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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 Time. Israeli airstrikes, Palestinian infighting rock GazaGAZA CITY (CNN) -- Israel launched another round of airstrikes against a militant target in Gaza early Friday -- a day after the Israeli military began targeting Hamas in retaliation for dozens of Qassam rockets fired from Gaza into Israel over the last five days, Israel Defense Forces said. According to Palestinian security sources, Thursday's strikes killed at least six Palestinians. The airstrikes angered Palestinian officials, who accused the Israelis of taking advantage of violence between the Hamas and Fatah factions, which continued Thursday despite a fourth attempt at a cease-fire Wednesday evening. -- CNN's Ben Wedeman, Atika Shubert, Nidal Rafa, Michal Zippori and Shira Medding in Jerusalem contributed to this report. (Posted 1:28 a.m.) Giuliani scooped up $11.4 million in speaking feesWASHINGTON (CNN) -- When Rudy Giuliani speaks, people pay. Big time. Or at least they did, before the former New York mayor stopped making paid public appearances in February, after he launched his bid for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. A financial disclosure report filed with the Federal Election Commission showed that between January 2006 and February 2007, Giuliani collected a whopping $11.4 million for 123 speaking engagements. After paying 20 percent off the top to the agency that books his speeches, he took home nearly $9.2 million, or almost $75,000 a pop. Giuliani's usual fee for an engagement was $100,000, but he commanded higher fees for about a half dozen overseas and corporate events, topping out at $300,000. The report showed that it took a minimum of $50,000 to get Giuliani to the podium, although any non-paid appearances he made would not have been included. (Posted 8:23 p.m.) White House hopefuls have millions in commonWASHINGTON (CNN) -- The herd of candidates vying for the White House in 2008 may have different positions on abortion or gun control or climate change or taxes, but there is one thing most of them have in common -- they're millionaires. Financial disclosure reports filed this week with the Federal Election Commission show at least seven of the 18 candidates actively seeking the Republican and Democratic nominations have at $1 million or more in assets, and two others may be members of the millionaires' club. Also, three candidates who have not yet reported are known to be millionaires. All of them are seeking to lead a country where the median net worth is about $93,000 and median yearly income about $46,000. (Posted 7:20 p.m.) Wolfowitz to resign as World Bank chiefWASHINGTON (CNN) -- Embattled World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz will leave office June 30 amid a controversy over his handling of a pay package for his girlfriend, a bank employee, the institution's board of directors announced Thursday. (Posted 6:15 p.m.) Brown won't face contest to lead ruling Labor PartyLONDON (CNN) -- Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown won't face a challenge for the leadership of Britain's ruling Labor Party, assuring that he will become the country's new prime minister when Tony Blair steps down June 27. Brown's only potential challenger, John McDonnell, failed to secure enough support from Labor lawmakers by Thursday's deadline to trigger a leadership contest. Brown, who has served the last 10 years under Blair as Britain's powerful treasury chief, said he was "truly humbled" by his uncontested nomination to lead the party he joined as a teenager. (Posted 5:49 p.m.) Israeli airstrikes, Palestinian infighting rock GazaGAZA CITY (CNN) -- Israeli airstrikes -- targeting Hamas in retaliation for dozens of Qassam rockets fired from Gaza into Israel in the last four days -- killed at least six Palestinians Thursday, Palestinian security sources said. The airstrikes angered Palestinian officials, who accused the Israelis of taking advantage of violence between the Hamas and Fatah factions, which continued Thursday despite a fourth attempt at a cease-fire Wednesday evening. Palestinian Information Minister Mustapha Barghouti said Palestinians were "very angry" that the "Israelis (were) trying to take advantage of internal fighting." Three Qassam rockets fell in the Israeli town of Sderot Thursday morning -- one of which fell on a school and left one person lightly wounded, Israeli officials said. Since Monday, as many as 80 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel, an IDF spokeswoman said. More than two dozen rockets rained down Wednesday, injuring at least 17 people, Israeli authorities said. (Posted 5:40 p.m.) 'Focus on the Family' leader Dobson slams GiulianiWASHINGTON (CNN) -- Religious conservative leader James Dobson will sit out the 2008 presidential election if former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is the Republican presidential nominee, he wrote Thursday in an online column. In a piece published on the conservative Web site WorldNetDaily, Dobson wrote that Giuliani's support for abortion rights and civil unions for homosexuals, as well as the former mayor's two divorces, were a deal-breaker for him. "I cannot, and will not, vote for Rudy Giuliani in 2008. It is an irrevocable decision," he wrote. "If given a Hobson's -- Dobson's? -- choice between him and Senators Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, I will either cast my ballot for an also-ran -- or if worse comes to worst, not vote in a presidential election for the first time in my adult life. My conscience and my moral convictions will allow me to