Bush announces Darfur food aid
WASHINGTON, May 8 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush has ordered tens of thousands of tons of food sent to Sudan to aid people affected by the ongoing civil war in the African country.
Bush praised efforts, which including those of U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, that have resulted in an agreement to end the fighting in Sudan's Darfar region that has claimed thousands of lives and left about 2 million people homeless.
"Our goal in Darfur is this: We want civilians to return safely to their villages and rebuild their lives," Bush said Monday. "That work has begun and completing it will require even greater effort by many nations."
The U.S. president called on other countries to meet obligations regarding aid shipments to Sudan. He ordered the emergency purchase of 40,000 metric tons of food for rapid shipment to Sudan.
"The situation remains dire," Bush said. "The World Food Program has issued an appeal for funds necessary to feed 6 million people over the next several months. The United States has met our commitment but other major donors have not come though."
Australian miners rescued
BEACONSFIELD, Australia, May 8 (UPI) -- Two miners trapped in an Australian gold mine for two weeks were freed early Tuesday, Australian time.
The Australian Broadcasting Corp. said Brant Webb and Todd Russell were pulled from the Beaconsfield Gold Mine about 5 a.m. after spending their 14th night underground and brought to the surface.
Company officials at the site in Tasmania said the rescue drilling was done with extreme caution so as not to trigger a rockslide, ABC reported.
An earthquake triggered a rockslide two weeks ago, trapping the men. A third member of the crew, Larry Knight, was separated from Webb and Russell and killed. A robot retrieved his body two days after the slide.
Six bombs shake Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 8 (UPI) -- At least eight people were killed and more than 30 others wounded in six bomb attacks in Baghdad Monday, where six more tortured corpses were found.
In western Baghdad, gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying employees of the Higher Education Ministry, and the driver of the bus was killed and three employees were wounded, CNN reported.
Police also said the bodies of three police commandos kidnapped Friday were found shot to death south of the city. The men were dragged from a car as they drove to work in Khan al-Mahawil, south of Baghdad, police said. They had all been bound and shot in the head.
The BBC said insurgents also reportedly attacked an oil pipeline south of the city, shutting down a power station.
The latest violence comes a day after at least 24 people were killed by sectarian car bombings in Baghdad and Karbala.
Fighting between Shiite and Sunni Muslims has escalated weekly since the bombing of a Shiite shrine earlier this year.
S. Africa clears Zuma of rape charge
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, May 8 (UPI) -- A Johannesburg judge on Monday cleared former South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma of raping a 31-year-old family friend.
Judge Willem van der Merwe said the state had not proven the case beyond reasonable doubt, and referred to evidence given by the defense that the complainant had a history of making false accusations of rape, the BBC reported.
"The probabilities favor the accused's version," the judge said of the disputed sequence of testimony about the night of Nov. 2, 2005.
Zuma admitted having sex with the woman, but claimed it was consensual, and the judge agreed, noting Zuma would not have risked forcing himself on the woman when his own daughter was in the house and police were on guard outside.
In July, he faces another trial on corruption charges that led to his dismissal as deputy president last year. He denies the charges.
Rove investigation nearing end
WASHINGTON, May 8 (UPI) -- Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald reportedly is close to deciding whether to indict White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove for lying about a CIA leak.
The investigation involves the leak of the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame, the wife of former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV who investigated reports Iraq's Saddam Hussein was trying to buy uranium from Niger. He concluded the report was false but the White House used it as a justification for invading Iraq anyway.
Rove attorney Robert Luskin told the Washington Post: "Just because Rove was involved in the defense of the White House Iraq policy, it does not follow that he was necessarily involved in some effort to discredit Wilson personally. Nor does it prove that there even was an effort to disclose Plame's identity in order to punish Wilson."
An indictment of Rove could happen this month.
Last October, Fitzgerald indicted I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, then Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, for perjury, making false statements and obstructing justice during the investigation.
Defense rests in Enron case
HOUSTON, May 8 (UPI) -- Prosecutors in the Houston conspiracy and fraud trial of Enron Corp.'s former leaders called their first rebuttal witness Monday.
The first rebuttal came after the defense rested and the judge denied motions by Ken Lay, Enron's founder, and Jeffrey Skilling, the former president, to acquit, The Houston Chronicle reported Monday.
The defense had called 29 witnesses for Lay and Skilling, with the final one being a prominent Southern Baptist Convention minister, Ed Young, who testified that Lay is a trustworthy man. Prosecutors had called 22 witnesses. The trial has lasted 15 weeks.
Mike Muckleroy was sworn in Monday as the first of three rebuttal witnesses. Closing arguments are expected next Monday.
