Bush portrait unveiled
PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- President George Bush was presented a gold medal Saturday at the unveiling of his portrait at the Union League of Philadelphia.
"Welcome to my hanging," the president joked to the crowd upon his arrival.
He was given several ovations by those on hand.
Bush drew laughs for his self-deprecating comments about his looks.
Bush's portrait was painted by Mark Carder. The club has a gallery displaying portraits of every Republican president since Abraham Lincoln.
"(Carder) did a really fine job with a challenging subject," Bush said. "I was taken aback by how much gray paint you had to use."
In accepting his medal, Bush also took time to mention his mother, former first lady Barbara Bush, was doing well after ulcer surgery, calling her "a tough old bird -- whose spirits are soaring high."
On the way to the unveiling, the president's plane did a flyover of Lincoln Financial Field, site of Saturday's annual Army-Navy football game. Bush later attended the 109th meeting of the two military academies, his third time as president, and participated in the game's coin toss.
In an interview on CBS Sports, Bush was asked what the game meant to him. "Well," he answered, "it means to me that I have -- I got a chance to come and be with people who will be joining the finest military in the history of the world."
"I stand in awe of somebody who would volunteer to serve America in a time of danger."
Sunny von Bulow dies after years in coma
NEW YORK, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Martha "Sunny" von Bulow, the heiress whose husband was charged with trying to kill her, died Saturday in a New York nursing home after 28 years in a coma.
She was 48 when she was found unconscious in her mansion in Newport, R.I., in 1980 and 76 when she died.
Von Bulow was played by Glenn Close in "Reversal of Fortune," a movie about Claus von Bulow's trials and eventual acquittal. Jeremy Irons won an Oscar as Claus.
A spokeswoman for von Bulow's family released a statement confirming her death, The New York Times reported. Her children said she was "an extraordinary loving and caring mother."
Claus von Bulow, her second husband, was charged with giving her an overdose of insulin. He was convicted, won on appeal and then acquitted in a series of highly publicized trials.
A civil suit by von Bulow's two children from her first marriage was settled with Claus agreeing to a divorce. He now lives in London.
Von Bulow is survived by her three children, Annie-Laurie von Auersperg Kneissl Isham and Alexander von Auersperg from her first marriage, Cosima Pavoncelli from her second, and five grandchildren.
Weapons caches reportedly found in Sinai
JERUSALEM, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Egyptian soldiers reportedly have found two large weapons caches allegedly destined for use by terrorists in Gaza.
The caches found buried in the northern and central part of the Sinai peninsula contained more than 500 pounds of dynamite and 211 anti-aircraft missile shells in all, Israel Radio reported Saturday, quoting the Arabic Web site Falastin al-Youm.
The smugglers remained at large, The Jerusalem Post reported Saturday.
Meanwhile, no injury or damage was reported in Negev from two mortar shells fired into a field near a kibbutz Saturday and nine rockets fired into open fields Friday, the Post reported.
Palestinian groups said the shelling was in retaliation for violence Thursday by Israeli settlers against Palestinian property in the Hebron area.
Election held in two Louisiana districts
WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- The last two elections of 2008 are being held Saturday in Louisiana's 2nd and 4th Congressional Districts, where Hurricane Gustav delayed polling.
The race in the 4th District will decide retiring 10-term Republican Rep. Jim McCrery's successor. Democrat Paul Carmouche is facing off against Republican John Fleming in the high-profile race, CNN reported.
"It's a Republican-leaning district, but the Democrats nominated another moderate candidate," said Stuart Rothenberg, editor and publisher of The Rothenberg Report, a non-partisan political newsletter. "They hope to use the same formula that worked well in other conservative districts on Nov. 4."
In the 2nd Congressional District, embattled nine-term Democratic Rep. William Jefferson, who has been indicted on federal corruption charges, is running for re-election against Republican Anh "Joseph" Cao.
Although President-elect Barack Obama has recorded a radio ad on behalf of Carmouche, he has remained mum on Jefferson's candidacy.
