Storms savage east, west coasts
SEATTLE, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Savage winter storms, blamed already for at least 10 deaths, pounded the East and West coasts of the United States Monday.
A storm from the Aleutian Islands carried hurricane-force winds and 40-foot seas toward the Oregon coast, the National Weather Service said.
The forecast high winds threatened to exacerbate a rash of power outages that struck parts of the Puget Sound region in Washington, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported. Whiteout conditions were reported around the outlying areas of Seattle.
Amtrak officials reported service in the Pacific Northwest was disrupted because of mudslides.
In the northeast, forecasters said a storm carrying snow, sleet and freezing rain will gather strength as it moves to move up Pennsylvania through New England.
The nation's midsection was digging out and bracing for more unsettled weather. Numerous flight delays were reported during the weekend in the Midwest and East, and more were expected before the storm moves up the Atlantic Coast, CNN reported.
Numerous flight delays were reported during the weekend in the Midwest and East, and more were expected before the storm moves into the Atlantic Ocean Tuesday, the report said.
Bush: Get to work, Congress
WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- The U.S. Congress must pass bills that would fund the military, defend the country and protect middle-class taxpayers, President George Bush said Monday.
With two weeks before the Christmas recess, Bush said, "There's not much time to squeeze in nearly a year's worth of business."
Congress needs to focus on defense spending, renewal of intelligence authorization, modifications to the alternative minimum tax and appropriations, Bush said.
Congress must pass a defense spending bill without a time line for troop withdrawal from Iraq "to fund our troops in combat," Bush said. Otherwise, pink slips will be distributed to civilian employees, and maintenance and operations money will run out early next year.
"It's unconscionable to deny funds," he chided.
Bush also asked Congress to renew the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act before it expires Feb. 1, because "the threat from terrorists does not expire."
Additionally, Congress must address legislation to block the AMT from affecting the middle class. If action is delayed, Bush said, roughly 25 million taxpayers would have to send an additional $2,000 to the IRS next April.
Finally, lawmakers must pass appropriations "in a fiscally responsible way" to keep the federal government operating.
'Teddy bear' teacher to leave Sudan soon
KHARTOUM, Sudan, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- British teacher Gillian Gibbons, jailed for insulting Islam, was released from a Sudanese prison Monday and will soon be on her way home.
Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir pardoned Gibbons after a meeting with two British peers who will accompany Gibbons back to Britain sometime Monday, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Gibbons, 54, had been sentenced to 15 days behind bars for violating Muslim laws by allowing her class of 7-year-olds to name a teddy bear Mohammed. She had originally faced a trip to the whipping post, and even that wasn't harsh enough for many Sudanese fundamentalists who had called for her execution.
Pakistan court denies Sharif's seat bid
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- An elections judge in Pakistan ruled Monday former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is ineligible to run for a parliamentary seat next month.
Sharif leads the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, and had filed papers registering him as a candidate for the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections, Dawn TV News reported.
However, a rival candidate complained he had a criminal record as a result of the 1999 coup by Pervez Musharraf that ousted Sharif, the BBC said. The elections judge agreed, and Sharif was ruled ineligible to run.
He went into exile after the coup, and returned to Pakistan last week.
Sharif said he would meet with the People's Party, another opposition party led by former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, to try to agree on an opposition boycott of the elections, the report said.
Bhutto has said in the past her party would participate in the elections, Dawn said.
Idaho's Craig denies new gay allegations
BOISE, Idaho, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, has denied published weekend allegations he had homosexual encounters with four men dating back to the 1980s.
Soon after The Idaho Statesman in Boise published an article in which the men made the allegations Sunday, Craig's office issued a statement criticizing the newspaper, CNN reported.
"Like its previous coverage, these latest allegations are completely false and have no basis in reality," the statement said. "In fact, the paper itself states that these baseless accusations contain no definitive evidence, yet they still decided to print them anyway."
The 62-year-old was arrested in June in a sex sting at a men's washroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and two months later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge.
He has a petition before Minnesota courts to let him withdraw his plea, which he later called a mistake as he hadn't consulted an attorney.
On Aug. 28, he called a news conference to speak out against the allegations.
"I am not gay. I have never been gay," he said.
