Republicans seek vote on withdrawal proposal

WASHINGTON -- House Republicans, sensing an opportunity for political advantage, maneuvered for a quick vote and swift rejection Friday of a Democratic lawmaker's call for an immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq. "We want to make sure that we support our troops that are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. "We will not retreat." House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi had no immediate reaction to the planned vote. The GOP leadership decided to act little more than 24 hours after Rep. Jack Murtha, a hawkish Democrat with close ties to the military, said the time had come to pull out the troops. By forcing the issue to a vote, Republicans placed many Democrats in a politically unappealing position -- whether to side with Murtha and expose themselves to attacks from the White House and congressional Republicans, or whether to oppose him and risk angering the voters that polls show want an end to the conflict. Murtha's resolution would force the president to withdrawal the nearly 160,000 troops in Iraq "at the earliest predictable date."

Police cite video with teen's plans to kill

LITITZ, Pa. -- An 18-year-old man accused of killing his girlfriend's parents and kidnapping her was videotaped discussing plans to conduct an armed raid on another family's home and kill people inside, according to court documents released Friday. Police said another teen in the 18-minute video told them that the aborted break-in was among several such "late night armed 'plans of forcible entry'" that he and David Ludwig conducted. Ludwig and Samuel P. Lohr, 19, are shown in the video taking guns from Ludwig's house to a home and discussing using them to "shoot and kill family members inside of the residence," according to a search warrant issued Thursday to Warwick Township police. It's not known whose house was targeted, but it was not the home of Michael and Cathryn Borden, who were gunned down Sunday, investigators said.

Wildfire burns nearly 1,500 acres near L.A.

VENTURA, Calif. -- Pushed by fierce Santa Ana winds, a wildfire tripled to nearly 1,500 acres Friday and crept toward large, ridgetop homes where residents were told to stand by for possible evacuation. The blaze was reported around 3:30 a.m. in the School Canyon area between Ventura and Ojai, about 60 miles northwest of Los Angeles, fire officials said. At midmorning, a wall of flames as high as 30 feet snaked along hillsides and thick, black smoke hovered over homes. In just a few hours, the fire grew from 500 acres to 1,487 acres, said fire department spokeswoman Michele Faina. The area contains numerous oil pumps, said Joe Luna, a spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department.

Missing girl may have been killed last year

AURORA, Colo. -- A 6-year-old girl reported missing by her father this week may actually have been killed more than a year ago, police said, and they called the father a "person of interest" in the case. The search for Aarone Thompson was suspended, and police opened a homicide investigation on Thursday, following a tip that someone killed her at her home, interim police chief Terry Jones said. There were no arrests by early Friday. Aaron Thompson reported his daughter missing on Monday, telling police she left after an event that upset her.

California approves telephone mergers

NEW YORK -- California officials approved SBC Communications Inc.'s purchase of AT&T Corp. on Friday, clearing the final hurdle for the $16 billion deal and opening the way for the telephone merger to close immediately. The California Public Utility Commission also gave their consent to Verizon Communications Inc.'s purchase of MCI Inc. for about $7.5 billion, though that deal is still awaiting approval in other states.

-- From wire reports

The two deals highlight the fading distinction between local and long-distance calling as separate services, while ushering in a new era dominated by direct competition with cable TV and wireless providers rather than among individual phone companies.