LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
"I agree with President Obama in his approach: strategy first, then resources."
Anders Fogh Rasmussen,
NATO chief, discussing policy on Afghanistan Article, this page Obama's Olympic trip draws GOP flak
NEW YORK - President Barack Obama's decision to travel to Copenhagen, Denmark, to boost Chicago's chances of winning the 2016 Olympics has drawn criticism from some Republicans.
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele denounced the visit in a conference call with reporters Tuesday. Calling it "noble for the president to pitch his home city, Chi-town," before the International Olympic Committee on Friday, Steele said it nonetheless was a distraction from more pressing issues such as health care and job creation.
However, Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and 2008 Republican presidential contender, said Obama was right to make an appearance.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs laughed and asked, "Who's he rooting for?" when told of Steele's criticism of Obama's trip.
The city's bid is competing with bids from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Madrid, Spain; and Tokyo, and the heads of state from Brazil, Spain and Japan are appearing in person to make their countries' pitches.
Terrorism suspect pleads innocent
NEW YORK - A 24-year-old Afghan immigrant was ordered held without bail Tuesday after pleading innocent to planning a terrorist attack on New York City with bombs made from beauty supply chemicals.
A lawyer for Najibullah Zazi, a coffee cart vendor and airport shuttle driver, entered the plea in federal court in Brooklyn.
Prosecutors say Zazi bought beauty products in Colorado containing hydrogen peroxide and acetone, which can be used to make bombs, and kept directions for bomb making on his laptop computer. They also say that he traveled to Pakistan last year for explosives training from al-Qaida.
Zazi's attorney, Michael Dowling, disputed the allegations. "I'd like to stop this rush to judgment because what I've seen so far does not amount to a conspiracy charge," he said, adding that he has not been given the names of any alleged co-conspirators.
Gingrich, Sharpton, Duncan on tour
PHILADELPHIA - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and the Rev. Al Sharpton praised progress at two Philadelphia schools during a tour with Education Secretary Arne Duncan, the first stop in visits by the three to field ideas on improving U.S. schools.
"All of us agree that we have to do something," Sharpton told reporters Tuesday after the three stopped at a fourth-grade classroom at Delaplaine McDaniel Elementary School. "It's the kind of bipartisan spirit we didn't see in health care that we hope to see in education reform."
Duncan plans to visit cities including New Orleans and Baltimore with Gingrich, a Republican, and Sharpton, a Democrat, to show support for overhauling public schools. Duncan is using $100 billion in stimulus funds as leverage to reshape U.S. education and is leading the Obama administration's effort to overhaul the No Child Left Behind law. That 2002 law requires states to measure achievement through standardized tests and to make yearly progress toward meeting academic goals.
Murder charge dropped in Iraq killing
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - The government has dropped a murder charge against a Marine who pleaded guilty Tuesday to dereliction of duty for killing an unarmed Iraqi detainee during a battle to recapture the city of Fallujah.
If convicted of murder, Sgt. Jermaine Nelson could have faced a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Instead, he now faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a bad conduct discharge.
Defense attorney Joseph Low told reporters the plea agreement says Nelson will not serve any prison time and will be honorably discharged.
Military officials wouldn't immediately confirm the terms of the plea deal.
Nelson, 28, of New York admitted that he wrongly killed the unarmed detainee, one of four Iraqi men who surrendered when his squad entered a home in November 2004.
He said he fired anyway on orders from his squad leader, former Sgt. Jose Luis Nazario.
Nelson's squadmate, Sgt. Ryan Weemer, was acquitted by a military jury of the same charges in April. Nazario was acquitted last year in federal court in Riverside, Calif., on counts that included voluntary manslaughter. Nazario was beyond the reach of a court-martial because he had completed his military obligations.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 09/30/2009