News in 2 minutes: Palestinians celebrate peace pact

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip— Palestinians broke into celebration late Thursday, gunmen firing in the air, when Fatah and Hamas leaders announced in Mecca that they had reached an agreement for a joint government.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, of the mainstream Fatah movement, and Khaled Mashaal, leader of the militant Hamas group, signed the accord at a ceremony hosted by Saudi King Abdullah in a palace overlooking the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine.

The deal sets out the principles of the coalition government, including a promise that it will "respect" previous peace deals with Israel, delegates said. It also divvies up Cabinet posts in the new government.

In Jerusaleum, the Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said late Thursday that the new Palestinian government must accept all three international conditions—renouncing violence, recognizing Israel and accepting past peace accords.

Gay Lutheran pastor defrocked in Atlanta
ATLANTA— The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America said Thursday it is removing from the clergy a gay minister who announced he has a partner.

The Rev. Bradley Schmeling, who has led St. John's, Atlanta's oldest Lutheran church since 2000, will be removed from the roster effective Aug. 15, according to a report from the ELCA's disciplinary committee.

Schmeling, who was open about his sexuality when he took the job, announced last year he had found a lifelong companion. Bishop Ronald Warren asked the 44-year-old pastor to resign, but Schmeling refused.

Two nabbed with 11,000 carats
TUCSON— Federal agents have arrested two men on charges they smuggled 11,000 carats worth of rough diamonds into the country in violation of a law intended to prevent trade in conflict diamonds that have been used to fund wars in Africa, officials said.

Maliki Mohamad Diane, 60, of Guinea, and Kouyate Saoud, 49, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Sierra Leone who now lives in New Jersey, remained in custody after a detention hearing Thursday in federal court in Tucson, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lauren Mack said.

The men were arrested at a Tucson motel Sunday after they reportedly sold a seven-carat rough diamond to undercover Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents posing as gem buyers for $15,300 the previous day.

Ninth mad cow disease

confirmed in Canada

EDMONTON, Alberta—Canada has confirmed its ninth case of mad cow disease since 2003, in an Alberta bull that died on a farm last week.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said that a mature bull tested positive for mad cow, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

Eating meat products contaminated with BSE has been linked to more than 150 human deaths, mostly in Britain, from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, a rare and fatal nerve disease.

Senate wrapping up unfinished budget work
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Democrats controlling the Senate are pushing through a huge spending bill funding 13 Cabinet agencies as they wrap up the unfinished budget mess inherited from Republicans.

The $463.5 billion measure debated Thursday would pay for about one-sixth of the budget, combining nine spending bills that failed to pass Congress last year under GOP control.

The bill enjoys bipartisan support— it passed the House last week by a 2-1 margin—but Republicans are angry that Democrats are pushing it through without giving them a crack at amending the bill.

A vote to close debate is slated for Tuesday

Astronaut sets space walk record
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. —Astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria broke the U.S. record for most time walking in space Thursday as he and another astronaut did maintenance work outside the international space station during their third spacewalk in nine days.

Lopez-Alegria surpassed the previous U.S. record of 58 hours and 32 minutes midway through his chores with fellow American Sunita Williams. He has a ways to go to claim the all-time record, though—Russian Anatoly Solovyov has logged more than 82 hours.

$60M solar facility OK’d in Colorado
DENVER—Colorado regulators have approved a $60 million solar-energy facility in the southern part of the state, believed to be the largest such project in the country.

The plant, which will be north of Alamosa in the San Luis Valley, will generate up to 8 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 1,650 homes.

Baltimore-based SunEdison LLC will operate the site and Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy will purchase the power.