stu

Socials Studies (history in particular)

In a dramatic reversal, a U.S. House of Representatives panel on Wednesday endorsed President George W. Bush's plan for tough interrogations and trials of foreign terrorism suspects after Republicans rounded up enough members to turn defeat into victory. Embarrassed Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee were forced to hold a second vote to pass Bush's bill after losing the first one to Democrats and a couple of defecting Republicans. They then mustered absent members to eke out a 20-19 majority to send the bill to the House floor. On another national security issue before the November 7 congressional elections, the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees, on separate votes, narrowly approved legislation to impose new rules on Bush's warrantless domestic spying program. Both measures are certain to be hotly debated in the House and Senate before members go home in October to campaign for re-election. The committee vote on the interrogations measure reflected divisions among House Republicans over Bush's bill, as moderates and a few conservatives questioned whether Bush's plan would backfire on U.S. personnel in future wars and whether it met U.S. judicial standards. Bush wants the authority from Congress to allow a program of CIA interrogations and detentions that critics have said amount to torture. The White House denies the program involves torture. The U.S. Supreme Court in June struck down Bush's original plan. House Majority Leader John Boehner of Ohio shrugged off the Republican defections and called Democrats' opposition "just one more in a long line of troubling actions that weaken our ability to wage and win the Global War on Terror." The White House is trying to reach a compromise with a group of rebelling Senate Republicans over the bill, Without a deal, his measure faces almost certain defeat in the Senate as Democrats and a number of Republicans say it would allow abusive interrogations and unfair trials. The U.S. general who oversees the Guantanamo prison for terrorism suspects urged Congress on Wednesday to offer clear guidance on what interrogation techniques are prohibited under international accords barring inhumane treatment of war prisoners. Gen. Bantz Craddock, outgoing chief of the Miami-based U.S. Southern Command, said military interrogators needed a precise definition of what constituted "outrages on personal dignity" -- prohibited under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. DEBATE ON SURVEILLANCE Republican backers of Bush's warrantless domestic spying program said the new legislation would update surveillance laws, bolster oversight and spell out when and how a president can order such surveillance without a court order. Opponents, mostly Democrats, said the legislation would expand presidential powers and threaten civil liberties. The bill now goes to the full House. The Senate is struggling to agree on a surveillance measure of its own. Critics charge the surveillance program, begun shortly after the September 11 attacks, violates the law requiring warrants for eavesdropping on suspects inside the United States. A federal judge recently ruled the program illegal. The case is expected to end up in the Supreme Court after Bush appealed, arguing he had the inherent power to do it. Bush has been accused of surpassing his authority in a number of areas since the September 11 attacks, including the indefinite detention and harsh treatment of foreign terrorism suspects and overly aggressive counterterrorism measures domestically. (Additional reporting by David Morgan and Joanne Kenen) http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060921/pl_nm/...HE0BHNlYwN0bWE-

