Rumsfeld sets new rules to enter conflict
WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has crafted a set of four guidelines to consider before committing U.S. forces to armed conflict, a still-evolving list he characterized last week as an update to what is popularly known as the Powell Doctrine. The guidelines reflect the personality of the man who has been center stage since Sept. 11, 2001. They advocate blunt talk, careful limits on international coalitions, and emphasize realism and practicality at the expense of idealism. The list also features some of the folksy colloquialisms and blunt speaking that have characterized his weekly press briefings. "If people could be killed, ours or others, the United States must have a darn good reason," he writes -- unusual language for a document that may come to be known as the Rumsfeld Doctrine.
Border security against nukes needs work
WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- America's borders and ports remain fairly porous when it comes to spotting attempts to smuggle nuclear weapons or materials, witnesses told a House hearing Thursday. The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations reviewed the U.S. Customs Service's post-Sept. 11 efforts to deploy radiation detectors. Problems with the deployment take on added importance with North Korea admitting to its nuclear weapons program, said Rep. James Greenwood, R-Pa, subcommittee chairman. "Although the administration has acknowledged the deficiencies uncovered by this committee, little concrete progress has been made in eliminating holes in our system, despite the intervention of the Office of Homeland Security," Greenwood said.
Pakistani man gets 140 months for plot
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Oct. 17 (UPI) -- A federal judge sentenced a 19-year-old Pakistani immigrant to 140 months in prison Thursday for plotting to blow up electrical power substations and a National Guard armory in south Florida. Imran Mandhai had pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas to one count of conspiracy to damage and destroy property with fire and explosives. Co-defendant Shueb Mossa Jokhan, 24, was sentenced Oct. 4 to 58 months for his role in the plot.
Terrorism check nets huge Texas drug haul
EL PASO, Texas, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. Customs Service inspectors Thursday used new anti-terrorism inspection procedures to uncover more than 10,000 pounds of marijuana hidden in a tractor-trailer load of artificial Christmas trees. Customs officials said the pot haul, one of the largest ever made at the El Paso port of entry, would be worth $10 million on the street. "The anti-terrorism exams that U.S. Customs inspectors are now conducting led to this seizure," said U.S. Customs Service El Paso Port Director David Longoria. Drug seizures have been up on the Texas border since new anti-terrorism inspections were initiated.
Bombings kill six in southern Philippines
MANILA, Philippines, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Twin bomb explosions in the southern Philippines city of Zamboanga killed six people and wounded at least 144, officials said Thursday. Police blamed the Abu Sayyaf organization and Jemaah Islamiyah. Both groups are believed to be linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaida network and JI has been connected to last week's bombing in Bali, Indonesia, which killed more than 180 people. The Philippine military said seven bombs had been planted around Zamboanga's commercial district.
UN atom agency asks US-N. Korea clarify
VIENNA, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- The head of the Vienna-based U.N. atomic agency Thursday expressed "deep concern" over claims North Korea has a program to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons and said he was asking both Pyongyang and Washington for information. "We are urgently seeking information from the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea in response to this report, as well as information from the United States that will allow us to follow up on this very serious allegation," said Director General Mohamed ElBaradei of the International Atomic Energy Agency. ElBaradei made it clear the IAEA does not have a complete picture of nuclear activities in North Korea.
Police discount a sniper description
WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Investigators leading the hunt for the perpetrator of a dozen sniper attacks in the Washington area have rescinded a description given by a witness, which described a guman with olive complexion shooting an assault-type rife near a cream-colored van Monday night. Mike Bouchard, the top official from Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms in the interagency taskforce investigating the sniper attacks, said the witness description from the scene of Monday's fatal shooing in front of a Virginia Home Depot store was no longer considered credible.
New microwave drill is clean, quiet
RAMAT AVIV, Israel, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Microwaves can do more than just reheat leftovers -- a new, clean, quiet drill from Israel with no spinning parts uses microwaves to bore holes in rock and glass, researchers reported Thursday. "It penetrates like a hot knife through butter," researcher Eli Jerby, an electrical engineer at Tel Aviv University in Ramat Aviv, told United Press International. "The microwave drill should find use in industry, construction and geology."
The drill bit focuses microwaves at a spot just below the surface of the target using radiation sources similar to those found cheaply in microwave ovens.
Enron chief trader to plead guilty
WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- The Justice Department said Thursday it has filed the first criminal charges arising from manipulation of the California energy markets during the power crisis. The U.S. attorney's office in San Francisco said Timothy Belden, who was Enron's chief energy trader, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Wall Street resumes rally mode
NEW YORK, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Stock prices on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market closed broadly higher in busy trading Thursday, ignited by favorable earnings results from IBM Corp., Philip Morris and United Technologies. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average, which lost 219.65 points Wednesday, was up 238.86 points, or 2.97 percent, to 8,274.89. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index, which fell 50.02 points in the previous session, gained 39.79 points, or 3.23 percent, to 1,272.21.
Faldo, Campbell in match-play marathon
SURREY, England, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Two-time champion Nick Faldo and Michael Campbell of New Zealand made tournament history Thursday when their opening-round confrontation at the Cisco World Match Play Championship went 42 holes without winner. Faldo won the last two holes of regulation with a birdie and a par and then agreed with Campbell that the sixth playoff hole would be their last one as darkness fell over the Wentworth course. The match will resume early Friday with the winner facing defending champion Ian Woosnam.
