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02-16-2006

U.N. Report Says U.S. Should Close Gitmo

In this image reviewed by the U.S. Military, an unidentified detainee is escorted by two military guards at Camp Delta, in this June 25, 2005 file photo, at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in Cuba. The United States should shut down the prison for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay and either release all detainees being held there or bring them to trial, the United Nations said in a report released Thursday, Feb. 16, 2006. (AP Photo/Haraz Ghanbari, File)

GENEVA (AP) _ The United States must close its detention facility at Guantanamo Bay because it is effectively a torture camp where prisoners have no access to justice, a U.N. report released Thursday concluded. The White House rejected the recommendation.

Patriot Act Moves Closer to Renewal

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Senate pushed the Patriot Act a step closer to renewal Thursday, overwhelmingly rejecting an effort to block it. Passage is expected next month for extending the law that was passed weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as a weapon to help the government track terror suspects.

Russian Biathlete Expelled, Loses Medal

Russia's Olga Pyleva races to win the bronze medal during the women's mass start competition at the biathlon World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria, in this Sunday, March 13, 2005 file photo. Pyleva was suspended Thursday Feb. 16, 2006 for failing a doping test, becoming the first athlete to test positive at the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games.(AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson)

CESANA, Italy (AP) _ Russian biathlon star Olga Pyleva was thrown out of the Turin Games and stripped of her silver medal Thursday for doping, the first athlete caught in the tightest drug net in Winter Olympics history. Pyleva was favored heading into Thursday's 7.5km sprint to win her second medal of the games. As athletes were walking up to the starting line, an announcer told the crowd that Pyleva was scratched because she had fallen ill.

Sheriff: Dick Cheney Won't Face Charges

Vice President Dick Cheney, center, arrives at the White House, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2006, for early morning security briefings with President Bush. Cheney rejected Wednesday any notion that his victim bears any responsibility for the shooting accident that turned a weekend hunting trip into trauma. "I'm the guy who pulled the trigger and shot my friend," he said. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

SARITA, Texas (AP) _ The sheriff's department closed its investigation Thursday into Dick Cheney's accidental shooting of a hunting partner and said no charges will be filed. The Kenedy County Sheriff's Department issued a report that largely supports the vice president's account of the weekend accident that wounded 78-year-old lawyer Harry Whittington.

Some Smokers Pay More for Health Benefits

CINCINNATI (AP) _ Smokers squeezed by soaring cigarette costs and workplace smoking bans are increasingly being hit with another cost increase _ this time for health insurance. A growing number of private and public employers are requiring employees who use tobacco to pay higher premiums, hoping that will motivate more of them to stop smoking and lower health care costs for the companies and their workers.

XM Radio Reports Loss, Key Director Quits

NEW YORK (AP) _ XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. posted a much wider loss in the fourth quarter on higher costs for marketing and acquiring subscribers. At the same time, a key director quit over disagreements about the company's direction, warning of a looming "crisis." Its shares sank $2.16, or 8.6 percent, to $23.09 in morning trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, after briefly trading as low as $22.94. Their previous 52-week low was $23.01.

Skype Use May Make Eavesdropping Passe

Monty Bannerman, CEO of Verso Technologies poses at the company's Atlanta office Thursday, Feb. 16, 2006. Even as the U.S. government is embroiled in a debate over the legality of wiretapping, the fastest-growing technology for Internet calls appears to have the potential to make eavesdropping a thing of the past. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

NEW YORK (AP) _ Even as the U.S. government is embroiled in a debate over the legality of wiretapping, the fastest-growing technology for Internet calls appears to have the potential to make eavesdropping a thing of the past. Skype, the Internet calling service recently acquired by eBay Inc., provides free voice calls and instant messaging between users. Unlike other Internet voice services, Skype calls are encrypted _ encoded using complex mathematical operations. That apparently makes them impossible to snoop on, though the company leaves the issue somewhat open to question.

Elton John Accepts Libel Settlement

Sir Elton John poses during a stage photocall in London on June 22, 2004. John accepted an undisclosed financial settlement Thursday, Feb. 16, 2006, of a libel lawsuit against London's Sunday Times. His lawyer said in court that the newspaper had repeated a false rumor that the rocker acted in a self-important, arrogant and rude manner by telling guests at a fundraising ball not to address him unless spoken to.(AP Photo/Max Nash)

LONDON (AP) _ Elton John accepted an undisclosed financial settlement Thursday of a libel lawsuit against the Sunday Times. His lawyer, Hanna Basha, said in court that the newspaper had repeated a false rumor that the rocker acted in a self-important, arrogant and rude manner by telling guests at a fundraising ball not to address him unless spoken to.

Iran Renames Danish Pastries

Persian sign of "Danish pastries" right, and "Roses of Prophet Mohammad" are seen in a bakers in Tehran Thursday Feb. 16, 2006. Iran is taking the fight against cartoons considered blasphamous by Muslims to a new ground: Renaming "Danish pastries" into "Roses of Prophet Mohammad" in the country of cake lovers. (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) _ Iranians love Danish pastries, but when they look for the flaky dessert at the bakery they now have to ask for "Roses of the Prophet Muhammad." Bakeries across the capital were covering up their ads for Danish pastries Thursday after the confectioners' union ordered the name change in retaliation for caricatures of the Muslim prophet published in a Danish newspaper.

Pedersen Blows by Rivals for Skeleton Gold

Gold medallist Maya Pedersen of Switzerland celebrates as she slides in following her final run in skeleton competition at the Olympic Games in Cesana Pariol, Italy on Thursday February 16, 2006. (AP Photo/Frank Gunn, CP)

CESANA, Italy (AP) _ Mama Maya, she's fast! Switzerland's Maya Pedersen, who parked her sled to become a mother two years ago, is now an Olympic champion after winning her country's first gold medal of the Turin Games in women's skeleton on Thursday. Showing zero fear in a headfirst, freezing freefall down one of the world's fastest sliding tracks, Pedersen completed her two runs in 1 minute, 59.83 seconds, an astonishing 1.23 seconds ahead of Shelley Rudman of Britain _ the first medal of these games for the Brits.

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