News in 2 Minutes

US commanders talking about cease-fires
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. military commanders are talking with Iraqi militants about cease-fires and other arrangements to try to stop the violence, the No. 2 American commander said Thursday.

Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno said commanders at all levels are being empowered to reach out for talks with militants, tribes, religious leaders and others in the country that has been gripped by violence on a range of fronts including insurgents, sectarian rivals and common criminals.

He said he thinks 80 percent of Iraqis—including Sunni insurgents and Shia militants—can reach reconciliation with each other, though most al-Qaida operatives won’t.

“We are talking about cease-fires, and maybe signing some things that say they won’t conduct operations against the government of Iraq or against coalition forces.,” Odierno told Pentagon reporters in a video conference from Baghdad.

U.S. battles al-Qaida gunmen
BAGHDAD —U.S. troops battled al-Qaida in west Baghdad on Thursday after Sunni residents challenged the militants and called for American help to end furious gunfire that kept students from final exams and forced people in the neighborhood to huddle indoors.

Backed by helicopter gunships, American forces joined the two-day battle in the Amariyah district, according to a councilman and other residents of the Sunni district.

Lt. Col. Dale C. Kuehl, commander of 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, who is responsible for the Amariyah area of the capital, confirmed the U.S. military's role in the fighting.

Advocates irate as Kyl blocks bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Advocates of a bill promoting openness in government are fuming that Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl is blocking a vote.

Dozens of journalism and advocacy groups supporting the Open Government Act argue it would speed up the government’s response to public requests for information under the federal Freedom of Information law.

Republican Kyl says the Justice Department is concerned that it could force them to reveal sensitive information.

In a statement Thursday, Kyl said the agency’s “uncharacteristically strong” opposition is reason enough to think twice about the legislation, and he will block a vote until both sides can work out the differences.

UN climate executive welcomes Bush initiative
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands—The U.N. official steering international negotiations on global warming said Thursday that U.S. President Bush’s proposal to summon major greenhouse gas emitters for discussions will accelerate an arrangement for controlling climate change.

“It’s really good that the U.S. is showing leadership in energizing the debate” on a new agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012, said Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.

By proposing a meeting of major emitting countries this autumn with the goal of reaching an agreement within 18 months, Bush is setting a timetable even faster than the most optimistic plans of U.N. negotiators.

“This is actually more ambitious than my wildest dreams,” De Boer told The Associated Press.

Space shuttle launch set for next week
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.— NASA managers announced Thursday that they would press ahead with the first space shuttle launch of the year next week, three months later than originally planned because of a hail storm that pockmarked the spacecraft’s external tank.

After a two-day meeting at the Kennedy Space Center, NASA officials agreed to launch Atlantis at 7:38 p.m. EDT June 8 on a mission to deliver a new pair of solar arrays to the international space station.