Dignitaries turn out for King tribute
ATLANTA, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Atlanta's mayor, speaking Monday at a tribute to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., noted historic changes that occurred since King's assassination.
Mayor Shirley Franklin noted the 2008 presidential hopefuls included "a former first lady, a Mormon, a Baptist preacher, and yes, a black man" of Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama, respectively, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Franklin and other notables crowded Ebenezer Baptist Church, the church where King and his father pastored.
Former Arkansas Gov. Huckabee, a Republican, was the second presidential candidate in as many days, as he sat in the audience for the Martin Luther King Jr. Annual Commemorative Service. Democratic hopeful Barack Obama spoke from the pulpit Sunday.
With former President Bill Clinton in the audience, Franklin took what seemed to be a political shot at the former president's comments about Obama's candidacy, the Journal-Constitution said. Franklin said the United States is on the "cusp of turning the impossible into reality. Yes this is reality, not fantasy or fairy tales."
Clinton recently caught criticism for using the term "fairy tale" to describe Obama's depiction of his stance on the war.
King was assassinated in 1968 in Memphis after leading the U.S. civil rights movement for years.
Arctic cold grips U.S. northern states
CHICAGO, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Arctic temperatures were expected to linger for days over northern U.S. states with heavy snow east of the Great Lakes, forecasters said.
In Chicago, the temperature at O'Hare International Airport was reported at minus 5 degrees Fahrenheit Sunday morning but forecasters said it should reach 23 degrees Monday.
The city's 311 telephone help line received 357 weekend complaints about deficient heat and 136 requests for shelter, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
In Detroit, the temperature reached a high of 16 degrees Sunday, the Detroit News said. The average for this time of year in the city is a high of 31 degrees, AccuWeather.com said.
Forecasters said areas east of lakes Erie and Ontario would continue to be crippled by heavy snow bands Monday, adding to snow 2-feet deep in places.
Wintry weather caused the cancellation of more than 280 flights in Atlanta on Saturday, but Sunday brought higher temperatures and winds that dried moisture from streets and prevented icy conditions, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Congressional sisters split on candidates
WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- The only sister act in the history of the U.S. Congress finds itself firmly planted in two camps for the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee.
U.S. Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., supports Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., while older sister Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., supports Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.
"Hillary and I have been on the campaign trail for many candidates over the years," the older sister, first elected to represent California in 1997, said on MSNBC. "And of course, we know that she's very experienced and she's very competent."
But Linda Sanchez, elected in 2003, said Obama is turning heads and gaining momentum.
People looking at Obama are "seeing somebody who's got all of the great component parts to be a great president and a great leader," Linda Sanchez told MSNBC.
Bin Laden's son: Father's no terrorist
CAIRO, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- One of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's sons said he doesn't consider his father to be a terrorist but says he should find another way to defend Islam.
Speaking with CNN outside Cairo, Omar bin Laden, the fourth of 11 children born to Osama's first wife, said his father was fulfilling a personal mission. When his father was fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan, Washington considered him a hero, he said.
"He believes this is his job -- to help the people," he said. "I don't think my father is a terrorist because history tells you he's not."
The son, 26, said he last saw his father in 2000 when he decided to drop out of an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan because he didn't want to be associated with killing civilians, the network reported. He said he had a message for his father.
"I try and say to my father: 'Try to find another way to help or find your goal," he said. "This bomb, this weapon -- it's not good to use it for anybody."
Report: Most Iraq insurgents foreign-born
BAGHDAD, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Al-Qaida documents seized by the U.S. military in northern Iraq last year show almost 90 percent of suicide bombers came from countries other than Iraq.
The information gathered by al-Qaida clerks was found in a raid in the northern town of Sinjar, and has been under analysis since, a Washington Post correspondent reported from Baghdad.
In all, they document 606 fighters who entered the country from August 2006 to August 2007. Officials in Iraq said they now have reason to believe nine out of 10 suicide bombers were non-Iraqis, compared with earlier estimates of 75 percent. The records also indicate about 90 percent of the militants entered Iraq along the Syrian border.
Most expressed interest during their al-Qaida registration with being a suicide bomber, the report said. The youngest was 16 and the oldest was 54, the documents showed.
About 40 percent of the militants were from Saudi Arabia and another 40 percent were from various North African countries, the report said.
Last year, al-Qaida carried out more than 4,500 attacks against civilians in 2007, killing 3,870 people and wounding nearly 18,000, the military said.
ATLANTA, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Atlanta's mayor, speaking Monday at a tribute to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., noted historic changes that occurred since King's assassination.
Mayor Shirley Franklin noted the 2008 presidential hopefuls included "a former first lady, a Mormon, a Baptist preacher, and yes, a black man" of Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama, respectively, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Franklin and other notables crowded Ebenezer Baptist Church, the church where King and his father pastored.
