UPI VIDEO NEWS 02.26.08

NY Philharmonic gives concert in North Korea.

The New York Philharmonic is now the first major American cultural group to have performed in North Korea. The orchestra began the performance earlier today with North Korea's national anthem and continued with The Star-Spangled Banner. Both reportedly received standing ovations. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il apparently wasn't in attendance. The U.S. government agreed on the Philharmonic's visit when there was major progress to end the country's nuclear weapons program.

Thousands of Palestinian protesters are calling for an end to an Israeli blockade on Gaza. They're burning tires and forming a human chain with nearly 40 thousand people along the strip's 25-mile length. Israel has threatened to use deadly force if the march became an attempt to surge across the border into Israeli territory. Israel imposed the blockade after Hamas violently took control of Gaza in June.

The number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan is projected to grow as more soldiers leave Iraq. That's according to the Defense Department that says 4 thousand more soldiers will be deployed there by last summer. The move would bring U.S. troops levels in Afghanistan to an all-time high...about 32 thousand forces. Government officials say forces in Iraq will start to leave this summer because the temporary troop buildup is over there in July. About 140 thousand troops are predicted after the drawdown happens.

Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens could learn by the end of the week whether he'll be referred to the Justice Department for a perjury investigation. Clemens has testified before a House committee saying he never used steroids or human growth hormone. But his words contradict the testimony of his former trainer Brian McNamee. It's unclear whether the Justice Department would be asked to investigate only Clemens or also McNamee.

UPI VIDEO NEWS 12.19.07

Auto fuel efficiency standards will increase.

President Bush plans to sign a bill today that raises the fuel efficiency standards of vehicles. Congress approved the legislation yesterday by a wide margin. It's the first increase in 32 years. The bill requires automakers to boost mileage to 35 miles per gallon by the year 2020. That's compared with today's 25 miles per gallon standard.

Troops in Iraq will continue to be funded thanks to a Senate bill passed yesterday. The $555 billion dollar piece of legislation also preserves thousands of earmarks for lawmakers. It no longer includes a condition that ties war funding to a plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq, which was what many Democrats recently pushed for in the bill. The measure now goes back to the House for approval. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she expects the bill to pass there.

Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales reportedly took part in talks about destroying CIA videotapes that showed interrogations of two Al Qaeda suspects. That's according to the New York Times. The paper said at least four top White House lawyers were also involved. Some sources say there was quote a vigorous sentiment among White House officials to destroy the tapes while others say that no one there advocated anything either way. Justice Department lawyers are scheduled to appear in federal court Friday to discuss the matter.

Presidential candidates Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani are virtually tied in the Republican race. That's according to a Reuters/Zogby poll. Huckabee, who's a former governor of Arkansas has jumped in popularity recently, wiping out an 18-point deficit in one month. He now stands one point behind Giuliani at 22 percent. On the Democratic side, Senator Hillary Clinton's lead over Senator Barack Obama shrunk slightly to eight percentage points. She's now at 40 percent, compared to Obama at 32 percent.

UPI VIDEO NEWS 12.18.07 (500th Post)

House passes spending bill to fund war, agencies.

Money for troops in Afghanistan and Iraq is no longer likely to be cut. That's because the House approved a $516 billion spending bill yesterday that funds the wars in both of those countries as well as 14 Cabinet agencies. President Bush says he'll sign the measure if $40 billion more is added by the Senate for the Iraq war. The Senate is expected to debate the bill today, and analysts predict that it'll pass. The measure mostly falls within Bush's budget, but does shift billions of dollars into politically sensitive programs he sought to cut.

Bill Clinton says former President George H.W. Bush will pitch in to help him and his wife when they move into the White House. The Democratic president hopeful Senator Hillary Clinton will apparently dispatch Clinton and Bush on an around-the-world mission to repair the damage done to America's reputation by Bush's son, President George W. Bush. Clinton added that that would be his wife's number one priority as president. There's no comment yet on whether George H.W. Bush would chip in when his son leaves office next year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he'll become prime minister if the man he's backing for president wins elections. Dmitry Medvedev is Putin's choice as successor. Yesterday, he was officially confirmed as the presidential candidate for the United Russia Party. Shortly after, Medvedev asked Putin to serve as prime minister if elected. The 42-year-old presidential candidate is expected to win in elections scheduled for next March.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced trip to Iraq earlier today. She visited the volatile northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, then went onto Baghdad to meet with Iraqi officials there. It was reported that she was also meeting with President Jalal Talabani there. The trip comes as Turkish troops recently crossed into Iraq to attack Kurdish separatist rebels. It's a conflict that the U.S., Iraq, and the Kurdish Regional Government don't want to spiral out of control.

UPI VIDEO NEWS 12.17.07

Lieberman to endorse McCain for president.

