Insurgents say no to Iraq peace plan
BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 25 (UPI) -- Iraq's prime minister plans to offer up a peace plan aimed at ending the insurgency but most Sunni insurgent groups say it doesn't meet their concerns.
Nouri al-Maliki is set to unveil a 28-point plan that will offer amnesty for prisoners and provide a place for insurgents in the political process if they disarm and end the campaign of violence, The Sunday Times reports.
It also calls for U.N. watchdogs to implement a withdrawal of foreign troops.
But a spokesperson for the 11 largest Sunni insurgent groups said they can't accept the plan because they don't recognize the current Iraqi government.
They want a quick end to foreign troops in Iraq, Iraqi prisoners released from all Iraqi and U.S. jails and the United States and other coalition countries to allocate money to rebuilding Iraqi infrastructure destroyed by war.
They also want all negotiations to be monitored by the United Nations or Arab League.
Iraq deaths at least 50,000, likely more
BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 25 (UPI) -- A new estimate of Iraqi deaths since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion shows at least 50,000 on the books but the toll is thought to be higher, a report said.
Already that number is more than the 30,000 President Bush estimated last year, The Los Angeles Times reports.
The Times garnered data from the Iraqi Health Ministry and the Baghdad morgue to reach the 50,000 figure.
The number is considered low for many reasons, the newspaper said.
Many areas of Iraq have been too dangerous for health workers to get to, let alone track deaths and the somewhat autonomous northern area of Kurdistan doesn't report deaths to Baghdad.
In late 2003 the Health Ministry ordered civilian body counts be ended and statistics withheld.
When considered as a percentage of the population, the 50,000 Iraqi dead is like 570,000 U.S. citizens killed in the past three years.
The U.S. troop casualty count is at least at 2,520.
UC Santa Cruz head commits suicide
SAN FRANCISCO, June 25 (UPI) -- The embattled chancellor of the University of California-Santa Cruz was found dead in San Francisco from what police believe was a suicide.
Denice Dee Denton was an electrical engineer by trade who rose through the ranks at several prominent universities and landed the Santa Cruz top post in February 2005.
She was an ardent advocate for women and others underrepresented in science, engineering and math fields.
One of the youngest and first openly lesbian chancellors in the UC system history, Denton was criticized for her extra perks, the Los Angeles Times reports, including a $600,000 upgrade to the university-owned chancellor's home.
Some labor unions complained that Denton's partner, previously a materials science and engineering professor at the University of Washington, was given a job as head of UC's international strategy development.
UC spokesman Michael Reese said the debate was over, that Denton's compensation was warranted and many universities help top administrators find jobs for qualified spouses.
Denton apparently jumped from her partner's apartment building, who was out of town. Denton was 46.
Wildfire season could be record worst
BOISE, Idaho, June 25 (UPI) -- Only four days into summer, wildfires are already burning in record numbers as experts fear drought conditions mean a dangerous wildfire season in the U.S.
Statistics complied by National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, show the 3.2 million acres burned up by 54,686 fires already this year tops the 10-year average of 39,240 fires burning a million acres.
Although the fires have been mostly contained, experts say the dry ground is ripe for a worst-case scenario.
Most fires have been in the rural, less populated areas of the western United States but as of Saturday there were 23 fires threatening populated areas in 10 states, including a week-old blaze that has charred 42-hundred acres near Sedona, Ariz., over the past week, the Los Angeles Times reports.
CNN said some of the hundreds of evacuated Arizona residents were being allow to return home Sunday.
Wildfire season usually picks up at the end of summer and into fall and meteorologists say heavy rain in just the right spots could alleviate the danger.
Hubble main camera shuts down
WASHINGTON, June 25 (UPI) -- The main camera on the Hubble Space Telescope has shut down and NASA officials are preparing to fix it and ready contingency plans.
The Advanced Camera for Surveys, or ACS, went into safe mode on June 19, something that has happened before but not for this long of a time, Space.com reports.
Other cameras are being used to compensate for the loss of the premiere camera on Hubble, which was installed by astronauts in 2002.
Ed Ruitberg, associate program manager for Hubble at Goddard Space Flight Center, said the problem most likely is with the battery connection to the camera.
A fix could come as early as June 30 and the camera just restarted.
NASA scientists say the studies being carried out with the Hubble will not be harmed, just the order reshuffled.