Iraqi shoe thrower due in court next week

Iraqi shoe thrower due in court next week

BAGHDAD — The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at ex-President George W. Bush faces trial next week for allegedly assaulting a foreign leader after an appellate court refused to reduce the charge, a judicial official said Sunday.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi, 30, who won folk hero status throughout the Arab world for his protest, has been in custody since the Dec. 14 outburst at Bush’s joint news conference with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

He had been due to stand trial in December but his defense team won a delay as it sought to reduce the charges to simply insulting Bush.

However, court spokesman Abdul-Sattar Bayrkdar said an appellate court rejected the request and ordered the journalist to face trial Feb. 19 on the original charge. He did not say when the appeals court issued its decision.

108 dead in wildfires in southeastern Australia

HEALESVILLE, Australia — The deadliest wildfires in Australia’s history burned people in their homes and cars and wiped out entire towns, officials discovered Sunday as they reached farther into the fire zone. The death toll rose to 108 by early today.

Blazes have been burning for weeks in the southeastern state of Victoria but turned deadly Saturday when searing temperatures and wind blasts created a firestorm that swept across a swath of the region. A long-running drought in the south — the worst in a century — had left forests extra dry and Saturday’s fire conditions were said to be the worst ever in Australia.

From the air, the landscape was blackened as far as the eye could see. Entire forests were reduced to leafless, charred trunks, farmland to ashes. The Victoria Country Fire Service said some 850 square miles were burned out.

A top HHS candidate

WASHINGTON — Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is near the top of President Barack Obama’s list of candidates to head the Health and Human Services Department at least partially on the strength of her long and close working relationship with the president, a senior administration official said.

Other candidates, including former Clinton White House chief of staff John Podesta, remain in the mix. A decision is not imminent, a senior administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private administration deliberations.

Lincoln Bible on display

WASHINGTON — The small, red Bible used to swear in Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama will go on rare public display to mark the 200th anniversary of the 16th president’s birth.

Beginning Thursday, the national Lincoln Bicentennial exhibit at the Library of Congress, “With Malice Toward None,” will showcase the Bible, along with the first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation, what may be the original Gettysburg Address and even the grammar book Lincoln used to master English.

The three-month display is among dozens of events and exhibits in the nation’s capital celebrating Lincoln’s Feb. 12 birthday.

‘He’s Just Not ...’ gets a big yes at box office

LOS ANGELES — Movie fans were into “He’s Just Not That Into You” as the ensemble romance got a jump on Valentine’s Day to lead the weekend box office with a $27.5 million debut, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The movie whose cast includes Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johansson, Ben Affleck, Drew Barrymore and Jennifer Connelly knocked off the previous weekend’s top flick, the abduction thriller “Taken,” which dropped to second place with $20.3 million.

With Valentine’s Day falling in the middle of next weekend, the movie released by the Warner Bros. banner New Line Cinema is positioned for another solid showing, said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros.

“We’re really walking into a terrific weekend. The biggest bump you can ever get for a romantic comedy is when Valentine’s Day falls on a Saturday,” Fellman said. “We’ll see the girls, female power, drag the guys back in next Saturday.”

Associated Press