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Show OAILY HERALD A4 Sunday, May 13. 2007 FAST FACT Anew and larger bathtub was installed Morning briefing in the White House after 332-pouWilliam Howard Taft became hopelessly stud while taking an executive bath. It is said that it took six men to extricate the embarrassed Commander in Chief. - Source: The Book of 1,001 Trivia Questions Compiled from Daily Herald wire services The WORLD The Nation. Passports for Iraqis now a long process serious concerns among UN. planners and outside experts about the viability of plans to deploy a joint U.N, and A.U. peacekeeping mission of up BAGHDAD, Iraq Long before the sun had risen or the mosques had called the n faithful to prayers on a cold morning in early February, Abu Hussein his wife and their two small children were awake. They were about to embark on a nightmarish mission: getting new passports. By 5 a.m., they were out of the house. By 6 a.m., they were in line outside the main passport office, the only place to get the application forms. When the gate opened two hours later, there was a frantic rush to enter the building and reach the window where applications are handed out. Guards' attempts to form lines were futile. "It was so difficult just to get inside the building," Allawchi said. "The crowds were terrible." Foreign travel was never easy for Iraqis during the rule of Saddam Hussein, who barred most people from leaving the country. Restrictions loosened after his April 2003 ouster, and in July 2004 the new Iraqi government began issuing to 20,000 troops.. Some governments that have commit- pre-daw- ' x. v - ' i - i. A, w v - :1 JONESlpaho Statesman KATHERINE Race for the Cure Cancer survivors gather for the traditional survivors' photograph at the end of the ninth annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Saturday in Boise, Idaho. More than 13,000 people turned out for the annual race. Retired general: Strain on National Guard will harm U.S. communities WASHINGTON The National Guard isn't as strong as it should be because of the war in Iraq and American communities will suffer as a result, retired Air Force Gen. Melvyn Montano said Saturday. Delivering the Democrats' weekly radio address, Montano said the strain means it will take longer for Greensburg, Kan., to recover from a devastating tornado that leveled the town a week ago. "Crucial equipment used by the Guard for disaster relief is now in Iraq instead of standing ready to respond to crises here at home," said Montano, who was once adjutant general, of the New Mexico National Guard. "When the tornado struck Kansas last week, the Guard had half the number of Hum-vee- s and large trucks they usually would have at their disposal,'' Montano said. "The recovery process now will take longer." ; Montano echoed Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, who clashed with the Bush administration this week. "I don't think there is any question if you are missing trucks, Hum-vee- s and helicopters that the response (to the tornado) is going to be slower," she said Monday. "The real victims here will be the residents of Greensburg, because the recovery will be at a slower pace." Sebelius later said the Guard was adequately equipped to handle the disaster, though possible flooding in another part of the state would have Army Corps faces lawsuits for Katrina NEW ORLEANS Ever since the floodwaters receded, the idea that the U.S. government was to blame for the Katrina catastrophe has possessed and angered its victims. A legion of lawn signs, posted in front of many wrecked homes, wagged a finger at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency responsible for the flood works: "Hold the Corps accountable!" Turns out it was more than mere talk. After a massive deadline filing rush recently that is still being sorted through, the United States is facing legal claims from more than 250,000 people here demanding compensation because, they allege, the Corps negligently designed the waterworks that permeate the city. No one knows if the plaintiffs will get a dime, and legal experts note the difficulties of successfully suing the federal government. But officials said the damage claimed against the Corps exceeds $278 billion, an amount that dwarfs even the estimated $125 billion that the federal government has put up for Gulf Coast hurricane recovery. Win or lose, the volume of claims is a measure of the prevalent sense in this city that the United States created the disaster and that, worse, it has failed to make up for it in disaster aid. away at our revenue chips away at our ability to preserve and improve the movie-goin- g experience." Man kills officer, then is killed by passerby A FRANCONIA, N.H. cousin of skiing star Bode Miller fatally shot and ran over a police officer, then was killed who grabbed by a passer-bthe officer's gun Liko Kenney shot CpL Bruce McKay four times and ran over him after a traffic stop Friday evening, state Attorney General Kelly Ayotte said. Gregory Floyd, who was driving by with his son, grabbed McKay's gun and shot Kenney when he refused to put his gun down, Ayotte said. The Kenney