Pilot of Hiroshima bomber dies

The pilot of the plane that ushered in the age of atomic warfare with the first nuclear attack on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, died Thursday at the age of 92, a spokesman said.
Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr., whose B-29 bomber dubbed the Enola Gay dropped the 9,000-pound "Little Boy" bomb on August 6, 1945, died at his home in the midwest city of Columbus, Ohio.

He had been suffering from heart problems, manager and publisher Gerry Newhouse told AFP.
Tibbets was more than just the pilot. He was instrumental in redesigning and testing the plane used to carry the massive bomb and organizing and training the men needed to deliver it.
Tibbets never regretted the bombing that led to the end of World War II but at a horrific price: 140,000 dead immediately and 80,000 other Japanese succumbing in the aftermath, according to Hiroshima officials.

"That's what it took to end the war," he told the Columbus Dispatch in 2003. "I went out to stop the killing all over."

Aware that not everyone agrees with his view of history, Tibbets asked his family to cremate him so his grave site would not be desecrated by detractors, Newhouse said. [AFP]

Barack Obama takes questions from five year old

Here's one way to get a presidential candidate to change his mind: If you're a 5-year-old, shed a few tears.

That's how Hadassah Jones, of Durham, got Barack Hussein Obama to answer questions Thursday after the campaign initially denied such requests from reporters.

Crouching to the ground after a rally with 4,000 supporters, Obama briefly outlined for Hadassah his plan to provide health insurance for everyone and to improve schools. He also suggested to the first-grader that wealthier people should help those who are less fortunate.

"We've got to make sure that people who have more money help the people who have less money," Obama said. "If you had a whole pizza, and your friend had no pizza, would you give him a slice?"

Hadassah, a correspondent for brandnewz.com, said after the interview that Obama "had great answers. And I had a great time meeting him." [AP]

Noel becomes hurricane, moves away from Bahamas

Tropical Storm Noel, whose rains have killed at least 108 people in the Caribbean, strengthened into a hurricane in the Atlantic on Thursday as it moved away from the Bahamas toward Bermuda, U.S. forecasters said.

The center of Noel was about 810 miles west-southwest of Bermuda by 8 p.m. EDT and its maximum sustained winds had reached near 75 miles per hour, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Noel is now a Category 1 hurricane, the lowest level on the Saffir/Simpson scale.

A hurricane watch was in effect for the northwestern Bahamas as Noel moved farther away on a long-anticipated shift to the north-northeast that would eventually bring it as a possibly fierce but nontropical storm to Nova Scotia, Canada.

A tropical storm warning remained in effect for the central Bahamas, but the hurricane center said the watch and warning would likely be discontinued on Thursday night. [Reuters]

Bush: No Attorney General if Not Mukasey

President Bush sought to save Michael Mukasey's troubled nomination for attorney general Thursday, defending the retired judge's refusal to say whether he considers waterboarding torture and warning of a leaderless Justice Department if Democrats do not confirm him.

"If the Senate Judiciary Committee were to block Judge Mukasey on these grounds, they would set a new standard for confirmation that could not be met by any responsible nominee for attorney general," Bush said in a speech at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

"That would guarantee that America would have no attorney general during this time of war," the president said.
The comment raised questions about whether Bush would nominate anyone else to succeed Alberto Gonzales as the nation's top law enforcer. Bush could bypass Congress by filling the job with someone serving in an acting capacity over the last 14 months of his administration.

Asked whether Bush was saying he would not nominate anyone if Mukasey were to be rejected, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, "We don't believe it would come to that. No nominee could meet the test they've presented." [AP]

Hollywood Strike Could Silence Major Talk Show Hosts

Late-night talk show host David Letterman joked this week that if U.S. film and TV writers go on strike, as is widely feared, he would be forced to write his own material to keep his show on the air.

"It might be fun ... to tune in and see what I can come up with on my own," the sardonic star of the CBS "Late Show with David Letterman" said, drawing laughs from a studio audience.

The more likely scenario should the Writers Guild of America declare a strike is that Letterman would join arch rival Jay Leno of NBC's "The Tonight Show" and other late-night funnymen, including cable TV stars Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, in taking a forced vacation. [Reuters]

Pakistani troops kill up to 70 Islamic terrorists

Helicopter gunships pounded pro-Taliban militants in the mountains of northwest Pakistan on Thursday, reportedly killing as many as 70 in an increasingly bloody conflict between the government and Islamist forces.

Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, meanwhile, flew to the United Arab Emirates to visit family two weeks after assassins tried to kill her when she returned from self-exile to lead her party in parliamentary elections. A spokesman said the former premier was expected back in a week.

Pakistan has been rocked by suicide bombings and clashes between security forces and militants in recent weeks, deepening unease ahead of a Supreme Court ruling on the validity of the Oct. 6 presidential victory by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, a key U.S. ally.
There are fears Musharraf could impose a state of emergency or martial law if the judges rule against another five-year term, jeopardizing the country's transition to civilian rule and perhaps worsening instability as the government confronts Islamic militants. [AP]