Shuttle cleared for Monday liftoff

h Shuttle cleared for Monday liftoff

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

NASA unanimously approved a Monday morning launch attempt for the space shuttle Endeavour, after reviewing all the repairs for an electrical problem that grounded the next-to-last shuttle flight two weeks ago.

The flight to the International Space Station will be led by commander Mark Kelly, the husband of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was critically wounded during a January shooting rampage in Tucson, Ariz. She was present for the first launch attempt, and is to be on hand for this one, scheduled at 8:56 a.m.

Mission management team chairman Mike Moses said Saturday he is confident the repairs took care of the electrical short and blown fuse that prevented a string of heaters from turning on during the first launch attempt on April 29. A thermostat with an exposed wire was replaced, as was a switch box with a blown fuse.

Chihuahua lifts leg, sets off bomb scare

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y.

A dog that wasn’t quite housebroken may have indirectly been responsible for a bomb scare at a New York courthouse.

The trouble began Friday when 19-year-old Melvin Ruffin arrived at a court complex in Central Islip following a long bus ride from his home in Bellport.

During the trip, another passenger’s Chihuahua urinated on his backpack.

So, he stashed the wet bag in some bushes while he went inside to answer a disorderly conduct citation.

But then a retired police officer saw the bag and alerted security.

The bomb squad was ultimately called in. Officers used a robot to determine that the bag didn’t contain anything harmful.

Tomblin, Maloney win WV primaries

CHARLESTON, W. Va.

Acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, a Democrat, and Republican businessman Bill Maloney were headed toward Saturday wins in West Virginia’s special gubernatorial primary.

With 86 percent of precincts reporting, Tomblin had more than 40 percent of vote in a field of six Democrats. Maloney was leading a roster of eight Republicans with more than 45 percent of the vote.

Maloney and Tomblin will face Mountain Party candidate Bob Henry Baber in the Oct. 4 general election.

That vote will decide who will finish the term of former Gov. Joe Manchin. Manchin was elected to the U.S. Senate last year to fill the vacancy created by the death of Sen. Robert C. Byrd.

Palestinians, Israelis clash as tensions rise

JERUSALEM

Masked Palestinians whirling slingshots clashed with Israeli riot police in two Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem on Saturday after the shooting death of a teenage stone thrower. It was a sign of rising tensions on the eve of Palestinian commemorations of their uprooting during Israel’s 1948 creation.

The possibility of escalation comes at a critical time for U.S. Mideast policy. President Barack Obama’s envoy to the region, George Mitchell, resigned Friday. Obama is to deliver a Mideast policy speech in the coming week.

Associated Press