Thursday, January 4

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Editor's Note: The CNN Wire is a running log of the latest news from CNN World Headquarters, reported by CNN's correspondents and producers, and The CNN Wire editors. "Posted" times are Eastern Daylight.

Federal grand jury indicts Illinois man in foiled mall bomb plot

CHICAGO (CNN) -- A federal grand jury Thursday indicted a man who allegedly planned to set off several grenades in garbage cans at a Rockford, Ill., shopping mall during the busy holiday shopping rush, authorities said.

Derrick Shareef, 22, of Rockford was arrested Dec. 6 after he met with an undercover agent, seeking to trade a set of stereo speakers for four hand grenades and a handgun.

At the time of his arrest, authorities told reporters the public was never in any danger, as Shareef never obtained any weapons. He is believed to have acted alone.

The grand jury handed up a two-count indictment charging Shareef with one count of attempting to damage or destroy a building by fire or explosion and one count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, the FBI and the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois said in a statement Thursday. (Posted 9:57 p.m.)

Haniya, Abbas call for end to violence between Fatah, Hamas

GAZA CITY (CNN) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya and President Mahmoud Abbas agreed early Friday to withdraw armed militants from the streets and appealed for calm to end a cycle of violent clashes between the Hamas faction, led by Haniya, and Abbas' Fatah faction.

Haniya made the announcement at a news conference after meeting with Abbas, who did not attend the conference.

Haniya listed several points of agreement between the two men, including "rejecting the use of violence in resolving our internal issues and condemning anyone who advocates violence" and "withdrawing all militants from the streets and dispatching the police force in order to maintain order and security."

The prime minister also said the two agreed to form an independent judicial committee to investigate the rash of violence between the two factions. (Posted 8:30 p.m.)

Bush wishes Hussein execution had been 'more dignified'

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush said Thursday that he wished that the execution of Saddam Hussein had "gone in a more dignified way" -- but insisted that the late Iraqi dictator received more "justice" than was meted out to victims of his regime.

"Saddam Hussein was given a trial that he was unwilling to give the thousands of people he killed," Bush said during a White House appearance with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "I wish, obviously, that the proceedings had gone in a more dignified way. But nevertheless, he was given justice. The thousands of people he killed were not."

Bush also told reporters that during a two-hour conversation Thursday with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi leader assured him there would be a full investigation into how cell phone footage of Hussein's hanging wound up on the Internet, inflaming public opinion across the Arab world. (Posted 8:01 p.m.)

House Dems unveil plan on 9/11 Commission recommendations

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Democrats on Thursday unveiled a plan to implement recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, which they said should be one of the top priorities of the new Congress.

The 277-page bill takes some half-steps -- and some giant leaps -- as far as homeland security is concerned. While the 9/11 Commission recommended that homeland security funds be based "strictly" on impartial assessments of risks and vulnerabilities, the Democratic bill changes the funding formula, reducing but not eliminating the amount automatically dispensed to states.

The bill also requires screening of air cargo, requires radiation screening for containers leaving major ports overseas; gives airport screeners whistleblower protections; and would set up an appeals process for airline passengers mistakenly put on terror watch lists.

Department of Homeland Security officials declined to discuss specifics of the bill, saying they look forward to discussing it with members of the new Congress. But a department spokesman said DHS has already implemented all the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission that pertained to it. (Posted 7:07 p.m.)

Bush: Iraq plan to be announced 'sometime next week'

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush said Thursday that he will announce his new plans for the war in Iraq "sometime next week."

Speaking at a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Bush provided no specifics of his plans or when they would be announced. (Posted 6:54 p.m.)

Muslim congressman seeks out critic on House floor

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- On his first day in Congress, Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to Congress, finally met the Republican who criticized him for his decision to use the Koran at his ceremonial swearing in.

Ellison asked another Democratic member to introduce him to Rep Virgil Goode, R-Va., who spoke out against Ellison in a letter to constituents last month. Ellison told CNN that he approached Goode on the House floor and the brief meeting went well.

"I shook his hand and shook mine. We greeted each other." Ellison asked Goode to grab a cup of coffee with him soon and Goode accepted. --From CNN's Deirdre Walsh (Posted 6:21 p.m.)

