Bush offers talks with aides over attorney firings

Hello. I'm Kristin Volk with a UPI top news headline on this Wednesday, March 21, 2007.

President Bush is offering for Senate leaders to interview some of his aides over the firing controversy of U.S. attorneys. But, senators aren't accepting it. Congress is threatening to subpoena administration officials in the investigation of the attorneys' dismissals. Bush's offer to interview his top aides wouldn't be under oath and no transcript would be taken. The President says he would go to court to stop such a subpoena.

Iraq's Vice-President is calling for dialogue between his government and Sunni and Shiite insurgents to work toward peace. Tareq al-Hashemi says both sides should be invited to sit down and discuss fears and reservations. Hashemi says sectarian divisions are hampering political developments and the goal of democracy. The Vice-President is excluding Al-Qaida in the talks because he says the group is solely focused on terror and not willing to talk to anyone.

A massive strike over unpaid wages in Israel has shut down airports, seaports and rail systems. Some 400 thousand public sector workers staged the strike. Overnight talks collapsed between government negotiators and the union. The Union's president says the workers have waited 3 weeks for a solution and the government has failed.

A Chicago woman is suing a Canadian-U.S. pet food maker over the death of her cat that ate contaminated food. Menu food products are believed to be contaminated with a bad batch of wheat gluten, a product used to thicken gravy in cat and dog foods sold in cans and pouches. The woman is claiming her 9-year-old cat had to be euthanized over the weekend because of kidney failure. This happened just days after it ate one of the 91 brands the Food and Drug Administration recalled. The plaintiff is hoping to recover $300 in veterinarian fees.

Thanks for watching today's top news headline. Check out upi.com for more on these stories and all of the day's news.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• President
• Bush
• attorney
• firings
• Iraq
• Sunni
• Shiite
• Israel
• strike
• pet
• food
• female