Bush prods Iraqi leaders
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 16 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush Monday tried once again to impress upon Iraqi leaders the need to achieve reconciliation and a stronger sense of national identity.
Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki conversed for 72 minutes via satellite communications, covering the political and military landscape in the war-torn nation, Bush spokesman Tony Snow said.
"The president stressed the importance of political reconciliation and progress first with the Iraqi people to build a stronger sense of national unity and shared purpose," Snow said. "He also made it clear that political progress is essential for continued support here in the United States ...."
The president reaffirmed his "strong support" for al-Maliki," Snow said. There was no indication from Snow whether the president pushed Iraqi lawmakers to skip their one-month vacation scheduled for next month.
Bush also talked with President Jalal Talabani and other top-level Iraqi officials, urging them to keep moving forward on the legislative and political fronts, Snow said.
Without giving specifics, Snow said the prime minister expressed how he is "being very aggressive on the front of trying to build larger coalitions."
Georgia execution on hold
ATLANTA, July 16 (UPI) -- A convicted Georgia cop-killer facing a Tuesday execution date has been given a three-month reprieve.
The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles heard several hours of arguments by Troy Anthony Davis' attorneys and prosecutors, and then took less than an hour of deliberation before granting the 90-day stay of execution Monday, WTOC-TV reported. The 38-year-old Davis was to receive a lethal injection Tuesday for the 1989 slaying of Savannah Police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail, the Savannah TV station reported.
The stay gives the board time to consider evidence presented as part of Davis' request for clemency. He maintains he is innocent in the death of MacPhail, who was slain while working off-duty at a fastfood restaurant.
"They are trying to save a man's life so his attorneys are doing anything they can do to save his life," said board member Scheree Lipscomb. "I think the board is trying to get to the end of this, asking questions and talking to the witnesses who recanted their testimony to find out what is really going on. They will take the time, and the board doesn't mind because it is a man's life on the line."
9 dead, 900 hurt in Japanese quake
TOKYO, July 16 (UPI) -- A nuclear power plant in Japan caught fire and leaked radioactive water Monday after a major earthquake that left at least nine people dead and 900 injured.
While reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant automatically shut down when the 6.8-magnitude quake hit, it took nearly two hours to contain a blaze that began at one of the facility's electric transformers, the Kyodo news agency reported. The power company announced hours later that water containing radioactive material escaped from one reactor and some of it reached the Sea of Japan.
India Online reported officials said the leak was of "mildly radioactive water" and Sky News reported officials saying the leak produced "no significant changes" in nearby sea water.
The Mainichi Daily News said a 5.6-magnitude tremor hit Japan's Niigata Prefecture Monday afternoon, prompting experts to label it a possible aftershock of the initial quake.
With much of Japan's northwest coastal region losing power and water supplies, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said returning such services was a national priority.
"I would like to make every possible effort to restore lifelines such as roads, gas and water, because the victims are in a tough situation," Abe said.
Haitian protesters want Aristide's return
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, July 16 (UPI) -- Protesters backing former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide have called for the return of the ousted leader and denounced his successor.
Demonstrators said current President Rene Preval has turned his back on his former ally, Aristide, The Miami Herald reported Monday.
The protest Sunday marked Aristide's 54th birthday. The former Haitian leader was toppled in a rebel uprising and left the country in February 2004.
He has vowed to return, though said it would depend on his former prime minister Preval as to when he does.