Republican activists Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed landed more than 100 meetings inside the Bush White House, according to documents released Wednesday that provide the first official accounting of the access and influence the two presidential allies have enjoyed. The White House released the Secret Service visit records to settle a lawsuit by the Democratic Party and an ethics watchdog group seeking visitors logs for the two GOP strategists and others who emerged as figures in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. Earlier this month, the White House suggested to the judge in that lawsuit that such records need not be disclosed because the information was privileged and might reveal how Bush and his staff get private advice, according to court documents obtained by The Associated Press. White House officials said Norquist, who runs the nonprofit Americans for Tax Reform, was cleared for 97 visits to the White House complex between 2001 and 2006, including a half-dozen with the president. Reed, former executive director of the Christian Coalition and an unsuccessful candidate for lieutenant governor in Georgia earlier this year, got 18 meetings, including two events with Bush. Officials said they believe all appointments with Bush involved larger group settings, such as Christmas parties or policy briefings for GOP supporters. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, however, it was possible some of Norquist's meetings might have been directly with Karl Rove, the president's longtime confidant and political strategist. "He is one of a number of individuals who worked to advance fiscal responsibility, which is one of the key aspects of the president's agenda," Perino said. Both Reed and Norquist became involved with Abramoff, the once high-power GOP lobbyist who has pleaded guilty to fraud and is now cooperating with prosecutors in an influence peddling investigation that has rocked Capitol Hill. Norquist's group advocates lower taxes and less government and he built it into a major force in the Republican Party. Along the way he became friends with Abramoff and Rove. E-mails obtained this summer by AP show Norquist facilitated several administration contacts for Abramoff's clients while the lobbyist simultaneously solicited those clients for large donations to Norquist's group. Americans for Tax Reform acknowledged Norquist helped Abramoff but said he did nothing improper. Reed rose to prominence as an organizer of evangelical Christian groups, including the Christian Coalition, inside the Republican Party before moving into business ventures where he did work for Indian tribes at Abramoff's request. Documents unearthed by congressional investigators showed Abramoff and business partner Michael Scanlon routed about $4 million from Indian tribes to Reed-controlled entities for grassroots work aimed at blocking rival casinos. The White House also released records showing White House appointments landed by some of Abramoff's former lobbying associates. Among them: _Neil Volz, a former aide to Ohio Republican Rep. Bob Ney (news, bio, voting record), had 18 appointments, including one to attend a large event featuring Bush on Sept. 11, 2001, that was canceled because of the terrorist attacks. Volz has pleaded guilty to conspiring to corrupt Ney and others with trips and other largess. _Lobbyist Shawn Vasell also had 18. Two were Bush events, likely a February bill signing and a Ford's Theatre gala, that occurred this year, when Vasell was no longer working with Abramoff. _Abramoff business partner Scanlon, a former aide to then-Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, may have had one appointment; the White House couldn't say for certain whether the name in the Secret Service log was the same person. Scanlon has pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe public officials while lobbying on behalf of Indian tribes. _Former DeLay aide and Abramoff lobbying team member Tony Rudy had 13, none with Bush. Rudy has pleaded guilty to conspiring with Abramoff. Former Abramoff lobbying associate Kevin Ring, a former aide to California Republican Rep. John Doolittle (news, bio, voting record), had 21, none with Bush. _Two former Abramoff lobbying colleagues who joined Bush's administration, David Safavian and Patrick Pizzella, show up in the appointment logs countless times. Pizzella, an assistant secretary of labor, had 48, none with Bush. Among numerous meetings for Safavian, a former Bush administration procurement official who pleaded guilty to trying to hide his dealings with Abramoff, just one was with Bush, likely an employee holiday reception in 2004. The release of the visitor records settles lawsuits by the Democratic Party and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. In a court filing earlier this month while settlement discussions were ongoing, Justice Department lawyers representing the administration said information about the Norquist and Reed visits should be protected from public disclosure under the doctrine of "deliberative process privilege." That privilege lets the president and executive branch officials seek advice and deliberate policy decisions in private without having to disclose such information under the Freedom of Information Act. It is similar to executive privilege, a power made famous by President Nixon, that lets a president keep information secret even from Congress or the courts on the grounds that it would hurt his ability to get candid advice. Executive privilege was the focal point of major legal battles in the Watergate and Clinton impeachment cases. Bush administration lawyers wrote that Norquist and Reed were "prominent advocates of particular tax policies and other conservative policies" and that releasing information about their White House visits would "inherently reveal the structure and nature of deliberative processes." "In making decisions on personnel and policy, and in formulating legislative proposals, the president must be free to seek confidential information from many sources, both inside the government and outside," the lawyers wrote in citing a favorable court ruling from 2005 involving Vice President Dick Cheney. Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Karen Finney said she saw a pattern of the White House trying to avoid answering legitimate questions. "By trying to extend a special privilege typically reserved for U.S. government employees, to protect their Abramoff cronies like Grover Norquist, and Ralph Reed, the Bush administration showed just how willing they are to manipulate the law to hide the truth and protect their political interests," Finney said. The administration lawyers, meanwhile, also argued against releasing information about the White House visits of former federal procurement official David Safavian on the grounds that it would violate Safavian's privacy. Safavian was recently convicted of trying to cover up his dealings with Abramoff. Administration officials said the Justice Department never invoked the privilege mentioned in the court filings because a settlement was reached. Former White House lawyer Lanny Breuer, who handled many of President Clinton's privilege claims, said that administration routinely released White House entry records to the public and never "came close to making a claim like the one being suggested in this instance." http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060920/ap_on_...HE0BHNlYwN0bWE-

Anna Nicole Smith has been dealt her first card and is waiting to see if she's handed three of a kind. E! News learned exclusively Wednesday that the first of three toxicology tests performed on Smith's son, Daniel, turned up no traces of illegal substances in his bloodstream. Anna Nicole's attorney and confidante, Howard K. Stern, said that, as expected, doctors found the antidepressant Lexapro and sleeping medication Ambien in Daniel's system but not at levels that could have caused his sudden death Sept. 10 at age 20. The first toxicology report was based on blood drawn at the hospital in the Bahamas where Daniel died while visiting his mom, who had given birth to a baby girl three days earlier, Stern told E! News. The reality TV star is still waiting for the results of tox screens from each of the two autopsies performed on Daniel's body. Both autopsies ruled out various natural causes of death (heart disease, stroke, birth defect, etc.) but did not lead to a definitive answer. Bahamian officials finally issued a death certificate Wednesday and released Daniel's body to Anna Nicole, who has been so devastated by the loss of her son that she suffered memory loss shortly after it happened, requiring Stern to break the news to her a second time. Another of Anna Nicole's lawyers, Michael Scott, has since said the TrimSpa spokesmodel is doing much better and was hoping for more information from the various tests being conducted. Meanwhile, David Giancola, the director of the sci-fi film Anna Nicole recently starred in, Illegal Aliens, told E! News that Daniel Smith, who worked as an apprentice on the movie, had been hospitalized off and on in August to be treated for an elevated heart rate. Giancola said that Daniel lost nearly 30 pounds during that time and suffered from constant stomach pain. The second autopsy performed Sept. 17 at Smith's request by a private pathologist, Cycil Wecht, turned up traces of prescription meds that Daniel was taking to treat depression he started to experience four to six weeks before his death. Both Wecht and the Bahamian coroner who did the first autopsy both found no evidence to suggest Daniel died from a suicidal overdose. However, the coroner did at the time deem the cause of Daniel's death to be "not natural." Meanwhile, though Bahamian head coroner Linda Virgill told reporters it was not unusual for families to request an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding a loved one's death, authorities reassigned Virgill Wednesday in light of public concern she may have given the Smith case special treatment. Chief Magistrate Roger Gomez told the Associated Press that complaints started rolling in when an inquest date was announced. "They've been complaining that, 'How is it that this case just came up and a date has been set and our case has been pending for years and we don't have a date yet,' " Gomez said. The official said that an inquest scheduled for Oct. 23 will be canceled if authorities can determine that Daniel died of natural causes. Anna Nicole is currently free to leave the Bahamas but has chosen to stay put for the time being. Daniel was Anna Nicole's son with husband Bill Smith. The duo tied the knot in 1985 and divorced two years later. http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20060920/en_cel...HE0BHNlYwN0bWE-

