NEW YORK — In a leap forward for stem cell research, three independent teams of scientists reported Wednesday that they have produced the equivalent of embryonic stem cells in mice without the controversial destruction of embryos.

They got ordinary skin cells to behave like stem cells. If the same could be done with human cells — a big if — the procedure could lead to breakthrough medical treatments without the contentious ethical and political debates surrounding the use of embryos.

Experts were impressed by the achievement.

"I think it's one of the most exciting things that has come out about embryonic stem cells, period," said researcher Dr. Asa Abeliovich of Columbia University in New York, who didn't participate in the work. "It's very convincing that it's real."

But he and others cautioned that it will take further study to see whether this scientific advance can be harnessed for creating new human therapies. For one thing, the procedure used in the mouse studies wouldn't be suitable. And it's simply not known whether the mouse results can be reproduced with human cells.

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Bush's war-adviser nominee says he was skeptical of troop buildup in Iraq

WASHINGTON — Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, picked by President Bush as his White House war adviser, said Wednesday he had been skeptical of Bush's decision to send thousands more U.S. troops into Iraq.

In a written response to questions by the Senate Armed Services Committee, Lute confirmed news reports that he had voiced doubts during a White House-led policy review that led to Bush's Jan. 10 announcement that 21,500 more combat troops would go to Baghdad and Anbar province.

The buildup was hotly contested in Congress, including among several Republicans who favored greater pressure on Iraqi security forces to take over combat.

"During the review, I registered concerns that a military 'surge' would likely have only temporary and localized effects unless it were accompanied by counterpart 'surges' by the Iraqi government and the other, nonmilitary agencies of the U.S. government," Lute wrote in a document obtained by The Associated Press.

"I also noted that our enemies in Iraq have, in effect, 'a vote' and should be expected to take specific steps to counter from our efforts," he added. "The new policy took such concerns into account. It is too soon to tell the outcome."

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Bush says Russia won't attack Europe despite heated rhetoric

HEILIGENDAMM, Germany — After a torrent of sharp exchanges, President Bush tried to stop a steep slide in relations with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday by saying Russia is not a menace to Europe despite a threat to aim missiles at the West.

"Russia is not going to attack Europe," the president said, brushing off Putin's warning that he would reposition Russian rockets in retaliation for an American-devised missile shield to be based in Poland and the Czech Republic.

"Russia is not an enemy," Bush emphasized. "There needs to be no military response because we're not at war with Russia."

A day before meeting privately with Putin here, Bush appeared eager to call a timeout in the bickering over everything from criticism about Russia's backslide on democracy to Putin's complaints about U.S.-backed independence for Kosovo and a supposed new arms race triggered by Washington.

"There will be disagreements," the president said, relaxing in the sun during an interview with a handful of reporters before the annual summit of major industrialized countries. "That's just the way life works. But that doesn't necessarily lend itself to speculation that somehow the relationship between me and the president (Putin) is not a positive relationship. It is a positive — and I'm going to work to keep it that way."

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Turkish officials: Troops enter N. Iraq in 'hot pursuit' raid

ANKARA, Turkey — Hundreds of Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq early Wednesday to chase Kurdish guerrillas who attack Turkey from bases there, Turkish security officials said. One official said the troops had returned to their bases by the end of the day, but Turkey's foreign minister denied they had ever entered Iraq.

The senior security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, characterized the raid as a "hot pursuit" raid that was limited in scope. They told The Associated Press it did not constitute the kind of large incursion that Turkish leaders have been discussing in recent weeks.

One official said several thousand troops went less than two miles inside Iraq and were still there in late afternoon. "It is a hot pursuit, not an incursion," one official said.

Another official said by telephone it was "not a major offensive and the number of troops is not in the tens of thousands." He also said the Turkish troops went into a remote, mountainous area.

A third official, based in the border region, said 600 commandos entered Iraq, and were backed up by several thousand troops along the border. He said the commandos raided Iraqi territory across from the Turkish border town of Cukurca before dawn after rebels opened fire from Iraqi soil on Turkish patrols.

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Giuliani, McCain to skip traditional test of Iowa organizational strength

WASHINGTON — Republican presidential front-runner Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday he won't compete in a high-profile Iowa straw poll, and rival John McCain quickly followed suit in bypassing the early test of strength.

"We are 100 percent committed to winning the Iowa caucuses in January," said Mike DuHaime, the former New York City mayor's campaign manager, even as he announced the decision to skip the Aug. 11 straw poll in Ames, Iowa.

Hours later, Terry Nelson, McCain's campaign manager, told The Associated Press that in light of Giuliani's announcement "it's clear that the Ames straw poll will not be a meaningful test of the leading candidates' organizational abilities." Thus, he said: "We have decided to forgo our participation in the event."

Nelson said McCain, like Giuliani, would still compete in the state's lead-off caucuses.

Among the top-tier candidates only Mitt Romney said he would participate in the nonbinding August straw poll. It's a decades-old dress rehearsal that allows GOP candidates to measure their organizational strength months before the caucuses, a one-day presidential contest that requires a strong get-out-the-vote operation to ensure backers participate.

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Police find body believed to be missing teen who was abducted in Kansas

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Police on Wednesday found a body they believe is that of a teenager who disappeared four days ago after she was apparently abducted from a department store parking lot.

Police Chief John Douglass said the body was found across the state line at a Grandview, Mo., lake. Positive identification was pending, but authorities believed it was 18-year-old Kelsey Smith.

Officers had been searching woods at the lake since Tuesday after investigators traced two signals from Smith's cell phone to an area about 15 miles east of the Target store in suburban Kansas City.

Police had questioned "numerous people" but had not identified a suspect, Douglass said.

Authorities were still seeking information about a young man videotaped entering and leaving the Target store within moments of Smith. He said police still considered the unidentified man a "person of interest" and not a suspect.

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Cyclone Gonu hammers Oman before veering toward Iran

MUSCAT, Oman — Cyclone Gonu battered Oman's coast Wednesday with fierce winds and torrential rains, forcing thousands from their homes and shutting down oil installations before heading toward the world's most important crude oil tanker route.

The storm — a rarity in the Middle East — was expected to make landfall on the southeastern Iranian coast late Thursday, according to the U.S. military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center. But it was likely to spare Iran's offshore oil installations that lie more than 120 miles to the west.

In Muscat, the cyclone unleashed sheets of rainfall and howling winds rarely seen in the quiet seaside capital. Police and emergency vehicles could hardly move through the flooded streets, and authorities used text messages to warn people away from low-lying areas.

The storm caused little damage to Oman's relatively small oil fields. But raging seas prevented tankers from sailing from Omani ports, effectively shutting down the country's oil exports, said Nasser bin Khamis al-Jashimi of the Ministry of Oil and Gas.

Authorities also closed all operations at the port of Sohar and evacuated 11,000 workers, port spokesman Dirk Jan De Vink said.

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Injuries from roller shoes contribute to about 1,600 emergency room visits

CHICAGO — Injuries from trendy roller shoes are far more numerous than previously thought, contributing to about 1,600 emergency room visits last year, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Wednesday.

The injuries were mostly in children, the target market for the wheeled shoes that send kids cruising down sidewalks, across playgrounds and through shopping mall crowds.

Scott Wolfson, a spokesman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, said last week that the agency knew of at least 64 roller shoe-related injuries and one death between September 2005 through December 2006.

The new higher estimate is based on a more recent and thorough examination by staff statisticians of data reported to the agency, Wolfson told the AP Wednesday.