Clinton won't concede, adviser says
WASHINGTON, June 3 (UPI) -- If Barack Obama gets the delegates needed for the Democratic U.S. presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton will "call him the nominee," a Clinton adviser said.
However, "until someone has those numbers, the race goes on," Clinton campaign manager Terry McAuliffe told CNN.
The final primaries were Tuesday in Montana and South Dakota.
McAuliffe said during NBC's "Today" show he thinks if the Illinois senator reaches the 2,118 delegate threshold, the former first lady "will congratulate him and call him the nominee," The Hill reported.
"I can unequivocally say, though until someone has the numbers, the nomination fight should continue," McAuliffe told CNN. "Right now ... nobody does."
He said reports about Clinton conceding Tuesday night were "100 percent incorrect."
"Senator Clinton will not concede the nomination (Tuesday) evening," an official statement from the Clinton campaign said.
McAuliffe said Clinton, who will watch the returns from her home state of New York, will talk about the 18 million people who have supported her and "all the issues that matter to her."
He said Clinton expected to talk to superdelegates to press her case about being the better candidate to face presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain in the general election.
Report: PTSD barracks near firing range
FORT BENNING, Ga., June 3 (UPI) -- A newly built Army barracks designed to help soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder is located near a firing range, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.
The location of the barracks on the grounds of Fort Benning (Ga.) is producing additional stress and anxiety attacks among patients who are within earshot of constant barrages of rifle and machine gun fire from training exercises, the newspaper said.
The barracks for the Warrior Transition Battalion, part of the Martin Army Community Hospital at Fort Benning, were established as part of an effort to ease the growing number of soldiers with PTSD back into normal life. But in interviews with the Post, barracks residents said the proximity to the firing range is counterproductive.
"You hear a lot of shots, it puts you in a defensive mode," Sgt. Jonathan Strickland, a diagnosed PTSD sufferer, told the newspaper. "My heart starts racing and I get all excited and irritable."
Army officials said they were unaware of problems with the barracks' location.
"No soldier has talked with me about the ranges," Lt. Col. Sean Mulcahey, commander of the Warrior Transition Battalion, told the Post. "If it is an issue, "we will address it."
Summit looks for answers to food crisis
ROME, June 3 (UPI) -- A global summit charged with developing countermeasures to the world's food crisis opened in Rome Tuesday with leaders urging action against rising prices.
Discussions about the crisis may be overshadowed by the presence of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and embattled Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, ANSA, the Italian news agency, reported Tuesday.
ouglas Alexander, representing Britain at the summit, called Mugabe's appearance "obscene."
"This meeting is supposed to be about increasing the supply of food," Alexander told BBC Radio, "while his policies have exactly the reverse effect in Zimbabwe."
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization meeting will tackle issues that have pushed some 100 million people into hunger, EuroNews.net reported.
"No one can ignore the dramatic crisis that has exploded and its consequences for the poorest populations, for almost a billion undernourished people," Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said in opening remarks.
Napolitano said relying solely on market mechanisms would erroneous, ANSA said.
Delegates said they also would try to pass a ban on arable land being moved from food crops to biofuel crops.
General: More troops needed in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan, June 3 (UPI) -- More troops and equipment are needed to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan, the outgoing U.S. general in charge of NATO forces said.
Gen. Dan McNeill commented about NATO forces being "under-resourced" as he turned over command of the International Security Assistance Force to another American, Gen. David McKiernan, the BBC reported.
NATO has 53,000 troops from 40 countries deployed in Afghanistan.
"This is an under-resourced war and it needs more maneuver units, it needs more flying machines, it needs more intelligence, surveillance and recognizance apparatus," McNeill said.
Meanwhile, a U.S.-led coalition operation Tuesday killed several militants in southern Afghanistan, a coalition spokesman said.
The raids, which officials said targeted "anti-government militant operations," took place in Helmand, province, CNN reported.
The soldiers used small-arms fire, mortars and air strikes against the militants, the coalition said.
Universal Studios fire called an accident
LOS ANGELES, June 3 (UPI) -- Fire officials in Los Angeles said they have concluded this week's blaze on the back lot of Universal Studios was accidentally ignited by a workman's blowtorch.
The Los Angeles Times said investigators concluded Sunday's three-alarm fire started when company employees were using a blowtorch to heat asphalt shingles while repairing a roof on New York Street.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman said investigators are still looking into why firefighters were not able to get the kind of water pressure from the park's facilities that they needed to extinguish the blaze.
"The big question right now is trying to compare water available on site, off site and in the system itself with the amount of fire that the first arriving units were confronted with," Freeman said.
Universal told the Times the fire affected about 3 1/2 acres of the 391-acre park and caused millions of dollars in damage.
The theme park and Universal CityWalk have reopened, even though several sets, a video library and the "King Kong" attraction were destroyed. Tours are being rerouted around the charred sets.
The park's 30 soundstages weren't damaged by the fire and 10 scheduled productions were still shooting Monday, Universal said.