Cameron Diaz has lived with being a target of the paparazzi for years. But she won't stand for being a target of a paparazzo's car. The Shrek star filed a police report early Tuesday in Hollywood accusing an aggressive shutterbug of assault with a deadly weapon after he allegedly tried to run over her and boyfriend Justin Timberlake with his car, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed. The incident occurred about 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday as Diaz and Timberlake were leaving a friend's home. "A photographer hiding in the bushes attempted to snap a photo of them," said Officer Marjan Mobasser, citing Diaz's report. "Ms. Diaz and Mr. Timberlake both then chased him a short distance." That's when the unnamed photographer allegedly hopped in his vehicle "and drove toward Ms. Diaz and Mr. Timberlake, causing Ms. Diaz to jump out of the car's way," added Mobasser. "Ms. Diaz felt the photographer was trying to hit her with his car so she filed an assault with a deadly weapon with a vehicle police report. "No arrests have been made at this time and no suspects have been identified. An investigation is ongoing." Detectives won't have to do much sleuthing to track down the shutterbug in question. On Wednesday, celebrity photo agency X17 admitted to employing the photographer in question and quickly came to his defense. "To the best of our knowledge, the pictures and video of Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz early morning were taken on a public street where there was no 'Private Drive' or 'Private Property' sign visible," the agency said in a statement. "What the photographer knows he saw and what the pictures show were at least two people verbally and physically assaulting him." X17 also rejected allegations that the paparazzo tried to run them down with his car. "The photographer was attempting to leave what he perceived to be a dangerous situation for him and when he tried to do so, Ms. Diaz and at least one other member of her entourage stood in front of his car in an attempt to entrap him," the agency said. "He drove around them at what he perceived to be a safe distance, as at least five members of Ms. Diaz and Mr. Timberlake's group were yelling at him, making threats against him." The statement concluded by saying the lensman was moving with his own complaint against the couple. Diaz's publicist Brad Cafarelli declined to comment, instead referring to a statement from the actress' attorney, Marcy Morris. "The increasingly aggressive conduct of the paparazzi continues to be a matter of grave concern," Morris said. "There is currently a criminal investigation pending regarding the conduct of the photographers involved in this incident. Therefore, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this time.? This is deja vu all over again for Diaz, 34, and Timberlake, 25. Their battles with prying eyes date back to November 2004, when a paparazzo named Saul Lazo filed a complaint with Los Angeles police accusing Diaz and Timberlake of grand theft and battery. The photog claimed the Charlie's Angel star ran after him and took his camera after he snapped a photo of them outside Hollywood's legendary Chateau Marmont Another photographer who witnessed the scene, Jose Gonzalez, later claimed that Timberlake clocked Lazo on the head. Diaz and Timberlake's reps issued a joint statement saying the A-listers were "ambushed by two men, who jumped out of a concealed hiding place on a dark, deserted street late at night" and that "any actions by Diaz and Timberlake were merely taken in self-defense." Lazo and Gonzalez subsequently sued the stars claiming emotional distress and physical harm. The photographers insisted they were just doing their job snapping pics of famous people when they were accosted. No criminal charges were ever brought against Diaz and Timberlake and the two ended up reaching an undisclosed settlement with Lazo and Gonzalez in October 2005. http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20060920/en_cel...HE0BHNlYwN0bWE-

AP - Boy or girl? Almost half of U.S. fertility clinics that offer embryo screening say they allow couples to choose the [bleeped!] of their child, the most extensive survey of the practice suggests.

Cameron Diaz filed a police report Wednesday accusing a photographer of assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly driving his car at her, police said. Diaz and her boyfriend, Justin Timberlake, were leaving a friend's home in Hollywood just after midnight Wednesday when a photographer who had been hiding in the bushes jumped out and tried to snap a picture of the pair, said police Officer April Harding. The couple chased the photographer "a short distance," she said. "The photographer got into his car and drove toward Diaz and Timberlake, causing Diaz to jump out of the car's way," Harding said. No one was immediately arrested and no suspects have been identified. "The investigation is in its initial stages," Harding said. A law that took effect this year holds photographers who engage in criminal behavior to get a picture liable for three times the damages they cause, plus loss of any profits the published photo might generate. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060920/ap_en_...HE0BHNlYwN0bWE-

