Musharraf reportedly to resign as army chief

Musharraf reportedly
to resign as army chief

LONDON — Pakistan’s President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has agreed to step down as army chief, exiled Prime Minister Benazhir Bhutto said Wednesday, a move that would be a key step toward a power-sharing deal aimed at rescuing the U.S. ally’s bid for another presidential term.

Bhutto, who is expected to return to her homeland and contest parliamentary elections due by January, also said corruption charges would be dropped against her and dozens of other politicians as part of ongoing negotiations to restore civilian rule.

Musharraf and Bhutto have been in talks for months about a pact that would protect the general’s re-election bid from legal challenges and public disenchantment with military rule.

“We’re very pleased that Gen. Musharraf has taken the decision to listen to the people of Pakistan by taking the decision to take off the uniform,” Bhutto told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “I expect that he will step down [as army chief] before the presidential elections, but that is for the president to say.”

Helmsley leaves dog $12M;
grandchildren get nothing

NEW YORK — Leona Helmsley’s dog will continue to live an opulent life, and then be buried alongside her in a mausoleum.

But two of Helmsley’s grandchildren got nothing from the late luxury hotelier and real estate billionaire’s estate.

Helmsley left her beloved white Maltese, named Trouble, a $12 million trust fund, according to her will, which was made public in surrogate court.

She also left millions for her brother, Alvin Rosenthal, who was named to care for Trouble in her absence, and two of four grandchildren from her late son Jay Panzirer.

If those two grandchildren don’t visit their father’s grave site at least once a year, she wrote, they will lose half of the $10 million she left for each of them.

FBI probes bomb threats
at stores, Ohio campuses

NEWPORT, R.I. — Large grocery and discount stores across the country have been targeted by a caller who threatens to blow up shoppers and workers with a bomb if employees fail to wire money to an account overseas, authorities said.

Frightened workers have wired thousands of dollars — and in one case took off their clothes — to placate a caller who said he was watching them but may have been thousands of miles away. The FBI and police said Wednesday they are investigating similar bomb threats at more than 15 stores in at least 11 states — all in the past week.

“At this point, there’s enough similarities that we think it’s potentially one person or one group,” FBI spokesman Rich Kolko said from Washington.

No one has been arrested, no bombs have been found and no one has been hurt, though the calls have triggered store evacuations and prompted lengthy sweeps by police and bomb squads.

Separately, the FBI is looking into bomb threats on college campuses, including two in Ohio — the University of Akron and Kenyon College.

NASA can’t find evidence
of astronauts’ drinking

WASHINGTON — After finding no evidence of astronauts drinking before launching into space, NASA said Wednesday it is considering limited alcohol testing of its employees, including astronauts.

An internal investigation recommended alcohol testing while at the same time clearing astronauts of much-publicized drinking allegations.

In response, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said he would come up with a policy for testing after a mishap or when there are suspicions of substance abuse. It would, he said, be further validation of a sober space agency.

The review released Wednesday could not verify two drinking allegations described by an independent panel last month, and Griffin said they just didn’t happen.

Teamsters to ask court
to block Mexican truck plan

WASHINGTON — The Teamsters Union said Wednesday it will ask a federal appeals court to block the Bush administration’s plan to allow Mexican trucks to carry cargo anywhere in the United States.

The union said it has been told by officials in the Transportation Department’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that the first Mexican trucks will be coming across the border Saturday.

Teamsters leaders said they had planned to seek an emergency injunction from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

“What a slap in the face to American workers, opening the highways to dangerous trucks on Labor Day weekend, one of the busiest driving weekends of the year,” said Teamsters President Jim Hoffa.

Associated Press