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Bush refuses to discuss CIA leak case

WASHINGTON — President Bush always said he would wait to talk about the CIA leak case until after the investigation into his administration's role. Today, he skipped over that step and pronounced the matter old news hardly worth discussing.

"It's run its course," he said. "Now we're going to move on."

Despite a long history of denouncing leaks, Bush declined to express any disappointment in the people who worked for him and who were involved in disclosing the name of a CIA operative. Asked about that during a wide-ranging news conference, the president gave a dodgy answer.

"It's been a tough issue for a lot of people in the White House," he said.

He didn't even acknowledge the undisputed fact that someone working for him was the source, saying only that "perhaps somebody in the administration did disclose the name of that person."

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White House gives Iraq regime mixed review

WASHINGTON — Iraq has achieved only limited military and political progress toward a democratic society, the Bush administration said today in a report that became prelude to a House vote on ordering a U.S. troop withdrawal by spring.

"The security situation in Iraq remains complex and extremely challenging" the report concluded. The economic picture is uneven, it said, and the government has not yet enacted vital political reconciliation legislation.

As many as 80 suicide bombers per month cross into the country from Syria, added the interim assessment, which is to be followed by Gen. David Petraeus' fuller accounting in September.

"I believe we can succeed in Iraq, and I know we must," President Bush said at a White House news conference at which he stressed the interim nature of the report.

Describing a document produced by his administration at Congress' insistence, he said there was satisfactory progress by the Iraqi government toward meeting eight of 18 so-called benchmarks, unsatisfactory progress on eight more and mixed results on the others.

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U.S. troops capture two key Shiite militants

BAGHDAD — U.S. troops raided a Shiite area of Baghdad today, capturing two militants believed linked to Iran and sparking a battle that Iraqi officials said killed 19 people. Two employees of the Reuters news agency were among the dead.

Angry residents of the Amin district _ many of them Shiites who fled to Baghdad from Baqouba, where U.S. troops are waging an offensive against insurgents _ accused U.S. helicopters of striking buildings during the fight with gunmen and killing civilians. The U.S. military did not immediately comment on the fighting.

Among the dead were at least one woman and two children, and some of the men slain appeared to have been armed and firing on the Americans, Iraqi police and hospital officials said.

AP Television News footage showed buildings riddled with holes from heavy machine gun and rocket fire, and a minibus with its front seat blasted away.

U.S. forces have been waging an intensified security crackdown against Shiite and Sunni militants in and around Baghdad for nearly a month, as the Iraqi government struggles to make political progress. Disputes among Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders have severely weakened Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki even as the United States presses him to enact reforms.

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House Democrats reject Bush claim of privilege

WASHINGTON — House Democrats today took the first step toward holding former White House counsel Harriet Miers in contempt of Congress after she defied a subpoena — at President Bush's order — and skipped a hearing on the firing of U.S. attorneys.

Over the strenuous objections of Republicans, a subcommittee cleared the way for contempt proceedings by voting 7-5 to reject Bush's claim of executive privilege. He says his top advisers, whether current or former, cannot be summoned by Congress.

"Those claims are not legally valid," Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., said of Bush's declaration. "Ms. Miers is required pursuant to the subpoena to be here now."

Republicans complained that Democrats were choosing showy, televised proceedings and the threat of court action to force the testimony rather than agree to Bush's offer for private, off-the-record interviews.

In the absence of an agreement with the administration, House leaders and committee members were likely to pursue contempt proceedings against Miers but were still talking about when, according to some Democratic officials.

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A few gun shops dominate criminal weapon supply

NEW YORK — When criminals need guns, they have plenty of options in a country with nearly 100,000 licensed gun stores. But drug dealers and other crooks don't shop just anywhere. They have their favorites.

In Compton, Calif., gangsters preferred Boulevard Sales & Service, a shop police said was so felon-friendly, some salesmen offered tips on how to buy a gun despite a criminal record.

In Philadelphia, shady gun buyers sent girlfriends to a suburban pawn shop, Lou's Loan, where the staff wouldn't raise a fuss if a young woman came by a few times a month to purchase cheap handguns.

