Bush, Sarkozy issue joint warning to Iran

Bush, Sarkozy issue joint warning to Iran

PARIS — Iran rejected a six-nation offer of incentives to stop enriching uranium Saturday, prompting President Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to jointly warn Tehran anew against proceeding toward a nuclear bomb.

“Our allies understand that a nuclear-armed Iran is incredibly destabilizing, and they understand that it would be a major blow to world peace,” Bush said at a news conference with Sarkozy at Elysee Palace.

The quickly unfolding series of events began in Tehran, where European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana played the role of messenger for the offer from the United States, France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China.

Shuttle Discovery returns

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Space shuttle Discovery and its crew of seven returned to Earth on Saturday and capped a successful expansion job at the international space station, more spacious and robust thanks to a new billion-dollar science lab.

The shuttle descended through a few puffy clouds and landed at 11:15 a.m., under the control of commander Mark Kelly.

Two hours later, all the astronauts — including Garrett Reisman, looking remarkably fresh and fit after 95 days in space — walked out, shook hands with NASA’s senior managers and admired the ship that safely brought them home.

Wind stokes Calif. fires

PARADISE, Calif. — High wind on Saturday continued to stoke fires across Northern California that had destroyed dozens of homes and forced thousands of residents to flee.

At least 66 homes had been destroyed with 17 others damaged in the Butte County town of Paradise, about 90 miles north of Sacramento. The fire had contributed to at least one death — an elderly woman who suffered a heart attack while evacuating.

Only 35 percent of the fire was contained Saturday, and it had charred more than 36 square miles. Five firefighters suffered minor injuries.

Queen celebrates birthday

LONDON — There are a lot of perks that come with being queen. Having two birthdays a year is one of them.

Queen Elizabeth II was born in April some 82 years ago, but she celebrated her official birthday Saturday with all the pomp and pageantry her position commands.

She and her husband, Prince Philip, presided over the Trooping the Color ceremony, which drew thousands of well-wishers to the Horse Guards Parade ground near Buckingham Palace.

Many of the men in the crowd wore formal clothes, while some of the women donned floral summer gowns and fancy hats for the gala annual celebration.

Rice: Jewish housing plan undermines peace talks

JERUSALEM — The United States took Israel to task Saturday for a planned expansion of Jewish homes in the portion of Jerusalem that Palestinians claim for the capital of a future state.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said such moves undermine the U.S.-backed peace talks.

Rice, while making what has become nearly a monthly trip to assess the negotiations, said Israeli housing expansions are a recurring problem. In particular, she says she will discuss the latest announcement of 1,300 new homes in east Jerusalem with every Israeli official she sees.

With peace talks under way, Rice said, now is a time to build confidence on both sides. “This is simply not helpful to building confidence,” she told reporters before arriving in the Israeli capital.

McDonald’s to begin serving tomatoes again

OAK BROOK, Ill. — McDonald’s Corp. says it will begin serving sliced tomatoes again after a multistate salmonella outbreak caused the world’s largest restaurant chain to yank the vegetable from its sandwiches.

Spokeswoman Danya Proud said Saturday that the fast food chain’s U.S. restaurants will reintroduce sliced tomatoes in the next seven to 10 days.

McDonald’s was among several restaurant chains and grocery stores that stopped serving sliced tomatoes Monday as a precaution.

At least 228 illnesses in 23 states were linked to salmonella-tainted tomatoes.

Federal authorities haven’t pinpointed the source of the outbreak, but say parts of Florida and Mexico were supplying most of the nation’s tomatoes when the outbreak began in April.

Associated Press