SOUTH

BUSH RETURNS TO HURRICANE-RAVAGED GULF COAST BAY

ST. LOUIS, Miss. – President Bush traveled to a still-ravaged Gulf Coast yesterday after three months away, promising that a building boom is on its way and encouraging other Americans to visit, too.

Mr. Bush’s visit to New Orleans and Mississippi was part of a series of events to showcase his priorities leading up to State of the Union address. He said he is committed to rebuilding communities devastated from Hurricane Katrina.

“People in faraway places like Washington, D.C., still hear you and care about you,” Mr. Bush told survivors gathered at St. Stanislaus College, just a couple of blocks from where Katrina blew ashore.

Mr. Bush’s route to the college took him down a coastal road past thousands of snapped trees, debris still hanging from limbs, and lots emptied of their buildings. There were almost no intact structures – in most cases only concrete foundations were left – and little evidence of rebuilding.

“There’s no homes to repair,” Mr. Bush said. “It’s just been flattened. That’s what the people of America have got to understand.”

– Associated Press

PADILLA PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO TERROR CHARGES

MIAMI – Jose Padilla, an American citizen who was held for more than three years as an “enemy combatant,” pleaded not guilty yesterday to criminal charges alleging he was part of a secret network that supported Muslim terrorists.

The plea, followed by a judge’s refusal to set bail for Padilla, came one week after he was transferred from military to civilian custody. His trial was set for September 9.

“Absolutely not guilty,” one of Padilla’s lawyers, Michael Caruso, said. Padilla did not speak during the hearing, other than to confirm the pronunciation of his name (puh-DIL-uh).

– Associated Press

ROBERTSON SENDS LETTER OF APOLOGY TO SHARON’S SON

Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson has sent a letter apologizing for suggesting that Ariel Sharon’s massive stroke was divine punishment for pulling Israel out of the Gaza Strip.

Mr. Robertson’s comments drew widespread condemnation from other Christian leaders, President Bush and Israeli officials, who canceled plans to include the American evangelist in the construction of a Christian tourist center in northern Israel.

In a letter dated Wednesday and marked for hand delivery to Sharon’s son Omri, Mr. Robertson called the Israeli prime minister a “kind, gracious, and gentle man” who was “carrying an almost insurmountable burden of making decisions for his nation.”

– Associated Press

NATIONWIDE

PRESIDENT CLINTON SAYS HE NEVER USED WIRETAPPING

President Clinton said today that he never ordered wiretaps of American citizens without obtaining a court order, as President Bush has acknowledged he has done. Mr. Clinton, in an interview to be broadcast tonight on the ABC News program “Nightline,” said his administration either received court approval before authorizing a wiretap or went to court within three days after to get permission, as required by law.

“We either went there and asked for the approval or, if there was an emergency and we had to do it beforehand, then we filed within three days afterward and gave them a chance to second guess it,” Mr. Clinton told ABC. “You always have to try to balance these things out, so that’s what we did.”

– Bloomberg News

SCIENCE AND MEDICINE

POLAR BEARS FACE NEW TOXIC THREAT

Already imperiled by melting ice and a brew of toxic chemicals, polar bears throughout the Arctic, particularly in remote dens near the North Pole, face an additional threat as flame retardants originating largely in America are building up in their bodies, according to an international team of wildlife scientists.

The flame retardants are one of the newest additions to hundreds of industrial compounds and pesticides carried to the Arctic by winds and ocean currents. Accumulating in the fatty tissues of animals, many chemicals grow more concentrated as larger creatures eat smaller ones, turning the Arctic’s top predators and native people into some of the most contaminated living organisms on Earth.

In urban areas, particularly in North America, researchers already have shown that levels of flame retardants called polybrominated diphenyls, or PBDEs, are growing at a rapid pace in people and wildlife. Although they have been found in much lower concentrations in the Arctic, scientists say their toxic legacy will persist there for years because they are slow to break down, particularly in cold climates.

In polar bears, the effects are unknown. But in tests on laboratory animals, PBDEs disrupted thyroid and sex hormones and damaged developing brains, impairing motor skills and mental abilities, including memory and learning.

– Los Angeles Times

FDA APPROVES EARLIER HUMAN TESTING FOR DRUGS

Concerned that too few new drugs are reaching the market and that too much time is spent testing those that ultimately fail to win approval, the Food and Drug Administration on yesterday announced rules for human testing intended to make effective drugs available to the public sooner – and possibly cheaper.

Under new guidelines, investigators will be allowed to give minute doses of experimental drugs to people earlier in the development process to see if the results are promising enough to warrant going forward with costly, full-scale clinical testing. The FDA action was welcomed by scientific researchers and industry. But some agency critics said they were concerned it could increase hazards for volunteers in clinical trials or facilitate the approval of drugs before their risks are fully understood.

– Los Angeles Times