IRANIAN WEAPONS FOUND IN AFGHANISTAN, OFFICIAL SAYS

Iranian weapons found inAfghanistan, official says
WASHINGTON -- U.S. forces recently intercepted Iranian-made weapons intended for Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, the Pentagon's top general said Tuesday, suggesting wider Iranian war involvement in the region. It appeared to be the first publicly disclosed instance of Iranian arms entering Afghanistan, although it was not immediately clear whether the weapons came directly from Iran or were shipped through a third party. Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that unlike in Iraq, where U.S. officials say they are certain that arms are being supplied to insurgents by Iran's secretive Quds Force, the Iranian link in Afghanistan is murky. "It is not as clear in Afghanistan which Iranian entity is responsible, but we have intercepted weapons in Afghanistan headed for the Taliban that were made in Iran," Pace told a group of reporters over breakfast.
Panel to vote on immunityfor former Gonzales aide
WASHINGTON -- Monica Goodling, once Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' White House liaison, would be granted immunity from prosecution and forced to testify under a plan being considered by a House panel probing the firings of federal prosecutors. House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers said Tuesday that Goodling, who has refused to testify, has much to contribute to the investigation. "I am hopeful we can approve immunity so that we can schedule her to testify as soon as possible and begin to clear up the many inconsistencies and gaps surrounding this matter," said Conyers, D-Mich.
Homeowners begincleaning up after storm
MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- As the floodwaters receded Tuesday, homeowners picked through ruined belongings and priceless keepsakes trying to determine what they'd lost. Hundreds of thousands were still without power from Maine to North Carolina, and about 1,000 residents of Bound Brook, N.J., were still barred from their homes Tuesday as flooding persisted from the spring nor'easter that has claimed at least 17 lives. In Mamaroneck, described by Gov. Eliot Spitzer as "the epicenter of the damage done here in the state," discarded belongings damaged by the flooded Sheldrake River lined an avenue. Trash in the middle-class neighborhood included refrigerators, stoves, mattresses, dressers, a karaoke machine, even a 30-gallon aquarium somehow ruined by water. An upright piano, its veneer peeling, made only off-key noises when its warped keys were pounded. In New Jersey, electricity had been shut off to the low-lying central community of Bound Brook -- which received 9 inches of rain -- and the stench of heating oil from flooded basements hung in the air.
Police: Corzine's SUV wasgoing 91 mph before crash
TRENTON, N.J. -- The sport utility vehicle carrying Gov. Jon S. Corzine was traveling about 91 mph moments before it crashed, the superintendent of state police said Tuesday. The governor was critically injured when the vehicle crashed into a guardrail on the Garden State Parkway just north of Atlantic City last week. He apparently was not wearing his seat belt as he rode in the front passenger's seat. The speed limit along that stretch of the parkway is 65 mph. The state trooper-driven SUV was in the left lane with its emergency lights flashing when a pickup tried to get out of its way. Instead, it set off a chain reaction that resulted in the crash. Corzine broke his left thigh bone, 11 ribs, collarbone and chest bone. He also fractured a vertebrae in his lower back. He remained in critical but stable condition Tuesday, and doctors were assessing when he might be ready to breathe without a ventilator.
EPA proposing limitsto lawnmower emissions
WASHINGTON -- Those polluting engine-powered mowers that are a staple of suburban lawn care would become much cleaner under emission limits proposed Tuesday. The regulators' proposal follows a long-running dispute between California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Missouri Republican Sen. Kit Bond, who has sought to block the change to protect a small-engine maker in his home state, Briggs & amp; Stratton Corp. Walk-behind and riding mowers and other garden equipment account for up to 10 percent of summertime smog-forming emissions from mobile sources in some parts of the country. The Environmental Protection Agency's new proposal applies to engines under 25 horsepower, which power nearly all walk-behind and riding lawnmowers as well as small generators and other devices. The rule would cut smog-forming emissions from the engines by 35 percent; the reductions would probably be accomplished by adding catalytic converters that reduce pollution from exhaust.
Associated Press