Aug 12 18:10

GM CEO Whitacre says he’s stepping down Sept. 1, to be replaced by ex-telecom exec Akerson

DETROIT (AP) _ General Motors Co. chief Ed Whitacre said Thursday he’s stepping down as CEO on Sept. 1, his mission accomplished as the company reported its second straight quarterly profit.

Whitacre, 68, will be replaced by GM board member Daniel Akerson. Like Whitacre, Akerson has a background of leading telecommunications companies.

Akerson, 61, will be GM’s fourth CEO in 18 months when he takes over the job. He could be the executive who takes GM public again if an expected public offering takes place later this year.

In a conference call with analysts and media, Whitacre didn’t directly address a question about whether executives with automotive experience were considered for the job. He said Akerson has learned the auto business in his year on the board.

“Dan has been involved every step of the way,” Whitacre said. “He knows this business from a board perspective and also from personal conversations. So I think he’s absolutely the right choice.”

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Judge keeps gay marriages on hold in Calif. on hold until at least Aug. 18

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ A federal judge on Thursday put gay marriages on hold for at least another six days in California, raising hopes among same-sex couples that they soon will be able to tie the knot after years of agonizing delays.

Judge Vaughn Walker gave opponents of same-sex weddings until Aug. 18 at 5 p.m. to get a ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on whether gay marriage should resume. Gay marriages could happen at that point or be put off indefinitely depending on how the court rules.

Walker struck down the state’s voter-approved gay marriage ban last week in a case many believe is destined for the Supreme Court.

Dozens of gay marriage supporters who had gathered outside San Francisco’s City Hall, a block from the federal courthouse, erupted in cheers when the decision came out. The crowd included a handful of same-sex couples who had arrived early Thursday morning to fill out marriage license applications in hopes that the judge would allow nuptials to commence immediately.

Teresa Rowe, 31, and her partner, Kristin Orbin, 31, said they were still happy with the decision even though the ceremony didn’t happen.

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Atlanta authorities arrest possible serial stabbing suspect as he tries to fly to Israel

ATLANTA (AP) _ A suspect in a string of 18 stabbings that terrorized people across three states and left five dead was arrested in front of startled passengers at an airport gate as he tried to board a plane for Israel, officials said Thursday.

A judge in Flint, Mich., where the attacks began in late May, signed a warrant Thursday charging Elias Abuelazam, 33, with assault with intent to murder in connection with a July 27 stabbing.

Antwione Marshall, 26, of Flint, the victim of that attack, told The Associated Press that the FBI visited him at 3 a.m. to show him a picture of the man arrested in Atlanta, and he identified him as the assailant.

Marshall said he was going into his apartment building when the assailant approached and asked for help fixing his car. He was stabbed twice when he opened the hood. Three of his organs were cut, and he has a long scar from his chest to his pelvic area.

Marshall said he wants to retaliate but “I’ll let God handle it. Every time I look at my scar, I get angry.”

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WikiLeaks says it will release 15,000 remaining intelligence files, US condemns move

LONDON (AP) _ WikiLeaks spokesman Julian Assange said Thursday his organization is preparing to release the rest of the secret Afghan war documents it has on file. The Pentagon warned that would be more damaging to security and risk more lives than the organization’s initial release of some 76,000 war documents.

That extraordinary disclosure, which laid bare classified military documents covering the war in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2010, has angered U.S. officials, energized critics of the NATO-led campaign, and drawn the attention of the Taliban, which has promised to use the material to track down people it considers traitors.

The Pentagon says it believes it has identified the additional 15,000 classified documents, and said Thursday that their exposure would be even more damaging to the military than what has already been published.

Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell described the prospective publication as the “height of irresponsibility.”

“It would compound a mistake that has already put far too many lives at risk,” he said.

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Pressure tests under way to determine if BP’s broken well in Gulf of Mexico is already plugged

NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ In the strongest indication yet that BP’s broken oil well in the Gulf of Mexico may be plugged for good, officials on Thursday said they’re conducting tests to determine if further work to seal the well is needed.

A final decision was expected Friday on whether crews need to go ahead with drilling relief wells to allow for a so-called “bottom kill,” in which mud and cement are pumped from deep underground to permanently seal the well.

Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the Obama administration’s point man on the oil spill, said at a news conference that an earlier effort to temporarily plug the well may have had the unintended effect of creating a permanent seal.

However, he cautioned it’s more likely that drilling will continue on two relief wells, which have long been said to be the only way to ensure the blown-out well doesn’t leak again. That work has been delayed because of bad weather and wouldn’t resume for about another four days, if testing shows it’s needed.

Last month, after a cap meant to be temporary was fitted on top of the broken well and halted the oil flow, crews pumped in mud and cement from above in a so-called “static kill.” Some of the cement may have gone down into the reservoir, come back up and plugged the space between the inner piping and the outer casing _ which is what engineers were hoping to do with the bottom kill, Allen said.

