Nation briefs 8/26/04

Ship captain pleads guilty for bomb joke

WILMINGTON, Del. -- A Turkish ship captain who spent the past month behind bars after joking to the Coast Guard that there was a bomb aboard his vessel pleaded guilty Wednesday to making a false statement and was ordered to leave the country immediately. "I apologize to the whole American public," Yildirim Beyozit Tumer said through an interpreter. Tumer, 48, could have gotten five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Conn. lawmaker strikes deal in child sex case

DANIELSON, Conn. -- An eastern Connecticut lawmaker struck a plea deal Wednesday on charges he sexually assaulted an 8-year-old boy, and agreed to register as a sex offender. Under the deal with prosecutors, state Rep. Jefferson Davis pleaded guilty to a charge of risk of injury to a minor and will accept a 10-year suspended prison term and probation when he is sentenced in November.

Records: Enron profited from emergency power

SEATTLE -- Newly released records show Enron Corp. profited from emergency Northwest hydropower sent to California during the summer of 2000 by selling some of the energy in the Southwest. At a news conference Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell played a tape of an Enron trader and an Enron executive talking about the company's export of the power to Southwestern markets where prices were higher.

Government preparing for large flu outbreak

WASHINGTON -- The United States may have to close schools, restrict travel and ration scarce medications if a powerful new flu strain spurs a worldwide outbreak, according to federal plans for the next pandemic. It will take months to brew a vaccine that works against the kind of super-flu that causes a pandemic, although government preparations include research to speed that production. -- From wire reports

Two firms tapped for anti-missile airplane defense

WASHINGTON -- Teams led by BAE Systems and Northrup Grumman were chosen Wednesday to build and test prototypes for anti-missile systems to defend U.S. commercial planes against shoulder-fired rockets. The Homeland Security Department said the companies will each get $45 million over the next 18 months. It's the second phase of the agency's effort to determine whether affordable, effective anti-missile systems can be deployed on commercial planes.

Investigation faults intelligence for Abu Ghraib abuse

WASHINGTON -- More than two dozen soldiers and contractors attached to a military intelligence unit at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq approved or took part in abuses of Iraqi detainees, an Army investigation has found in one of the most comprehensive looks to date at the scandal that damaged America's image around the world. A few of the abuses amounted to torture, Maj. Gen. George Fay, one of the chief investigators, said Wednesday.

-- From wire reports