Nation briefs 8/12/05

Mars orbiter launch postponed until today

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA postponed the launch of a spacecraft to Mars on Thursday after a glitch popped up in the computer software used for monitoring the fueling of the rocket used for liftoff. The problem with the software that measures the amount of fuel being loaded into the rocket appeared with just minutes left until liftoff. The launch was rescheduled for this morning.

Man found with explosive device at Okla. airport

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A small explosive device was found in a passenger's carry-on bag as he passed through a checkpoint, and federal agents arrested him, the FBI said Thursday. Officials have found no apparent connection between Charles Alfred Dreyling Jr. and any terrorist activity, said agent Gary Johnson, an FBI spokesman. Dreyling, 24, was going through the security checkpoint at Will Rogers World Airport when a Transportation Security Administration employee noticed something suspicious in his bag on the X-ray machine, Johnson said.

Rabbi asks Lutherans not to 'demonize' Israel

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The leader of the largest branch of American Judaism, speaking at a time of heightened tension between Protestants and Jews over Israeli policy toward the Palestinians, urged a national Lutheran meeting Thursday not to "demonize" the Jewish state. Rabbi Eric Yoffie told delegates from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America that his Union for Reform Judaism shared Protestants' desire for an end to Palestinian suffering. But despite any mistakes Israel has made, the nation still had a right to defend itself against "the indiscriminate killing of her civilians," he said.

Tropical Storm Irene moves closer to U.S.

MIAMI -- Tropical Storm Irene became stronger Thursday as it moved closer to the East Coast, but any landfall was still days away. Irene is expected to move toward the East Coast from Georgia to Virginia over the next five days, though it is still too soon to tell what kind of threat Irene posed to land, said James Franklin, a hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

--From wire reports

FEC finds misreporting by DeLay committee

WASHINGTON -- A federal audit of a fundraising committee founded by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay found that it failed to report more than $300,000 in debts and incorrectly paid for committee activities with money from another DeLay-connected group. The Federal Election Commission's report didn't indicate whether it would pursue enforcement action against Americans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee.