Ohio

Voters refile challenge of presidential results

Voters who claim problems with Ohio voting machines Nov. 2 indicated fraud refiled a request with the Ohio Supreme Court on Friday to overturn the presidential results.

The 37 voters cite reports of machine errors, double-counting of some ballots and a shortage of voting machines in predominantly minority precincts as reasons to throw out the election results.

The challenge is backed by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Cliff Arnebeck, a Columbus attorney for the Massachusetts-based Alliance for Democracy, who accused the campaign of President Bush of “high-tech vote stealing.”

Washington, D.C.

Whitman says catering to right will hurt GOP

Christie Whitman, the former New Jersey governor and Bush environmental official, says in an upcoming book that Republican moderates must speak up or the party could move so far to the right that it will lose its influence and strength.

Whitman, who led the Environmental Protection Agency for President Bush from 2001 until May 2003, also says in the book that she was often at odds with the White House on issues such as setting limits on air pollutants and power plant emissions and in the debate over global warming.

The main focus of Whitman’s book “It’s My Party Too: The Battle for the Heart of the GOP and the Future of America,” is on her desire for moderate Republicans to regain control of the party.

Maryland

Suspect in arson was angry at employer

A security guard accused of burning down homes at the suburban Washington housing development where he worked told investigators he was upset his employer did not show enough sympathy after his infant son died this year.

Aaron L. Speed, 21, who worked for Security Services of America, told police he left his job from August to October because of SSA’s “indifference to the death of his infant son,” according to court papers released Friday.

When asked by investigators who might have started the fire, Speed said: “Someone who works at the site and recently experienced a great loss.”

A relative said Speed lost an infant son earlier this year.

California

Jury recommends death for quintuple murderer

A Martinez jury on Friday recommended the death penalty for a man who pleaded guilty to killing the daughter of blues guitarist Elvin Bishop and four other people in an extortion and murder spree in 2000.

It took jurors about two days to decide Glenn Taylor Helzer, 34, should be put to death. The defense had argued for a sentence of life in prison without parole, claiming Helzer was mentally ill and using drugs when he led his brother and their roommate in the slayings.

In August, a separate jury convicted and recommended the death penalty for Helzer’s younger brother, Justin.

Atlanta

Panel advises easing restrictions on flu shots

Two months after a flu vaccine shortage spread alarm across the country, a federal advisory panel Friday recommended the government ease restrictions on the nation’s supply and make shots available to everyone 50 and older.

The move was prompted by worries all of a sudden that tens of thousands of doses of flu vaccine might go to waste.

Some states are reporting a surplus of flu vaccine. One reason is that many of the elderly or chronically ill people who were given top priority for flu vaccinations did not even try to obtain a shot because they figured they would not be able to get one. Also, the flu season has been mild so far.

The recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices came during an emergency meeting. The CDC usually accepts the panel’s recommendations.

New York

44 percent in U.S. say limit rights of Muslims

Nearly half of all Americans believe the U.S. government should restrict the civil liberties of Muslim-Americans, according to a nationwide poll.

The survey conducted by Cornell University in Ithaca also found that Republicans and people who described themselves as highly religious were more apt to support curtailing Muslims’ civil liberties than Democrats or people who are less religious.

Researchers also found that respondents who paid more attention to television news were more likely to fear terrorist attacks and support limiting the rights of Muslim-Americans.

“It’s sad news. It’s disturbing news. But it’s not unpredictable,” said Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society.

Washington

Judge blocks count of newly discovered ballots

A judge Friday in Tacoma granted a state Republican Party request to block the counting of hundreds of recently discovered King County ballots in the governor’s race, which the GOP’s candidate is winning by just a few dozen votes.

Even if the election workers wrongly rejected the ballots — 150 of which were discovered Friday — it is too late for King County to reconsider them now, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Arend said.

The issue of the ballots could prove pivotal: With all but King County finished with a hand recount, Republican Dino Rossi was leading Democrat Christine Gregoire by 50 votes.

From reading state law and state Supreme Court decisions, “it is clear to me that it is not appropriate to go back and revisit decisions on whether ballots should or should not be counted,” Arend said.

Washington, D.C.

Saudi detainee’s lawyer urges U.S. for release

The lawyer for an American citizen jailed without charges for more than a year in Saudi Arabia says he should be set free — or brought home to stand trial if the United States believes it can make a terrorism case against him.

Morton Sklar spoke Friday, a day after a federal judge ordered U.S. officials to produce records showing whether Ahmed Abu Ali was arrested and detained at the behest of the American government.

Abu Ali, 23, was born in Houston and grew up in Falls Church, Va. He was enrolled in a Saudi university when he was imprisoned on June 11, 2003. His family, still living in northern Virginia, claims U.S. officials want to keep Abu Ali in Saudi Arabia so he can be subject to torture and otherwise denied his constitutional rights.

Washington, D.C.

U.S. forgives $4.1 billion in debt Iraq owed it

The United States on Friday completely forgave $4.1 billion in debt Iraq owed it and urged other nations not part of an international debt relief agreement to follow suit.

Both Secretary of State Colin Powell and Treasury Secretary John Snow hailed the move as an important contribution to the future of Iraq and its people.

Snow, Powell and Iraq’s Finance Minister Adil Abdul al-Mahdi signed the agreement in a ceremony at the State Department.

Al-Mahdi thanked the U.S. government and its people, describing debt relief as Iraq’s “second liberation after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.”