American arrested searching for Osama bin Laden
CNN Wire Staff
Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) - A 52-year-old American citizen who said he was searching for Osama bin Laden was detained in Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan this week, Pakistani police said Tuesday.
The Californian named Gary Brooks Faulkner was carrying a pistol, a sword, night-vision equipment and Christian religious books, said Mumtaz Ahmed, a police chief in the area.
Faulkner was detained as he was walking from Pakistan toward the border into Nuristan province in Afghanistan, Ahmed said. He told police that he had been looking for bin Laden since 9/11 and had traveled to the area several times before, Ahmed said.
Afghan minerals could turn war's tide
Patrick Doherty
Special to CNN
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/OPINION/06/15/doherty.afghan.minerals/t1larg.afghanistan.flyover.landscape.gi.jpg caption="An aerial view of part of Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan." width=300 height=169]
The news that Afghanistan's mineral wealth could exceed $1 trillion is an important opportunity for both Kabul and Washington to change the narrative from counterinsurgency to locally controlled sustainable development.
By doing so, the government of Hamid Karzai and the Obama administration can leverage a range of converging interests in South and Central Asia to put Afghanistan and the region finally on the only viable path to security - rising economic prosperity in the larger region.
Natural resources are both a blessing and a curse. For some countries strong government and civil society can manage them so the larger society benefits and profits are invested in the human resources of the country. The BP oil spill notwithstanding, this has been the case for the United States, Canada, Norway and the United Kingdom.
Markey: Hearing to determine whether 'BP is the rule or the exception'
Dana Bash
CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://www.cnn.com/video/politics/2010/06/14/bts.bash.markey.cnn.640×360.jpg caption="Committee Chairman Ed Markey says it's highly unlikely most companies have prepared for massive spills" width=300 height=169]
Washington (CNN) - One of BP's most outspoken critics on Capitol Hill says he does not think BP is alone in lacking contingency plans to deal with a massive oil spill.
Rep. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, will try to prove that theory Tuesday when the CEOs of five major oil companies come before his House Energy and Environment subcommittee.
In an interview with CNN previewing his hearing, Markey said he thinks it's "highly unlikely that any of these oil companies had a capacity to respond to a worst-case scenario."
"Yes, they say in their representations to the Department of Interior that they have that capacity, but I don't think there is any evidence that is in fact true," said Markey, standing in front of his chairman's desk in his committee hearing room.
Arizona bill would deny citizenship to children of illegal immigrants
CNN Wires Staff
A proposed Arizona law would deny birth certificates to children born in the United States to illegal immigrant parents.
The bill comes on the heels of Arizona passing the nation's toughest immigration law.
John Kavanagh, a Republican state representative from Arizona who supports the proposed law aimed at so-called "anchor babies," said that the concept does not conflict with the U.S. Constitution.
"If you go back to the original intent of the drafters ... it was never intended to bestow citizenship upon (illegal) aliens," said Kavanagh, who also supported Senate Bill 1070 - the law that gave Arizona authorities expanded immigration enforcement powers.
Video: Honore: 'Find this oil and kill it'
Gary Tuchman | BIO
AC360° Correspondent
Video: Rooftop farming in Brooklyn?
Allan Chernoff
Senior Correspondent
Video: Kevin Costner's solution to oil spill
Anderson Cooper | BIO
AC360° Anchor
Letter to the President #512: 'Is your marlinspike ready?'
Tom Foreman | BIO
AC360° Correspondent
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/POLITICS/06/14/obama.gulf.trip/smlvid.obama.departing.gi.jpg caption="The problems you are facing on the Gulf, at this point, have grown into a very large and nasty knot to be sure. The general public perception appears to be that BP is stonewalling, your administration is stumbling, and too often the right hand does not know what the left is doing." width=300 height=169]
Reporter's Note: President Obama is planning a big speech to America tonight about the Gulf oil spill, which will not doubt contain some strongly worded suggestions. Meanwhile, I continue writing a letter each day to the most famous resident of Pennsylvania Avenue offering my suggestions for running the country, which are not strongly worded, and in all fairness, are barely even thought out some days. Oh well, you get what you pay for, eh?
Dear Mr. President,
The graduation was a great success, thanks so much for asking, which I am sure you would have done had we spoken. The elder daughter’s speech was well-received, the diploma duly awarded, and the next step in her young life is now underway… huzzah! It was inspiring, as graduations so often can be; a nice reminder of the optimism which all of us can stand to keep in mind as we saunter through life, too often growing jaded and cynical along the way. Speaking of which: How is it looking with your big oil spill speech for tonight?
I’m sure you are going over all the phrases, parsing the words, and that the address will be pretty compelling. But I think you might benefit from having a prop nearby this time; not so much for us in the audience, but for your own inspiration. Have you every heard of a marlinspike?
Obama continues Gulf visit, prepares to address nation
CNN Wire Staff
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/US/06/15/oil.spill.disaster/t1larg.obama.gulf.jpg caption="President will address nation from Oval Office about oil disaster Tuesday night" width=300 height=169]
President Obama will continue his Gulf Coast visit Tuesday with a stop in Florida's Panhandle, where some beaches have started to see signs of oil as crude continues to gush from a ruptured deep-water well.
Obama, on his fourth trip to the region since oil began spewing from the well in April, is scheduled to return to Washington later Tuesday and address the nation about the situation from the Oval Office.
Obama on Monday told residents in Theodore, Alabama, that "it's going to take time for things to return to normal."
"This region that's known a lot of hardship will bounce back just like it's bounced back before. We're going to do everything we can, 24/7, to make sure communities get back on their feet.
Minerals in Afghanistan worth $1 trillion, U.S. says
CNN Wire Staff
(CNN) - U.S. military officials and geologists have determined that the mineral deposits in Afghanistan are worth nearly $1 trillion, the Pentagon said Monday.
Vast supplies of minerals such as iron, copper and gold, all with worldwide technological applications, are scattered over the country, according to the Defense Department.
But officials caution that they won't be easy to extricate and that it will take years to turn this newfound mineral wealth into actual revenue.
"It's not a quick win," the U.S. Geological Survey's Jack Medlin said at a Pentagon briefing Monday.
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