do nothing else." Dobson, 71, is the founder and chairman of Colorado-based Focus on the Family, but said he was writing "a private citizen and not on behalf of any organization or party." -- From CNN's Lauren Kornreich (Posted 5:39 p.m.) Coleman joins calls for Gonzales ouster; Democrats plan no-confidence voteWASHINGTON (CNN) -- A new Republican senator joined calls for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign Thursday as two Democrats called for a no-confidence vote in the embattled Justice Department chief. "His credibility is shot. Any faith that he can manage or run the department is gone," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a leading Gonzales critic. "And the very justice system, which is at the core of our democratic values, is held in disrepute every day that he holds office." Schumer said the "last straw" was testimony by former Deputy Attorney General James Comey, the former No. 2 official at Justice. Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that as White House counsel in 2004, Gonzales tried to get around Justice Department objections to a controversial warrantless surveillance program by going to then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, who was in an intensive care unit recovering from gall-bladder surgery at the time. Meanwhile, Minnesota's Norm Coleman became the sixth Republican to call for Gonzales to go. His spokesman, Leroy Coleman, told CNN the senator was angered by revelations that the former U.S. attorney in Minneapolis had been on a Justice Department list for dismissal as part of a shakeup that has stirred up a firestorm on Capitol Hill. (Posted 4:41 p.m.) Roadside bomb kills 3 U.S. soldiers south of BaghdadBAGHDAD (CNN) -- Three U.S. soldiers were killed and one was wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near their patrol south of Baghdad Thursday, the U.S. military said. These latest deaths bring to 53 the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq during May. The U.S. military death toll since the Iraq war began has reached 3,404. (Posted 3:33 p.m.) Deal reached on Senate immigration billWASHINGTON (CNN) -- After three months of negotiations, a bipartisan group of senators said Thursday they have crafted an immigration bill that would give the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship. "The agreement we just reached is the best possible chance we will have to secure our borders, bring millions of people out of the shadows and into the sunshine of America," Sen. Edward Kennedy told reporters. The Massachusetts Democrat serves on the Judiciary Committee, where he is the chairman of the Immigration Subcommittee. According to a summary provided by Kennedy, undocumented workers who arrived in the United States before Jan 1, 2007 would be given immediate work authorization, granted a "Z" visa and placed on a path to permanent residence. (Posted 3:24 p.m.) Bomb targets Afghan provincial governor(CNN) -- A car bomb exploded Thursday at the compound of Kandahar Gov. Assadullah Khalid in southern Afghanistan, wounding the Minister of Information and Culture but leaving the governor unharmed, a deputy government spokesman said. Khaleeq Ahmad with the Department of International Affairs said the bombing occurred at 6 p.m. while the two men were riding in a car leaving the compound. Earlier Thursday, a pair of remote-controlled bombs exploded elsewhere in Kandahar, killing four security guards and wounding 10 policemen, officials said. (Posted 3:11 p.m.) Democrats introduce no-confidence resolution on GonzalesWASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two Democratic senators Thursday called for a no-confidence vote in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, with one predicting the measure would pass by a wide margin. "I think it's going to be very surprising if we get fewer than 60 votes," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, a leading critic of the embattled attorney general. Schumer, D-N.Y., and California Democrat Dianne Feinstein said they hoped their no-confidence resolution would come to the Senate floor next week. Gonzales has been under fire for the 2006 dismissals of U.S. attorneys in eight cities, which Justice Department officials originally said were "performance-related." Though U.S. attorneys are political appointees who serve at the pleasure of the president, that initial characterization prompted an outcry from the fired lawyers and raised allegations of political pressure on pending investigations. (Posted 3 p.m.) Justice says broader list for possible firings merely 'thoughts for discussion'WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Justice Department acknowledged Thursday that as many as 26 U.S. attorneys were on lists for potential dismissal during the past two years. But the agency said the lists were only "thoughts for discussion" by a now-departed aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The process ended last December with the firing of eight prosecutors -- a move that stirred up a firestorm on Capitol Hill and led to the resignation of Kyle Sampson, Gonzales' chief of staff. "These lists, some drafted long before the December resignations, reflect Kyle Sampson's thoughts for discussion during the consultation process," Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said. The names represented nearly a fourth of the 93 U.S. attorneys nationwide. Though U.S. attorneys are political appointees who serve at the pleasure of the president, the Justice Department's initial characterization of their firings as "performance-related" prompted an outcry from the fired lawyers. It also raised