world

Probe continues in London bombing investigation

LONDON -- Britain's government rejected criticism that lax policies toward Muslim political refugees helped facilitate terror recruiters, while police Sunday searched an Islamic bookstore in the northern city of Leeds, hometown of three of the London suicide bombers.

Space shuttle launch called off Wednesday

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A faulty fuel gauge on Discovery's external tank forced NASA to call off Wednesday's launch of the first shuttle flight since the Columbia disaster 2 1/2 years ago. The space agency did not immediately set a new launch date. The decision came with less than 2 1/2 hours to go before launch, as the seven astronauts were almost done boarding the spacecraft. Up until then, rain and thunder over the launch site appeared to be the only obstacle to an on-time liftoff.

3 passenger trains collide in Pakistan

GHOTKI, Pakistan -- Three trains collided in a deadly chain reaction in southern Pakistan after a train driver misread a signal early Wednesday, killing at least 127 people and injuring hundreds in the country's worst crash in more than a decade, police and railway officials said. The nighttime accident jolted passengers awake to a horrifying smashup that left metal, glass and body parts strewn across a remote railway station near Ghotki. Rescuers frantically cut through twisted metal to reach survivors, as ambulances and buses ferried the injured to nearby hospitals.

Chief Justice Rehnquist hospitalized

WASHINGTON -- Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, ailing with cancer, is in the hospital with a fever, a spokeswoman said Wednesday. Rehnquist was taken by ambulance to an Arlington, Va., hospital Tuesday night and was admitted for observation and tests, Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said.

Should Karl Rove be fired for his involvement in revealing Valerie Plame's identity?

It's sad that before being proven guilty, Karl Rove is being marked by some as a criminal. Obviously Democrats are eager to strike a dagger in the heart of the President's administration, and they will do so at any cost, even that of justice and fair investigation.

Bush: No comment on Rove during investigation

WASHINGTON -- President Bush said Wednesday that he will withhold judgment about top aide Karl Rove's involvement in leaking the identity of a CIA agent until a federal criminal investigation into the matter is complete. "This is a serious investigation," Bush said at the end of a meeting with his Cabinet, with Rove sitting just behind him. "I will be more than happy to comment on this matter once this investigation is complete.

Students in London safe after bombings

None of the four bomb blasts that killed about 50 people and injured more than 700 in London Thursday injured any IU students studying in Great Britain's capital city. Although the bombings destroyed three subways stations and a double-decker bus within the daily travel sphere of about 70 Hoosiers in London from various Indiana universities, all have contacted college personnel or their parents since the explosions rocked the city about 2 a.m. Indiana time Thursday.

Bill seeks to bring troops in Iraq home

A four-part bombing in London Thursday proved the resolve of the British public as their hands were dipped in the blood of an international World War III.

Do you think Bayh will run in 2008?

While speaking at a Rotary Club meeting last week, Indiana senator Evan Bayh said he hasn't decided if he will run for president in 2008 or not. "I am thinking about it," Bayh was quoted as saying in the San Jose Mercury News. "I haven't finally decided."

London bombings kill 40, injure hundreds more

Four bombings vibrated throughout London and rattled the capital city's mass transportation system Thursday, destroying three subway stations and ripping apart a double-decker bus during morning rush-hour traffic.

LONDON -- Four explosions rocked the London subway and tore open a packed double-decker bus during the morning rush hour Thursday, sending bloodied victims fleeing in the worst attack on London since World War II. At least 40 people were killed, U.S. officials said, and more than 700 were wounded.

Piggybacking the poor while rich get richer

Somewhere in America lives a minimum-wage worker who isn't making enough money working full-time to support her or his family. In the meantime, Indiana's Congressional delegation voted six-to-three to support a $3,100 "cost-of-living" pay increase for all Congressional salaries in 2006.

Around the World

A group is threatening to build a hotel on Supreme Court Justice David Souter's property after the judge helped pass a ruling that personal property can be taken through eminent domain if it will generate greater economic benefits for the government. Logan Darrow Clements of Freestar Media, LLC, sent a letter to the code enforcement officer in the Town of Weare, N.H., where Souter lives, detailing a plan to replace his home with a hotel.

Sandra Day O'Connor had impact on Indiana, IU

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement from the U.S. Supreme Court has caught the attention of the entire nation and her decisions on key rulings affect all communities across the country, but she has had a special impact on IU and Indiana as a whole. IU Law Professor Joseph Hoffmann, who served Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist as a law clerk in the mid-1980s, had a unique experience with O'Connor.

Prohibiting Pot

Marijuana use for medicinal purposes has taken a few public tokes backwards in the last few weeks as the Federal government dropped the hammer on alleged corrupt pot growers and distributors polluting the entire medicinal marijuana debate. Despite the historical prevalence of marijuana use by world citizens and within communities across the globe for the last 5,000 years, smoking "reefer" to ease human psychological, emotional and physical pain is a common pasttime of some bipolar candidates, cancer victims, HIV/AIDS patients and American neighbors who are otherwise terminally ill among an extended list of others.

Report: U.S. held talks with insurgent commanders in Iraq

LONDON -- U.S. officials recently met secretly with Iraqi insurgent commanders at a summer villa north of Baghdad to try to negotiate an end to the bloodshed, a British newspaper reported Sunday.

Do you think the proposed flag burning amendment will pass?

This is just one of many frequent attempts to use the constitutional amendment process to support a minority conservative agenda. Regardless of what Orrin Hatch believes, these amendments do not necessarily represent the views of most Americans. Most never see the light of day. The fact that this attempt has made the news speaks more to Republicans' belief that their political timing is good, and that Democratic opposition to the amendment can be used as a campaign weapon in the 2008 elections. I do not support such an amendment myself.

Flag amendment could cause Democrats heartburn

WASHINGTON -- Symbols are everything in politics. They can get you elected -- or defeated. That's why Democrats fear getting singed by a proposed flag-burning ban, forced into a vote that Republicans will cast as a test of patriotism.

Clapacs: No jobs will be cut

IU vice president and chief administrative officer Terry Clapacs said he does not foresee the University being forced to cut jobs to make up for budget cuts

Amendment to ban flag burning passes house

WASHINGTON -- A constitutional amendment to outlaw flag burning cleared the House Wednesday but faced an uphill battle in the Senate