Briefly

Washington, D.C.: President’s approval rating rises as war’s end nears

President Bush’s job approval has risen past 70 percent as the war in Iraq winds down, but remains far below his father’s level after the Persian Gulf War, largely because of partisan differences in feelings about the current president, a poll indicates.

Bush’s approval rating was at 72 percent in a poll released Friday by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. His father’s rating rose to 89 percent after the first Gulf War in 1991.

Republicans solidly approve of the president’s performance, with more than 9 in 10 backing the job he’s doing, about the same number who felt that way about his father after the first Iraq war.

Jerusalem: Four Israeli police arrested in death of Palestinian youth

In a case that prompted an outcry from human rights groups and Palestinians, four Israeli border police accused of killing a detained Palestinian youth were arrested Friday after a four-month investigation into the killing.

The police allegedly detained 18-year-old Imran Abu Hamdia on Dec. 30 in the West Bank city of Hebron and dumped his body about an hour later, the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem said.

An autopsy concluded he died from a sharp blow to the skull, the Haaretz newspaper said.

The policemen were arrested Friday after an investigation by a wing of the Israeli Justice Ministry, Israeli media reported. The men are being detained but have not been charged.

Kansas: Sharpton sets visit to Topeka

The Rev. Al Sharpton, the New York civil rights activist and Democratic presidential hopeful, plans to visit Topeka next week, a local group says.

Events are being organized by the Topeka chapter of Sharpton’s National Action Network.

A reception is scheduled the evening of April 26 at Caribbean Cuisine, a downtown Topeka restaurant, where voter registration will be offered that day.

On April 27, Sharpton is to attend services at two Topeka churches and to speak on the south steps of the Statehouse at 3 p.m.

Sharpton’s schedule also includes a tour of local sites.

Washington, D.C.: Power company agrees to new pollution controls

In the largest settlement ever with a utility under the nation’s clean air laws, Dominion Virginia Power Co. is agreeing to spend $1.2 billion to reduce pollution at eight power plants in Virginia and West Virginia and to pay a $5.3 million federal fine.

One of the nation’s largest energy producers, Richmond, Va.-based Dominion will be required to install state-of-the-art emissions controls by 2013 at six coal-fired plants in Virginia and two in West Virginia.

The new pollution scrubbers are expected to reduce emissions of acid rain-causing sulfur dioxide and smog-causing nitrogen oxides by about two-thirds from 2000 levels. Dominion will also be required to cut particulate emissions, or soot, which contribute to asthma and other respiratory ailments.