Nation & World Briefly Aug. 10

A sad day at Dover: President Obama honors the US forces killed in deadly Afghanistan attack

WASHINGTON (AP) - The fallen come home here with such dignity that every American flag on every case of remains is inspected for the tiniest smudge. The dead are treated with reverence by everyone. Including their commander in chief.

For the second time in his presidency, Barack Obama was at Dover on Tuesday, saluting troops who died on his watch.

Sadness hung everywhere. For Obama, it was a day to deal with the nation's single deadliest day of the decade-long war in Afghanistan. For the families of the 30 Americans who were killed, it was a time to remember the dreams their loved ones had lived, not the ambitions that died with them.

Obama solemnly climbed aboard the two C-17 cargo planes carrying the fallen home from Afghanistan. Their helicopter apparently had been hit by an insurgent's rocket-propelled grenade.

Later, the president consoled their grieving families..

Polygamist leader sentenced to life in prison for assault of young follower he took as bride

SAN ANGELO, Texas (AP) - Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs recorded everything he said. Thousands of pages, written with Biblical flourish, about God wanting him to take 12-year-old wives. About those girls needing to sexually please him. About men he banished for not building his temple fast enough.

Facing his last chance to keep his freedom, Jeffs didn't say a word.

He was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for sexually assaulting one of his child brides - among 24 underage wives prosecutors said Jeffs collected - and received the maximum 20-year punishment on a separate child sex conviction. Jeffs, 55, will not be eligible for parole until he is at least 100 years old.

The head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints made no plea for leniency. He ordered his attorneys not to call witnesses during the sentencing phase, and forbade them from making a closing argument Tuesday.

Less than half an hour later, jurors returned with the harshest punishment possible.

Wis. senators try to keep seats in recall election sparked by anti-Republican backlash

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Six Wisconsin senators fought Tuesday to keep their jobs in a recall election, trying to beat back Democratic challengers who stoked a political backlash against Republican Gov. Scott Walker for his efforts to strip public employees of most union rights.

Fueled by millions of dollars from national labor groups, the attempt to remove GOP incumbents could shift control of the Wisconsin Senate to Democrats and provide a new gauge of the public mood less than a year after Republicans made sweeping gains in this state and many others.

Turnout was strong in the morning and steady in the afternoon in communities like Whitefish Bay, Menomonee Falls and Shorewood, where Sen. Alberta Darling was one of six Republicans trying to keep her seat.

Tony Spencer, a 36-year-old laid-off carpenter from Shorewood, voted for Darling's challenger, Democratic state Rep. Sandy Pasch.

"I'm in a private union, so they haven't necessarily come after me," Spencer said. "But everybody should have the right to be in a union. I came out to stop all the union-bashing stuff."

AWOL soldier from Kentucky indicted on 3 federal charges in plot to bomb Fort Hood soldiers

WACO, Texas (AP) - A federal grand jury indicted an AWOL soldier Tuesday on three charges in connection with a plot to bomb Fort Hood soldiers in Texas.

Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo, 21, was indicted in Waco on charges of possession of an unregistered destructive device, possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition by a fugitive from justice, according to federal prosecutors. He faces up to 10 years in prison on each charge if convicted.

He is being held without bond and has yet to enter a plea. His attorney, Keith Dorsett, did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment Tuesday.

Abdo was arrested two weeks ago at a Killeen motel near Fort Hood. Investigators say they found a handgun, an article titled "Make a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom" and the ingredients for an explosive device, including gunpowder, shrapnel and pressure cookers. An article with that title appears in an al-Qaida magazine.

The soldier was approved as a conscientious objector this year after citing his Muslim beliefs, but that status was put on hold after he was charged with possessing child pornography. He went absent without leave from Fort Campbell, Ky., last month.

Perry primary state visits threaten to overshadow big Iowa 2012 week, change dynamic of race

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Though he's not officially a candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry's visits this weekend to three important presidential nominating states threaten to overshadow any lift his would-be rivals hope to gain from a big week in Iowa.

Perry's expected entrance into the Republican race looms large over Saturday's Iowa straw poll and a nationally televised debate two days earlier - and he's not participating in either event. His all-but-certain bid comes as polls show the GOP electorate underwhelmed with the current crop of candidates as they seek someone strong to challenge President Barack Obama next fall.

All candidates - from GOP front-runner Mitt Romney on down - are bracing for a Perry candidacy, and the attention on the Texan this weekend could effectively change the dynamics of the race.

Publicly, the GOP field is welcoming Perry to the contest. Privately, the candidates and their advisers are discussing how to revamp their strategies for winning the nomination, given a likely new factor in the race - a telegenic Southerner who is credible on social conservatives' top issues and who hails from a state where jobs have grown.

"I know Rick. I think he'll be a strong candidate, but like I said, my candidacy doesn't rise or fall depending on whether other people get into the race or not," former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who is languishing in polls, said Tuesday during an interview with Radio Iowa.

Obama announces first-ever fuel standards for work trucks, buses, other heavy duty vehicles

WASHINGTON (AP) - Fire trucks and concrete mixers, semis, heavy-duty pickups and all trucks in between will, for the first time, have to trim fuel consumption and emissions of heat-trapping gases under new efficiency standards announced Tuesday by President Barack Obama.

The White House said the standards will save businesses billions of dollars in fuel costs, help reduce oil consumption and cut air pollution. The standards apply to vehicle model years 2014 to 2018.

Three categories of vehicles are affected. Big rigs or semis will have to slash fuel consumption and production of heat-trapping gases by up to 23 percent. Gasoline-powered heavy-duty pickups and vans will have to cut consumption by 10 percent, or by 15 percent if the vehicles run on diesel fuel.

The standards also prescribe a 9 percent reduction in fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions for work trucks, which include everything from fire trucks and concrete mixers to garbage trucks and buses.

In a statement, Obama said people who build, buy and drive medium and heavy-duty trucks support the new standards.