US & World News, Thursday 5/10

US & World Summary: Bush Gets Pentagon Briefing Today (Washington, DC) -- The war in Iraq will be the focus of both the House and President Bush today. The President travels to the Pentagon to be briefed on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, while the House takes up a short-term war spending bill. Bush has promised to veto any measure that contains timetables to withdraw troops. Meanwhile, Vice-President Dick Cheney today addressed U.S. troops in Iraq, thanking them for their service and deployment extension. Cheney made the unannounced visit yesterday to meet with Iraqi leaders and U.S. military commanders. --- British Prime Minister Tony Blair Will Resign In June (Trimdon) -- Tony Blair has announced his resignation as Britains Prime Minister. Blair made the official announcement this morning, saying hell submit his resignation to the Queen on June 27th. Blair said he came into office in 1997 with high expectations, and that his government has provided more jobs, economic growth and better health care. Blair became the Labor Partys most successful leader, winning three straight elections, but his popularity took a hit over his support of President Bush and the war in Iraq. --- Parts Of Midwest Reeling From Floods Lack of water is the problem in Georgia and Florida where crews are battling wildfires, while parts of the Midwest have too much water. Portions of Missouri, Oklahoma, Iowa and Kansas are still flooded from last weeks torrential rains. In St. Charles, Missouri the Missouri river rose above flood stage yesterday morning and is expected to crest next week about eight-feet over flood stage. Flood warnings continue for parts of Oklahoma, while some flood victims in Western Iowa can now apply for grant money to help them recover. --- Southern California, Georgia Fires Continue To Burn Californias Griffith Park fire has now burned more than 800-acres and is the parks worst fire in three decades. Fire officials say they expect to have the blaze fully contained by tonight. The news isnt as good in Georgia. Authorities there arent holding out much hope that sub-tropical storm Andrea will bring enough rain to dampen a three-week-old wildfire burning in the southeast part of the state. The Georgia wildfire has moved into Florida and has burned more than 106-thousand acres. --- VA Tech Panel Holds First Meeting On Massacre (Richmond, VA) -- The panel charged with analyzing the Virginia Tech shootings meets for the first time today. The eight-member team, appointed by Governor Tim Kaine, has been charged with examining every detail of the shootings, from the shooters mental health to how first responders are now handling post traumatic stress. The April 16th campus massacre left 33 people dead, including the shooter, who committed suicide. It was the single deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. --- FDA Approves Parkinsons Patch To Treat Disease (Washington, DC) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has green-lighted a new patch that treats symptoms of Parkinsons disease. The patch delivers a drug called rotigotine and has to be replaced every 24-hours. The FDA says the treatment is the first transdermal patch approved for the treatment of Parkinsons symptoms. Parkinsons is caused when dopamine-producing cells begin destroying a persons brain. There is no cure for the disease. More than one-million Americans suffer from Parkinsons and 60-thousand new cases are diagnosed each year. --- Utah Jazz Win In NBA Playoffs, Pistons at Bulls Tonight The Utah Jazz were winners last night in the NBAs only playoff game. Carlos Boozer scored 30 points and pulled down 13 rebounds as the Jazz out lasted the Golden State Warriors 127-117 in Game Two of their Western Conference semifinal in Salt Lake City. Tonight, the top-seeded Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls resume their Eastern Conference semifinal series in Chicago. After dominating the first two games of the series, the Pistons lead the series two-games-to-none. (Copyright 2007 by Newsroom Solutions/Regional News Service) RNS-05-10-07 0843CDT