WASHINGTON — President Bush on Thursday refused to criticize a U.S. security company in Iraq accused in a shooting that left 11 civilians dead, saying investigators need to determine if the guards violated rules governing their operations.

Bush said he expected Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki would raise the shooting by agents of Blackwater USA when they meet next week at the U.N. General Assembly.

Al-Maliki has urged the U.S. Embassy to find another security firm to protect its diplomats, saying he cannot tolerate "the killing of our citizens in cold blood." He called the shootings a "crime" and said they had generated "widespread anger and hatred."

"Obviously, to the extent innocent life was lost, you know, I'm saddened," the president said at a wide-ranging news conference. "Our objective is to protect innocent life. And we've got a lot of brave souls in the theater working hard to protect innocent life."

Officials of Blackwater, the Moyock, N.C.-based company, say its employees acted appropriately in response to an armed attack Sunday against a State Department convoy. Blackwater is the main provider of bodyguards and armed escorts for U.S. government civilian employees in Iraq.

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Senate blocks legislation to cut off money for combat in Iraq

WASHINGTON — The Senate blocked legislation Thursday that would have cut off money for combat in Iraq by June. It was a predictable defeat for Democrats struggling to pass less divisive anti-war measures.

The 28-70 vote was 32 short of the 60 needed to cut off a GOP filibuster. The legislation, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Russ Feingold, was indicative of the Democratic leadership's new hardline strategy.

Unable to attract enough Republican support on milder proposals, Reid has sought votes on strong anti-war measures intended to force a withdrawal of troops.

The outcome was not a surprise. In May, the Senate rejected a similar proposal by Reid and Feingold by a 29-67 vote, with most Democrats saying they did not support using money to force an end to the war because that approach could hurt the troops.

Voting for the measure were Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Barack Obama of Illinois and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut. A fourth candidate, Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., did not vote.

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Latest video from bin Laden urges Pakistanis to wage jihad

CAIRO, Egypt — Osama bin Laden called on Pakistanis to wage holy war on their president Thursday, saying in a new recording that it was their religious duty to overthrow Gen. Pervez Musharraf for his alliance with the U.S. against Islamic militants.

The message was the third from bin Laden this month after a long lull, coming in a flurry of al-Qaida propaganda marking the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States.

Joining in, bin Laden's chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, issued a video Thursday seeking to galvanize Islamic fighters from North Africa to Afghanistan.

Al-Zawahri, who is seen by some counterterrorism experts to be al-Qaida's operational chief rather than bin Laden, said the United States is losing wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

"What they claim to be the strongest power in the history of mankind is today being defeated in front of the Muslim vanguards of jihad (holy war) six years after the two raids on New York and Washington," he said.

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Thousands rally in Louisiana to support 6 black teens charged in school fight

JENA, La. — Thousands of chanting demonstrators filled the streets of this little Louisiana town Thursday in support of six black teenagers initially charged with attempted murder in the beating of a white classmate.

The crowd broke into chants of "Free the Jena Six" as the Rev. Al Sharpton arrived at the local courthouse with family members of the jailed teens.

Sharpton told the Associated Press that he and Reps. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, and William Jefferson, D-La., will press the House Judiciary Committee next week to summon the district attorney to explain his actions before Congress.

This could be the beginning of a 21st century's civil rights movement challenge disparities in the justice system, he said, and he said he planned a November march in Washington.

"What we need is federal intervention to protect people from Southern injustice," Sharpton told the AP. "Our fathers in the 1960's had to penetrate the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, we have to do the same thing."

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Giuliani adviser criticized for 'too many mosques' comment

WASHINGTON — A homeland security adviser to Rudy Giuliani came under fire Thursday for claiming there were "too many mosques" in the United States — and defended himself by saying his point was that not enough Muslim leaders cooperate with law enforcement.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., the former chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee and the top GOP member on the panel, said his comments to the Politico Web site were taken out of context. Democrats said Giuliani should drop him as a campaign adviser.

"I stand by everything I said other than the fact that the Politico totally took it out of context," King said Thursday.

In the Politico interview, King said: "Unfortunately we have too many mosques in this country, there's too many people who are sympathetic to radical Islam. We should be looking at them more carefully, we should be finding out how we can infiltrate, we should be much more aggressive in law enforcement."

After King complained, Politico posted video of the entire interview.

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Astronomers say Neptune's south pole warmer than rest of planet

PARIS — Scientists say that Neptune, one of the coldest planets in the solar system, has a surprising warm spot — relatively speaking. An international team of astronomers has found that Neptune's south pole is warmer than other parts of the planet.

Temperatures at its south pole are about 18 degrees warmer than elsewhere on the planet — not much for a planet with an average temperature colder than 320 degrees below zero.

The apparent reason is that the south pole has been in the summer sunlight for about 40 years.

Neptune is nearly 2.8 billion miles away from the sun. A Neptunian year — the time it takes to orbit the sun — is equivalent to about 165 Earth years.

One result of that has been to expose Neptune's southern pole to the sun for nearly 40 years, warming it up. Because it is so far away, Neptune gets only 1/900th of the sunlight that Earth receives, but it still appears to have had a significant impact.

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Denise Richards asks court to end ex's overnight stays with their daughters

LOS ANGELES — Denise Richards has asked a court to stop allowing ex-husband Charlie Sheen to have overnight stays with their two young daughters.

In a filing Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Richards said the children have resisted spending the night at Sheen's home and "often returned sad and upset," according to court papers obtained by syndicated TV show "Access Hollywood."

The 36-year-old actress also requested that Sam, 3, and Lola, 2, undergo therapy.

Richards said she's concerned that Sheen engages in "inappropriate behavior" on the Internet and doesn't understand how that affects "the child-rearing of two young daughters."