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Jurors in Blagojevich trial tell judge they’ve reached agreement on just 2 counts

CHICAGO (AP) _ Jurors in the corruption trial of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Thursday that they have reached agreement on just two of 24 counts against him, and haven’t even begun discussing 11 of the counts. The judge quickly said he would tell them to go back and deliberate more.

The exchange once again left the courtroom in a state of uncertainty, with lawyers and legal experts saying there is no way to know for sure how long the deliberations may go on _ but some saying the apparent deadlocks on some counts were a good sign for Blagojevich and his co-defendant brother, Robert.

The 11 counts the jury has yet to discuss involve wire fraud. Most of them deal with FBI wiretap recordings and the allegation that Blagojevich tried to sell or trade President Barack Obama’s old Senate seat.

The jurors did not say which two of the 24 counts they had agreed on, nor what their decision was.

Former state appellate Judge David Erickson said the jury’s apparent deadlock on 11 counts looks good for the defense. He said if 12 jurors can’t come to an agreement, it shows some have doubts that prosecutors made their case.

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Lawyer: JetBlue flight attendant in infamous meltdown wants to return to flying

NEW YORK (AP) _ A flight attendant suddenly famous for his expletive-filled exit from a plane at New York’s Kennedy Airport wants to return to flying.

Steven Slater’s attorney, Howard Turman, said at news conference Thursday outside his client’s home that flying “is in his blood.”

Turman says the 38-year-old airline veteran is a likable man who enjoys people and did his job properly.

Slater briefly thanked all the people who had sent him support and love since his Monday meltdown aboard a JetBlue flight.

Travelers say Slater cursed at passengers over the public address system after several odd run-ins with them during the 90-minute flight from Pittsburgh.

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Indian government sets Aug 31. deadline for BlackBerry to address security concerns

NEW DELHI (AP) _ India’s Home Ministry threatened Thursday to block BlackBerry corporate e-mail and messaging services unless the device’s manufacturer makes them accessible to its security agencies by Aug. 31.

The ministry said that if no technical solution is provided by then, it will take steps to block the services from the country’s mobile phone network. The phones are made by Canada’s Research In Motion Ltd.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have also threatened to cut off popular BlackBerry services unless they get greater access to user information. Like India, they’ve cited security concerns in pushing for access to encrypted information sent by the cell phones that gets routed through servers overseas.

India has asked for encrypted BlackBerry communications to be made easily available to its intelligence and law enforcement agencies, saying that the services could be used by militant groups.

The 10 heavily armed gunmen who rampaged through Mumbai, India’s financial capital, in November 2008, killing 166 people, used cell and satellite phones to communicate with their Pakistan-based handlers, according to Indian officials.

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Investigators: Doctor kept secret medical file on Anna Nicole Smith in closet

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Seven months after Anna Nicole Smith’s death, a law enforcement team entered the home of the model’s doctor with a search warrant and guns drawn, and found her medical records under a pile of clothing in a closet, investigators testified Thursday.

Carmen Aguillera Marquez, a senior investigator for the California Medical Board, said she and team leader Jon Genens had been told by Dr. Sandeep Kapoor that he did not have any patient files at home. But when she poked her hand into a pile of neatly folded clothing on the floor of his bedroom closet, she said, she felt papers and extracted a file folder with Smith’s name inside, along with one of her pseudonyms and the name of her son.

Genens testified that three different files were found _ two in the home and one in Kapoor’s lawyer’s office _ detailing a single home visit made to Smith a year before she died. One of them mentioned that she had a possible addiction to opiates, he said.

Kapoor, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich and Smith’s boyfriend-lawyer Howard K. Stern have pleaded not guilty to charges that include conspiring to provide Smith with excessive drugs, prescribing to an addict, and prescribing to Smith under fraudulent names.

They are not charged with causing her 2007 death from a drug overdose.

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Chipper Jones likely out for season with knee problem _ maybe for good if he decides to retire

ATLANTA (AP) _ Chipper Jones may have played his last game in the major leagues after tearing up his left knee while fielding a ground ball.

The Atlanta Braves said Thursday that the 38-year-old third baseman tore his anterior cruciate ligament and will need surgery. The estimated recovery time is six months, short enough to be ready for the next opening day _ if Jones decides to return in 2011.

He had already said he would consider retirement after a season that’s now ended sooner than expected.

“I’m sure as the next couple of days go by, those are things we’ll discuss and he’ll discuss with his family,” his agent, BB Abbott, told The Associated Press. “It’s not something he’ll decide immediately. He’s going to need to hear everything about the injury and rehabilitative process. He’ll probably make his decision from there. I can assure you it’s not something that’s going to be a knee-jerk decision.”

Jones was hurt in Tuesday night’s game at Houston. He fielded a routine grounder by Hunter Pence, jumped in the air while making the throw to first, then collapsed to the ground for several minutes.