Pelosi, Wasserman Schultz: Weiner must go
WASHINGTON, June 11 (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner Saturday sought treatment and a leave of absence from Congress after the top two Democratic congresswomen called for his resignation.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who heads the Democratic National Committee, both said Saturday it was time for Weiner to give up, the Los Angeles Times reported. U.S. Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., added his voice.
The calls came after Delaware police questioned a 17-year-old girl who had communicated with Weiner on Twitter. She says Weiner, who has admitted sending explicit pictures to several women, sent her nothing inappropriate.
"This sordid affair has become an unacceptable distraction for Representative Weiner, his family, his constituents and the House -- and for the good of all, he should step aside and address those things that should be most important -- his and his family's well-being," Wasserman Schultz said.
"Congressman Weiner departed this morning to seek professional treatment to focus on becoming a better husband and healthier person," his spokeswoman, Risa Heller, told The New York Times. "In light of that, he will request a short leave of absence from the House of Representatives so that he can get evaluated and map out a course of treatment to make himself well.
"Congressman Weiner takes the views of his colleagues very seriously and has determined that he needs this time to get healthy and make the best decision possible for himself, his family and his constituents."
Polls have suggested Weiner retains the support of his constituents. During a short walk to a dry cleaner with a media pack in tow, Weiner heard from several people yelling "Don't go" and similar sentiments.
Weiner's wife, Huma Abedin, a top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was revealed to be pregnant after the scandal broke. She is in Africa with Clinton.
Arizona's Wallow fire at 430,000 acres
PHOENIX, June 11 (UPI) -- For the first time since it started, firefighters were able to contain parts of Arizona's Wallow fire, which grew to 430,000 acres Saturday, officials said.
Even so, the massive blaze threatened to cross the state line into the small town of Luna, N.M., The Arizona Republic reported.
More than 3,000 firefighters managed to contain a small slice of the fire with the aid of a DC-10 tanker, while authorities in Catron County have evacuated about 100 homes near the state line.
The second-largest fire in Arizona history grew to 430,000 acres Saturday from about 386,000 Thursday, but no additional homes or buildings were lost. So far about 50 structures have burned.
"It's so long that even if it moves a little bit, it adds probably 10,000 to 20,000 acres a day," incident commander Clay Templin told the newspaper.
Firefighters were able to gain a toehold in the fire because the blustery winds that were pushing it calmed down, allowing firefighters to set preventive burns and cut firebreaks in its path.
32 dead in Peshawar bombings
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, June 11 (UPI) -- At least 32 people were killed and scores more injured Saturday by two bombs that exploded at a supermarket in Peshawar, Pakistan, Geo News reported.
The Khyber supermarket caught fire after the Saturday night explosions, which occurred 4 minutes apart, the news agency said. The first explosion was smaller; when a crowd gathered to examine the destruction, a second, more powerful blast went off. At least 80 people were injured.
Honolulu TSA staff fired for negligence
HONOLULU, June 11 (UPI) -- The security boss at the Honolulu airport and 35 subordinates are being fired for failing to check luggage for bombs, officials say.
Transportation Security Administration spokesman Nico Melendez said Friday letters of "proposed termination" were sent to 36 workers and 12 more are being suspended. The fired workers are on paid administrative leave while they appeal.
Melendez did not name them, but the Honolulu Star-Advertiser identified the federal security director as Glen Kajiyama and the assistant deputy director for screening as William Gulledge, both former Honolulu police commanders.
The workers came under suspicion after two TSA workers told supervisors colleagues were not screening checked luggage being loaded on flights in a section of the airport, The Washington Post reported.
Investigators found that every day during late 2010, an undetermined number of flights took off with unscreened baggage.
Melendez said 100 of the 750 TSA employees at Honolulu International were interviewed during the investigation.
"TSA holds its workforce to the highest ethical standards and we will not tolerate employees who in any way compromise the security of the traveling public," Administrator John Pistole said.
1998 Africa bomb plotter killed in Somalia
MOGADISHU, Somalia, June 11 (UPI) -- The al-Qaida mastermind of the 1998 East Africa bombings has been killed in Somalia, Kenya's top police official said Saturday.
The U.S. FBI had posted a $5 million reward for Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, accused of plotting the attacks on the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, that killed more than 250 people.
Kenya Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere confirmed the report by Somalia's transitional federal government that Mohammed was killed Wednesday at a roadblock near Mogadishu to The Nation newspaper of Nairobi.
Mohammed also was suspected in a 2002 car bombing of a hotel at Kikambala on the Kenya coast that killed 15 people and wounded more than 80 and an attempt to shoot down a plane carrying Israeli tourists, the Kenya Broadcasting Corp. reported.
Mohammed, a native of the Comorro Islands, was believed to be the leader of al-Qaida in Somalia.
He spoke French, Swahili, Arabic, English and Comorian and used 18 aliases, the FBI said.
