WASHINGTON — The Department of the Interior wants 10 more weeks to decide whether polar bears should be listed as threatened or endangered, a delay conservation groups condemned as tied to the transfer of offshore petroleum leases in one of the animals’ two U.S. habitats. The Interior Department on Jan. 9 missed a deadline for a final decision, and three conservation groups sued. In the government response Thursday, Assistant Interior Secretary Lyle Laverty said the department needed until June 30 to complete a legal and policy review of the proposed listing.
@3. Headline Briefs 14 no:Korean leader plans new hotline
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said in Washington on Thursday that he will propose setting up a high-level diplomatic channel between North Korea and South Korea, including creating the first liaison offices in the two nations’ capitals. The United States, dating back to the Clinton administration, has long urged Seoul to take this step, but this is the first time it has been officially proposed by a South Korean president.
@3. Headline Briefs 14 no:Fall kills museum window washer
A window washer at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian has fallen at least 50 feet to his death. A D.C. Fire Department spokesman said rescuers were called to the museum on the National Mall about 10 a.m. Thursday. It’s not clear whether the man’s safety harness failed or whether it had been engaged properly when he started work. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.
Arizona: Pilots decertify union
Frustrated by an internal dispute over seniority, US Airways pilots on Thursday ousted their union of 59 years and agreed to be represented by another group. The rare decertification election, supervised by the federal National Mediation Board, gave the fledgling US Airline Pilots Association the right to represent the 5,300 pilots in US Airways’ system. The group was created and supported mostly by pilots from the former, Virginia-based US Airways who clashed with other pilots after their carrier was acquired by America West in 2005.
South Carolina: Fetus ultrasounds
A bill awaiting the South Carolina governor’s signature would require abortion providers to ask women whether they want to see ultrasound images of their fetuses before the procedure. As part of a legislative compromise formally announced Thursday, women must wait at least an hour after seeing an ultrasound to have an abortion. The agreement was reached after more than a year of debate on whether women should be required to see the ultrasound.
Hawaii: Audit faults ferry process
Hawaii’s government caved to pressure from the operator of the new inter-island ferry when it allowed the company to bypass an environmental review, an audit released Thursday found. The report said the state Department of Transportation exempted the Hawaii Superferry from an environmental study after the company threatened not to bring the ship to Hawaii unless it was given the green light by June 30, 2005. The exemption led to protests in Kauai’s harbor, court rulings that stopped the ferry and emergency legislation overriding the courts.
California: Coyotes kill tortoises
Coyotes have killed at least 11 desert tortoises recently moved to make way for Army tank training exercises north of Barstow, Calif. The problem coyotes, thought to be attacking tortoises because the drought has left fewer rabbits, will be tracked and possibly killed by a federal agency to help protect the tortoises — a species threatened with extinction. All together, 23 tortoises have been killed since the large-scale relocation of more than 700 reptiles began in March south of the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, an Army spokesman said.
Iraq: Suicide bomber kills 50
A suicide bomber struck the funeral of two Sunni tribesmen who joined forces against al-Qaida in Iraq, killing at least 50 people Thursday and reinforcing fears that insurgents are hitting back after American-led crackdowns. Thursday’s attack happened in the town of Albu Mohammad, about 90 miles north of Baghdad. A suicide bomber dressed in traditional Arab robes passed unsearched by guards into a tent of mourners. The occasion was a funeral for two brothers who belonged to the local Awakening Council and who were killed in an attack a day earlier.
Israel: Bread ruling irks Orthodox
An Israeli court has ruled that shops can sell leavened bread during Passover in violation of Jewish religious law, deepening tensions between observant and secular Jews ahead of the weeklong holiday. The ruling comes as good news for businesses selling bread and other leavened products during the holiday, which begins Saturday night. But Orthodox Jewish groups say that it violates the spirit of what Israel is meant to be — a Jewish state. They are threatening to hold demonstrations at establishments selling pizza, bread and other leavened products.
From Herald news services
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