Former Arkansas Gov. Huckabee, a Republican, was the second presidential candidate in as many days, as he sat in the audience for the Martin Luther King Jr. Annual Commemorative Service. Democratic hopeful Barack Obama spoke from the pulpit Sunday.
With former President Bill Clinton in the audience, Franklin took what seemed to be a political shot at the former president's comments about Obama's candidacy, the Journal-Constitution said. Franklin said the United States is on the "cusp of turning the impossible into reality. Yes this is reality, not fantasy or fairy tales."
Clinton recently caught criticism for using the term "fairy tale" to describe Obama's depiction of his stance on the war.
King was assassinated in 1968 in Memphis after leading the U.S. civil rights movement for years.
Arctic cold grips U.S. northern states
CHICAGO, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Arctic temperatures were expected to linger for days over northern U.S. states with heavy snow east of the Great Lakes, forecasters said.
In Chicago, the temperature at O'Hare International Airport was reported at minus 5 degrees Fahrenheit Sunday morning but forecasters said it should reach 23 degrees Monday.
The city's 311 telephone help line received 357 weekend complaints about deficient heat and 136 requests for shelter, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
In Detroit, the temperature reached a high of 16 degrees Sunday, the Detroit News said. The average for this time of year in the city is a high of 31 degrees, AccuWeather.com said.
Forecasters said areas east of lakes Erie and Ontario would continue to be crippled by heavy snow bands Monday, adding to snow 2-feet deep in places.
Wintry weather caused the cancellation of more than 280 flights in Atlanta on Saturday, but Sunday brought higher temperatures and winds that dried moisture from streets and prevented icy conditions, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Congressional sisters split on candidates
WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- The only sister act in the history of the U.S. Congress finds itself firmly planted in two camps for the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee.
U.S. Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., supports Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., while older sister Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., supports Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.
"Hillary and I have been on the campaign trail for many candidates over the years," the older sister, first elected to represent California in 1997, said on MSNBC. "And of course, we know that she's very experienced and she's very competent."
But Linda Sanchez, elected in 2003, said Obama is turning heads and gaining momentum.
People looking at Obama are "seeing somebody who's got all of the great component parts to be a great president and a great leader," Linda Sanchez told MSNBC.
Bin Laden's son: Father's no terrorist
CAIRO, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- One of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's sons said he doesn't consider his father to be a terrorist but says he should find another way to defend Islam.
Speaking with CNN outside Cairo, Omar bin Laden, the fourth of 11 children born to Osama's first wife, said his father was fulfilling a personal mission. When his father was fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan, Washington considered him a hero, he said.
"He believes this is his job -- to help the people," he said. "I don't think my father is a terrorist because history tells you he's not."
The son, 26, said he last saw his father in 2000 when he decided to drop out of an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan because he didn't want to be associated with killing civilians, the network reported. He said he had a message for his father.
"I try and say to my father: 'Try to find another way to help or find your goal," he said. "This bomb, this weapon -- it's not good to use it for anybody."
Report: Most Iraq insurgents foreign-born
BAGHDAD, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Al-Qaida documents seized by the U.S. military in northern Iraq last year show almost 90 percent of suicide bombers came from countries other than Iraq.
The information gathered by al-Qaida clerks was found in a raid in the northern town of Sinjar, and has been under analysis since, a Washington Post correspondent reported from Baghdad.
In all, they document 606 fighters who entered the country from August 2006 to August 2007. Officials in Iraq said they now have reason to believe nine out of 10 suicide bombers were non-Iraqis, compared with earlier estimates of 75 percent. The records also indicate about 90 percent of the militants entered Iraq along the Syrian border.
Most expressed interest during their al-Qaida registration with being a suicide bomber, the report said. The youngest was 16 and the oldest was 54, the documents showed.
About 40 percent of the militants were from Saudi Arabia and another 40 percent were from various North African countries, the report said.
Last year, al-Qaida carried out more than 4,500 attacks against civilians in 2007, killing 3,870 people and wounding nearly 18,000, the military said.
© 2008 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
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Firefighters beat early morning blaze
A Palestinian refugee Mohamad Harb 85 year Old . shows his old house keys from his former village as a symbol of hope that his may return his one day on May 12, 2008 in his Rafah refugee camp which is located within the Gaza Strip. Harb used to live in the village of Hmamh before his family was forced to immigrate to the Gaza Strip in 1948. After sixty years Harb has hope of returning to his old village which is now in Israeli territory and is named Kreat Hmamh. Traditionally Palestinians commemorate May 15th as Nakba Day or Catastrophe Day, the day the Israeli State was created in 1948.(UPI Photo/Ismael Mohamad)
Traditionally Palestinians commemorate May 15th as Catastrophe Day
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