Senator Joe Lieberman will back Senator John McCain for president. The Democrat turned Independent is planning to announce his plan today. An aide to Lieberman says the senator decided to endorse the Republican presidential hopeful because he considers him the most capable commander in chief and the best candidate to unite the country against Islamic extremism. The aide says the move isn't an endorsement of the Republican party, only the person. Lieberman will reportedly continue to caucus with the Democrats.

Russia says it's begun to deliver fuel to an atomic power station in Iran that's been the center of concern over Tehran's nuclear program. A Russian nuclear equipment monopoly is reportedly building a $1 billion nuclear plant in that country under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Construction on the Russian-designed facility has continued despite pressure from the U.S. The Russian Foreign Ministry says the Iranian side has provided written guarantees that fuel can only be used at and for that plant.

Baghdad is calling on Turkey to stop military assaults on northern Iraq. This comes after yesterday's air strikes aimed at Kurdish rebels that killed a woman, injured four people, and destroyed a health clinic, a school, and bridges. Tensions have been high along the Iraqi-Turkish border, with Turkey threatening to launch a full-scale offensive against separatist guerrillas from the Kurdistan Worker's Party, or PKK.

The U.S. is reviewing its mission in Afghanistan amid rising concerns about lagging progress there. The study is looking at the efforts of U.S. troops placed along Afghanistan's rugged border with Pakistan. U.S. commanders say they've seen an increase in attacks by the Taliban there. They also say the movement has become more diverse with warlords, drug bosses and local fighters joining in. This comes as officials boast about progress in Iraq, saying the country is experiencing its most significant dip in violence since the first year of the invasion.

FIRST U.S. TROOPS IN DRAWDOWN PLAN LEAVE IRAQ

By David Clarke and Dean Yates

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The first U.S. military unit scheduled to withdraw from Iraq under President George W. Bush's plan to cut troop levels has left the war zone.

U.S. army officers say their stepped-up security drive around Baghdad is yielding results and led to a decline in the number of U.S. troop casualties this month.

U.S. forces killed a senior leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, the military said. Brigadier-General Joseph Anderson, chief of staff for the Multi-National Corps-Iraq, described Abu Usama al-Tunisi as the "emir of foreign terrorists" in Iraq.

A U.S. air raid in Baghdad killed at least eight people, medical sources said. A police source put the toll at 10 and said many were believed to be civilians.

Bush increased troop levels by 30,000 this year to try to stem violence that was threatening to tear Iraq apart and to give the country's feuding politicians the "breathing space" needed to bridge their deep sectarian differences.

Under pressure from opposition Democrats and senior Republicans for big cuts in troops, the president approved a plan from his top commander in Iraq to gradually reduce the U.S. force by 20,000 to 30,000 by mid-2008.

Bush said improved security made the cuts possible.

Captain Pamela Marshall, a military spokeswoman in Washington, said the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, a group of 2,200 Marines who were stationed in western Anbar province, had boarded a naval vessel and begun the trip home.

A brigade combat team, which normally includes about 4,000 troops, is expected to leave Iraq in mid-December followed by four other brigade combat teams and two Marine battalions.

The U.S. force now totals about 165,000 in Iraq.

Anderson said Tunisi was killed on Tuesday south of Baghdad in an air strike. He said the militant, from Tunisia, had brought al Qaeda fighters into Iraq and led a group responsible for kidnapping U.S. soldiers in June 2006.

"Abu Usama al-Tunisi was one of the most senior leaders within al Qaeda in Iraq," Anderson told Pentagon reporters by videolink from Iraq.

He did not say which soldiers the group kidnapped. The Pentagon could not immediately provide that information.

INVESTIGATION

In Baghdad, a medical source at the Yarmouk Hospital said eight bodies had been brought in from a southern neighborhood after U.S. helicopters targeted a building on Friday.

It is the second time this week U.S. forces have been accused of killing civilians in air strikes. U.S. forces are investigating an attack in southern Iraq this week which local police said killed five women and four children.

That strike took place on the same day and in the same area that Anderson said Tunisi had been killed.

North of the capital, the Iraqi army said it had killed 30 suspected al Qaeda insurgents.

Fifty-nine U.S. soldiers have been killed in September, according to the Web site icasualties.org which tracks military deaths, making it the least deadly month for U.S. troops since July last year. Twenty-two of the deaths were defined as "non-hostile", many of them road accidents.

"What we found is that the current operations ... managed to disrupt a lot of (militant) cells," said a U.S. military spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Rudy Burwell. "We were able to push them from Baghdad and pursue them".

"That's what we attribute the lower casualties to.

"Obviously (the militants) have not been eliminated, but they have been disrupted." Shooting attacks and roadside bombs had been "trending downwards" since June, he said.

September's figure is on track to be about half the death toll for May when extra U.S. forces deployed in greater strength into dangerous areas.

(Additional reporting by Dominic Evans, Mussab Al-Khairalla, Aws Qusay, Haider Salahudeen and Kristin Roberts in Washington)