Police charge teen with starting wildfire
YUCAIPA, Calif., Sept. 24 (UPI) -- A 16-year-old boy suspected of starting a wildfire in Southern California was spotted by witnesses leaving the area on a bicycle, police said Thursday.
The teen, who has not been identified because of his age, was arrested just before 5 p.m. Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The blaze has charred close to 500 acres in the Crofton Hills. Fire officials said it was about 60 percent contained Thursday morning.
"They did some really good work last night with the bulldozers and hand crews," said Bill Peters, a spokesman for the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. "The key will be to get through the heat
of the day and to keep any hot spots from flaring up."
The fire prompted the temporary closing Wednesday of Crofton Community College.
Police questioned the teen and then arrested him.
British officials welcome papal visit
LONDON, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Both secular and religious officials say they are happy Pope Benedict XVI plans to visit Britain next year.
Benedict will be only the second pope to enter the country since King Henry VIII broke with the Roman Catholic Church 500 years ago. Pope John Paul II traveled to Britain in 1982.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said he is "delighted" by the pope's plans, The Daily Telegraph reported.
"I'm sure I speak on behalf of Anglicans throughout Britain, in assuring him that he would be received with great warmth and joy," he said in a statement.
Queen Elizabeth II, the nominal head of the Church of England, is expected to agree to the trip.
The pope has not announced his plans, but the visit is expected to be in the fall of 2010.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who invited the pope to Britain during a visit to the Vatican in February, and Conservative leader David Cameron said they were "delighted" at the prospect.
The National Secular Society, on the other hand, said it hopes "to make clear to the pope that whatever celebrations the government lays on for him, he is not welcomed here by everyone."
Treasury to review IRS oversight of ACORN
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- The Treasury Department has agreed to review IRS oversight of the community organizing group ACORN and other similar groups, a U.S. House Republican said.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Thursday the Treasury Department's inspector general agreed to an investigation sought by him and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, The Hill reported.
"In response to your request, (the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration) is initiating a review of the IRS's oversight of tax-exempt Section 501(c)(3) organizations and Section 527 organizations and will review internal IRS referral processes with regard to non-profit fraud investigations," Treasury Inspector General J. Russell George wrote to Issa in a letter.
The letter did not say the Treasury would be investigating the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now specifically, but said it would take a broad look at IRS's enforcement of rules for a number of groups.
"The lack of an appropriate firewall between ACORN's charitable activities and its political arm has raised significant questions regarding the appropriateness of their status as a taxable non-profit corporation and their management of federal dollars," Issa said. "Cutting ties with ACORN is a good first step for the federal government, but since they have been the recipients of taxpayer dollars, we have an obligation to investigate to discover whether or not those dollars were misused in anyway.
The organization came under heavy, bipartisan criticism last week after a surreptitiously recorded video emerged in which two conservative activists posed as a prostitute and pimp and received advice from a Baltimore ACORN employee on how to avoid paying taxes.
Ahmadinejad keeps up Holocaust denial
NEW YORK, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad maintained his denial of the Holocaust and discussed nuclear issues in an interview with two U.S. publications.
Among other things, Ahmadinejad told Newsweek and The Washington Post that he thought the U.S.-led effort in Afghanistan was doomed. Ahmadinejad was in New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly.
"We believe that the nature of policies in Afghanistan is completely wrong and there is no need to go about proving it," Ahmadinejad said. "Many crimes have been committed since the arrival of NATO troops."
Concerning his views on the Holocaust, he said he was taking an "academic approach to a crucial subject and also one based on humanitarian considerations."
"What I am saying here is that in past history many events have happened and in World War II many crimes were committed. Over 60 million people were killed and even more were displaced," he said. "So we have several specific questions ... . The first question that I have to try and understand is why in the midst of all that happened in World War II, the Holocaust is emphasized more than any other (event)?"
Ahmadinejad said his country has complied with conditions set out by the International Atomic Energy Agency concerning its nuclear program.
"Based on official and repeated reports issued by the agency, Iran has carried out its nuclear activities within the legal framework designed by the agency," he said. "We have also voluntarily accepted the new obligations over and beyond the legal framework."
The Iranian leader said it was up to the country's judiciary to decide whether presidential challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi would be tried. Mousavi and other challengers charge the June 12 election, in which Ahmadinejad was declared the winner, was rife with fraud.
"It has nothing to do with the government," Ahmadinejad said. "If there are any violations the court will handle it."
He said he planned to discuss world security, disarmament, economic problems and issues confronting international relations during his upcoming trip to Geneva for a meeting with world leaders.
