hObama orders new fuel standards

hObama orders new fuel standards

WASHINGTON

President Barack Obama directed the government Friday to set the first-ever mileage and pollution limits for big trucks and to tighten rules for future cars and SUVs, setting the nation’s sights on vehicles that run on half the fuel they now use and give off half the pollution.

“The nation that leads in the clean-energy economy will lead the global economy. And I want America to be that nation,” Obama declared at the White House as he signed a presidential memorandum that would reshape the country’s driving habits long after he leaves office.

With the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico underscoring the risks of America’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels, Obama gave federal agencies just over a year to come up with fuel-efficiency and greenhouse-gas emission standards for commercial trucks and buses.

Texas board adopts new curriculum

AUSTIN, Texas

The Texas State Board of Education adopted a social studies and history curriculum Friday that amends or waters down the teaching of the civil-rights movement, religious freedoms, America’s relationship with the U.N. and hundreds of other items.

The new standards were adopted after a final showdown by two 9-5 votes along party lines, after Democrats’ and moderate Republicans’ efforts to delay a final vote failed.

The ideological debate over the guidelines, which drew intense scrutiny beyond Texas, will be used to determine what important political events and figures some 4.8 million students will learn about for the next decade.

The standards, which one Democrat called a “travesty,” also will be used by textbook publishers who often develop materials for other states based on guidelines approved in Texas.

Car bomb kills 23

BAGHDAD

A car bomb exploded Friday at an open-air market crowded with shoppers in a Shiite town northeast of Baghdad, killing 23 people and wounding more than 50, Iraqi police and hospital officials said.

The bombing struck the town of Khalis, a Shiite enclave 50 miles north of Baghdad surrounded by the largely Sunni province of Diyala. It is a former al-Qaida in Iraq stronghold that has seen several powerful blasts, one a twin bombing on a restaurant in March that killed 57.

Most of those killed Friday were sitting in a cafe in the center of the market that was reduced to rubble.

Astronauts make final spacewalk

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla

Spacewalking astronauts finished putting in a new six-pack of batteries at the International Space Station on Friday, a $22 million power overhaul that was their last major objective.

It was the third and final spacewalk this week for the visiting crew of shuttle Atlantis.

Within three hours of floating outside, Garrett Reisman and Michael Good had plugged in the remaining two new batteries. Four were installed during Wednesday’s spacewalk by Good and another spaceman.

“The batteries are done,” one of the spacewalkers said. “Yeah!” shouted the other. “Can you believe it?”

Associated Press