In a major week for new releases, Justin Timberlake scored his first No. 1 solo album, while John Mayer, Bob Seger and Lionel Richie also crashed the upper echelons of the U.S. pop charts, according to Billboard. The 'N Sync alumnus sold more than 684,400 copies of his sophomore solo outing "FutureSex/LoveSounds" in the week ended September 17, according to Nielsen SoundScan data reported by the trade publication. His solo debut, "Justified," entered at No. 2 with 439,000 copies in 2002. Timberlake's Jive Records label said in a statement that "FutureSex/LoveSounds" was also No. 1 in Britain, Ireland, Australia and Canada, and top-five in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, France, Denmark, and Hong Kong. The album's first single, "SexyBack," has topped Billboard's Hot 100 chart for four weeks, Jive added. Mayer made his sixth appearance on the Billboard 200 albums chart in five years with "Continuum" (Aware/Columbia), which debuted at No. 2 with 300,000 copies. Its 2003 predecessor, "Heavier Things," entered at No. 1 with 317,000. After debuting at No. 1 last week, Beyonce's "B'Day" (Columbia) slipped to No. 3 with 162,000 copies. With his first album in 11 years, Seger entered at No. 4 with "Face the Promise" (Capitol), which sold over 150,000 copies. It marks the Detroit rocker's sixth visit to the chart's top five and first since 1986's "Like a Rock" peaked at No. 3. His previous effort, "It's a Mystery," opened and peaked at No. 27 in 1995 with 33,500 units. Bob Dylan's former chart-topper "Modern Times" (Columbia) slipped two places to No. 5 in its third week with 93,000 copies. At No. 6, Richie's "Coming Home" (Island) landed him in the top 10 for the first time since 1986's "Dancing on the Ceiling." The set moved 75,000 copies, Richie's best one-week sum since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991. Oklahoma hard rock act Hinder's "Extreme Behavior" jumped three places to a new high of No. 7 in its 33rd week. The Universal Republic release sold 64,000 units. MTV girl-band Danity Kane's self-titled Bad Boy release fell four places to No. 8 with 62,000. The Mars Volta's Universal set "Amputechture" bowed at No. 9 with 59,000. The group's "Frances The Mule" fared better in 2005 with 123,000 units and a No. 4 debut. Canadian rock band Nickelback's "All the Right Reasons" (Roadrunner) was down two places to No. 10 in its 50th week with 57,000 units. Other new releases included: the second volume of the soundtrack to "Grey's Anatomy" (Hollywood Records), at No. 14; California rock band Papa Roach's "The Paramour Sessions" (Geffen), at No. 16; Canadian combo Barenaked Ladies' "Barenaked Ladies Are Me" (Desperation), at No. 17; Black Label Society's "Shot to Hell" (Roadrunner), at No. 21; Georgia metal band Mastodon's "Blood Mountain" (Warner Bros.), at No. 32; Madeleine Peyroux's "Half the Perfect World" (Rounder), at No. 33; Daz' "So So Gangsta" (Virgin), No. 35; Norma Jean's "Redeemer" (Tooth & Nail), at No. 38; and TV On The Radio's "Return to Cookie Mountain," (Interscope), No. 41. At 10.05 million units, overall CD sales were up 5.6% from last week's count and up 0.9% compared to the same week a year ago. Sales for 2006 were down 5% compared to 2005 at 374 million units. Reuters/Billboard

A San Francisco woman has been sent back to Germany after admitting she took part in Nazi acts of persecution as a concentration camp guard of female prisoners during World War Two, U.S. Justice Department officials said on Wednesday. They said Elfriede Lina Rinkel, 83, a native and citizen of Germany, served as a guard at the Ravensbruck concentration camp in Germany from June 1944 until the camp was abandoned in the closing weeks of the war. In a settlement agreement, Rinkel admitted she served as a guard and that she must be deported from the United States under a federal law that requires the removal of immigrants who participated in acts of Nazi-sponsored persecution. She agreed to an immigration court order directing her removal to Germany, and returned to Germany earlier this month, the officials said. Rinkel never told her husband -- a German Jew who fled to the United States during the Nazi regime -- that she was a concentration camp guard, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, quoting the woman's lawyer. The husband died in 2004. "Concentration camp guards such as Elfriede Rinkel played a vital role in the Nazi regime's horrific mistreatment of innocent victims," Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher said in a statement. "This case reflects the government's unwavering commitment to remove Nazi persecutors from this country." Established in 1939, Ravensbruck was the only Nazi concentration camp operated exclusively for female prisoners. A charging document filed in U.S. immigration court in San Francisco stated that Rinkel used a trained attack dog to carry out her duties. At Ravensbruck, female guards with attack dogs forced the women inmates to march to slave labor sites each day, guarded them while they performed manual labor, and then marched them back to the camp, the officials said. The charging document said Rinkel's activities at the camp assisted the Nazis in persecuting civilians, and that her removal from the United States was required by law. Rinkel immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1959. She was accused of concealing her concentration camp service from U.S. immigration authorities when she applied for her entry visa. The case was investigated by the Justice Department's Nazi-hunting Office of Special Investigations. "Thousands of innocent women were brutalized and murdered at Ravensbruck through the active participation of Elfriede Rinkel and other guards, whose principal function was to prevent prisoners from escaping the abominable conditions inside the camp," said Eli Rosenbaum, the office director. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060920/ts_nm/...HE0BHNlYwN0bWE-

