NASA: Space station evacuation not likely
HOUSTON, June 14 (UPI) -- NASA officials said there's only an "extremely remote chance" the International Space Station might be evacuated because of ongoing computer problems.
Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for space operations, said Thursday afternoon that engineers were unsure what caused the problems that started late Wednesday in Russian computers controlling the space station's secondary thrusters.
"I would say there's an extremely remote chance the problem would lead to abandoning the space station," said Gerstenmaier, noting the most critical issue is maintaining the station's attitude. But he said there's enough redundancy built into the station to allow alternate means of control.
However, Gerstenmaier said any long-term loss of attitude control might force the ISS crew into the docked space shuttle or Progress cargo ship because it would mean the station's solar panels couldn't remained aligned with the sun.
He declined to call the problem critical. "In my world this is (normal) space station operations," he said, noting the ISS is a complex operation and the problems might not be quickly resolved.
NASA issued contingency plans Thursday that could extend the shuttle's stay at the ISS to help maintain the space station's attitude.
Judge refuses to delay Libby's prison term
WASHINGTON, June 14 (UPI) -- A U.S. District Court judge refused Thursday to delay the start of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's 2 1/2-year prison sentence.
U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton gave Lewis, formerly chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, 10 days to appeal his decision, CNN reported.
Lewis was the only person convicted in connection with the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity. He was never charged with the leak but was found guilty of perjury.
During Thursday's hearing, Walton said he has received "harassing, angry and mean-spirited phone calls and messages."
"Those types of things will have no impact," he said. "I initially threw them away, but then there were more, some that were more hateful. They are being kept."
Libby's lawyers hope to keep him out of prison both for the appeal and because they believe U.S. President George Bush would be more likely to grant him a pardon closer to the end of his term.
Bush pitches for immigration bill
WASHINGTON, June 14 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush once again urged Republicans to support the immigration bill in a speech Thursday before a building contractors group.
The president, speaking in Washington, addressed an audience likely to be sympathetic to the bill since immigrant labor is increasingly important in construction.
The bill failed a key Senate vote last week after grass-roots opponents who consider it an amnesty measure deluged legislators with e-mails and telephone calls. Bush, in his speech to the Associated Builders and Contractors, maintained that giving the millions of people living illegally in the United States a path to citizenship is not amnesty.
"Look, we need to do this without animosity and without amnesty," Bush said. "I know there are some people who I guess believe that we could just kick them out of the country. That's just totally impractical. It won't work. We need a practical solution to a problem that has arisen as a result of a bill that didn't work, the 1986 immigration bill."
North Korean funds transferred
MACAO, China, June 14 (UPI) -- Officials in Macao said that $20 million in blocked North Korean funds had been transferred out of a bank there and was on its way to a Russian bank.
North Korea has made access to $25 million in Banco Delta Asia SARL a key requirement of shutting down its nuclear facility and rejoining the six-party talks.
Macao officials said that the remaining $5 million is to be transferred later, Japan's Kyodo News Service reported Thursday. The money is to be transferred from Macao to the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, then to the Russian central bank and on to a Russian bank where North Korea has accounts.
North Korea had been denied access to its money since the United States blacklisted the bank, accusing it of helping Pyongyang move counterfeit U.S. currency.
Supreme Court limits use of union dues
WASHINGTON, June 14 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that states can require public employee unions to get approval from non-members before using their dues for lobbying.
The justices unanimously reversed a Washington State Supreme Court decision that found unions could use agency fees as they wished unless non-members objected.
Many states have agency shop provisions that require all public employees where a union exists to pay dues. Justice Antonin Scalia said that Washington's "modest limitation" on the use of those fees does not violate the First Amendment since the state could have barred the union from using non-member fees for any lobbying or political activity.
"Unions have no constitutional right to the fees of non-member employees," Scalia said.
Instead, the court found, public employees who don't choose to belong to a union have a free speech right to withhold the use of their money.
Court rules on diplomatic residences
WASHINGTON, June 14 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday foreign governments can be sued to pay property taxes on homes used by their diplomats at the United Nations.
In a 7-2 decision written by Justice Clarence Thomas, the high court said foreign governments can be taken to court over the taxes since "property ownership is not an inherently sovereign function."
The ruling came in a case brought by New York City against India's mission.
In another case Thursday, the court ruled unanimously that it is not a violation of the First Amendment for a state to bar a government employees' union from using the dues of non-union workers for political causes if those workers have not explicitly consented.
In a third case, the Supreme Court split 5-4 on whether federal appeals courts can consider an appeal after the time for filing a notice of appeal has expired.
Writing for the majority, Thomas said the courts do not have the authority to do so.
