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Senate appointment legal, Burris says

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Roland Burris, the controversial appointee to President-elect Barack Obama's Senate seat, said Monday he will present himself to be seated in the chamber.

If his entry is blocked, "my lawyers will take it from there and we'll see what happens," Burris said Monday during a news conference in Chicago before traveling to Washington.

Burris said he isn't concerned about corruption allegations against Illinois Gov Rod Blagojevich, who appointed him last week. The former Illinois attorney general said Blagojevich "carried out his duties and he filled a vacancy according to law."

"This appointment is legal. I am the junior senator from Illinois," he said. "(The controversy) is all politics and theater. But I am the junior senator, according to every law book in the nation."

He said he was scheduled to meet with Senate Democratic leadership -- which opposes his being seated -- on Wednesday. The secretary of the Senate on Tuesday refused to accept his certification of appointment because the Illinois secretary of state refused to sign the document.

In addition, Burris said he was subpoenaed to appear before the Illinois House of Representatives committee considering whether to recommend impeaching Blagojevich to the full chamber.

He said he was planning to travel to Illinois' capital city of Springfield, Ill., from Washington on Thursday.

During an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said it would be "very difficult" for Burris to become a senator, but added he was open to negotiations.

Reid said he will meet with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky in hopes of reaching a bipartisan decision.

Court clears way for Franken certification

ST. PAUL, Minn., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- The Minnesota Supreme Court Monday denied Republican Norm Coleman's request to include rejected absentee ballots in the U.S. Senate recount.

The ruling apparently clears the way for the state Canvassing Board to certify election results showing Democrat Al Franken the winner, as well as open the probability of a lawsuit the Coleman campaign said "is now inevitable," the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune reported.

The state Canvassing Board was scheduled to meet later Monday to review recount results. Franken, an author and former "Saturday Night Live" writer and performer, had an unofficial 225-vote lead out of the nearly 3 million votes cast Nov. 4.

Justices did not rule on the merits of Coleman's claim that ballots may have been wrongly rejected, saying he could pursue a lawsuit, also called an "election contest," to plead the matter.

Coleman recount attorney Fritz Knaak said the campaign would would file a lawsuit.

"Given our campaign's unwavering commitment to ensuring that the vote of no Minnesotan is disenfranchised, today's ruling by the Minnesota Supreme Court is both disappointing and disheartening," Knaak said in a statement. "Today's ruling, which effectively disregards the votes of hundreds of Minnesotans, ensures that an election contest is now inevitable."

The Franken campaign hailed the ruling.

"Today, the Supreme Court once again affirmed the validity of the rules under which this recount was conducted," Franken recount lawyer Marc Elias said.

An election contest, which must be filed within seven days, would be heard by a three-judge panel appointed by Minnesota Chief Justice Eric Magnuson.

Republican Senate leaders said they don't want Franken seated until all legal challenges are resolved.

April 7 election set for Emanuel's seat

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich Monday set April 7 for a special election to fill the U.S. House seat Rahm Emanuel gave up to join the Obama administration.

Blagojevich, who is facing federal corruption charges, issued a Writ off Election from his Capitol office in Springfield that also set March 3 as the date for a special primary election, if one is needed.

Three people have emerged as top contenders for the heavily Democratic 5th District seat vacated by Emanuel, who resigned effective last Friday to become President-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff. State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley and former Transportation Security Administration official Justin Oberman are viewed as leading a field of candidates that could be crowded with up to 18 contenders, The Hill reported last week.

Blagojevich has been accused of trying to peddle Obama's empty Senate seat for personal gain, among other charges.

India turns over Mumbai info to Pakistan

NEW DELHI, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Officials said India turned over to Pakistan evidence that linked "elements" in Pakistan to the November terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India.

The file, circulated by the Indian Foreign Ministry to several countries, included information from the interrogation of Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the only Mumbai gunman captured alive, whom Indian officials maintain is a Pakistani national trained by terrorists reportedly with links with Pakistan's spy organization, The Times of London reported Monday.

The documentation also has details of terrorists' communications with their alleged handlers in Pakistan during the attacks, which began Nov. 26 and lasted for 60 hours, leading to more than 170 deaths in India's financial and entertainment hub.

"The material is linked to elements in Pakistan. It is our expectation that the government of Pakistan will promptly undertake further investigations," a spokesman for India's foreign ministry said.

During the weekend, Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said the dossier was "unanswerable," the British newspaper reported. "No one in his right mind can give answer to this evidence."

Chidambaram is expected to brief the White House about the contents of the report in Washington. The Times said the FBI may be asked to act on India's behalf to investigate matters related to the dossier in Pakistan.

Kansas senators don't want Gitmo detainees

LEAVENWORTH, Kan., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- The two U.S. senators from Kansas say they don't want terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be transferred to the Fort Leavenworth U.S. Army base.

Republican Sen. Sam Brownback has introduced legislation to ban the use of federal funds for any transfer of the detainees to Leavenworth. Fellow Republican Sen. Pat Roberts also opposes using the Kansas military facility to house "enemy combatants" from Guantanamo, The Kansas City Star reported Monday.

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has vowed to close the U.S. military detention facility in Guantanamo, and his aides are exploring the options of sending some of the prisoners to Fort Leavenworth's disciplinary barracks among other U.S. sites, the newspaper said.

"They plan to close Guantanamo Bay, which I understand," Brownback said recently at the Leavenworth barracks, "... to move them to another location in the United States. I'm saying this one doesn't fit."

Brownback said such a move would disrupt the fort's primary mission of training officers at the Command General Staff College, while Roberts added bringing Guantanamo detainees to Kansas "would be placing Americans in harm's way. It would be a logistical nightmare," the Star reported.

Wintry mix heading for Midwest, East

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- The eastern half of the United States could fall under the sway of a potent storm that may bring a mix of rain, ice and snow, forecasters said Monday.

Heavy rains and thunderstorms erupting Monday from Texas through the lower Mississippi Valley will reach into the Midwest, central Appalachians and parts of the mid-Atlantic states by Tuesday night, bringing ice, freezing rain and snow to those areas, Accuweather.com reported.

By late Tuesday, forecasters said, snow will spread into major cities from the Midwest to the mid-Atlantic, including Chicago, Milwaukee, Cleveland and Philadelphia. The icy mix will then spread into central and eastern New England Wednesday.

Meanwhile, heavy snowfalls buried parts of the U.S. West Monday, with more than a foot of snow predicted to accumulate through Tuesday morning in the Cascade Mountains and the northern Rocky Mountains, Accuweather.com said.

Gusty winds created hazardous winter driving conditions in the mountain passes, with Washington state officials closing Interstate 90 over Snoqualmie Pass, the state's major east-west highway.