Kate Moss is strutting her stuff on the other side of the catwalk. The 32-year-old supermodel and muse to many a fashion house will try her hand at designing, teaming up with British mega-chain Topshop to launch her own line of clothing, aptly dubbed Kate Moss for Topshop. "I have always been a big fan of Topshop and regularly shop there," Moss said in a statement. "I love what they stand for and am very excited at the thought of working with them. It's going to be great fun." The announcement was made Wednesday after the fully rebounded professional poser attended the High Street store's fashion show with billionaire owner Philip Green at the start of London's Fashion Week. "Kate has a unique position as a true fashion icon, and I look forward to helping develop Kate Moss for Topshop into a global brand," Green said. "She is a fashion icon in terms of the U.K....and this is what Topshop is all about in terms of fashion," he told WWD. "Our customers identify with her." The design coup ends months of speculation by the fashion world that Moss was partnering with the clothing house, with Green confirming that the exclusive collection will be more than just a one-off stunt, as has been done in partnerships by fellow retailers H&M and Target with high-fashion designers. According to Topshop, Moss' line will debut in spring/summer 2007 in all 308 U.K. locations, and will also be available at international outlets, including the soon-to-open New York store, as well as through the retailer's Website. Neither side disclosed the terms of the deal, though contracting the fashion world's most courted and enviable "get" into a longterm partnership likely did much to boost the supermodel's ever-growing bank account. What a difference a year makes. In September 2005, the now infamous photos of an allegedly cocaine-snorting Moss surfaced in the press, prompting a year of unprecedented highs and lows for the erstwhile icon. But the perpetual covergirl's comeback has seemingly turned her into a bigger brand than before the scandal, with her profile and industry cachet--if the pages of both U.S. and U.K. magazines are any indication--reaching higher than ever. Over the past season, Moss has starred in 18 major campaigns for everything ranging from luxury fashion houses (Chanel, Calvin Klein, Burberry, Stella McCartney) to cell phones (Virgin Mobile) to makeup (Rimmel) to even cameras (Nikon). The trendsetter's new line is expected to be kept under tight wraps until its debut next spring. http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20060920/en_cel...HE0BHNlYwN0bWE-

Madonna will wrap her Confessions tour Thursday at the Tokyo Dome as the top-grossing tour ever by a female artist. Although final numbers are not all in, tour producer Arthur Fogel puts the tally at $193.7 million from 60 shows that drew nearly 1.2 million in paid attendance. That gross narrowly puts Madonna over Cher's benchmark of $192.5 million. However, it took Cher an endurance-testing 273 shows between June 2002 and April 2005 to reach that mark on her marathon Farewell tour. Madonna's Confessions tour, which began May 21 in Los Angeles, followed the same model of the $125 million-grossing Re-Invention tour in 2004 and the $75 million-grossing Drowned World tour in 2001. Rather than visit 100 global markets a la mega acts like the Rolling Stones and U2, Madonna opted to play multiple nights in a limited number of major international locales. The strategy has led to a staggering $400 million in ticket sales in just six years. Reuters/Billboard

Come next week, Studio 8H is going to be a little emptier than usual. After nearly a month of speculation regarding the fates of several Saturday Night Live castmembers, roundabout confirmation finally arrives from NBC: Regulars Chris Parnell, Horatio Sanz and Finesse Mitchell won't be returning to the late night staple. The non-announcement was made by simply omitting the players' names from a press release touting the start of the show's 32nd season, though a rep for the network denied there was any bad blood between the M.I.A. cast and Svengali producer Lorne Michaels--or that their departure was the result of a firing. "I believe there were mutual choices made," NBC rep Marc Liepis told E! Online. "When you're on the show for eight years, I don't think you look at it as a firing." Parnell, Sanz and Mitchell, who have been part of the show for eight years, eight years and three years, respectively, have yet to comment on their non-return, though if past remarks are any indication, the decision to part hardly seems mutual. "I haven't been approached with anything that's led me to believe I won't be back," Sanz told the Chicago Sun-Times less than a month ago. "I definitely enjoy the job and would like to stick with it." As for Mitchell, his alleged axing is the most surprising, as speculation has pegged fellow castmember Kenan Thompson, who returns this fall, as the third man out. Darrell Hammond, whose 11 seasons on the show mark a series best, is also in the clear, returning to the show despite murmurs that he, too, may have performed his last impression. The triple departure creates something of a mass exodus from the show of longtime cast, though the others appear to be slightly more voluntary--at least on the surface. Over the summer, Tina Fey and Rachel Dratch confirmed they were leaving the show to star in the NBC comedy 30 Rock, set behind the scenes at a SNL-like variety show produced by Michaels and costarring fellow alum Tracy Morgan. Of course, some departees are bouncing back quicker than others. According to NBC's Website, Parnell, whose "Lazy Sunday" rap with Andy Samberg was one of last season's highlights, is currently shooting the sitcom Thick & Thin for the Peacock net. As for Mitchell and Sanz, neither appears to have a new project in the works. While Rockefeller Center will be without five of its most familiar faces this fall, there are no current plans to fill the gap. According to a statement from NBC, no new regular players have been added to the late night mix, though several of the remaining funnymen and women will see various changes to their onscreen roles. Fey's departure paves the way for a new face to join Amy Poehler at the "Weekend Update" desk, and while no successors have been formally named, early reports peg Jason Sudeikis and Seth Meyers as the top candidates. Meyers also returns as head writer for the show, a title he previously shared with Fey. Saturday Night Live kicks off its new season Sept. 30, with host Dane Cook and musical guest The Killers http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20060920/en_tv_...HE0BHNlYwN0bWE-

