Top US commander: Return unlikely

August 23, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

WASHINGTON

It would take “a complete failure” of the Iraqi security forces for the U.S. to resume combat operations there, the top American commander in Iraq said as the final U.S. fighting forces prepared to leave the country.

With a major military milestone in sight, Gen. Ray Odierno said in interviews broadcast Sunday that any resumption of combat duties by American forces is unlikely.

“We don’t see that happening,” Odierno said. The Iraqi security forces have been doing “so well for so long now that we really believe we’re beyond that point.”

President Barack Obama plans a major speech on Iraq after his return to Washington, according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because details were being finalized. The speech will come shortly after Obama returns to the White House on Sunday from his Martha’s Vineyard vacation.

Lax security blamed for van Gogh theft

CAIRO

None of the alarms and only seven out of 43 surveillance cameras were working at a Cairo museum where a Vincent van Gogh painting was stolen, Egypt’s top prosecutor said Sunday. Thieves made off with the canvas, known by the titles of “Poppy Flowers” and “Vase with Flowers,” on Saturday from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in the Egyptian capital.

Prosecutor general Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud told Egypt’s state news agency Sunday that the thieves used a box cutter to remove the painting from its frame. He blamed the heist on the museum’s lax security measures, calling them “for the most part feeble and superficial.”

Calif. Republicans have diverse ticket

SAN DIEGO

For the first time in memory, California Republicans have a diverse statewide slate of candidates to field this fall, a lineup their state party chairman calls “an inspirational ticket.” Coupled with national momentum for conservatives, the California GOP is hoping this might be their breakthrough year. Yet it’s far from clear whether voters in California, where Democrats have a nearly 15-point voter-registration advantage, will see the same glitter the GOP faithful perceive.

LA unveils nation’s most pricey school

LOS ANGELES

Next month’s opening of the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools will be auspicious for a reason other than its both storied and infamous history as the former Ambassador Hotel, where the Democratic presidential contender was assassinated in 1968. With an eye-popping price tag of $578 million, it will mark the inauguration of the nation’s most-expensive public school.

The K-12 complex to house 4,200 students has raised eyebrows across the country as the creme de la creme of “Taj Mahal” schools, $100 million-plus campuses boasting both architectural panache and deluxe amenities.

27 arrested in Ariz. rival biker shootout

CHINO VALLEY, Ariz.

Arizona authorities say 27 people have been booked on charges ranging from attempted murder to participation in a criminal street gang after shootings involving members of rival motorcycle gangs, the Vagos and Hells Angels.

Detectives estimate at least 50 rounds were fired Saturday during the shootings in the small community of Chino Valley, north of Prescott.

Yavapai sheriff’s spokesman Dwight D’Evelyn says at least five people were shot but none of the wounds was life-threatening.

The shootings brought dozens of Arizona law- enforcement officers to the scene.

Associated Press