Officials: Khalilzad leading candidate for U.N. post

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, is the leading candidate to be the next American ambassador to the United Nations, three Bush administration officials told CNN Thursday, although two of the sources indicated that President Bush was not yet prepared to make an announcement of the appointment.

Ryan Crocker, a veteran Middle East diplomat who is currently the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, is expected to be nominated by Bush to replace Khalilzad in Baghdad, two senior administration officials told CNN.

If nominated for the U.N. job, Khalilzad would replace John Bolton, whose recess appointment to the post ended Thursday. Despite nearly two years of trying, Republican leaders could not push his permanent confirmation through the Senate.

Khalilzad, 55, a native of Afghanistan and a Sunni Muslim, has been the U.S. ambassador to Iraq since June 2005. He was previously U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan. (Posted 5:46 p.m.)

Former President Bush has hip replaced at Mayo Clinic

ROCHESTER, Minn. (CNN) -- Former President George H.W. Bush is "resting comfortably" after having his right hip replaced at the Mayo Clinic, the facility announced Thursday.

Bush, 82, the current president's father, went into surgery early Wednesday, according to a statement from the clinic. "The surgery proceeded well, as expected. The president returned to his hospital room and is resting comfortably," the clinic reported. (Posted 5:31 p.m.)

Nuclear program administrator to resign under pressure over security lapses

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman said Thursday he had asked for the resignation of Linton Brooks, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, because of management and security issues including a "serious security breach" at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

"The deputy secretary and I repeatedly have stressed to NNSA and laboratory management the importance of these issues being addressed, rectified and prevented in the future," said a statement issued by Bodman. "While I believe that the current NNSA management has done its best to address these concerns, I do not believe that progress in correcting these issues has been adequate."

Bodman said he decided "it is time for new leadership" at the NNSA. "I repeatedly have told DOE and laboratory employees, and in particular senior managers, we must be accountable to the president and the American people not just for efforts, but for results." (Posted 5:22 p.m.)

Democrats urge Bush to find a way out of Iraq

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Democratic congressional leaders signaled Thursday that any plan to send more U.S. troops to Iraq would receive a cool reception and urged President Bush to find a way out of the nearly four-year-old war.

Bush talked with Iraq's prime minister about the future of the war Thursday, but did not reveal any changes in U.S. strategy during their videoconference, the White House said. Their videoconference came as the president weighs whether to send tens of thousands of additional U.S. troops into the increasingly unpopular war, which has claimed more than 3,000 American lives.

In the November elections, when Democrats won control of both houses of Congress, "nowhere were the American people more clear about the need for a new direction than in the war in Iraq," new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday. "The American people rejected an open-ended obligation to a war without end." (Posted 4:53 p.m.)

Judge orders deportation of Wisconsin man who stood guard during Nazi killings

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An immigration judge Thursday ordered that a Wisconsin man and naturalized U.S. citizen be deported because of his service as a Nazi guard, during which he admittedly stood guard during a 1943 massacre of thousands of Jews in a labor camp, the Justice Department said.

Josias Kumpf, 81, of Racine, Wis., was ordered removed because of his service as a Nazi SS Death's Head guard at a German concentration camp, a labor camp in Poland and construction sites in German-occupied France during World War II.

That service, according to Immigration Judge Jennie L. Giambastiani of Chicago, "unquestionably establishes by clear and convincing evidence that (Kumpf) was actively and personally involved in the persecution of others," said a Justice Department statement. (Posted 4:47 p.m.)

NYPD firearms training to get analytical eye

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The New York City Police Department has hired a research company to provide an "objective and comprehensive assessment" of firearms-related issues in the wake of a controversial fatal shooting in November.

The Rand Corporation will look at five areas, including the phenomenon of reflexive shooting, also known as "contagious shooting."

The review was announced by Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly on Thursday, six weeks after police fired 50 shots at a vehicle, killing Sean Bell and injuring two of his friends. None of them were armed. (Posted 4:28 p.m.)

Sources: Negroponte to resign, become deputy secretary of state

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- National Intelligence Director John Negroponte will resign his post to become deputy secretary of state, according to senior Bush administration and State Department officials.

A government official who is familiar with the situation and a senior administration official told CNN that retired Adm. Mike McConnell is expected to be nominated to replace Negroponte as director of national intelligence. The administration official said McConnell's nomination, as well as that of Negroponte to the State Department position, could happen as soon as Friday.

