Gates announces Army to be increased by 22,000

Gates announces Army to be increased by 22,000

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Monday that the size of the Army will be increased temporarily by 22,000 soldiers to help meet the needs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other missions around the world.

This is the second time since 2007 that the military has determined it doesn’t have a large enough force. Gates had already increased the size of the Army and Marine Corps shortly after taking the Pentagon job.

Gates noted that while progress in Iraq will lead to a reduction in the number of troops there, more troops are needed in Afghanistan because of the worsening violence.

Voting rate dips in 2008 as older whites stay home

WASHINGTON — For all the attention generated by Barack Obama’s candidacy, the share of eligible voters who actually cast ballots in November declined for the first time in a dozen years. The reason: Older whites with little interest in backing either Barack Obama or John McCain stayed home.

Census figures released Monday show about 63.6 percent of all U.S. citizens ages 18 and older, or 131.1 million people, voted last November.

Ohio and Pennsylvania were among those showing declines in white voters, helping Obama carry those battleground states.

Calif. budget deficit deal

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and California’s legislative leaders have agreed on a plan to close the state’s $26 billion budget shortfall.

The agreement would be a first step toward ending the IOUs the state has been issuing this month, but it must make it through both houses of the Legislature.

Schwarzenegger emerged from his office shortly before 7 p.m. to announce the deal after more than five hours of closed-door talks.

The plan will include billions of dollars in cuts.

Ayatollah warns protesters

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Iran’s supreme leader warned government opponents Monday to end a campaign of civil disobedience while defiant reformists proposed a nationwide referendum to resolve the ongoing dispute over the country’s recent presidential election.

Meanwhile, the elite Revolutionary Guard sought to consolidate its power by moving to take control of the oil industry and by meddling in higher education curriculum.

The moves show that neither supporters of opposition figure Mir Hossein Mousavi nor the camp backing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is backing down five weeks after an election marred by allegations of vote fraud.

South Africa begins AIDS vaccine trial, cuts funds

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — South Africa launched a high-profile trial of an AIDS vaccine created by its own researchers Monday, a proud moment in a nation where government denial, neglect and unscientific responses have helped fuel the world’s worst AIDS crisis.

After a government official lauded the project at a ceremony at Cape Town’s Crossroads shantytown, the scientist leading the research said state funding had been halted.

The contrast between Monday’s hopeful vaccine launch and the revelation of funding cuts raised questions about whether the government was backsliding on its pledge to combat AIDS.

Lupus drug passes key test, research finds

After a 50-year drought of new drugs and a string of disappointing failures of potential treatments for lupus, researchers said Monday they have found an experimental drug that can ameliorate the symptoms of the life-threatening autoimmune disorder that afflicts as many as 1.5 million Americans.

In unpublished results released by the company, a team from Human Genome Sciences said that the experimental drug Benlysta significantly reduced lupus symptoms in a randomized trial of more than 850 patients, reducing their need for debilitating steroids and improving quality of life.

Surprise confession at trial

MUMBAI, India — The lone surviving gunman in the Mumbai attacks made a surprise confession at his trial Monday, saying he was recruited by a militant group inside Pakistan.

The confession by Ajmal Kasab bolstered India’s charges that terrorist groups in neighboring Pakistan were behind the well-planned attack, and that it is not doing enough to clamp down on them. The attack in which 166 people died strained relations and put the brakes on a peace process between the nuclear-armed enemies.

Combined dispatches