HICE STORM IN THE SOUTH CAUSES POWER OUTAGES

hIce storm in the Southcauses power outages
Columbia, S.C. -- Ice encases berries and leaves on a dogwood tree in Spartanburg, S.C., during an ice storm that blanketed the upstate Thursday morning. A blast of freezing rain across Georgia and the Carolinas on Thursday closed schools, snarled traffic and caused power outages to more than 450,000 customers. At least one death was attributed to the storm when an ice-laden tree crashed through a man's house. "Ice is our greatest nemesis, much worse than snow," said Lucinda Trew, spokeswoman for Duke Power, the main provider of electricity in the hardest-hit parts of the Carolinas. The widespread outages were caused by the ice that formed on tree limbs and fell onto power lines. In Kannapolis, N.C., just north of Charlotte, N.C., authorities say the weight of that ice buckled a 100-foot-tall tree that crushed 58-year-old David Ralph Jones while he reclined on a couch in his living room. While electricity was quickly restored to some, outages by early evening still totaled 260,000 in South Carolina's upstate, 113,000 in western and central North Carolina, 55,000 in northeast Georgia and 34,700 in the Atlanta area.
Afghan news site saysit has bin Laden video
WASHINGTON -- U.S. officials are skeptical of a report on an Afghan news site about a new video showing Osama bin Laden. The story from Pajhwok Afghan News, dated Tuesday, describes a new 30-minute tape with a message from Taliban commander Mullah Dodallah and the Al-Qaida leader, according to the IntelCenter, a U.S. government contractor that does work for intelligence agencies. A U.S. counterterrorism official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity in compliance with office policy, said the government could not confirm the tape's existence but said officials are aware of the media report. U.S. authorities are viewing it skeptically, the official said. Bin Laden has not been heard from since a December 2004 audio statement. That is the longest stretch the terror leader has been publicly quiet since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Former senator dies
WASHINGTON -- When William Proxmire won a Senate seat in 1957, he took a most unusual approach for a freshman, challenging the right of congressional leaders to determine committee assignments. Capitol Hill watchers termed this act of hubris "Proxmire's Farewell Address," but they underestimated the Wisconsin Democrat. Proxmire would go on to serve for four decades in the Senate, distinguished by his knack for taking on big targets. Proxmire, who died Thursday at age 90, made his mark in Congress by taking on government waste with his mocking "Golden Fleece" awards. He battled for causes that few colleagues embraced. He won re-election repeatedly without accepting campaign donations and fought year after year for ratification of an anti-genocide treaty. The former senator, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, died at a convalescent home in Sykesville, Md. His son, Douglas Proxmire, said no exact cause of death had been determined.
Iraqis mistakenly releasedterror leader, CNN reports
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi security forces caught terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi but released him because they didn't realize who he was, the deputy interior minister said Thursday, according to CNN. The deputy interior minister, Hussein Kamal, said the Jordanian-born leader of Al-Qaida in Iraq was in custody sometime last year, but he wouldn't provide further details, CNN reported. The report could not be confirmed, but a U.S. official said in Washington that American intelligence believed it was plausible. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in compliance with office policy. There have been several reports of missed opportunities to capture al-Zarqawi, including an April 28 raid by U.S. forces acting on a tip from local informants that militants reportedly including the terror leader were hiding in a hospital in Ramadi. Al-Qaida in Iraq and Iraqi officials also denied reports last month that al-Zarqawi was among those killed in a raid and gunfight in the northern city of Mosul.
Associated Press