Bush reached out to Negroponte to take the deputy secretary of state position in an effort to increase diplomatic efforts on Iraq, the official said, and reached out to McConnell on the intelligence position last month.

The new chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, Thursday voiced concerns about the timing of Negroponte's decision, saying it could leave a "void of leadership at the top of our intelligence community." (Posted 3:47 p.m.)

Reid vows cooperation, long weeks as Democrats take over Senate

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promised to "reach across the aisle" as Democrats took control of the Senate on Thursday, but warned members they would be expected to work longer hours in the next two years.

"We found that a one-party town simply doesn't work," Reid, D-Nev., said in his first address to the chamber as majority leader. "We know from experience that majorities come and they go. We know that majorities are very fragile, and majorities must work with minorities to make that lasting change."

The Democrats won control of both Houses of Congress in November's congressional elections, but the party holds just a 51-49 edge in the Senate. Reid said that slim margin provides a "unique opportunity" for bipartisan cooperation. And he promised to work with President Bush in the Democratic-led chamber, "or jointly we do nothing."

Reid said senators should prepare for "real work days" ahead, criticizing the workload taken on by the previous Congress. (Posted 2:37 p.m.)

Pelosi becomes first-ever female House speaker

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As expected, House members Thursday chose Democrat Nancy Pelosi as the nation's first female speaker of the House.

She easily received the majority of votes in the 435-member House.

Pelosi was nominated by the chairman of the Democratic Caucus, Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, who said support for her was unanimous.

The new minority leader is John Boehner, R-Ohio. (Posted 1:42 p.m.)

Al-Jazeera denies it was behind leaked Hussein execution video

DOHA, Qatar (CNN) -- Al-Jazeera has vehemently denied an accusation from a senior Iraqi government source that the Arabic language network was behind the leaked cell phone video recording of Saddam Hussein's execution.

"It's an absolutely ridiculous charge." the network's editor in chief, Ahmed al-Sheikh, told CNN. "It's a ridiculous charge that's not worth commenting on any further."

The senior Iraqi government source told CNN that Al-Jazeera recruited someone inside Hussein's execution chamber to take the pictures.

The source said the information stemmed from the Iraqi government's ongoing investigation into who leaked the video, which includes questioning two guards who have been detained on suspicion of recording and releasing the images. (Posted 1:19 p.m.)

FTC settles with companies over unsubstantiated weight-loss claims

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Federal Trade Commission announced Thursday that marketers of four weight-control pills have agreed to pay a total of at least $25 million to settle allegations of deceptive marketing.

The four are Xenadrine EFX, CortiSlim, TrimSpa, and One-A-Day WeightSmart.

The FTC alleged that the companies' weight-loss and weight-control claims were not supported by evidence. The companies have agreed to limit their advertising claims.

"You won't find weight loss in a bottle of pills that claims it has the latest scientific breakthrough or miracle ingredient," said FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras in a written statement. "Paying for fad science is a good way to lose cash, not pounds." (Posted 12:40 p.m.)

Bush counsel Miers resigns

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- White House counsel Harriet Miers, once President Bush's pick for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, has resigned, the White House announced Thursday.

Bush has "reluctantly accepted" her resignation, which takes effect Jan. 31, the White House said.

Her resignation letter, dated Thursday, gave no explanation for her departure. (Posted 12:37 p.m.)

9 additional bones found at WTC site

NEW YORK (CNN )-- Forensic anthropologists have uncovered nine more human bones around the World Trade Center, the New York City Medical Examiner's office said Thursday.

Five of the bones were found Wednesday in debris that had been taken from the World Trade Center site to a city screening site in Brooklyn. Four others were found along the long gravel path that starts at the base of the WTC site and ends at street level. The bones varied in length from an inch to four inches.

The remains will undergo DNA testing in attempt to match them to victims. --By CNN's Liz Powers (Posted 11:51 a.m.)

Attacks in and around Baghdad kill 20, wound 33

BAGHDAD (CNN) -- Attacks in and around the Iraqi capital Thursday have killed 20 and wounded nearly three dozen, officials said.

