Minn. Senate trial update

Minn. Senate trial update

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Democrat Al Franken this morning asked the three judges hearing the U.S. Senate election trial to dismiss all of Norm Coleman’s claims, saying the Republican had “failed to demonstrate a right to relief” from the court on any of them.

Alternatively, Franken asked the judges to toss out some of his claims on grounds that Coleman has failed to prove “the bulk” of his lawsuit.

Later in the morning, Coleman legal spokesman Ben Ginsberg reiterated his long-standing contention that the Coleman campaign believes about 2,000 rejected absentee ballots should be counted.

Setback in Treasury

WASHINGTON — The person Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner wanted as his chief deputy withdrew from consideration Thursday, dealing a setback to the agency as it struggles to address the worst financial crisis in decades.

Annette Nazareth, a former senior staffer and commissioner with the Securities and Exchange Commission, made “a personal decision” to withdraw from the process, according to a person familiar with her decision.

The decision followed more than a month of intense scrutiny of her taxes and multiple interviews. No tax problems or other issues arose during Nazareth’s vetting, said the person, who requested anonymity because Geithner’s choice of Nazareth was never announced officially.

Though popular in policy circles, Nazareth has drawn criticism for her role in creating what some considered to be lax oversight of the banking industry.

Attack on Israeli police

JERUSALEM — A Palestinian man commandeered a construction vehicle Thursday on a major road and swung a police car into the air, smashing it against a bus before bystanders opened fire on him and police shot him dead.

The incident, the third of its kind in the past year, came a day after the latest U.S. visit to push Israel’s hawkish future leaders into another try at Mideast peacemaking.

The two officers inside the police car escaped with slight injuries, police said. The bus, which was parked at an intersection, was empty.

Video footage from a traffic surveillance camera showed a front-end loader scoop up the car with its shovel, hurl it into the air and slam it against the bus. Police and bystanders opened fire at the driver, and the vehicle crashed to a stop against an electricity pole.

Ambush’s political fallout

LAHORE, Pakistan — The Sri Lankan cricket team ambush shows the security system has collapsed in Pakistan since the pro-Western government took office a year ago, a leading opposition politician charged.

The fallout from Tuesday’s attack is adding to political problems facing the shaky government just as Washington wants it to stay focused on the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban.

Under intense pressure to show progress in the investigation, authorities claimed Thursday to have identified the heavily armed terrorists and were questioning several people, but appeared to have made no major arrests. The gunmen escaped into the teeming city of Lahore following the ambush.

The attack on Sri Lanka’s cricket team in Pakistan prompted U.S. intelligence officials to caution local authorities to be on the lookout for possible similar assaults at American sports events.

U.S. invitation to Iran

BRUSSELS — In a sign of the new emphasis on diplomacy, the Obama administration said Thursday that Iran would be invited to a high-level conference on Afghanistan’s future.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton proposed the session, which could be held at the end of this month, at the same time the Obama administration is reformulating its strategy in a stalemated Afghanistan war.

Beheading suspect ruling

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — A Canadian judge ruled Thursday that a man accused of beheading and cannibalizing a fellow Greyhound bus passenger is not criminally responsible due to mental illness.

The decision means Chinese immigrant Vince Li will be treated in a mental institution instead of going to prison. The family of victim Tim McLean said Li got away with murder.

Li stabbed McLean dozens of times and dismembered his body last July while horrified passengers fled.

Both the prosecution and the defense argued Li can’t be held responsible because he had schizophrenia and believed God wanted him to kill McLean because the young man was evil.

Combined dispatches