WASHINGTON — The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday subpoenaed President Bush’s former chief political adviser, Karl Rove, to testify about whether the White House improperly meddled with the Justice Department. Accusations of politics influencing decisions at the department led to the resignation last year of Bush’s attorney general, Alberto Gonzales. The subpoena orders Rove to appear before the House panel on July 10. Lawmakers want to ask him about the White House’s role in firing nine U.S. attorneys in 2006 and the prosecution of former Gov. Don Siegelman of Alabama, a Democrat.
Massachusetts: Obama steps in
Barack Obama has agreed to deliver the commencement address at Wesleyan University in place of Sen. Edward Kennedy, who pulled out Thursday after finding out he had brain cancer. Kennedy, 76, had planned to address the graduates — including stepdaughter Caroline Raclin — Sunday in Middletown, Conn. Kennedy returned to Hyannis Port on Wednesday after being released from Massachusetts General Hospital. The commencement exercises coincide with 25th reunion festivities for his son, Edward Kennedy Jr., who graduated from the school in 1983.
New York: FAA opens air corridor
In an effort to reduce flight delays, the Federal Aviation Administration will allow commercial aircraft access to military air space along the East Coast during the Memorial Day weekend, the Federal Aviation Administration acting administrator said Thursday. Commercial planes will be allowed to fly in the air space from 6 p.m. Friday until 7 a.m. Tuesday. The additional air space will allow airlines to better plan holiday air travel as part of a larger effort to cut down on flight delays in the peak summer travel season, he said.
Missouri: Drug charges at base
Nearly 30 people face state or federal drug charges in a sting operation that uncovered evidence of drug sales at Fort Leonard Wood, authorities said. Some civilian employees of mess halls at the U.S. Army fort were among those arrested Wednesday, the Pulaski County sheriff said. No military personnel were believed to have been arrested, he said. During the investigation, an undercover officer purchased heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine and ecstasy, authorities said.
Five Amur tigers born at zoo
Five rare tiger cubs have been born at the St. Louis Zoo. The zoo says the critically endangered Amur tigers were born April 28 and are in an off-display indoor den. The zoo says the first-time mother, Kalista, is busy nursing and caring for her babies. The normal litter size is two or three cubs. The five weigh 4.5 to 7 pounds each. The species used to be called Siberian tigers. They are at risk because of habitat loss, human encroachment and poaching.
S. Carolina: Prison locked down
Portions of a maximum-security prison were on lockdown Thursday as officials investigated an inmate disturbance that led guards to use tear gas, then seal off and abandon a wing of the prison for more than two hours. The disturbance at Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville started when some inmates refused to return to their cells after dinner around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, officials said. The two guards in the dormitory of about 150 inmates called for backup when they couldn’t get the inmates to follow orders. Three inmates were treated for minor injuries.
Sweden: Nuclear workers freed
Two men arrested after an explosives scare at a Swedish nuclear plant were released Thursday and police said they were no longer considered a threat to the power station. The two maintenance workers were arrested Wednesday after security guards at the Oskarshamn nuclear plant found traces of a highly explosive substance on a plastic bag that one of them was carrying. “There was no reason to keep them under arrest anymore, but the suspicions against them remain,” a prosecutor said.
Nepal: Climbs Everest 18 times
A mountaineering official says a veteran Sherpa guide has scaled Mount Everest for a record 18th time. The Nepal Mountaineering Association official says Appa reached the 29,035-foot summit along with several of his team members early Thursday. Appa, like most Sherpas, goes by only one name. As many as 59 climbers have scaled the world’s highest peak in the last three days and many more are headed to the summit because of favorable weather conditions.
Britain: Stonehenge damaged
Two men attacked the ancient monument of Stonehenge with a hammer and chipped off a piece of stone the size of a large coin, a conservation group said Thursday. Two men hacked the piece from the Heel Stone, the central megalith at the ancient site, an English Heritage spokeswoman said. They were spotted by security guards but escaped by jumping over a fence and driving off. Wiltshire police are investigating last week’s incident at the UNESCO World Heritage Site 90 miles west of London.
From Herald news services
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