A pair of cars packed with explosives and parked behind a gas station in western Baghdad exploded Thursday morning, killing at least 13 and wounding 22, authorities said. The blasts occurred in quick succession shortly after 10 a.m. (2 a.m. ET) in the Mansour neighborhood as civilians waited in line to buy heating fuel, according to police.

Later in the day, a mortar attack in Saba al-Bour, northwest of Baghdad, killed one civilian and wounded six, an interior ministry official told CNN. Another mortar attack on the Shiite neighborhood of al-Amel in western Baghdad killed five civilians and wounded four, the official said.

In the western Baghdad neighborhood of al-Mansour, a suicide car bomb detonated near an Iraqi army convoy, killing one civilian and wounding an Iraqi soldier, the official said. (Posted 11:41 a.m.)

Spanish police find car bomb in Basque country

MADRID (CNN) -- Spanish police Thursday found a car bomb in the northern Basque region, and suspected it had been constructed by the Basque separatist group ETA, which carried out last weekend's deadly car bombing at Madrid's airport, anti-terrorism sources told CNN's partner station, CNN+ (prono: C-N-N ploos).

The car bomb did not detonate; the sources said it was ready to be used.

Saturday's attack ended a nine-month cease-fire that ETA had promised would be permanent, a move that had raised hopes for an end to nearly 40 years of ETA attacks blamed for more than 800 deaths and thousands of injuries.

One person was killed and another remains missing in the Madrid airport attack. --From CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman (Posted 11:31 a.m.)

Israeli official says Palestinian operation was botched

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Four Palestinians were killed Thursday during an Israeli military operation in Ramallah that one Israeli government official said "messed up."

The Ramallah incursion was meant to arrest one wanted Palestinian, the government official said, but the unit searching for the man encountered an unanticipated level of resistance and more Israeli army troops were called in.

The Palestinian who was the target of the raid was not captured, the official added.

However, a spokeswoman for the Israel Defense Forces said four wanted Palestinians were captured in the operation. Another wanted man got away, she said, but she could not confirm that he had been the sole target of the operation. (Posted 11:28 a.m.)

6 Palestinians killed in separate incidents in Ramallah, Gaza

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli military operations to arrest wanted Palestinians left four Palestinians dead and several wounded in Ramallah and Bethlehem Thursday, Palestinian medical sources and an Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman told CNN.

Palestinian infighting in ongoing skirmishes between Fatah and Hamas supporters in Gaza also killed two Palestinians Thursday, Palestinian security sources said; one from Fatah and one from Hamas.

Eight others were wounded in those battles, the sources said.

In addition to the two Palestinians killed in the IDF operation in Ramallah, 22 people were wounded, including two journalists, the Palestinian medical sources said. (Posted 10:46 a.m.)

Israeli PM, Egyptian president to meet in effort to restart stalled peace process

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will meet in this Red Sea resort town Thursday for bilateral talks on the stalled Mideast peace process.

The meeting is also an effort to bolster support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in his standoff against the ruling Hamas party.

It is the second meeting between the two leaders since Olmert took office in March last year and will prepare the groundwork for a three-way summit among Olmert, Abbas and Mubarak. --From CNN's Atika Shubert in Sharm el-Sheikh and Eli Flournoy (Posted 9:40 a.m.)

British tourist murdered, hung from tree in India

NEW DELHI (CNN) -- Indian police said Thursday four people are under arrest in connection with the death of a British tourist, who was apparently beaten, strangled and then hung from a tree in a village about 125 miles southeast of Mumbai.

Inspector general of police Dr. Satyapal Singh told CNN that Stephen Bennett, 40, was murdered in the village of Malsai on the morning of Dec. 11.

"It's a case of sexual assault or sexual involvement," said Singh, explaining that a village woman told authorities that a Western man had followed her and tried to molest or rape her when she had gone to relieve herself in the fields early that morning.

Police say Bennett, a resident of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, was touring India and on Dec. 7 had boarded a train from the popular holiday resort of Goa to India's financial capital, Mumbai. But en route, police said, Bennett got off at Roha station, which is almost four miles from the village where he was murdered.

Among those arrested Ramesh Mene, the husband of the woman who made the claims. The others are all residents of Malsai village. (Posted 9:19 a.m.) --From CNN Senior Correspondent Satinder Bindra

Father of contractor kidnapped in Iraq says son 'looks good' in video

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The father of a security contractor abducted in Iraq Nov. 16 said Thursday the family was heartened because his son "looked good with no injuries" in a videotape made in late 2006.

