Biden, Joseph R., Jr.
The latest news on Biden, Joseph R., Jr.
Regime change in Pakistan means a new public relations effort in Washington.
The president compares negotiating with Iran to appeasing Hitler.
In hearings, a Senate committee urged an integrated approach to food policy.
The top American commander in Iraq asks for patience and says the effort is "worth it."
It had been a week of ugly between Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama leading up to today's final Democratic presidential debate in Iowa before the state's crucial January 3 caucuses. So ugly that before the event, Clinton privately apologized to Obama for comments by her New Hampshire cochair Bill Shaheen suggesting that Obama's self-disclosed teenage drug use could compromise his candidacy. Shortly after the debate, the campaign announced Shaheen had stepped down. But anyone who tuned into the debate expecting to see fireworks between the two warring campaigns--or any of the campaigns, for that matter--went away disappointed. For the first hour, it was a polite, almost subdued affair. With little to differentiate themselves on most of the issues (end the war, rework the tax system, promote energy independence, reform healthcare and entitlement programs), it boiled down to the candidates making their familiar cases on the basis of experience. Or change. Or style.
Former Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu was charged this afternoon in a 15-count indictment for engaging in what Manhattan U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia characterized as a "massive fraud scheme" that involved not only bilking investors but also making illegal campaign contributions in other peoples' names to candidates—most prominently, Hillary Clinton.
Calling the Bush administration's reaction to emergency rule in Pakistan inadequate, Sen. Joseph Biden, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that he is considering suspending sales of major weapons systems to Pakistan.
In another horrific twist in the story of the six Utah miners trapped 1,500 feet underground, three rescue workers were killed and others injured when seismic activity caused another cave-in last night. As is suspected in the initial collapse, the latest accident was caused by a "seismic bump," in which pressure from inside the mine shoots rocks with great force from the walls. Rescue workers had drilled three holes and had started a fourth to lower sensors and possibly food and water down to the miners. So far they have picked up no signs that the six are alive; however, sensors detected the air is breathable. Yesterday, a device detected a "noise" or vibration that lasted five minutes, giving family members hope that their kin are still alive. After last night's accident, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman said he did not want underground tunneling to resume, but the decision has yet to be made.
