Next year's Capitol tree will be from New Mexico
SANTA FE - New Mexico will get its chance to provide the Capitol Holiday Tree next year.
The 70-foot tree will be harvested from the Santa Fe National Forest, according to forest officials and Gov. Bill Richardson.
"The Capitol Holiday Tree will be a gift from the people of New Mexico," Richardson said Monday. "This is a great opportunity to celebrate the Forest Service's centennial and to highlight the Land of Enchantment."
New Mexico first provided the Capitol Christmas tree in 1991. It was a Blue spruce from the Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico.
Wilson-Romero race among most expensive
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SANTA FE (AP) - One of the most expensive congressional races in the nation played out in New Mexico this year.
In the Albuquerque-area 1st Congressional District, incumbent Republican Heather Wilson and Democratic challenger Richard Romero spent about $5.3 million combined on their primary and general election campaigns, according to the latest financial reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Expenditures were higher in only four other contested congressional races in the general election, according to FEC figures compiled by PoliticalMoneyLine, a Washington-based company that tracks campaign finance.
Two key lawmakers back intelligence overhaul bill
WASHINGTON (AP) - Two powerful congressional chairmen, one who had opposed legislation to revamp the nation's intelligence agencies, endorsed a compromise Monday and moved a bill endorsed by President Bush closer to approval.
House Armed Services chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and Senate Armed Services chairman John Warner, R-Va., announced that they would vote for the bill to implement the Sept. 11 commission's recommendations for fighting terrorism.
Bush says Iraqi elections must proceed Jan. 30
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush acknowledged Monday that American military forces "can never guarantee 100 percent security" for Iraq's elections Jan. 30, but said the voting must proceed on schedule to let people choose democracy over terrorism.
Bush met with Ghazi al-Yawer, the interim Iraqi president, and Jordan's King Abdullah II in the White House on a day when attackers forced their way into the heavily guarded U.S. consulate in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia.
Pearl Harbor battleship honored after 63 years
HONOLULU - Sixty-three years after the USS Oklahoma capsized during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, trapping hundreds of sailors beneath its hull, the men who died aboard the battleship are finally getting their own special tribute.
A new exhibit of photos, artifacts and oral histories tells the story of the Oklahoma, which lost 429 men during the Dec. 7, 1941 attack - the second highest number of casualties that day after the USS Arizona, which attracts most of the attention at the heavily visited memorial.
Attack on U.S. consulate in Saudi Arabia kills nine
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Lobbing grenades, militants invaded Jiddah's heavily guarded U.S. Consulate on Monday, attacking staffers and others in the compound until Saudi security forces stormed in.
Nine people, none American, were killed in the attack, which was claimed by al Qaeda and showed how vulnerable Saudi Arabia remains to Islamic extremist violence. The bold assault, the worst in the kingdom since May, suggested that a fierce crackdown waged by Saudi security forces has not completely put down al Qaeda in the native land of terror leader Osama bin Laden.
Letter: FBI witnessed aggressive interrogations
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - FBI agents witnessed "highly aggressive" interrogations and mistreatment of terror suspects at the U.S. prison camp in Cuba starting in 2002 - more than a year before the prison abuse scandal broke in Iraq - according to a letter a senior Justice Department official sent to the Army's top criminal investigator.
Bombs explode in Spain after Basque warnings
MADRID, Spain (AP) - Explosions rattled seven Spanish cities Monday following telephone warnings from the armed Basque separatist group ETA, in a resurgence of violence after months of keeping a low profile since the deadly Madrid train bombings by Muslim militants.
Officials said ETA chose a highly symbolic day for a fresh show of force - the anniversary of Spain's constitution, which established a system of regional autonomy the Basque group rejects.
Changes to election law approved in Ukraine
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - Ukraine's political rivals agreed early today on legislation to ensure a fair vote during the rerun later this month of the fraud-ridden presidential runoff but remained divided on constitutional amendments trimming presidential powers.
In addition to supporting changes in election laws, outgoing President Leonid Kuchma agreed to change the Central Election Commission, which was accused of covering up rampant fraud during the Nov. 21 runoff.
Baghdad gunfight erupts near U.S. Embassy
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A heavy gunfight broke out Monday on a dangerous street in central Baghdad within blocks of the country's most fortified facilities, including the U.S. Embassy and interim Iraqi government headquarters.
Five more American troops were killed in the volatile Anbar province. A dawn attack on a domestic oil pipeline supplying fuel from northern Iraq to Baghdad and clashes that killed three militants in the country's turbulent west underlined the security difficulties ahead of Jan. 30 national elections.