The son, Jonathan Cote, was kidnapped along with four other American security contractors and an Austrian co-worker men during an ambush in the southern Iraqi town of Safwan.

Cote's father, Francis, of Buffalo, N.Y., told CNN that representatives from the State Department and the son's employer contacted the family Wednesday to provide more details about a videotape released to the media that day. Both the department and Kuwait-based, Crescent Security Group, verified the date of the tape which has a date stamp of Dec. 21.

Crescent Security Group conducts convoy escort duties. -- CNN's Brian Vitagliano contributed to this report. (Posted 9:18 a.m.)

Second security guard detained, questioned about Hussein execution video

BAGHDAD (CNN) -- A second security guard present at the execution of Saddam Hussein was detained for questioning Thursday as part of an investigation into a leaked cell phone video recording of the hanging, an aide to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told CNN.

The Iraqi government suspects the pair of guards -- employees of the Justice Ministry who have been arrested in the span of two days -- were responsible for filming the execution and leaking the video showing taunting from Shiites in the moments leading up to the former Iraqi dictator's death, Sami al-Askari said.

The first guard was detained on Wednesday and will face charges depending on whether "this individual acted alone and in the spur of the moment or whether he planned beforehand and acted in coordination with others outside the court like media or political organizations." al-Maliki's adviser Sadiq al-Rikabi said. (Posted 6:57 a.m.)

Rescue workers remove body in rubble of Madrid airport explosion

MADRID (CNN) -- Rescue workers Thursday recovered the body of a man found a day earlier in the rubble of last weekend's Madrid airport blast carried out by the Basque separatist group ETA, an official with Madrid emergency services told CNN.

It is the first fatality in an ETA attack in more than three years. Another man remains missing.

The body of Ecuadorean immigrant Carlos Alonso Palate was located Wednesday in a car in the heavily damaged parking garage at Madrid Barajas Airport's Terminal 4, where an ETA van bomb exploded Saturday. --From CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman (Posted 6:20 a.m.)

Police fired, suspended after investigation of serial killings in India

NEW DELHI (CNN) -- Six police officers were fired and three senior police officials were suspended for their failure to properly investigate the disappearance of dozens of people outside New Delhi, a government official in India said Thursday.

Last week police began uncovering skeletal remains in the city of Noida, east of the Indian capital in neighboring Uttar Pradesh state. The bodies of at least 17 people have been identified.

The victims' families have complained that police ignored their missing persons reports for more than a year before taking any action.

Residents in Nathari village in Noida have said up to 38 people are missing, most of them children. (Posted 5:56 a.m)

Rapper Busta Rhymes arrested for allegedly attacking former employee

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Hip-hop musician and actor Busta Rhymes was arrested on misdemeanor assault charges after allegedly attacking a former employee during an argument last week over "payroll issues," police said.

Accompanied by his lawyer, the 34-year-old Brooklyn native, born Trevor Smith, walked into a lower Manhattan precinct where he was arrested.

Police said the rapper is accused of kicking and punching the former employee during an argument outside Rhymes' Manhattan office the day after Christmas. --From CNN's Cheryl Bronson (Posted 5:38 a.m.)

New House rules take aim at lobbyists, spending earmarks

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The leaders of the new Democratic majority in the House will kick off their tenure Thursday with new rules designed to rein in the influence of lobbyists, limit free travel by members and make it harder for lawmakers to slip their pet projects into spending bills unnoticed.

The package of rules changes, the details of which were unveiled Wednesday evening, will also prevent members from using their official positions to influence the hiring decisions of private firms -- a direct slap at the so-called "K Street Project," in which House Republican leaders leaned on lobbying firms to hire GOP operatives when they were in the majority.

The changes in travel funding come in the wake of the scandal surrounding disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who provided trips for lawmakers by arranging funding through outside groups in order to get around an existing ban on lobbyist-paid travel.

Former members of the House who become lobbyists will also be banned from sweating with their former colleagues in members-only exercise facilities on Capitol Hill. -- By CNN's Richard Shumate (Posted 9:53 p.m.)

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