the United States Senate" Friday night as the two rivals clashed over taxes, spending, the war in Iraq, and more in an intense first debate of the White House campaign. "Mostly that's just me opposing George Bush's wrong-headed policies," shot back the Democrat. Mr. Obama said his Republican rival has been a loyal supporter of the unpopular president, adding that the current economic crisis is... JOSH GERSTEIN http://www.nysun.com/national/ex-nba-star-who-opened-schools-in-imbroglio/86695/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST A former professional basketball player who helped start a charter school in Harlem this year, Kevin Johnson, is on a swing through New York to raise funds for his bid for mayor of Sacramento, Calif., just as his campaign is being rocked by word that he has been barred from doing business with the federal government. The agency that runs the AmeriCorps program, the Corporation for National & Community Service, announced yesterday that Mr. Johnson, a Sacramento community group he founded, St... RUSSELL BERMAN http://www.nysun.com/national/mccain-to-hold-out-for-bailout/86698/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON — With the campaign's first debate in doubt, the arrival here of both presidential contenders brought chaos and confusion to the capital as a $700 billion bailout deal that appeared at hand broke down amid a flurry of bitter recriminations. Lawmakers emerged from an unusual White House meeting late in the day worried that a tentative agreement on a Wall Street rescue plan had fallen apart, with House Republicans in opposition. Democratic leaders immediately blamed Senator McCain... MATT APUZZO and TOM HAYS http://www.nysun.com/national/contractor-wife-blamed-in-stevens-corruption-case/86636/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON — Senator Stevens was clueless about the cost and scope of a pricey makeover of his Alaska cabin that led to federal corruption charges and threatened his lengthy career, his lawyer said yesterday at the opening of his trial. Federal prosecutors allege that Mr. Stevens — one of Congress's most powerful Republicans and a patriarch of Alaska politics for generations — lied on Senate forms about more than $250,000 in home renovations and gifts from a wealthy oil contractor and close... MIKE MELIA http://www.nysun.com/national/guantanamo-prosecutors-want-redo-of-convicts/86637/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — Military prosecutors have asked the judge who presided over the war crimes trial for Osama bin Laden's driver to order a new sentencing hearing, arguing the detainee should not have received credit for time served, officials said yesterday. The motion filed Wednesday argues that Salim Hamdan, who is eligible for release by January, cannot receive trial credit for his time detained at the Guantanamo Bay Navy base as an "enemy combatant." "We're not looking to... PAUL J. WEBER http://www.nysun.com/national/ike-wreaks-havoc-on-gulf-seafood-industry/86668/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST SAN LEON, Texas — On the eve of October's peak seafood harvesting season, migrant fishermen are sweeping debris from gutted bay side homes instead of scooping shrimp and oysters from the Gulf of Mexico's lucrative floor. The $100 million fishing industry in Galveston Bay is virtually paralyzed. Hurricane Ike's impact is being felt among Gulf seafood harvesters, distributors, and restaurants. Government and industry officials fear it will take as long as two years for the processing plants... LINDA DEUTSCH http://www.nysun.com/national/judge-tries-to-keep-simpson-past-from-trial/86669/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST LAS VEGAS — The judge in the O.J. Simpson kidnapping and robbery trial struggled yesterday to keep jurors from being reminded of his infamous Los Angeles murder case, ruling that a witness could not mention the former football star's troubled past. A memorabilia dealer who was once Mr. Simpson's agent, Mike Gilbert, was called by the prosecution in hopes of establishing that Mr. Simpson held a grudge against Mr. Gilbert over possessions taken from his home after the former football star was... SETH BORENSTEIN http://www.nysun.com/national/global-warming-pollution-increases-3-percent/86670/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON — The world pumped up its pollution of the chief man-made global warming gas last year, setting a course that could push beyond leading scientists' projected worst-case scenario, international researchers said yesterday. The new numbers, called "scary" by some, were a surprise because scientists thought an economic downturn would slow energy use. Instead, carbon dioxide output jumped 3% between 2006 and 2007. That's an amount that exceeds the most dire outlook for emissions from... ROBERT BURNS http://www.nysun.com/national/president-bush-meets-with-middle-eastern-leaders/86632/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON — In separate meetings with Middle East leaders yesterday, President Bush applauded Lebanon's efforts to forge a national reconciliation and told President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority that America has not given up hope on an agreement to create a Palestinian Arab state. "I appreciate your determination and your desire to have a Palestinian state," Mr. Bush told Mr. Abbas in front of reporters before a White House meeting. "I share that desire with you. It's not easy." Mr. Bush... PAMELA HESS http://www.nysun.com/national/interrogator-details-pre-abu-ghraib-abuses/86672/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON — A military interrogation expert, Air Force Colonel Steven Kleinman, told Congress yesterday that before the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, he witnessed interrogations of Iraqi detainees that he considers violations of the Geneva Conventions. One of those interrogations was conducted by an Air Force civilian and a contractor employed by his own organization, the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency. It