Three 95-gallon recycling bins set against the exterior of a northeast Bend business were quickly extinguished by firefighters when they were discovered ablaze about 2:30 Thursday morning, but fire officials say the fire was “human-caused” and have turned over the case to police for further investigation. Fire inspectors determined the fire was most likely caused by application of an open flame or other heat source to combustible materials in the plastic recycling cans, a news release ... [full story]

BAGHDAD -- Reports out of Iraq suggest a Sunni-led grass-roots volunteer security force partially credited with calming violence is the new target of militant attacks.Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani said at least 100 members of the Awakening Council, which oversees the volunteer security force called Concerned Local Citizens, were killed in the past month, The New York Times reported Thursday.U.S. officials credit the citizens group, the U.S. troop surge and a cease-fire by Moqtada Sadr's ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- California voters are leaning toward Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., as the 2008 presidential choices, a poll said Thursday.A Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg telephone poll of 1,312 registered voters taken between Friday and Tuesday found 42 percent of Democrats favored Clinton. Her nearest rival, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., had 33 percent support, up from 21 percent in a similar survey in early December, the Times said.Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., ... [full story]

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli high court said it would hear arguments presented by Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups protesting the Israeli siege of Gaza.The court is scheduled to hear a petition Sunday filed by the Legal Center for Arab Minority opposing the Israeli decision to cut off fuel and other shipments to Gaza in response to increased rocket attacks against nearby Israeli settlements, Ynetnews said Thursday.Palestinians in Gaza continued to throng the border with ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration ignored previous Democratic Senate rebuffs and renominated Steven Bradbury as assistant attorney general, the New York Times reported.Bradbury has been running the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel without Senate confirmation for more than two years, during which the Senate allowed several nominations to expire, the Times said.It emerged in October that Bradbury had authored several memos approving such terror suspect interrogation techniques as head slapping, exposure to cold and ... [full story]

TEHRAN -- The sixth shipment of uranium from Russia was received at Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant Thursday, the state news agency reported.The shipments began arriving on Dec. 17, and Thursday's delivery brings the total to 66 tons of atomic fuel, the IRNA news agency said. That represents about 80 percent of the total needed to commission the 1,000-megawatt plant.Two more shipments will complete the agreement, the report said.However, there is some disagreement between the ... [full story]

TOKYO -- Japan Thursday resumed its refueling mission to support U.S.-led anti-terrorism activities in the Indian Ocean after a three-month halt, reports said.The 4,550-ton Murasame, the Maritime Self-Defense Force's destroyer, sailed off from Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, for the Indian Ocean to join another MSDF support ship to resume refueling activities beginning next month, Kyodo news reported. The mission is designed to support the U.S. fight against ht terrorism in and near Afghanistan.Japanese Defense Minister ... [full story]

OTTAWA -- Government lawyers said Canada ended the transfer of battlefield detainees to Afghan prisons in November following allegations of prisoner abuse.The human rights groups Amnesty International and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association asked a Canadian court to end the transfer of detainees, citing concerns over potential prisoner abuse.Government lawyers issued a letter to the two groups dated Jan. 22 stating Canada would halt the practice temporarily, the Toronto Star said Thursday."Canada will resume ... [full story]

MINNEAPOLIS -- A day-old boy was in critical condition in Minneapolis Thursday after his hospital bassinet caught fire, hospital officials said.The infant identified only as Maverick sustained second- and third-degree burns over 17 percent of his upper body Tuesday as he was just 12 hours old, the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer-Press reported.The baby was born Wednesday slightly premature at the Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids, north of Minneapolis, and therefore was under an oxygen hood, ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- Insiders say U.S. President George Bush's farewell State of the Union address focuses on the economy, foreign surveillance, Iraq and trade agreements.The Hill reports Monday's State of the Union address emphasizes those four main themes as part of a broader bi-partisan message.Washington insiders say Bush will unveil an economic stimulus package some see as risky because of the economy's volatility.Vice President Dick Cheney Wednesday said the administration would push making the Foreign Intelligence ... [full story]