allegations of political pressure on pending investigations. (Posted 2:03 p.m.) Palestinian security sources say 6 dead in Israeli airstrikesGAZA CITY (CNN) -- At least six Palestinians were killed in six airstrikes by Israel Thursday in retaliation for Qassam rocket attacks from Gaza, Palestinian security sources told CNN. But Israeli military officials only confirm three attacks in which two Palestinians were killed. The latest Israeli airstrikes came as violence ratcheted up between the warring Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah and between Palestinians and Israeli forces, claiming the lives of more than 40 Palestinians since Sunday. (Posted 1:08 p.m.) Cool winds, threat of lightning could spread Florida wildfires(CNN) -- Strong, cool winds from the northeast and the threat of lightning strikes Thursday could spread further the flames of raging Florida wildfires, according to U.S. Forest Service spokesman Jim Caldwell. The fire, which began in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia about two weeks ago, was 65 percent contained as of about 4:30 p.m. ET Wednesday. In a news conference Thursday in Lake City, Fla., Caldwell said the largest of those blazes, the Florida Bugaboo Fire, has grown to 120,515 acres since it began earlier this month in the northeastern part of the state at the Florida-Georgia state line. He warned of "extreme fire behavior with torching and spotting," and predicted that the flames would reach 8 feet in height. He also said the fire would move nearly a mile an hour as it consumed dry brush and pine trees sapped by the extreme drought conditions in the Sunshine State. Across the state, there were 192 active fires burning 186,297 acres, according to the Florida Division of Forestry. (Posted 12:45 p.m.) ID of 4th dead soldier from ambush in Iraq expected soonFORT DRUM, N.Y. (CNN) -- Scientific confirmation of which one of four U.S. soldiers was killed in an attack last Saturday in Iraq and which three are still missing should come soon, a U.S. military spokesman said Thursday. Four U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi soldier were killed in the early-morning ambush outside Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, and three other U.S. soldiers were apparently taken away by the attackers. Three of the dead soldiers have been identified, and the identity of the Iraqi soldier was confirmed by military forensics experts at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, said Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, spokesman for the Army's 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum in New York. The slain and missing U.S. soldiers, all men, were based at Fort Drum. The seven have been identified as members of the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment of the 10th Mountain Division's Second Brigade Combat Team. (Posted 12:38 p.m.) Iraqi officials differ on reasons for banning ^media cameras immediately after attacksBAGHDAD (CNN) -- The Iraqi government's ban on journalists covering the aftermath of bombings will only keep cameras away from the attack scene for the first two hours "until criminal investigators are done with their work," according to an Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman. News photographers will still be able to capture video from a distance as long as they do not disturb the crime scene or shoot video of the wounded or dead, Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf told CNN Thursday. He said the ban is aimed at preserving crime scene evidence and respecting human rights based on international standards. Khalaf's reasoning for the ban, however, differed from that of Iraqi government spokesman Ali Dabbagh. Dabbagh told CNN earlier this week that the ban was an effort by Iraq's government to control certain news outlets that are trying to ignite sectarian tensions by showing "the blood of the people." (Posted 11:55 a.m.) Jailed Jordanian presses for release of BBC journalistLONDON (CNN) -- There have been ongoing talks between the Foreign Office in London and the attorney for a jailed Jordanian described as Osama bin Laden's spiritual ambassador in Europe in an effort to free BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston, spokesmen for the office told CNN Thursday. Johnston, 44, was kidnapped at gunpoint March 12 in Gaza. Foreign Office officials are "glad to hear" that inmate Abu Qatada has offered to make an appeal to Johnston's captors to let him go, according to the Foreign Office's media relations group. However, the officials dismissed reports that Qatada would be allowed to travel to Gaza, and stressed that they do not make deals with extremists. On May 8, Johnston's purported kidnappers posted a new video calling on the British government to free Qatada in exchange for the journalist. Qatada is a radical Muslim cleric from Jordan who has been held under British anti-terrorism laws since late 2005 in the Full Sutton High Security Prison north of London. (Posted 11:15 a.m.) U.S. official: Response to Mosul attacks shows Iraqi troops are 'trained and ready'BAGHDAD (CNN) -- At least nine bombings in and near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Wednesday were aimed at freeing hundreds of inmates from an Iraqi prison, Iraqi and U.S. military sources said. A high-ranking U.S. military official said Thursday that Iraqi security forces showed they were trained and ready with their response to what he said was the largest insurgent attack in that part of Iraq in eight months. Mosul police spokesman Gen. Saied al-Jabouri said intelligence reports suggested the attacks were coordinated by