Black history museum set

Black history museum set

WASHINGTON — The Smithsonian Institution issued a call for architects Thursday to submit their qualifications for a competition to build the newest museum on the National Mall, which will be dedicated to black history.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture is scheduled to open in 2015, and officials hope to name an architectural team by spring 2009 to build the Smithsonian’s first new museum to be certified as environmentally friendly.

Rove refuses to testify

WASHINGTON — Former White House adviser Karl Rove defied a congressional subpoena and refused to testify Thursday about allegations of political pressure at the Justice Department, including whether he influenced the prosecution of a former Democratic governor of Alabama.

Rep. Linda Sanchez, chairman of a House subcommittee, ruled with backing from fellow Democrats on the panel that Rove was breaking the law by refusing to cooperate — perhaps the first step toward holding him in contempt of Congress.

The White House has cited executive privilege as a reason he and others who serve or served in the administration should not testify, arguing that internal administration communications are confidential and that Congress cannot compel officials to testify.

Pakistan border issues

KABUL, Afghanistan — More foreign fighters, including al-Qaida militants, are operating in Pakistan’s tribal areas than in the past, underscoring the need for Pakistan to crack down on insurgent safe havens, the top U.S. military officer said during a visit here.

Adm. Mike Mullen said militants are flowing into Afghanistan more freely this year compared with last year because Pakistan’s government and military are not putting enough pressure on insurgents.

“There’s a clear problem on the border,” Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said.

Bush signs spying bill

WASHINGTON — President Bush signed a bill Thursday that overhauls rules about government eavesdropping and grants immunity to telecommunications companies that helped the U.S. spy on Americans in suspected terrorism cases. He called it “landmark legislation that is vital to the security of our people.”

Bush signed the measure in a Rose Garden ceremony a day after the Senate sent it to him, after nearly a year of debate in the Democratic-led Congress over surveillance rules and the warrantless wiretapping program Bush initiated after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It was a battle that pitted privacy and civil liberties concerns against the desire to prevent terrorist attacks and Democrats’ fears of being portrayed as weak when it comes to protecting the country.

Its passage was a major victory for Bush, an unpopular lame-duck president who nevertheless has been able to prevail over Congress on most issues of national security and intelligence disputes.

Delicate space mission

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — In a daring spacewalk, two space station astronauts cut into the insulation of their descent capsule Thursday and removed an explosive bolt that could have blown off their hands with firecracker force.

Spacewalkers Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko managed, in the end, to safely disconnect the bolt from the Soyuz capsule that will be their ride home this fall. They immediately slid it into a blast-proof container.

“It is in,” one of the Russian spacewalkers called out.

“Good. Thank God,” someone replied in Russian.

Before the spacewalk, flight controllers in Moscow assured Volkov and Kononenko that the bolt would not explode and that the unprecedented job would help ensure their safe return to Earth in the Soyuz. Nonetheless, Mission Control repeatedly urged them to be careful as they worked near the explosives.

“Take your time,” Mission Control warned. “Be careful; be careful, please.”

Israeli troops kill militant

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli troops shot and killed a teenage Palestinian militant along the border with the Gaza Strip on Thursday in the first deadly incident since the two sides reached a cease-fire last month.

A faction of the militant group Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades said the dead 18-year-old was a member. It vowed revenge and claimed responsibility for two rockets fired at southern Israel after the shooting.

Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, which had previously violated the June 19 truce by firing rockets at Israel, did not say what the militant was doing along the border.

Associated Press