NEW YORK CITY

Gore takes aim at Bush on Iraq, economy

Former Vice President Al Gore, assailing U.S. policies, on Thursday argued that the Bush administration “routinely shows disrespect” for the “honest and open debate” that produces truth.

“I think it’s partly because they feel they already know the truth, and aren’t very curious to learn about any facts that might contradict it,” Gore said in a 35-minute speech at New York University.

The 2000 Democratic presidential nominee, addressing about 600 people in a speech sponsored by the liberal activist group Moveon.Org, said the nation’s military and economic policies under President Bush had upset many Americans.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Lab results promising for Lou Gehrig’s disease

A new type of gene therapy doubled the life of mice with a laboratory form of Lou Gehrig’s disease, and researchers said they planned to test the technique on human patients.

In a study published this week in the journal Science, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif., and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore report that injecting mice with a gene that makes a nerve cell stimulating protein delayed symptoms of Lou Gehrig’s disease and extended the life span in laboratory mice.

The gene makes a molecule called insulinlike growth factor, or IGF-1, a type of protein that has produced marginal results against Lou Gehrig’s disease in human clinical trials.

North Carolina

Marine gets 20 years for cutting parachutes

A Marine who admitted cutting parachute lines before a training jump was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison by a military judge who told him he could still become a productive citizen.

Lance Cpl. Antoine D. Boykins admitted cutting suspension lines on 13 of the 22 parachutes that were to be used in the exercise Sept. 21. He said he knew someone could be killed or injured because reserve chutes fail nearly half the time.

Three Marines were injured in the jump’s first wave, and the exercise was canceled.

The judge, Col. Alvin Keller, also cut Boykins’ rank to private and said he would be dishonorably discharged.