was convicted of assaulting McKay and resisting arrest in 2003. Ayotte had no other details of that previous incident between the men, and rejected suggestions the officer should have let someone else handle the traffic stop given his history with the driver. y Officials said McKay pulled Kenney over for speeding on Route 116. Kenney took off, and McKay pursued him for leases would erode the "magic", about 1 12 miles before pulling ing board. "She was a very of the moviegoing experience, in front of Kenney's car and good student." Barnett will soon graduate making film and television pro- pushing it off the road. from high school, and she said gramming look the same. The officer used pepper And by siphoning business she plans to attend Indiana Univespray on Kenney and his pasfrom the box office, they say, rsity-Purdue University Insenger and then turned around and was shot, Ayotte said Satdianapolis in the fall to become simultaneous releases would limit consumer choice by a forensic nurse examiner. urday at a news conference in jeopardizing neighborhood the- Concord. Soon after, Floyd araters' viability. rived and confronted Kenney Theaters criticize "It might be'good for Comwhile his son called for help usfilm plan by Comcast cast, but I don't believe it's ing the officer's radio. AuthoriHOLLYWOOD Comcast ties said Floyd was justified in good for anybody else," said Corp.'s plan to show movies on Shari Redstonfc, president of shooting Kenney. The forced her to make hard choic- its cable TV systems as soon as No. 5 U.S. exh&itor National McKay was Amusements mc. in Dedham, es about where to send aid. a veteran of the Fran-coni- a they open in theaters has exhibitors screaming "Cut!" Mass. "Everything that chips Police Department. Two of the nation's biggest Teen becomes Indiana's . chains, Regal Enteryoungest investigator theater tainment Group and National Amusements Inc., said they PORTLAND, Ind With her father as a role model and would refuse to play films made available in the home sia love of the television show "CSI," a high school senior has multaneously, become Indiana's youngest "We're not interested in ' certified death investigator. playing anything that makes its debut in the home and at Amanda Barnett, 18, was certified last month and is one the theater at the same time, of four deputy coroners worksaid Michael L Campbell, chief executive of Knoxville, Tenn.-base- d ing for her father, Jay County t Coroner Mark Barnett. Regal, the nation's largest chain with 6,400 screens. "It's kind of weird to (my friends)," she said. "To other Stephen Burke, Comcast's cable president and chief operpeople it's disgusting, but I think it's interesting, and ating officer, told an audience at an industry conference last somebody's got to do it." Amanda Barnett said tier week that several studios were goal has been to follow in her "very interested" in the idea father's footsteps since his first of allowing cable providers campaign for coroner 15 years to charge $29.95 to $49.95 to movie watch an opening-daago, and she has attended numerous coroner conventions at home. He said it would inwith him. Her father accompacrease studio revenues rather nied her on some of her first than cannibalize them, if hancalls. dled properly. "I'll ask her what she's doing Until recently, debates about and why," Mark Barnett said. shrinking the "She might catch something period between a film's theatrithat I don't think of." cal and its home video release t She had to receive special have focused mainly on the ill effects on the box office. permission to attend a certifiAside from generating big cation class given by the Indie ana State Coroners Training returns such as the Board because she was only 17 worldwide record when it began. She scored 97 opening weekend for. Sony Pictures' "Spider-Mar- l 3." thepercent on the test, submitted four case reports and attended atrical releases create buzz OARYEMKmMinZLIVMtM(xar4nqurar and marketing awareness that an autopsy. Jonesing for barbecue "I think it's great that some-on- e pays off when a movie later Thousands of people fill Second Street browsing the various her age is interested in the comes to DVD and pay TV, vendors and a large selection of custom show cars Saturday exhibitors argue. field," said Lisa Barker, execuFestival in Owensboro, Ky. at the International Bar-B-tive director of the state train- Theyiay simultaneous re - - 1 y box-offic- $382-millio- n - "Mnr ted to send troops and equipment to Darfur are either balking or failing to make good on their pledges. Pope congratulates recovering addicts APAREQDA, Brazil Recovering drug addicts, g youths and cloistered nuns on Saturguitar-strummin- day welcomed Pope Benedict XVI into rural Brazil, where he warned narcotics traffickers they face the wrath of God for unleashing a deadly scourge across Latin America. Pressing a moral crusade that has attacked extramarital sex, abortion and hedonism, Benedict congratulated for kicking the their habits but said for full recovery they must also heal their souls. "Reintegration in society undoubtedly demonstrates the effectiveness of your initiative," he said. "Yet it is