had sent a small team to Iraq in September 2003 to help a special forces task force... JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN http://www.nysun.com/national/paulson-may-get-leeway-to-set-executive/86682/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON — Under the $700 billion economic bailout plan being discussed in the nation's capital, Secretary Paulson would have significant leeway in setting standards over the pay levels of financial executives that receive assistance. Key details emerged yesterday on how Congress would go about setting limits on executive compensation, should lawmakers accept the Bush administration's call for a bailout fund to buy up toxic mortgage-related assets from financial institutions. It's uncertain... DEEPTI HAJELA http://www.nysun.com/national/mccain-confident-bailout-deal-will-be-reached/86611/ Thu, 25 Sep 2008 09:53:03 EST Senator McCain expressed confidence today that Congress and the Bush administration can reach consensus before markets open Monday on a $700 billion bailout plan to rescue financial institutions from crippling debt. His Democratic rival, Senator Obama, also called for prompt bipartisan action. Mr. McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, told the Clinton Global Initiative in New York that it's often difficult to act quickly and wisely. But he said that is what's required now to come up... MATT APUZZO and TOM HAYS http://www.nysun.com/national/stevens-blames-contractor-for-legal-woes/86615/ Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:13:38 EST WASHINGTON — Senator Stevens is blaming an overzealous contractor for the legal mess that has him on trial for corruption. Mr. Stevens is accused of lying on Senate forms about more than $250,000 in home renovations and gifts he received from an oil contractor, Bill Allen. During opening statements today, attorneys offered the first public defense for the Alaska Republican. His attorney, Brendan Sullivan, said Mr. Stevens paid $160,000 for the renovations and had no idea Mr. Allen wasn't... RUSSELL BERMAN http://www.nysun.com/national/miss-governor-expects-friday-night-debate/86616/ Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:39:16 EST WASHINGTON — The Republican governor of Mississippi said this afternoon that he expects tomorrow night's presidential debate to go on as planned in his state, despite a call from his party's nominee that the event be delayed because of the financial crisis. "I expect there to be a debate tomorrow night. I look forward to it," Governor Barbour told reporters in a televised briefing from the University of Mississippi in Oxford, the host site of the debate. Mr. Barbour, a former chairman of the... JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and DAVID ESPO http://www.nysun.com/national/lawmakers-say-deal-reached-on-bailout/86617/ Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:27:32 EST WASHINGTON — Warned that time was running short to bolster the distressed economy, congressional Republicans and Democrats reported agreement in principle today on a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry, and said they would present it to the Bush administration in hopes of a vote within days. Emerging from a two-hour negotiating session, Senator Dodd, a Democrat of Connecticut, said, "We are very confident that we can act expeditiously." "I now expect that we will indeed have a plan... JENNIFER LOVEN and JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS http://www.nysun.com/national/bush-mccain-obama-huddle-on-bailout-deal/86620/ Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:32:22 EST WASHINGTON — Urgent efforts to lash together a $700 billion rescue plan for the national economy appeared to be stalling tonight, hours after key lawmakers had declared they had reached a deal. Treasury Secretary Paulson and the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, sped to Capitol Hill to try to revive or rework the proposal that President Bush said must be quickly approved by Congress to stave off economic disaster. Congressional leaders were to meet with the economic chiefs into the night... DEEPTI HAJELA http://www.nysun.com/national/clinton-global-initiative-kicks-off/86548/ Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST President Clinton's annual summit of world leaders and celebrities opened yesterday with the former president sharing the stage with the rock star Bono and dignitaries including Vice President Gore, who warned that humanity is struggling in the fight against climate change. Mr. Gore pointed to a number of natural disasters, from storms in Haiti to hurricanes on the Gulf Coast to fires in California, as evidence. "Since we met here last year, the world has lost ground to the climate crisis," Mr... LAURIE KELLMAN http://www.nysun.com/national/house-passes-defense-bill-sends-it-to-senate/86549/ Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON — Bowing to President Bush's demands, the House of Representatives passed a mammoth package for the U.S. Defense Department yesterday that contains a pay raise for troops, billions of dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — and some political protection for lawmakers during a tense election season. The 392-39 vote sent the $612 billion defense authorization bill to the Senate, which was expected to clear it this week. To earn Mr. Bush's signature rather than a veto, House and... Staff Reporter of the Sun http://www.nysun.com/national/palin-us-could-be-headed-for-depression/86560/ Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST PALIN: U.S. COULD BE HEADED FOR DEPRESSION Governor Palin said yesterday that the United States could be headed for another Great Depression if Congress doesn't act on the financial crisis. Ms. Palin made the comment in an interview with the CBS evening news anchor, Katie Couric, while visiting New York to meet foreign leaders for the first time in her political career. As Ms. Palin sought to establish her credentials in world affairs, first lady Laura Bush said Ms. Palin lacked sufficient...