U.S. Thanksgiving travel rush takes off
NEW YORK, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- U.S. roads, airports, rail lines and bus stations began filling Wednesday in the run-up to Thanksgiving, which is expected to set all-time travel records.
This year, the AAA motor club predicts 37 million people will hit the road, up 1 percent over last year.
"We're not expecting any kind of let-up, which is surprising to some, given the high gas prices," spokesman Justin McNaull told ABC News.
AAA also predicts that 4.5 million people will travel by plane this week. Although domestic airfares are about 12 percent higher than last year, that hasn't deterred travelers, said Amy Ziff, editor-at-large at online travel agency Travelocity.
"Thanksgiving weekend (air travel) is up about 4 to 5 percent increase over last year," Ziff said.
In the rush to consume an estimated 45 million turkeys, Amtrak also expects to carry 125,000 passengers Wednesday, on its busiest day of the year. That's 80 percent more than it carries on average, midweek.
Pentagon discusses Iraq troop numbers
WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- The Pentagon has tentative plans to withdraw as many as 50,000 U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2006, but will keep some on standby in Kuwait.
As pressure for troop withdrawal mounts both in the United States and among Iraqis, Lt. Gen. John Vines, the senior tactical commander in Iraq, told reporters his staff had looked at shrinking U.S. force levels more quickly.
Officers said in a "moderately optimistic" scenario, they would drop the total number of troops from more than 150,000 now to fewer than 100,000 by the end of the year, the Washington Post reported.
Another senior general said an accelerated withdrawal would be akin to "taking the training wheels off of a bike too early," warning that a sudden removal of all U.S. troops would risk the collapse of Iraq's fledgling security forces.
The plan to keep at least one brigade in Kuwait is part of what another senior officer called a "hybrid option." It is intended to hedge against events in Iraq deteriorating once U.S. force levels begin to drop, the report said.
Russia starts clampdown on NGOs
MOSCOW, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Russia's lower parliament has advanced the Kremlin's goal to limit some 300,000 dissenting non-governmental organizations by requiring them to re-register.
The bill's sponsors say the aim is to prevent money laundering and improve financial oversight, and it passed on its first reading by a 370-18 vote, the BBC said Wednesday.
Tuesday, some 1,300 NGOs issued a statement saying the bill "hinders the development of civil society" in Russia, and warned the measure would particularly target human rights organizations.
Major groups like Human Rights Watch are concerned they would have to register as independent Russian legal entities, a condition that many smaller NGOs will find difficult to meet, the report said.
Earlier this year, President Vladimir Putin announced he would not allow foreign funding of political activities in Russia.
Guantanamo detainee sues to get Bible
WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- A former Pakistani businessman and accused al-Qaida operative held two years at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has sued to get a copy of the King James Bible.
Saifullah Paracha, 58, said he is entitled to a copy of the Bible, a scripture accepted by Islam, in addition to the Koran, which is available to Guantanamo detainees.
In response to his Washington suit, U.S. officials said some books are withheld because they could "incite" inmates. The government also said allowing Paracha to have a Bible would set off a "chain reaction" among 170 other detainees suing the government, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The government has, however, cleared Paracha to receive William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and "Julius Caesar," which his lawyer mailed in September.
Paracha is accused of conspiring to ship chemical components to the United States.
His son, Uzair Paracha, is on trial in New York on charges he tried to help an al-Qaida operative enter the country and plan the chemical attack.
Course's name offends Kansas conservatives
LAWRENCE, Kan., Nov. 23 (UPI) -- The name of a new Kansas University religious studies course has infuriated conservatives in the state for referring to Intelligent Design as a myth.
The class, "Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationisms and other Religious Mythologies," incensed some conservatives to the point of suggesting the school should see a cut in funding, the Lawrence Journal-World reported Wednesday.
The course will explore intelligent design, the idea that life is too complex to have evolved without a "designer," presumably a god or other supernatural being.
In response to the uproar, Provost David Shulenburger issued a written statement in an attempt to clarify the use of the word "myth."
"It is unfortunate that the course title's reference to 'mythologies' has been misconstrued," Shulenburger wrote. "The terms 'myth' and 'mythology' are common in the academic study of religion and not an affront."
But some conservatives, such as Republican Sen. Kay O'Connor, were unmoved.
"If you're going to have an intelligent design course and call it mythology, I think in the very least it's a slap in the face to every Judeo-Christian religion that's out there," she said.
