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Year After Katrina, Bush Still Fights for 9/11 Image
President Bush’s public persona remains that of a wartime president flying by as desperate and vulnerable Americans suffered.

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Our learless feader on August 31, 2005
Associated Press

The World

Wave of Iraq attacks leaves dozens dead
A wave of bomb attacks and shootings swept Iraq Sunday, killing dozens of people despite a massive security operation in the capital and appeals from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for an end to sectarian fighting. Al-Maliki insisted that his government was making progress in combatting attacks by insurgents and sectarian clashes between Shiites and Sunnis.

23 killed in clashes in southern Iraq
DIWANIYAH, Iraq - Clashes between members of a powerful Shiite militia and the Iraqi army in the southern city of Diwaniyah have left at least 23 people dead and 70 injured, officials said Monday.

Hezbollah Head Says He Didn't Expect War
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said in a TV interview aired Sunday that he would not have ordered the capture of two Israeli soldiers if he had known it would lead to such a war.

Turkey blasts injure 27, including 10 Britons
ISTANBUL (AFP) - Four blasts in Turkey, including one which blew apart a bus in a popular seaside resort, have injured 27 people, among them 10 Britons, Turkish and British officials have said.

Iran Opens a Heavy-Water Reactor
On Saturday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made a provocative, if symbolic, gesture by formally inaugurating a heavy-water reactor. The Iranians say the plant would be used for peaceful power generation. But nuclear experts note that heavy-water facilities are more useful for weapons because they produce lots of plutonium — the preferred ingredient for missile warheads.

Iran not concerned about U.N. deadline
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran said Monday it is not concerned about this week's U.N. deadline demanding it suspend a key part of its disputed nuclear program or face political and economic sanctions.

ANALYSIS: Bully role won't help with Iran
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration may be on the verge of getting what it has long sought: United Nations sanctions on a defiant Iran over its accelerated nuclear program. That may not be much of a victory.

Second day of Pakistan riots
QUETTA, Pakistan (AFP) - Rioters in Pakistan went on the rampage for a second day, ransacking buildings to protest the killing of a tribal leader in a military air strike, officials said.

Afghan market blast kills 17
LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suspected suicide bomber killed at least 17 people and wounded almost 50 in a crowded bazaar in southern Afghanistan on Monday, the latest attack in a surge of violence in the Taliban heartland.

No sign of imminent North Korean nuclear test: SKorea
SEOUL (AFP) - South Korea's intelligence chief has said that North Korea was capable of testing a nuclear bomb at any time, but that there were no signs a test was imminent.

The Nation

Protests intrude on Bush's trip to Maine
President Bush came to his parent's century-old summer home on the Maine coast for a little relaxation, a distant cousin's wedding and some family time. He got all that, along with a boisterous reminder nearly on his bucolic doorstep of the unpopularity of his Iraq policies.

Feds say New Orleans is storm-ready
WASHINGTON - Federal emergency officials claim the New Orleans levee system is ready for another major hurricane, despite the less-optimistic views of other political leaders and engineers.

Rumsfeld cautious on U.S.missile shield
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Sunday sounded a note of caution about expectations that interceptors poised in underground silos here would work in the event of a missile attack by North Korea.

Rumsfeld: I m not Santa Claus
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Saturday praised the work of an Army brigade whose one-year tour in Iraq was extended just as they prepared to return home, and said he saw no reason for the soldiers or their families to be angry at him.

Military lawyers see limits on trial input
Despite assuring Congress that career military lawyers are helping design new trials for accused terrorists, the Bush administration has limited their input on their key request, that any tribunals must give detainees the right to see the evidence against them, officials said.

Medicare ads paid by drug industry
WASHINGTON - The pharmaceutical industry quietly footed the bill for at least part of a recent multimillion-dollar ad campaign praising lawmakers who support the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, according to political officials.

Activist's remark starts FBI probe
Jim Bensman thought his suggestion during a public hearing was harmless enough: Instead of building a channel so migratory fish could go around a dam on the Mississippi River, just get rid of the dam. Instead, the environmental activist found himself in hot water, drawing FBI scrutiny to see whether he had any terrorist intentions. The case "shows just how easy it is to be labeled a suspected terrorist," he says.

Receptionist-turned-lobbyist faces probe
WASHINGTON - Depending on your perspective, Letitia White is either the epitome of a Capitol Hill success story or a prime example of an unsettling mix of money, politics and public policy.

Guilty plea in kickback scheme
WASHINGTON - A former U.S. Army Reserve officer admitted Friday that he steered millions of dollars in Iraq-reconstruction contracts in exchange for jewelry, computers, cigars and sexual favors.

Ala. Dems: Darby not welcome in party
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Democratic Party leaders want a former candidate for attorney general who denies the Holocaust occurred to stay out of their future primaries.

Economy & Business

Sisters blew whistle on Katrina claims
The Rigsbys say they spent months collecting reams of internal State Farm reports, memos, e-mails and claims records… The sisters, who managed teams of State Farm adjusters, say the documents show that the insurer defrauded policyholders by manipulating engineers' reports so that claims could be denied.

Real Wages Fail to Match a Rise in Productivity
Wages and salaries now make up the lowest share of the nation’s economy since the U.S. began recording the data in 1947.

Whispers of Mergers Set Off Suspicious Trading
The boom in corporate mergers is creating concern that illicit trading ahead of deal announcements is becoming a systemic problem.

European equities hit by falling energy stocks
European equities were lower on Monday after a fall in crude oil prices hit energy stocks, while Italian banks gave back gains after recently riding high on merger speculation.

Media

Gore Lashes Out at Media Consolidation
EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) - Former Vice President Al Gore said Sunday ever-tighter political and economic control of the media is a major threat to democracy. Gore said the goal behind his year-old "interactive" television channel Current TV was to encourage the kind of democratic dialogue that thrives online but is increasingly rare on TV.

Science & Technology

Vatican critical of stem cell creation
VATICAN CITY - A Vatican official on Saturday criticized a new method of making stem cells that does not require the destruction of embryos, calling it a "manipulation" that did not address the church's ethical concerns.

Scientists Erase Memories in Rat Brains
Scientists have for the first time erased long-term memories in rats and also directly seen how the brain is changed by learning.

Study: Ancient minty painkiller worked
The doctors of ancient Greece and China had it right when they applied cool and minty salves to soothe aches and pains, a new study suggests.

Ethanol Turned Into Food-Grade Alcohol
AMES, Iowa (AP) - Now that ethanol has become common in gas tanks, two Iowa State University professors are working to get it into martini glasses. The professors are researching how to easily, and cheaply, turn fuel ethanol into food-grade alcohol to be used in beverages, pharmaceuticals and personal care products.

U.S. supercomputer gets speedier
The most powerful supercomputer available for general scientific research in the United States has doubled its speed, officials said Friday.