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Judge approves sale of GM

NEW YORK, July 6 (UPI) -- U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Gerber approved the sale of General Motors Corp. to salvage the company in the midst of a severe slump.

"Bankruptcy courts have the power to authorize sales of assets at a time when there still is value to preserve -- to prevent the death of the patient on the operating table," Gerber wrote in a 95-page opinion, The New York Times reported Monday.

Gerber said GM could proceed with the sale despite more than 850 objections to the restructuring plan filed in court. The plan had largely been ironed out before GM filed for court protection June 1. The deal includes GM selling most of its viable assets to the governments of the United States and Canada and to the United Automobile Workers union.

The company's unprofitable assets will be liquidated. Twelve of GM's 20 factories are expected to close at the cost of 21,000 jobs. GM is also expected to sever ties with about 2,300 of its 6,000 dealerships.

Ex-U.S. defense secretary McNamara dies

WASHINGTON, July 6 (UPI) -- Former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara died in his sleep Monday at his Washington home, family members told The Washington Post. He was 93.

McNamara served as defense secretary under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s and later was president of the World Bank.

McNamara, a financial wizard, worked his up way to become president of the Ford Motor Co. but remained there little more than a month before he was chosen by President Kennedy as secretary of defense. As head of the armed forces, McNamara favored the planned Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba and his policies led the conflict in Vietnam to be called "McNamara's War."

He remained in the cabinet following the assassination of Kennedy and served in the same post during President Johnson's second term, resigning in 1968 to become president of the World Bank. There he put his financial expertise to work, instituting a policy change that permitted the bank to give aid to state-owned development banks.

He was born on June 9, 1916, in San Francisco, Calif. He majored in mathematics and economics at the University of California and took post-graduate work at the Harvard Business School, graduating in 1939.

Blasts kill 5 NATO troops in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 6 (UPI) -- Four NATO coalition forces died in a bomb blast in northern Afghanistan while a British soldier was killed in a blast in the south, officials said Monday.

Local Afghan officials told the BBC the four victims of a roadside bombing in Kunduz were from the United States, but the information was not immediately confirmed by the American military. Local officials said two Afghan citizens also were killed.

The Afghan Defense Ministry said the British soldier died in an explosion Sunday near Gereshk in Helmand province, the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA reported.

At least two people were killed in a suicide bombing near a NATO base at Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, the BBC also reported Monday. The attacker blew up his vehicle at a checkpoint outside the airfield.

At least seven killed in Iraqi violence

BAGHDAD, July 6 (UPI) -- At least seven people, including a child, died in overnight violence in Iraq as gunmen targeted police and civilians, Iraqi security officials said Monday.

A car bomb in the northern city of Mosul killed a child and wounded two other civilians Monday, while gunmen in Baghdad Sunday night killed five members of an Iraqi security detail, Interior Ministry officials told CNN.

In other attacks Sunday in Mosul, a car bomb targeting a security patrol wounded six police officers, and one civilian was killed and 15 others wounded when attackers lobbed at least 11 grenades into a crowd of civilians, CNN reported.

Obama looks into vacation time

WASHINGTON, July 6 (UPI) -- With no vacation home to call their own, U.S. President Barack Obama and his family are booking summer getaway plans elsewhere, officials said.

The White House is busy arranging Obama's first vacation since taking office and the destination -- while classified -- is likely Martha's Vineyard, Mass., several businesses and locals told The New York Times.

"The rumor mill is rampant because people want to get information and want to flesh out their plans," said Charles J. Ogletree, a Harvard University law professor, a summer Vineyard resident and friend of the Obamas. "I hope that people will respect their privacy and need for rest."

The White House is keeping the dates, duration and destination of the trip are under wraps for several reasons, the Times said, led by a desire not to distract from congressional workload, which includes developing healthcare reform legislation and the Senate confirmation process for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

The White House also is concerned about the appearance of Obama taking a tony, oceanfront vacation while the unemployment rate nudges closer to 10 percent, the Times said. Finally, since the president never really is off duty, so whenever and wherever he chooses to vacation is guaranteed to draw scrutiny.