al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq -- which he said were "two sides of the same coin" -- and were an effort to free at least 300 inmates from the al-Faisaliya prison in Mosul. Al-Jabouri said seven of the 10 vehicle-borne bombs were suicide car bombings and that a key bridge, buildings, shops and homes were destroyed during a six-hour period starting late Wednesday afternoon. A U.S. military source said the bombs killed 10 Iraqi police officers, one Iraqi soldier and two civilians. He credited the Iraqi forces for these "minimal casualties," saying it "could have been much worse." Mosul is about 420 km (260 miles) north of Baghdad. (Posted 950a) N.J. wildfire is 70 percent contained(CNN) -- A wildfire in New Jersey that may have been caused by a flare dropped from an F-16 during training exercises Tuesday is holding at 70 percent containment, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. "The fire is very quiet," said Bert Plante, Division Fire Warden for the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. The brush fire -- whipped by strong westerly winds -- has burned nearly 14,000 acres. There is still a lot of unburned fuel inside the fire's perimeter, which, according to Plante, could be problematic for firefighters during the day. Firefighters were aided by a half-inch of rain Wednesday afternoon, something New Jersey Chief Fire Warden Maris Gabliks said would be necessary to put out the blaze. (Posted 8:57 a.m.) Coalition soldier killed in southern Afghanistan(CNN) -- A U.S.-led coalition soldier was killed Tuesday during a gunbattle with "enemy forces" in southern Afghanistan, a statement from the U.S.-led coalition said. The death occurred when "an unknown number of enemy forces" attacked a joint coalition-Afghan border police patrol in the Qalat district of Zabul province. During the gunbattle that followed, the coalition soldier was wounded. He later died from his injuries at a nearby medical facility, the coalition said. There were no Afghan casualties, the statement said. Police: Blasts south of Baghdad kill 1, wound 6BAGHDAD (CNN) -- One Iraqi was killed and six people were wounded Thursday morning in several explosions south of Baghdad, Hilla police reported. The death occurred when a roadside bomb exploded in Hilla, about 60 miles (100 km) south of Baghdad. Three people were wounded in the blast. In Iskandariya, a town about 30 miles south of Baghdad, two people were wounded when a hand grenade exploded inside an apartment. Also in that town, police said a roadside bomb exploded, wounding one. ^ -- From CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq. Somali prime minister survives attack attemptMOGADISHU, Somalia (CNN) -- Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi survived an attempt on his life Thursday when grenades thrown at this convoy in central Mogadishu did not explode, a government spokesman said. According to Abbi Haji Goobdoon, one of two men involved in the attack was arrested by a Gedi bodyguard and is being questioned. The other escaped. -- From Journalist Mohamed Amiin (Posted 6 a.m) In Korea it can take more than half a century to go 17 milesMUNSAN, South Korea (CNN) -- In the latest sign of reconciliation between the two Koreas, a pair of passenger trains crossed through the heavily armed borders dividing the South and communist North on Thursday. The trains, running on opposite sides of the divided peninsula, took Korean passengers on a test-run over routes not traversed since the early 1950s, when war broke out and the rails were cut by U.S. and U.N. forces. A two-mile wide demilitarized border separates the neighbors and travel to the reclusive Communist country is extremely limited. But on Thursday, passengers boarded a train at Kumgangsan Station in eastern North Korea and crossed the border to Jejin Station. Separately, passengers at South Korea's Munsan Station on the other side of the peninsula journeyed north through the heavily fortified border to Kaeson Station. The trains later returned to their homelands. Each train carried 100 South Koreans and 50 North Koreans, according to South Korea's state-run Yonhap news agency. (Posted 5:05 a.m.) LAX terminal cleared after mortars found in luggageLOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Authorities partially evacuated Terminal Two at Los Angeles International Airport for more than an hour Wednesday night, after security screeners discovered mortar rounds in a passenger's baggage, an airport spokeswoman said. According to Nancy Castles, the man and woman who owned the luggage said the mortars were purchased at a novelty shop and had be been hollowed out. Police confiscated the rounds and were questioning the pair. The partial evacuation of the terminal lasted from about 9:15 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. (12:15 a.m. ET until 1:30 p.m. ET), Castles said. (Posted 3:35 a.m.) U.S., Iran to meet in Baghdad on May 28(CNN) -- U.S. and Iranian officials will meet in Baghdad later this month to discuss issues involving Iraq, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshayr Zebari said in Islamabad Thursday. Also in the Pakistani capital, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters that the date would be May 28 According to Zebari, the discussions will be a part of three party talks, involving the United States, Iran and Iraq. Earlier this week White House Press Secretary Tony Snow told reporters the talks would not result in a normalization of relations between the two countries, which have been cut since the 1979 hostage crisis. (Posted 3:10 a.m.) |
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