the conversions, the rediscovery of God and active participation in the life of the Church which attract even greater passports to millions of people clamoring attention and which conto travel for the first time. firm the importance of your work." Now the noose has tightened again. The pope was speaking The United States anat Fazenda da Esperanca nounced in January that it ("Farm of Hope"), part of would no longer accept the a chain of rehab farms that was founded by a Franciscan hastily crafted S passports, with their pastedon photofriar in Brazil and spread to countries around the world. graphs and handwritten information. Instead, all Iraqis It is run by a religious order coming to the U.S. must now that stresses discipline and faith and requires members show passports, to tend gardens and milk which were introduced by the Iraqi government about cows as part of therapy. a year ago and meet interThis orchestrated appearnational ance at a relatively affluent and other security standards. center was the only direct contact the pope will have European and most Middle Eastern countries have done with ordinary people during the same. his five-da- y pilgrimage to The rule affects Iraqis althe world's largest Catholic ready outside the country as country. He heard testimoniwell as those still here, and it als from five people about comes at the worst possible lives broken by cocaine or time for them An estimated alcohol, hugged a weeping 2 million people have fled woman and shook hands with dozens of excited folIraq to escape its violence, and millions more desperlowers who pushed to reach ately want to as the mayhem him as he walked through increases and health, educathe crowd. tion and other services deteriorate. Cheney goes Saudi The government cannot Arabia promote keep up with demand for U.S. military strategy the new passports, leaving would-b- e travelers facing a TABUK, Saudi Arabia Vice President Dick Cheney wretched choice: pay hundreds of dollars even thou- worked to overcome Saudi sands, depending on family skepticism over the U.S. size to unofficial middlemilitary strategy to secure men to speed up the process, Baghdad and the leadership or go the official route and capabilities of Iraqi President end up like Allawchi, who Nouri waited 70 days Cheney met with King nearly twice as long as the process Abdullah at a royal palace in is supposed to take to get this northern city on Saturhis passport. day. The king, while consid"This is daily suffering. Al- ered an important U.S. ally most every day I go to wait," in the Arab world, increassaid Allawchi, who is 31 and ingly has sent signals that has never been outside Iraq. he doubts the effectiveness "The only flags I have ever of President Bush's troop seen are the flags of Iraq and buildup in Iraq. America." Abdullah also has signaled that he sees as a anti-forge- to to African Union in Darfur weak leader with too many ties to Shute on verge of collapse pro-Irani- parties to be effective in reaching out to Iraqi's Sunni minority. Saudi Arabia has a predominantly Sunni Muslim ' population. The beleaguered African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur is on the verge of collapse, a development that is undercutting international efforts to protect civilians and deploy United Nations reinforcements, according to A.U. and U.N. officials. The African Union's first major peacekeeping mission once considered the last line of defense for Darfur's civilians has been crippled by funding and equipment shortages, government harassment and an upsurge in armed attacks by rebel forces that last month left seven African troops dead. The setbacks have sapped morale among peacekeepers, many of whom have not been paid for months. It has also compelled the force which numbered 7,000 troops at its peak to scale back its patrols and has diminished its capacity to protect civilians, aid workers and its own peacekeepers. In one example, Gambian troops last month failed to aid a Ghanaian peacekeeper who was gunned down in a carjacking incident within 300 yards of the mission's Darfur headquarters, U.N. officials said. The crisis comes as the Sudanese government has renewed aerial bombardment in Darfur. And It has raised Admiral: Increase exchanges with China The BEIJING, China new commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, Adm. Timothy J. Keating, said Saturday that he wants to intensify joint exercises and other exchanges with the Chinese military as quickly and broadly as the Chinese government will allow. The goals laid out by Keating, on his first visit to China since taking over the Honolulu' -based Pacific Command on March 26, suggested that he intends to continue the ef- fort to increase contacts at all ranks that was a hallmark of his prede- cessor, Adm. William Fallon. The objective, Keating said, is to learn more about the Chinese military and dispel mutual suspicions to reduce chances of conflict as China expands Us power and influence across Asia. "I am very supportive of that," Keating said at a news conference. Chinese military leaders with whom he has spoken since arriving Thursday also endorsed the idea, he added |