PHILADELPHIA -- U.S. President George Bush, addressing a group that lobbies for small government, promised Thursday to veto Democratic budget hikes. "What I'm telling you is, is that there's a philosophical debate in Washington, and the bunch now running Congress want to return to the tax-and-spend policies of the past that did not work then and will not work in the future," Bush said in his speech to the annual meeting of the American Legislative ... [full story]

HARTFORD, Conn. -- A Connecticut state lawmaker said the criminal histories of two homicide suspects show the need for reforms in the court system. State Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, said paroled burglars Joshua Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes could have spent "a hundred years" in prison if they had been prosecuted under existing persistent offender laws, the New Haven (Conn.) Register reported Thursday. Komisarjevsky, who served five years and one month of a nine-year sentence ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- A study commissioned by the Pentagon contends 73 percent of the detainees held in Guantanamo Bay were a "demonstrated threat" to coalition forces. Conducted by the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and based on information from detainees' hearings in 2004 and 2005, the research claims many of those held at the U.S. naval base in Cuba were members of al-Qaida, graduates of terrorism training camps and men ... [full story]

LOS ANGELES -- California's largest HMO received a record $3 million fine from state regulators for its handling of patient complaints. It is the second time in a year that Kaiser Permanente has been fined for breakdowns in oversight, the Los Angeles Times said Thursday. The California Department of Managed Health Care said it would forgive $1 million of the fine if Kaiser fixes its oversight problems. Kaiser, which is both a health plan and ... [full story]

DENVER -- The Georgia lawyer, who sparked an international scare when he flew to Europe after being diagnosed with TB, was released from a Denver hospital Thursday. Andrew Speaker, accompanied by his wife and daughter, flew to Georgia by air ambulance with his wife and daughter, William Allstetter, a spokesman with National Jewish Medical and Research Center, said. Speaker spent eight weeks in the hospital after being diagnosed with a multi-drug-resistant form of tuberculosis. "He ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- At least two U.S. astronauts have reportedly been allowed to blast off when they were so blasted that colleagues feared the risk of flying with them. In another embarrassing revelation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced Thursday that a computer to be delivered to the International Space Station had been sabotaged. A committee set up to investigate astronaut screening said astronauts routinely drink in the hours before launch, disregarding NASA's ban on ... [full story]

VARNA, Bulgaria -- A self-declared human trafficker, boasting he "exported" children and prostitutes, offered babies for sale in Bulgaria and abroad, the BBC reported Thursday. Bulgarian authorities were investigating information obtained by the BBC's undercover team operation organized in the Bulgarian Black Sea resort town of Varna. The report said the BBC team secretly filmed some of children the smugglers were allegedly offering. The Bulgarian, who told the BBC he preferred to be called Harry, ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid said he doesn't expect a bill to give the District of Columbia a vote in the U.S. Congress to come up before the August break. The measure would also add a congressional seat in Utah. That would probably add a Republican to balance the representative of the heavily Democratic District of Columbia. Supporters of representation for the district had a small demonstration Wednesday outside the Senate office building. ... [full story]

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli public sector strike officially ended Thursday after a union head negotiated all night with the country's finance minister. Histadrut Labor Federation Chairman Ofer Eini and Finance Minister Roni Bar-On agreed after all-night talks to give all workers in the public sector 5 percent raises, the Jerusalem Post reported Thursday. The union had demanded 10 percent raises for all workers. The pay raise will amount to 1 1/2 percent in January 2008, ... [full story]

HELLA, Iraq -- An Iraqi police source said an explosion in the city of Hella killed five officers while 36 alleged al-Qaida members were arrested around the country. The source said two additional policemen were taken to a neighboring hospital for treatment, KUNA, the Kuwait News Agency, reported Thursday. "The incident took place Thursday as a patrol from the Aqrab unit was driving in Hella," the source said. Meanwhile, the source said U.S. forces arrested ... [full story]