Iraq timetable sticks, U.S. ambassador says

Iraq timetable sticks, U.S. ambassador says

WASHINGTON — The U.S. ambassador to Iraq told Congress on Thursday that despite a recent rash of insurgent attacks, the U.S. is on track to removing all its combat forces by next August. “We are holding to this timetable,” Christopher Hill told the House Foreign Affairs Committee in his first congressional testimony since taking over the top U.S. diplomatic post in Baghdad in April.

The envoy faced skepticism, however, from lawmakers concerned that despite a general downward trend in violence, Iraqi forces may not be ready next year to maintain security amid declining U.S. support.

Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., addressing Hill at a separate hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he was more concerned about how a U.S. withdrawal is carried out than its exact timing.

Vote recounts ordered in Afghan presidential race

KABUL — A U.N.-backed fraud commission threw out votes Thursday from 83 polling stations and ordered recounts at hundreds of others in three provinces that form Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s political base, reducing his chances of avoiding a runoff.

It was the first time the commission has flexed its muscles in the aftermath of an Aug. 20 presidential election marred by allegations of ballot stuffing, phantom polling stations and turnout at some polls that exceeded 100 percent of registered voters.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Karzai’s chief challenger, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, charged that the massive scale of what he called “state-engineered” fraud has become clear only as the numbers have trickled out over the past three weeks.

With results in from 92 percent of the country’s polling stations, Karzai has 54 percent of the vote, according to the latest official count. That’s enough to avoid a runoff election with Abdullah, who has 28 percent.

Former lawmaker denies extramarital affair

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A pro-family values California lawmaker who resigned after being caught on tape boasting about his sexual conquests denied Thursday that he had extramarital affairs, saying “my offense was engaging in inappropriate storytelling.”

Mike Duvall stepped down Wednesday after a videotape surfaced in which he was overheard telling a lawmaker about having sex with a lobbyist and another woman, including salacious details about how one mistress wears skimpy underwear and likes to be spanked.

The 54-year-old Republican is married with two adult children.

Duvall said Thursday his “decision to resign is in no way an admission that I had an affair or affairs.”

“My offense was engaging in inappropriate storytelling and I regret my language and choice of words. The resulting media coverage was proving to be an unneeded distraction to my colleagues, and I resigned in the hope that my decision would allow them to return to the business of the state,” he said in a statement posted on his Web site.

New flap in Israel

JERUSALEM — Benjamin Netanyahu dropped out of sight for most of a day this week, a mysterious absence that has set off feverish speculation about what the Israeli leader was up to — and accusations he lied to cover up a clandestine trip to Moscow.

After initially issuing a vague statement about visiting a top-secret Mossad installation inside Israel, Netanyahu kept silent Thursday as reports emerged that he flew to Moscow aboard a private jet for urgent talks on Iran.

According to various accounts, the Israeli prime minister was either pushing the Russians to halt arms sales to Iran, or warning of an impending strike against Iranian nuclear facilities or discussing the recent disappearance of a Russian-crewed freighter.

Suspect arrested in killings

MILWAUKEE — A suspected serial killer has been charged in the slayings of five more women in Milwaukee.

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said Thursday that he filed the additional charges against Walter E. Ellis, who now faces five counts of first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of first-degree murder — the equivalent charge that was state law when the deaths occurred.

Ellis is suspected in a string of killings from 1986 to 2007.

Associated Press

Police said the 49-year-old’s DNA was found on the bodies of nine women ages 16 to 41.

Investigators believe eight of the women were prostitutes who were strangled, and one was a runaway whose throat was cut.

His attorney, Alejandro Lockwood, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

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DeGeneres says she’ll be an honest and kind judge on ’American Idol’ but Simon, watch out

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ellen DeGeneres is known for being nice. But the new “American Idol” judge said that she’s ready to be honest with the show’s contestants, good or bad.

“I think it’s going to be hard, but as my career has grown. ... I’ve learned how to be tougher and learned how to say no,” DeGeneres said Thursday, a day after her addition to the show was announced. “I think I can do it and I think I can do it in a respectful way.”

Any bluntness will be reserved for fellow judge Simon Cowell, known for his barbed remarks to contestants and colleagues.

“When Simon is rude and mean, I will tell him he’s rude and mean, just like I tell him when he’s on my show that he’s rude and mean,” DeGeneres said, referring to “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

She’ll continue with her daytime talkfest as she takes on “Idol” judging duties for the show’s ninth season, starting in January.

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Trade deficit grows, but growth in imports and exports shows demand rising as recession fades

WASHINGTON (AP) — The ending of the recession is reviving global trade, increasing U.S. imports by a record amount in July and boosting foreign demand for American goods for a third straight month.

While the job market remains a long way from recovering, first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, offering some cause for optimism.

The jump in imports could be a sign that U.S. consumer spending is recovering, economists said. That’s good news because such spending accounts for 70 percent of economic activity.

“Domestic demand has picked up now that we have shifted from recession to recovery,” Bernard Baumohl, chief economist for the Global Outlook Group, said in a note to clients.

The Obama administration is increasingly citing its $787 billion stimulus package as a critical reason the economy is turning around, even as officials acknowledge that jobs remain scarce.

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Revenge of the camel: NJ animal won’t predict Eagles outcomes in protest of Vick signing

LACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — Philadelphia Eagles fans thirsty for predictions on whether their team will win or lose each week won’t get them from a New Jersey pigskin-prognosticating camel.

Princess, the star of Popcorn Park Zoo, won’t predict the results of any Eagles games this season to protest the signing of quarterback Michael Vick. Vick spent 18 months in prison for organizing a dogfighting ring.

The 2,600-pound camel went 17-4 last year and correctly picked the Pittsburgh Steelers to win the Super Bowl.

The zoo’s manager places a graham cracker in each hand, and writes the name of a competing team on each hand. Whichever hand Princess eats from is her “pick.”

Meanwhile, a suburban Philadelphia animal welfare group, Main Line Animal Rescue, announced that it plans to donate dog food for every time Vick is tackled.