California sued six of the world's largest automakers over global warming on Wednesday, charging that greenhouse gases from their vehicles have caused billions of dollars in damages. The lawsuit is the first of its kind to seek to hold manufacturers liable for the damages caused by their vehicles' emissions, state Attorney General Bill Lockyer said. It comes less than a month after California lawmakers adopted the nation's first global warming law mandating a cut in greenhouse gas emissions. California has also targeted the auto industry with first-in-the-nation rules adopted in 2004 requiring carmakers to force cuts in tailpipe emissions from cars and trucks. Automakers, however, have so far blocked those rules with their own legal action -- prompting one analyst to say California's lawsuit represents a way for California to pressure car manufacturers to accept the rules. "That's the objective," said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research, a nonprofit organization that provides public research and forecasts about the industry. "They want to get the automakers basically to bow down and pay homage to the (emissions) law." The complaint, which an auto industry trade group called a "nuisance" suit, names General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp., the U.S. arm of Germany's DaimlerChrysler AG and the North American units of Japan's Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.. Lockyer told Reuters he would seek "tens or hundreds of millions of dollars" from the automakers in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Northern California. Environmental groups hailed the lawsuit, saying it represented another weapon for the state as it seeks to curb greenhouse gas emissions and spur the auto industry to build vehicles that pollute less. "(California) just passed a new law to cut global warming emissions by 25 percent and that's a good start and this lawsuit is a good next step," said Dan Becker, director of the Sierra Club's Global Warming Program. Ford deferred comment to the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which said the lawsuit was similar to one a New York court dismissed that is now on appeal. "Automakers will need time to review this legal complaint, however, a similar nuisance suit that was brought by attorneys- general against utilities was dismissed by a federal court in New York," the industry group said in a statement. Toyota declined to comment as the company evaluates the lawsuit, while Honda said in a statement it was committed to developing environmentally responsible technology. The other automakers had no immediate comment. But Sean Hecht, executive director of the Environmental Law Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, said the lawsuit has a "reasonable" chance of succeeding. He also noted the judge in the New York lawsuit cited rarely-used legal doctrine in ruling that the question at issue was political rather than legal and should therefore be addressed by the legislature and not the court. "I was surprised that the court in that case did that," he said. "I think it is a straight forward legal question. My impression is this is a very legitimate case to bring." The lawsuit seeks monetary damages for past and ongoing contributions to global warming and asks that the companies be held liable for future monetary damages to California. It said California is spending millions to deal with reduced snow pack, beach erosion, ozone pollution and the impact on endangered animals and fish. "The injuries have caused the people to suffer billions of dollars in damages, including millions of dollars of funds expended to determine the extent, location and nature of future harm and to prepare for and mitigate those harms, and billions of dollars of current harm to the value of flood control infrastructure and natural resources," it said. The Center for Automotive Research's Cole said it would be tough for the industry to immediately meet demands from some critics and predicted other states would quickly follow suit should California succeed with the legal action. Adoption of diesel engine emissions technology or gasoline- electric hybrids comes at great cost and improving gas mileage also likely means smaller lighter vehicles, trade-offs that are not attractive to consumers, he added. "These are not free technologies, they are very expensive," Cole said. "Most people are price sensitive." In the complaint, Lockyer charges that vehicle emissions have contributed significantly to global warming and have harmed the resources, infrastructure and environmental health of the most populous state in the United States. Lockyer -- a Democratic candidate for state treasurer in the November election -- said the lawsuit states that under federal and state common law the automakers have created a public nuisance by producing "millions of vehicles that collectively emit massive quantities of carbon dioxide." Carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases have been linked to global warming. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060920/ts_nm/...HE0BHNlYwN0bWE-

