Stories Making Headlines Right Now

AFGHANISTAN
    NEW: Blast hits US base; Afghan vote set for August
   
The U.S. military says a bomb has exploded outside
of the main American base in Afghanistan, wounding several people.
    U.S. spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias says the blast outside
the main base at Bagram did not appear to kill anyone.
    Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s election commission announced Wednesday
that the presidential election should be held Aug. 20, rejecting a
request from President Hamid Karzai.
    The commission said the election couldn’t be held earlier
because of security issues and logistical problems.
    Karzai last week asked the commission to see if the vote could
be held in line with the Afghan constitution. The charter says
Karzai must step down on May 22 and that elections must be held 30
to 60 days before that.

WORLD MARKETS
    World stock markets rise amid China stimulus hopes
   
International stock markets gained ground today
in Asia while European shares opened higher.
    Asian investors’ hopes China would expand measures to revive its
economy countered growing signs of economic decay in the U.S. and
other major countries.
    The upward move followed heavy selling over the last two days
and bucked a fifth-straight day of declines on Wall Street. U.S.
futures suggest a solidly higher open in New York today.
    In Asia, Australia’s exchange was the only one to lose ground.
    Analysts say there are still many uncertainties.

US-BRITAIN
    British PM urges faith in free markets to Congress
   
Britain’s prime minister addresses a joint
meeting of Congress today.
    Gordon Brown will have this message for lawmakers: have more
faith in free markets.
    Congress passed a massive stimulus bill last month that included
measures favoring American companies over foreign competitors. The
move alarmed U.S. trading partners.
    The British leader has been arguing for what he calls a “global
New Deal,“ a reference to the Depression-era U.S. policy that
overhauled the banking and financial system, plowed money into
public works and created the Social Security pension program.
    Yesterday, Brown was the first European leader to meet with
President Barack Obama at the White House.

BRITAIN-US-KENNEDY
    NEW: Britain to give Teddy Kennedy honorary knighthood
   
He won’t be allowed to call himself Sir Ted, but
Britain is awarding an honorary knighthood to U.S. Sen. Edward
Kennedy.
    The government says the senator is being recognized for services
to U.S.-U.K. relations and to Northern Ireland. Prime Minister
Gordon Brown’s office says Brown will announce the honor today when
he addresses a joint session of Congress in Washington.
    The 77-year-old brother of President John F. Kennedy, well-known
in Britain for support of the Northern Ireland peace process, is
being treated for a brain tumor.
    Other Americans to receive honorary knighthoods include
Microsoft chief Bill Gates and filmmaker Steven Spielberg. Unlike
British knights, they are not entitled to use the honorific “Sir”
or “Dame” before their names.

OBAMA-WASTE
    Obama to talk up waste-controlling plan

President Barack Obama says his plan to cut
back on wasteful spending would save Americans tens of billions of
dollars.
    Obama planned to make his case Wednesday, explaining how federal
contracts waste taxpayer dollars and how his administration plans
to curb that. The White House says the president wants to change
how contracts are awarded.
    Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Homeland Security
Secretary Janet Napolitano also are expected to talk about wasteful
spending when they visit the White House.
    It’s part of the administration’s plan to boost Americans’
confidence in Washington.

CLINTON-MIDEAST
    Abbas to ask Clinton for help on settlement freeze

An aide to Mahmoud Abbas says the
Palestinian president will ask U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton to push Israel to freeze West Bank settlements and
open Gaza’s borders.
    Clinton is meeting with Abbas today. It is her first trip to the
West Bank in her new role as the top U.S. diplomat.
    The Palestinians are watching closely for signs of change in
U.S. policy toward their conflict with Israel. Even Palestinian
moderates were disappointed with the previous administration’s
failure to take Israel to task for accelerated construction of
Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
    Abbas aide Saeb Erekat says the Palestinian leader will raise
specific Israeli construction projects in Jerusalem with Clinton.
The Palestinians want east Jerusalem as a future capital.

MISSING BOATERS-NFL
    Search ends for 2 NFL players, 3rd man lost at sea

The families of two NFL players and a
third man sent adrift in chilly seas are trying to cope with the
end of the official Coast Guard search.
    Crews combed thousands of square miles in the Gulf of Mexico
before calling off their search for Oakland Raiders linebacker
Marquis Cooper, free-agent defensive lineman Corey Smith and former
South Florida player William Bleakley.
    Rescuers did pluck one survivor from the Gulf of Mexico.
    The four friends had been missing since Saturday when their boat
capsized during a fishing trip. Searchers spotted no signs of the
men except for a cooler and a life jacket 16 miles southeast of the
boat.
    Bleakley’s father said he thought Coast Guard rescuers did
everything they could, adding he had lower expectations after only
one survivor was found Monday.

CHANDRA LEVY
    Levy parents thankful arrest warrant was issued
   
Chandra Levy’s parents say the slain woman
“can finally truly rest in peace.“
    Bob and Susan Levy issued a statement after an arrest warrant
was issued for the man investigators believe was responsible for
killing Levy in a Washington D.C. park almost eight years ago.
Ingmar Guandique is currently in a federal prison
in California for attacking two other women in the same park.
    The case stumped D.C. investigators and led critics to say the
initial investigation was bungled. The key to cracking it appears
to be interviews with at least two witnesses who claimed Guandique
told them he killed Levy.
    Levy’s disappearance destroyed the political career of former
California Congressman Gary Condit. He was romantically linked to
the former federal intern.

PAKISTAN-CRICKETERS ATTACKED
    Pakistan says arrests in connection with attack on cricketers
   
Pakistani police say they have arrested
“some suspects” in connection with an attack on Sri Lanka’s
cricket team.
    Six police and a driver were killed and seven players were
wounded in the Tuesday attack in Lahore.
    The city’s police chief has indicated none of those detained
were among the gunmen who sprayed the Sri Lankan bus with gunfire
and fired a rocket and a grenade. The Sri Lankan team was traveling
to a match when the ambush happened.
    The team members are now safely home.

GIANT EMERALD
    NEW: Big Brazilian bling spawns big court fight

For now, a giant rock encrusted with emeralds
is staying in the custody of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s
Department.    A judge says it will take awhile to sort out who owns the
840-pound gem. A half-dozen people have laid claim to it. But at
least one apparently is bowing out.
    One man says he’s giving up his claims because he’s been
threatened.
    The emerald’s odyssey began in Brazil, where it was unearthed in
2001. At one point, it wound up in a warehouse in New Orleans that
was flooded during Hurricane Katrina. There have also been stops in
Idaho and Las Vegas.
    Some believe the rock could be worth $400 million. Lawyers say
museums including the Smithsonian and the Getty have expressed
interest in obtaining it.