Posted
7-23-08
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Hurricane Dolly Strikes Texas Coast
The edge of Hurricane Dolly hit the Gulf of Mexico early Wednesday and edged up to the Texas coast, bringing heavy winds and rains in a storm that could strengthen later in the day.
Forecasters said the Category 1 storm could dump as much as 15 inches of rain, which could cause massive flooding in the heavily populated Rio Grande valley.
Dolly was upgraded from a tropical storm after sustaining winds of at least
85 miles per hour.
At 7 a.m. EDT Wednesday, the storm's center was about 55 miles east of Brownsville, moving northwest at about 8 mph, officials said.
Bush Drops Opposition to Housing Bill
President Bush dropped his opposition to a housing bill aimed at calming a declining housing market, even though he still opposes a $3.9 billion provision within the measure.
Under the bill, the government would be permitted to help struggling homeowners get new, cheaper loans, and provide lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac cash infusions if needed.
The House is scheduled to vote on the measure Wednesday. If it passes, it could become law by the end of the week.
The bill combines Democratic goals of helping homeowners and providing $39 billion for neighborhoods hardest hit by the housing crisis, as well as Republican goals of reining in the two lenders and reassuring financial markets.
Obama Visits Holocaust Memorial in Israel
Democratic presidential nominee-in-waiting Sen. Barack Obama visited the Holocaust memorial Wednesday in Israel, laying a wreath there in memory of the 6 million Jews who perished.
"Ultimately, this is a place of hope," he said.
He toured the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial on a day when he is scheduled to meet with Israeli and Palestinian officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"I am always taken back to sort of the core question of humanity that the Holocaust raises. That is, on the one hand, man's great capacity for evil, and on the other hand, our ability to come together to stop evil," he said.
Obama's trip, financed by his campaign, is designed to burnish his foreign policy credentials.
McCain Drops Hint About Pawlenty as VP Choice
A Republican source who attended a small, private meeting with Sen. John McCain in New Hampshire Tuesday said the GOP presidential contender dropped a serious hint about naming Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty as his VP choice.
CNN reported the Republican source said "out of the blue" McCain told the gathering that he thinks they are "really going to like" Pawlenty.
The same source said McCain also said nice things about Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Rudi Giuliani, but in a way that praises former rivals, CNN reported.
Pawlenty is a long-time McCain supporter from a swing state. He has broad Republican support, even across evangelical lines.
The Minnesota governor was scheduled to be in Virginia Wednesday at McCain headquarters to meet with the candidate.
Top U.S. General Warns Russia Over Bombers in Cuba
A top U.S. general warned Russia it would cross "a red line for the United States of America" if Moscow based nuclear-capable bombers in Cuba.
"If they did I think we should stand strong and indicate that is something that crosses a threshold, crosses a red line for the United States of America," said General Norton Schwartz, nominated to be the Air Force chief of staff.
Schwartz was referring to a Russian news report that hinted Moscow might base some bombers in Cuba or use the island as a refueling base.
"I would certainly offer the best military advice that we engage the Russians not to pursue that approach," Schwartz said.
'Dead Zone' in Gulf of Mexico Will be Bigger: Researcher
A scientist who studies the so-called "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico says the zone this year will be bigger than ever and potentially more deadly to marine life.
"It's definitely the worst we've seen in the last five years," Steve DiMarco, a Texas A&M University professor of oceanography who has studied the zone for 16 years, told The Associated Press.
The zone is so named because it is oxygen-depleted due to a mixture of fresh water with salt water. The fresh water, which is run-off from the mouth of the Mississippi River, doesn't mix well with the salt water, which keeps oxygen from filtering through to the sea bottom, causing problems with marine life, AP said.
Record flooding upriver is the most likely cause of the expanded zone this year, reseachers said.
McCain Says He, Not Obama, Is Right on Iraq
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain insisted Monday that he, not rival Sen. Barack Obama, is right on Iraq, as Obama toured the war-torn Middle Eastern nation.
The McCain campaign also released a new ad critical of Obama regarding record high gasoline prices, as the candidate visited with the first President George Bush at his home in Kennebunkport, Me.
McCain has consistently said the U.S. should not withdraw troops from Iraq before native forces are ready and before the government in Baghdad is more stable.
Obama, meanwhile, has said as president he would immediately begin withdrawing U.S. forces from the country to focus more on resurgent terrorist enemies in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Any withdrawal of troops from Iraq "must be based on conditions on the ground," McCain told reporters as he stood beside the first President Bush.
McCain said Obama had "no military experience whatsoever."
"When you win wars, troops come home," McCain said. "He's been completely wrong on the issue. ... I have been steadfast in my position."
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