Thailand's military coup leaders faced international calls for a swift return to democracy on Wednesday, after vowing to choose a new prime minister within two weeks to replace ousted Thaksin Shinawatra. Speaking less than 24 hours after leading a bloodless coup to oust the billionaire premier, army chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin said it would take a year to produce a new constitution leading to a fresh general election. The military leadership said it was looking at civilian candidates to replace Thaksin, who arrived in London on Wednesday from New York where he had been attending the U.N. General Assembly. "We have two weeks. After two weeks, we step out," said Sonthi, whose military "Political Reform Council" was legitimized by a royal proclamation. The United States urged a quick restoration of democracy, and warned that only then would it be willing to move forward on a free trade pact. The trade deal has been under negotiation for more than two years. "We're disappointed in the coup. We hope those who mounted it will make good and make good swiftly on their promises to restore democracy," White House spokesman Tony Snow said. U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said: "In light of this coup, there are aspects of our relationship that we are going to have to review," without elaborating. British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said: "It's not for us to say that he (Thaksin) should be reinstalled. We have called for a return to democratic government." U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is following with concern developments in Thailand and "appeals for a prompt return to civilian, democratic rule and the holding of new elections as quickly as possible," his spokesman said in New York. Thaksin, wearing a dark suit and red tie, put his hands together in a traditional greeting as he left a Thai Airways plane at London's Gatwick Airport. British officials said Thaksin's decision to travel to London had no political significance and noted that he had relatives in Britain. NEW CABINET, NEW CONSTITUTION In Thailand, the royal proclamation declared: "The general public is requested to remain calm and all civil servants and state officials to follow instructions issued by General Sonthi Boonyaratglin." The military said it acted because there was no other way out of a protracted political crisis that pitted Thaksin against the political old guard and street campaigners, who accused him of subverting democracy for his family and friends in business. Sonthi told a news conference a new cabinet would form a special committee to draw up a new constitution and submit it to a referendum, after which new elections could be held. "It will take a year to draft a new constitution," he said. Political reform is considered essential by Thaksin's foes to allow, they say, independent state agencies such as the election commission to be purged of his allies. Not a shot was fired in the coup and the streets of Bangkok were quiet with very little military presence except around Government House and nearby army headquarters. "There is no threat to tourists," a Thomas Cook spokesman in Germany said of a country which draws about 12 million visitors a year. Concerns of conflict or even a counter-coup by Thaksin's supporters appeared to evaporate and Sonthi invited the ousted leader to return, promising his assets would not be touched. "Thaksin is a Thai and a fellow countryman and there will be no problem should he decide to return. We are like brothers," said Sonthi, mostly Buddhist Thailand's first Muslim army chief. National Police Chief Kowit Wattana said Thaksin would not face any new probes but would have to answer cases already filed, including charges of election fraud. Leaders around the world expressed shock and disappointment at the sudden overthrow of Thaksin, whose huge popularity in the countryside gave him two landslide election wins. The United States, European Union, Australia and New Zealand condemned as undemocratic Thailand's first coup in 15 years but its 18th since it became a constitutional monarchy in 1932. But analysts said the coup might prove a step forward if it cleared the way out of what many saw as an intractable political deadlock threatening the stability of the nation. "This coup will be different," said Somjai Phagapasvivat of Bangkok's Thammasat University. "Before, it was done in the interests of the military. This time, it was a necessary pre-emptive strike given the violent polarization of Thai society." http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060920/ts_nm/...HE0BHNlYwN0bWE-

AP - A suspect in the slaying of New York Times journalist David E. Rosenbaum pleaded guilty Wednesday to murder and robbery charges and agreed to testify against a relative who is also charged in the attack.

A man was arrested in the gruesome dragging death of a woman after a stained and tattered photograph of him was found at the crime scene, police said Wednesday. Jose Luis Rubi-Nava, 36, was arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of murder and jailed without bail. Investigators said they were still trying to identify the victim, who was dragged behind a vehicle with a rope, leaving a trail of blood more than a mile long. Authorities did not immediately respond to questions about how the photograph ended up near the woman's body, which was discovered Monday in a suburban neighborhood about 20 miles south of Denver. The picture shows a couple who appear to be in their 30s, with the man leaning his arm on the woman's shoulder. Investigators did not say whether the woman in the picture was the victim. The photo had been released to the public, and Sheriff Dave Weaver said tips from citizens helped lead to the arrest. Weaver offered no motive for the killing, and the sheriff's department did not respond to repeated requests by phone and in writing for more information. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Carl Rusnok said agents believe Rubi-Nava is an illegal immigrant from Mexico. At a court appearance Wednesday afternoon, Rubi-Nava listened through a translator as District Judge Paul A. King formally told him the charge he faces. King sealed the arrest warrant affidavit, which outlines the preliminary allegations against Rubi-Nava, at the request of public defender Kathleen McGuire. King said he would consider McGuire's request for a gag order. Neighbors discovered the woman's body before dawn. Her face was unrecognizable and an orange tow rope was around her neck, said Nancy Foley, who lives nearby. An autopsy indicated the woman died of asphyxiation and head injuries from being dragged. The trail of blood led from Interstate 25 to the woman's body, which was found on a street lined with large ranch-style homes on spacious lots. On Wednesday, highway crews were spreading fresh tar over the roads to cover the traces of blood. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060920/ap_on_...HE0BHNlYwN0bWE-

AP - A man who was convicted in 1990 of raping and murdering a high school classmate when he was 16 was freed from prison Wednesday after DNA evidence implicated another man.

