Attack fails to kill Iraqi labor minister
Attack fails to kill Iraqi labor minister
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s labor minister escaped assassination Thursday when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden SUV into his convoy, killing at least nine people in one of the safest areas of the capital.
The blast came on a day when the U.S. relinquished control of a province that includes much of the area south of Baghdad once known as the “triangle of death.” Babil is the 12th of 18 Iraqi provinces to be placed under Iraqi control, paving the way for U.S. forces eventually to go home. Americans will stay in the area to help the Iraqis when needed. Above, an Iraqi soldier raises his rifle during the transfer-of-power ceremony.
Kentucy’s top court clears way for execution
FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky Supreme Court cleared the way Thursday for the execution of a child killer who asked to be put to death so that delays would not “drag out the misery” for himself and his victims’ families.
Marco Allen Chapman, 36, could be put to death as early as next month if no further appeals are filed. The court issued only a brief order to set the execution in motion and did not explain its reasoning.
“I say we should go ahead and get it over with and done,” Chapman told a judge in a separate hearing in Lexington on Thursday. “I should be able to do what I want to do and go ahead and have the execution put forth.”
Physical, psychological warmth linked in study
WASHINGTON — Time to update that old saying “cold hands, warm heart.” New research shows touching something warm can make you feel and act more warmly toward others. Whether someone is deemed to have a “warm” or “cold” personality makes a powerful first impression. That led Yale University scientists to wonder if physical warmth could promote psychological warmth, by subconsciously priming people to think better of others.
It took a sneaky study to find out: Scientists recruited 41 college students for what they thought was personality research. A lab worker escorted each participant up the elevator of Yale’s psychology building and casually asked for help holding her cup of coffee — either hot or iced — while she recorded the student’s name on a clipboard.
Inside the lab, the students were given a description of a fictitious person described as industrious, cautious and determined, and then rated that person’s presumed personality traits.
Court upholds eviction of Bianca Jagger
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York’s top court upheld Bianca Jagger’s eviction from a rent-stabilized Manhattan apartment, concluding Thursday that foreigners on tourist visas generally can’t claim New York digs as a “primary residence.”
The British human rights activist and ex-wife of Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger was evicted in December from the Upper East Side apartment she rented for 20 years. She hasn’t lived in the apartment for the past few years because of a dispute over asbestos and fungus contamination that led to a lawsuit against landlord Katz Park Avenue Corp.
McClellan backing Obama for president
NEW YORK — Scott McClellan, President Bush’s former press secretary who angered old colleagues with a tell-all book earlier this year, said Thursday he is backing Barack Obama for president.
McClellan is the second former administration official to back the Democratic candidate this week. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell came out Sunday for Obama.
Though Powell chose “Meet the Press” to make his news, McClellan did it at the taping of comedian D.L. Hughley’s new talk show, which is premiering 10 p.m. Saturday on CNN.
Associated Press