Bush begins vacation with high poll numbers

Bush begins vacationwith high poll numbers
WACO, Texas -- President Bush retired to his sprawling ranch Wednesday for a holiday retreat far from the trappings of Washington and the challenges that face him as he nears the end of his first year in office.
The president arrived shortly before noon, stepping out of Air Force One into the Texas sunshine with his dog Barney clutched in his arm. He and his wife, Laura, shed their heavy overcoats they had worn when they left Washington a few hours earlier to depart for a working vacation that will stretch into the New Year.
The White House said the president hoped to stay out of sight for most of his vacation. He will be given daily updates on the war in Afghanistan, but beyond a trip to Austin next week, he has no public events planned outside of Texas before his scheduled return to Washington on Jan. 6.
Meanwhile, the president is basking in weeks of unprecedented approval ratings, including a Gallup/USA Today poll released Wednesday that showed 39 percent of Americans named Bush as the man they most admired. The percentage is the highest ranking for a man since the poll started asking the question in 1948. The poll said the first lady was the most admired woman with 12 percent.
The previous high rating for a man was 32 percent, received by President John F. Kennedy at the end of his first year in office. The overall highest rating was 60 percent for Jacqueline Kennedy recorded the month after her husband was assassinated in 1963.
Wis. man accusedin friend's slaying
STURGEON BAY, Wis. -- A drunken Christmas Eve argument over the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks ended when a man killed his friend by stabbing him with a 38-inch martial arts sword, prosecutors said.
Door County District Attorney Tim Funnell was expected to file charges today against the 40-year-old Sturgeon Bay man accused of fatally stabbing John Zelhofer, 36, also of Sturgeon Bay.
The man was being held on $300,000 bail.
Zelhofer identified the friend as his assailant before he died, Lt. Tom Baudhuin said.
Police said they found Zelhofer on Monday lying in a pool of blood at the home he shared with his mother, who had called 911. Zelhofer had run there after he was stabbed at his friend's apartment, police said.
A blood trail covered the 140 feet from the Zelhofer house to the friend's apartment, where officers found the sword, with blood covering 14 inches of the blade, police said.
NYC police museumto open next month
NEW YORK -- A police museum set to open next month pays tribute to officers who were killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks with a display of their photos and badges.
The city's police officers have taken on special hero status since the attacks and the New York City Police Museum -- located six blocks from the ruins of the World Trade Center -- will reflect that when it opens to the public in mid-January.
A room in the museum will honor the 23 officers who died in the attacks. In one photograph, Officer Moira Smith is seen escorting a bloodied man minutes before she was killed.
Visitors looking for a comprehensive history of the police department -- warts and all -- will be disappointed. The museum does not note some recent controversies, including the cases of Abner Louima, sodomized with a broom handle by officers in a stationhouse, and of Amadou Diallo, an unarmed immigrant gunned down by four officers.
2 murderers executed
TOKYO -- Japan hanged two convicted murderers today, the first executions in more than a year, as Tokyo's secretive policy on capital punishment came under attack.
In Japan, names of executed criminals are not released, nor are executions announced beforehand. Until 1998, Tokyo even refused to acknowledge the existence of executions.
The Justice Ministry confirmed today's hangings, the first under the government of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Japan lifted a four-year moratorium on capital punishment in 1993.
Amnesty International immediately criticized today's hangings, saying Japan should disclose more information about executions to ensure better public accountability.
"There has been no change in Japan's capital punishment system, which is still shrouded in secrecy," the human rights group said, adding that it will also petition the government to drop the death penalty.
The hangings were the first in Japan since November 2000, when three convicted criminals were executed.