Tiger Woods was outraged Wednesday at an Irish magazine and a tabloid that linked photos of his wife to various pornography sites, and his agent was studying the merits of a lawsuit. The publisher, Dubliner Media Limited, issued an apology saying it was a satire and didn't expect anyone to take it seriously. Woods was among those who did. "My wife, yes, she has been a model prior, and she did do some bikini photos," Woods said. "But to link her to porn Web sites and such is unacceptable, and I do not accept that at all. Neither does our team." The Dubliner magazine wrote in its September issue about Elin Nordegren, his Swedish wife of nearly two years. "Most American golfers are married to women who cannot keep their clothes on in public," the magazine wrote. "Is it too much to ask that they leave them at home for the Ryder Cup? Consider the evidence. Tiger Woods' wife can be found in a variety of sweaty poses on porn sites." The Irish Daily Star gave it front-page treatment Wednesday with the headline, "Tiger's Fury at Naked Pictures." Inside the tabloid, it reprinted photos of Nordegren in a bikini, along with a nude photo of a woman purported to be Nordegren. Woods vehemently denied it was his wife when it first came out three years ago. "The publisher and staff at The Dubliner acknowledge that the satirical article was inappropriate and wish to sincerely apologize to Tiger Woods, his wife, Elin Nordegren and other Ryder Cup players and their families for any offense they may have taken to it," said the statement. Mark Steinberg, his agent at IMG, said he was debating whether to pursue a lawsuit. "It's ridiculous," Steinberg said from IMG headquarters in Cleveland. "I can't say much now because of prejudice, because I'm not sure what we'll do in the future. Everyone knew it (the nude photo) wasn't her. It's plain as day. You can see it's not factual. It's kind of ironic they bring it up this week." It was the first topic Woods brought up at his news conference leading to the Ryder Cup, which starts Friday at The K Club. He was not scheduled to speak to reporters until Thursday, but asked to move the session to Wednesday. "I thought Tiger handled that extremely well," U.S. captain Tom Lehman said. "He dealt with it first thing today. He got it out of the way so that we all move on. I think the whole team understands his frustration. Nobody likes that. But it was kind of like, 'I want to say something ... and let's get back to the business of the Ryder Cup.'" Woods said his anger has nothing to do with the Irish people or the gallery that came to the golf course, even on Wednesday when the course was closed for three hours in the morning because of 40 mph wind and rain. "I know the media can be a little bit difficult at times, but when you ... it's hard to be very diplomatic about this when you have so much emotion involved, when my wife is involved in this," Woods said. "As I said, I don't want that to deter from the beauty of this event." Woods said making public his feelings was a matter of sticking up for his wife. "You do things for the people you love and you care about," Woods said. "My father got ridiculed for years, and I always felt for my father and my mother the same way. My wife, we're in it together. We're a team, and we do things as a team. And I care about her with all my heart." Phil Mickelson was asked how the U.S. team felt about the stories. "I don't think it shows too much about your profession," Mickelson replied, pausing for effect. "Other than that, I just heard about it recently." http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060920/ap_on_...HE0BHNlYwN0bWE-

A 3.3 million-year-old skeleton of the earliest child ever found shows the ancient ancestor of modern humans walked upright but may also have climbed trees, scientists said on Wednesday. They found the well-preserved remains of a three-year-old girl of the species Australopithecus afarensis -- which includes the fossil skeleton known as "Lucy" -- in the Dikika area of Ethiopia, 400 kms northeast of the capital Addis Ababa. "It represents the earliest and most complete partial skeleton of a child ever found in the history of paeleoanthropology," said Dr Zeresenay Alemseged, of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. The skull, torso and upper and lower limbs, including the hand, show both human and ape-like features. The state of the ancient bones suggest she was buried in a flood which may also have caused her death. The remains provide the first evidence of what babies of early human ancestors looked like. The nearly complete skeleton will also provide information about the child's height and structure. "This child will help us understand a lot about the species to which it belongs," said Alemseged, leader of the international team of scientists who reported the findings in the journal Nature. "The lower part of the body, which includes the foot, the shin bone and the thigh bone clearly shows us that this species was an upright walking creature," he told Reuters. But some of the features from the upper part of the body, including the shoulder blade and arms are more ape-like. The fingers are long and curved which suggest she might have been able to swing through trees. "The finding is the most complete hominid skeleton ever found in the world," Zeresenay Alemseged, who is head of the Paleoanthropological Research Team, told a news conference in Addis Ababa. He said the fossil was older than the 3.2-million-year-old remains of "Lucy" discovered in 1974 and described by scientists as one of the world's greatest archaeological finds. "The new bones belong to a three-year-old girl who lived 3.3 million years ago, 150,000 years before Lucy," Zeresenay said. The fossil has been named "Selam," which means peace in Ethiopia's official Amharic language. JUVENILE "LUCY" Dr Simon Underdown of Oxford Brookes University in England described it as a massively exciting discovery of a juvenile "Lucy." "This tremendous fossil will make us challenge many of the ideas we have about how and why we came to walk on two feet," he said. An analysis of the sediment in which the remains were found enabled researchers to build a picture of the type of environment in which the child lived. It was a lush area with flowing water, forests and grassland which was also affected by volcanic eruptions. The range of habitats was suitable for hippos, crocodiles and relatives of the wildebeest. "We can see from the sediment that the region was very much characterized by a mosaic of environment that ranged from forests and woodlands near the rivers, to seasonally flooded grasslands to a flood plain that would have supported more open vegetation," said Dr Jonathan Wynn of the University of South Florida who dated the sediments surrounding the remains. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060920/sc_nm/...HE0BHNlYwN0bWE-