Egypt

Report: Group claiming attack calls truce with Spain

The Islamic militant group that claimed responsibility for last week’s Madrid train bombings has called a truce with Spain to give the new government time to withdraw troops from Iraq, a London-based Arabic-language newspaper said Wednesday.

The Al Hayat daily newspaper said it received a statement from the Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri, which earlier said it orchestrated the bombings to punish Spain for supporting the U.S.-led war in Iraq. The blasts killed 201 people.

But the United States believes the group, which takes its name in memory of al-Qaida’s fallen No. 3, lacks credibility and its ties to al-Qaida are tenuous. In the past, the group has made claims about various events to which it was not connected — such as blackouts last year in the United States, Canada and London.

Washington, D.C.

Minorities will rise to half the population in U.S. in 50 years

For as long as there has been an America, whites have made up a clear majority. But that will change by 2050 when minority groups will be 49.9 percent of the population, the Census Bureau says.

Asians and Hispanics will see the most dramatic increases between now and midcentury, when the U.S. population will have grown by almost 50 percent to reach 420 million, according to bureau projections being released today.

Whites now represent 69 percent of the population, but their growth is slowing because of low rates of birth and immigration. Their total will grow 7 percent to 210 million, or 50.1 percent of the population, in 2050.

Washington, D.C.

Pentagon to investigate Halliburton billing

The Pentagon plans to withhold about $300 million in payments to Halliburton Co. because of possible overcharging for meals served to troops in Iraq and Kuwait, defense officials said Wednesday.

Starting next month, the Defense Department will begin withholding 15 percent of the money paid to Vice President Dick Cheney’s former company on a multibillion-dollar contract to provide services such as food, housing, laundry and mail to American forces in Iraq.

Halliburton spokeswoman Wendy Hall said the company disagreed with the decision and hoped to persuade the Pentagon to drop its plans.

Washington, D.C.

Questions remain about artificial heart

A type of artificial heart moved a step closer to the U.S. market Wednesday, but it’s not a permanent replacement, just a temporary device to keep certain near-death patients alive long enough to receive a heart transplant.

There are serious questions about who should get the CardioWest Total Artificial Heart, a complex and risky device that requires cutting out the bottom half of the heart to implant, scientific advisers to the Food and Drug Administration cautioned.

Still, they concluded it should sell because it could benefit a small number of patients.

“These people are dying who don’t have any good alternative,” said Dr. Judah Weinberger of Columbia University as the panel voted 10-1 to recommend FDA approval.

The FDA isn’t bound by the panel’s advice but usually follows it.