USA
President Bush boarded Air Force One for his fourth official trip to Europe, culminating with the annual Group of Eight summit at Gleneagles, Scotland. But he made clear even before leaving that he did not share the view that the three days of meetings should produce a strong statement on climate change. He told a British TV interviewer that human activity in industrialized nations is "to some extent" to blame for greenhouse gas emissions, but reiterated that the US would not sign any international accords aimed at limiting them. Prior to the summit, Bush was to visit Denmark to offer thanks for the hundreds of troops that nation has sent to Iraq and Afghanistan.
House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D) filed late reports last Friday on three trips paid for by outside sources - with a combined value of $8,580. One, to Taiwan as a guest of the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce in 1999, wasn't reported on disclosure forms that are required within 90 days of a congressional trip. A House GOP leader called her filing new evidence that the focus on trips taken by majority leader Tom DeLay (R) has been disproportionate.
Hundreds of thousands of people in the San Francisco Bay Area were considering alternative ways of commuting to their jobs as a strike of rapid transit workers loomed Tuesday night. The 2,300-member Service Employees International Union contract expired last Friday, and negotiators said they remained far apart on issues such as pay raises and how much the subway system should pay for retirees' healthcare coverage. The system last experienced a strike in 1997.
At least one local United Church of Christ (UCC) congregation may leave the fold after its General Synod endorsed same-sex marriage, a pastor warned. The Rev. Brett Becker of Cibolo, Texas, said after the resolution passed Monday with about 80 percent of the vote, "Many of my members have expressed very clearly that ... if this happened, they would want to see us leave." Had the "the people in the pews" been given a say, Becker added, the measure "would have failed overwhelmingly." The resolution is not binding. The UCC claims about 1.3 million members.
A 220-mile stretch of the Gulf Coast, from New Orleans to Pascagoula, Miss., was bracing for the arrival of tropical storm Cindy, the third named system of the 2005 hurricane season. It wasn't expected to intensify into a hurricane, but its heavy rains posed a threat to low-lying areas as it neared landfall.
Hank Stram, who died Monday in Covington, La., was the first person in history to participate in pro football's Super Bowl as a winning coach and as a broadcaster. His Kansas City Chiefs lost the inaugural game in 1967, but won Super Bowl IV three years later. After giving up coaching, he was the analyst for 16 seasons on CBS Radio broadcasts of "Monday Night Football." He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame two years ago.