And on the outskirts of New Orleans, killers-to-be armed themselves at Elliot's Gun Shop. Over the past five years, the store was the source of 2,300 weapons later linked to crime, including an astonishing 125 homicides, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

In fact, government figures show that an extremely small number of gun shops account for a spectacularly large number of weapons used in crimes.

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Steamed buns with cardboard filler create stir in China

BEIJING — A system to monitor food safety will go into effect during test events for the 2008 Beijing Olympics next month, a government watchdog announced today, even as a TV station aired an undercover investigation showing how shredded cardboard was used as a filling in steamed buns.

The discovery of the tainted buns highlights the country's perennial problems with food safety despite government efforts to improve the situation. Countless small, often illegally run operations exist across China and make money cutting corners using inexpensive ingredients or unsavory substitutes.

In the report aired Wednesday night, China Central Television showed a shirtless, shorts-clad bun maker in Beijing using cardboard picked up off the street to stuff his steamed buns.

A hidden camera followed the man into a ramshackle building where steamers were filled with the fluffy white buns, called baozi, traditionally stuffed with minced pork.

It showed how cardboard was first soaked to a pulp in a plastic basin of caustic soda _ a chemical base commonly used in manufacturing paper and soap _ then chopped into tiny morsels with a cleaver. Fatty pork and powdered seasoning were stirred in as flavoring and the concoction was stuffed into the buns.

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Couric will stay, CBS News chief says

NEW YORK — CBS News President Sean McManus dismissed talk that Katie Couric may leave as "CBS Evening News" anchor by saying today that he expected her to be doing the job through her full five-year contract.

A candid Couric interview in New York magazine this week renewed questions about Couric's future, leading a prominent blogger to start speculating about who might replace her.

"She has a five-year contract with CBS to anchor the evening news," McManus told The Associated Press. "All of us, including Katie, expect her to be anchoring the evening news in her fifth year."

Couric began anchoring the evening news last September and the ratings have been a disappointment, with CBS still a distant third behind ABC's "World News" and the "NBC Nightly News." After unsuccessfully trying a few new ideas, the CBS program is being revamped under recently arrived veteran producer Rick Kaplan.

CBS News leaders have expressed frustration with New York magazine, which had a picture of Couric on its cover over the quote: "I have days when I'm like, `Oh my God, what did I do?'" The cover omits the rest of the quote, where she says, "but for some weird reason, they don't happen that often."

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Wall Street indexes reach record highs

NEW YORK — Wall Street soared today, propelling the Standard & Poor's 500 index and Dow Jones industrials to record highs as bright spots among generally sluggish retail sales allowed investors to toss aside concerns about the health of the economy.

The rally, which included the Dow's biggest one-day percentage gain in nearly four years, was perhaps surprising given that there was no extraordinary announcement or other catalyst usually seen with such a huge gain, and that it came before most companies have announced their second-quarter earnings. The rise also marked a sharp contrast to the start of the week, when stocks fell sharply amid concerns that some hedge funds could succumb to ill-placed bets on the housing sector.

But investors, heartened by signs of a happy and spending consumer, clearly decided to put some bets on the table. Though retail sales generally appeared to be crimped last month by higher gasoline prices and a tepid housing market, and the outlook for the coming months was difficult to ascertain, the overall reading wasn't as dour as some investors expected.

Several reports beat Street expectations _ notably that of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, which posted a better-than-expected 2.4 percent jump in sales at stores open at least a year.

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Dwight Howard commits to sticking with Orlando

ORLANDO, Fla. — Only 21 years old, Dwight Howard already says he wants to retire in Orlando. Today he committed to sticking around for a while longer, as the former No. 1 overall pick signed a five-year contract extension worth approximately $80 million.

"Me and Mickey Mouse will be here forever," the basketball player joked.

It was Orlando's second multimillion dollar move in two days. The Magic officially pulled free agent All-Star Rashard Lewis from Seattle on Wednesday, agreeing to a six-year contract worth more than $110 million in a a sign-and-trade deal.

Those two moves will define the team for the foreseeable future, and general manager Otis Smith likes what he sees.