Nation briefs 2/23/04

Entry to Mississippi River closed second day

NEW ORLEANS -- The entrance to the Mississippi River was closed to oceangoing vessels -- including cruise ships carrying thousands of passengers -- for a second day Sunday while teams searched for the five-member crew of a supply boat that sank after colliding with a container ship. There was no way to tell when the river may reopen, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Jonathan McCool. The 178-foot offshore supply boat Lee III sank early Saturday and blocked the Southwest Pass, seven miles south of Pilottown, the only channel into the river that can be used by oceangoing vessels. The collision came just a day after the river had been reopened following a collision Thursday between a tanker and a freighter.

Oklahoma City bombing suspect Nichols case set

McALESTER, Okla. -- The bombing that killed 168 people in the Oklahoma City federal building may seem like ancient history to many, but not to those touched by the blast -- or to state prosecutors who want to put Terry Nichols to death for the crime. Nearly a decade after the bombing, a state murder trial is set to begin March 1 for Nichols, 48, who already is serving a life prison sentence without chance of parole on a federal conviction. Oklahoma County District Attorney Wes Lane has said Nichols should be held accountable for the deaths of victims who were not part of the federal prosecution. Nichols' 1997 conviction on federal conspiracy and involuntary manslaughter charges involved only the deaths of eight federal law enforcement officers. The state charges involve the other 160 victims and the unborn child of one of those killed.

Korean War museum pays tribute to 'forgotten ones'

WAHIAWA, Hawaii -- They were never welcomed home with a parade; their war became known as the forgotten one. Now, 51 years later, Korean War veterans at last have a place to gather their memories -- albeit a humble one. Little fanfare marked the official opening of the National Korean War Museum on the island of Oahu on Friday, but visitors didn't seem to mind. The museum, housed in a 1940s-era Quonset hut, is still a work in progress with dangling wires, incomplete murals and yet-to-be-installed attractions. Previous attempts to build a museum honoring the 1.8 million Korean War veterans have faltered, said Kyle Kopitke, president of the museum's board of trustees. The museum occupies a 10,000-square-foot open-air space in a military town that many of the country's first Korean immigrants called home while working in Oahu's pineapple fields.

Latest battle on abortion is bill on rights of unborn

WASHINGTON -- Expanding rights for the unborn without limiting mothers' reproductive rights is an issue that confronts lawmakers this week when the House takes up a bill that would make it separate federal crimes to injure or kill both a woman and her fetus. The Unborn Victims of Violence Act is regarded by conservative groups as one of the most important social policy measures that could come before Congress this year. Opponents see the legislation as another attempt, after last year's ban on a procedure that critics call partial birth abortion, to curtail abortion rights. The legislation would allow prosecutors to charge a person with two murders for killing a woman and her fetus, or with murder for an attack that kills the fetus but the mother survives. The proposal would apply only to federal crimes.

Schwarzenegger wants immigrants in White House

WASHINGTON -- Arnold Schwarzenegger, making his Sunday talk show debut as governor, said that he and other foreign-born citizens should be eligible to run for the White House and that President Bush can carry California in November if he does more to help the state. The Austrian-born former bodybuilder, in the capital for his first meeting with fellow governors, said he has not thought about running for president in the future. The Constitution says only natural-born citizens of the United States are eligible for the country's highest office. The Republican governor said anyone who has been a U.S. citizen for at least 20 years -- as he has -- should "absolutely" be able to seek the presidency. -- From wire reports

Experts find similarities in homemade bombs

WASHINGTON -- Identical technology appears to have been used to create terror bombs that have struck targets in different parts of the world, including against U.S. troops in Iraq, the head of the House Homeland Security Committee said Sunday. Similarities in the devices indicate a clear connection among the operations "because we are finding that the same designs for these bombs are showing up on different continents," Rep. Christopher Cox said. The New York Times, in a report Sunday about the connections, quoted an unidentified forensic expert as saying the links prove "that we have the same bomb maker, or different bomb makers using the same instructions."

Mardi Gras celebrations turn violent in California

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Mardi Gras celebrations turned violent when partygoers threw bottles and rocks at police, who responded by firing rubber bullets and tear gas and arresting as many as 60 people, officials said. The rowdy revelers started hurling beads, bottles, cans, road cones and even a steel pipe at officers late Saturday after police broke up two large parties at an apartment complex near the California State Polytechnic University's San Luis Obispo campus. An estimated crowd of about 5,000 was dispersed by police officers and sheriff's deputies. Police said 50 to 60 people had been arrested by midnight, but there were no reports of anyone being injured.

-- From wire reports