Seven London bomb suspects arrested
BRIGHTON, England, July 31 (UPI) -- British police have arrested six men and one woman in connection with the failed July 21 London subway bombings.
Two undisclosed Brighton addresses were raided, and the suspects were arrested under the Terrorism Act of 2000, a Scotland Yard spokeswoman told Sky News Sunday.
The seven are in addition to four men recently arrested in London and two detained in Rome in connection with the July 21 attempts. One of those suspects will fight extradition from Rome, CNN reports.
Hussain Osman's lawyer said it could be months until he is sent to England if a judge orders him extradited. His lawyer said the suspect -- a 27-year-old naturalized British citizen originally from Ethiopia -- was interrogated in Rome Friday and his first hearing was Saturday.
Police think Osman planted a bomb at Shepherd's Bush Underground station.
CNN reported the suspect is believed to have traveled from London to Paris, Milan and other Italian cities, where he may have made contact with East Africans living in Italy.
The July 21 attacks came two weeks after four suicide bombers killed more than 50 other passengers on three underground trains and a bus in London.
Memo discussed Wilson-Plame in June 2003
WASHINGTON, July 31 (UPI) -- White House staffers may have known Joseph Wilson was married to a CIA operative weeks before Wilson publicly criticized Iraq war policy.
Time magazine reports a June 2003 internal State Department memo mentioned that Wilson was married to CIA agent Valerie Plame. The memo was read by then-Secretary of State Colin Powell and possibly by Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, the magazine reported.
Time said that prospect increases the chances that White House adviser Karl Rove and others learned about Plame from administration sources, rather than from media contacts as Rove has suggested to investigators.
A federal prosecutor and grand jury are investigating whether a government official leaked Plame's name to reporters. The investigation began after syndicated columnist Robert Novak included Plame's name in a column, identifying her as Wilson's wife.
Wilson said his wife's name was leaked as part of White House smear campaign against him because he refuted administration claims Iraq was trying to obtain nuclear materials from Niger.
The CIA requested the investigation because it is a federal crime to reveal the name of a covert CIA operative.
Senator: John Bolton is 'damaged goods'
WASHINGTON, July 31 (UPI) -- John Bolton would be "damaged goods" if President George W. Bush appoints him U.N. ambassador during Congress's recess, an administration critic said Sunday.
U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said on "Fox News Sunday" that a recess appointment of Bolton might hamper important business at the United Nations this fall.
"This is a person who lacks credibility," Dodd said. "That's not what you want to send up -- a person that doesn't have the confidence of the Congress and so many people who've urged that he not be sent up to do that job."
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., disagreed. He said Bolton is the perfect choice to "go up there and challenge the establishment."
"Bolton is exactly what the (United Nations) needs at this point," he said. "We finally got somebody who would ... bring about the kind of reform that's needed."
Bush's appointment of Bolton has been held up in the U.S. Senate by a filibuster.
Specter links stem cell debate to election
WASHINGTON, July 31 (UPI) -- The 2008 Republican presidential candidate will have to stand behind stem cell research funding or lose the election, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said Sunday.
Buoyed by Sen. Bill Frist's recent decision to break with President George W. Bush on the issue, Specter told CBS' "Face the Nation" the Tennessee Republican's stance "will be helpful" to him in a presidential bid.
"Republicans want to nominate somebody who can be re-elected," Specter said. "And I think the way the matter is pending now, I don't think a presidential candidate opposed to stem cells could be elected."
Taking the opposite view, Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan. -- a possible presidential candidate in 2008 -- said any federal funding for embryonic stem cell research could begin a slippery slope towards human cloning for research or other purposes. Brownback said many Americans see it that way.
"We all want scientific cures," Brownback said. "But there's this great pause about the notion of taking that young human life for the purposes of research."
'Wedding Crashers' tops U.S. box office
LOS ANGELES, July 31 (UPI) -- "Wedding Crashers" is showing some stamina at the U.S. box office, finishing at No. 1 in its third week in theaters.
The Owen Wilson-Vince Vaughn comedy took in an estimated $20.5 million to run its overall gross to $116 million, Daily Variety reported.
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," also in its third week, took in $16.4 million. The Tim Burton-Johnny Depp adaptation of Roald Dahl's classic book has now taken in $148.1 million.
Three new releases rounded out the top five.
"Stealth" opened well below expectations with $13.5 million, followed by "Sky High" with $14.6 million and "Must Love Dogs" with $13.1 million.
Lower-profile movies did well at the box office this weekend.
"March of the Penguins" took in $4.1 million for a running total of $16.4 million. And the raunchy "The Aristocrats" took in an impressive $65,000 per screen at four locations in New York and Los Angeles.
