UPI NewsTrack TopNews

Bill Clinton: No interest in Senate seat

NEW YORK, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton says he's not interested in his wife's Senate seat, which she is vacating to become secretary of state.

New York Gov. David Paterson, a fellow Democrat, will name a replacement to serve two years in U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton's current spot, with a special election to be called in 2010 to determine who will finish out the final two years of her term. But count Bill Clinton out, his spokesman told CNN.

Any speculation surrounding Clinton and his wife's Senate seat is "completely false," Matt McKenna told the U.S. broadcaster, adding, "President Clinton is excited to expand the work of his foundation which has more than 1,000 staff and volunteers in 44 countries advancing projects on HIV/AIDS, climate change, sustainable economic development and childhood obesity."

Instead, Paterson will have a strong batch of contenders to choose from, including at least six current members of the U.S. House, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion and Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, as well as Caroline Kennedy and her cousin, Robert Kennedy Jr., CNN reported.

Nations to sign cluster munitions ban pact

OSLO, Norway, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- The international treaty banning the use of cluster bombs to be signed in Oslo, Norway, will save thousands of lives, the Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.

About 100 countries Wednesday are expected to sign the ban, the most significant arms control and humanitarian treaty in a decade, the rights organization said in a news release.

U.S. President George Bush opposed the treaty, despite support by an overwhelming majority of NATO members, said HRW, which urged President-elect Barack Obama to sign the pact.

Although the United States shares "humanitarian concerns" of the states signing the ban, "we will not be joining them," the State Department said in a statement.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions prohibits the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions and commits nations to clear affected areas within 10 years, and declare and destroy stockpiled cluster munitions within eight years, HRW said. It also requires help for affected nations with clearance, and provide comprehensive assistance to victims of the weapon.

The treaty will go into effect after 30 nations sign and ratify it.

Cluster munitions can be fired by artillery and rocket systems, or dropped by aircraft. They usually explode in the air, scattering dozens and possibly hundreds of bomblets over the target area.

The treaty "constitutes a ban on most types of cluster munitions," the department said. "(Such) a general ban on cluster munitions will put the lives of our military men and women, and those of our coalition partners, at risk."

Jewish Mumbai victims buried in Israel

JERUSALEM, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- The bodies of six Jews killed in a terrorist attack on the Chabad Orthodox Jewish center in Mumbai were buried in Israel Tuesday.

Memorial services for two of the victims, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka, were attended by thousands of mourners in Kfar Chabad, Israel, after their bodies arrived in flag-draped coffins aboard an Israeli air force plane late Monday in Tel Aviv, the Voice of America reported.

Their bodies, as well as that of another victim from Chabad House, kosher supervisor Rabbi Leibish Teitelbaum of New York, were buried at Jerusalem's Mount of Olives Tuesday, CNN said.

American-Israeli Rabbi Bentzion Kruman, Israeli grandmother Yocheved Orpaz and Mexican citizen Norma Shvarzblat Rabinovich also died in the Mumbai attacks.

The burials came as Israeli newspapers carried stories of public outrage, with some accusing India of mishandling rescue efforts. The head of Israel's ZAKA disaster victim identification group was quoted as saying Indian commandos may have killed some of the Jewish victims at the Chabad house, but the Israeli government has refrained from criticizing India.

VOA reported Israeli foreign ministry officials said Tuesday that ZAKA and others are jeopardizing Israel's relations with India.

Balfour charged in Hudson family slayings

CHICAGO, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- William Balfour has been charged with first-degree murder in the slayings of actress-singer Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew in Chicago.

Balfour, 27, is the estranged husband of Hudson's sister, Julia.

Authorities said at a press conference Tuesday he was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of home invasion.

The triple homicide has been described by officials as domestic in nature.

Balfour, who has long been considered a person of interest in the case, was arrested on a parole violation the day the bodies of Hudson's mother Darnell and brother Jason were discovered in their home Oct. 24. The corpse of the star's 7-year-old nephew Julian King was found in the back of an SUV several days later.

Barbara Bush leaves hospital

HOUSTON, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Barbara Bush, wife of former President George H.W. Bush, left a Houston hospital Tuesday to finish recovering from a perforated ulcer at home.

The former president apologized to reporters at a news conference for his wife's absence, the Houston Chronicle reported.

"Barb's feeling much, much better," Bush said. "I'll be glad to get her home."

Mrs. Bush was taken to Methodist Hospital last Tuesday in what her husband described as "extraordinary agony." Once doctors diagnosed the cause of her pain as a perforated ulcer she underwent a three-hour operation.

Dr. Pat Reardon, who performed the surgery, said Mrs. Bush is already able to get around on her own. She was fed intravenously until doctors switched her to a liquid diet Monday.

Bush said his son, Neal, with his wife and children joined him to celebrate Thanksgiving in his wife's hospital room. He said the entire family plans to spend Christmas at the presidential retreat, Camp David, as another son's time in the White House comes to an end.