WASHINGTON

KERRY CONDEMNS AD ATTACKING BUSH’S VIETNAM-ERA GUARD SERVICE

John Kerry yesterday condemned a television ad that criticizes President Bush’s Vietnam-era service in the Texas Air National Guard, even as prominent veterans linked to the Democratic presidential campaign echoed the commercial’s accusations. Mr. Bush’s campaign accused Mr. Kerry of hypocrisy. In a campaign shadowed by the war on terror, the military records of Messrs. Kerry and Bush emerged again as an issue after Senator McCain called on Mr. Kerry to denounce an ad that accuses Mr. Bush of using family connections to avoid the Vietnam War. Mr. McCain, a decorated Vietnam veteran with the reputation of a political maverick, had called on Mr. Bush two weeks ago to condemn an ad in which several veterans accused Mr. Kerry of fabricating his war record. The White House has declined to denounce that ad. Mr. Kerry, mindful of Mr. Mc-Cain’s political clout, issued a conciliatory statement minutes after the Arizona senator told the Associated Press he wanted Mr. Kerry to condemn the anti-Bush ad. “I agree with Senator McCain that the ad is inappropriate,” Mr. Kerry said in a statement. “This should be a campaign of issues, not insults.”

– Associated Press

AMERICA TO IMPOSE NEW TRAVEL SAFEGUARDS America is about to impose new security regulations on international travelers just as the country is experiencing its first increase in such visitors since the September 11 attacks. Two regulations affecting travelers from 22 European nations, plus Australia, Brunei, Japan, New Zealand, and Singapore, will be kicking in the next two months. Starting the end of September, travelers from those countries, known as visa waiver countries, will be fingerprinted and photographed when they enter America at major airports and seaports. The United States already fingerprints and photographs travelers required to have visas to enter the country. Starting October 26, all travelers from the visa waiver countries must have passports with coding that is machine-readable. “That includes children,” said Janice Jacobs, deputy assistant secretary of state. The deadlines come after the busy summer travel season. They will affect some 13.5 million people who travel annually to America from visa waiver countries, said Asa Hutchison, undersecretary for border and transportation security at the Homeland Security Department. Travel to the United States is expected to be up 5.3% by the end of this year, said Cathy Keefe, spokeswoman for the Travel Industry Association of America.

– Associated Press

NORTHEAST

FLAP OVER FALCON WHO UPSTAGED RICH AND FAMOUS A lonely visitor from Europe has achieved the rare feat of upstaging those who every summer turn Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., into a hub of wealth, power, and stardom off the New England coast. Even the Clintons, the most glamorous couple currently in residence, have been outshone by the new arrival, who avoids the resort’s smart seafood restaurants, preferring to hunt for dragonflies and grasshoppers instead. Birdwatchers have descended on the island from across North America to catch a glimpse of the foreigner, a single, male, red-footed falcon never before sighted on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. Far from home in Central Europe, the falcon perches on a sign at a small airfield, occasionally performing its star turn, hovering and then swooping down from the heavens, for the benefit of small crowds of admirers camped nearby. Falco vespertinus breeds in Europe and winters on the African savannah. Whatever route he took here, this member of the species has thus made an epic journey.

– The Daily Telegraph

WEST

ARMY SOLDIER SUES TO PROTEST EXTENDED SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO – A California Army National Guard soldier sued the military in federal court yesterday over a program that could keep up to 20,000 Army personnel beyond their time of service. It was the first lawsuit challenging extended military service following the September 11, 2001, attacks. The program, known as “stop-loss,” also was enacted during the buildup to the 1991 Gulf War. The soldier’s complaint comes as the Army struggles to find fresh units to serve in Iraq. Almost every combat unit has faced or will face duty there or in Afghanistan, and increased violence has forced the deployment of an additional 20,000 troops to the Iraq region. The Army says its stop-loss program is necessary for a cohesive military with seasoned personnel, although it has been criticized as contrary to the concept of an all-volunteer military force. The soldier’s attorneys did not release his name, age, or hometown to protect his family’s privacy. The sergeant’s San Francisco attorney, Michael Sorgen, said his client, who was also ordered to stay in Iraq last year beyond his enlisted commitment, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, and his deployment has been put on hold. According to the lawsuit, the soldier has more than a decade of service with the Marines, including combat in Iraq and Somalia. Last year, after returning from Iraq, he agreed to re-sign with a one-year commitment to the National Guard.

– Associated Press

SCIENCE

RESEARCHERS TRY TO SAVE RARE SEA DUCK ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Researchers at the Alaska Sealife Center are poking into the private lives of Steller’s eiders – a rare sea duck that is disappearing from its nesting grounds in Alaska. Ten males and seven females were collected from the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands in 2003 and installed in a large outdoor pen at the Seward center as part of a federally funded captive breeding program.

Researchers have observed the sea ducks for a year. To help get the ducks in the mood this spring, their 25-foot-by-60-foot pen was converted into something more cozy, with tundra grasses, moss, pebbles, driftwood, and natural barriers for increased privacy. Then, the researchers watched and waited.

“We saw courtship behavior…typical eider mating behavior that we know of from the wild,” said the center’s eider program manager, Tuula Hollmen. The males acted interested, but in the end, they apparently were a bit shy. No eggs were produced.

The captive breeding program was launched last year to learn more about Steller’s eiders in hopes of increasing their chances of surviving, if not in the wild then in captivity, Ms. Hollmen said. There are about 220,000 Steller’s eiders worldwide, with fewer than 500 breeding pairs in Alaska. Biologists aren’t sure why the numbers worldwide have fallen by as much as 50% in 30 years.

– Associated Press