AP News in Brief

Back on track: BP will begin testing new cap that could close off oil from Gulf

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The federal government gave BP permission Wednesday to go ahead with testing its new, tighter cap over the Gulf of Mexico gusher after a daylong delay to satisfy worries about whether the work might make the leak worse. National Incident Commander Thad Allen said at a news briefing that testing would begin later Wednesday after the plan was carefully reviewed.

"There is a tremendous sense of urgency," he said, but added that nobody wants to make "an irreversible mistake."

BP had zipped through weekend preparations and gotten the 75-ton cap in place Monday atop the well. The device is meant is to stop the oil and pump excess to ships, raising hopes the gusher could be checked. BP was getting ready to test pressure on the well by closing valves in the cap when the government intervened late Tuesday.

Allen said the delay was necessary to settle lingering questions about whether the cap, once the valves are closed, could force oil under pressure to create new leaks.

"We sat long and hard about delaying the tests," Allen said. But he said that in the interest of the public, the environment and safety, the pause was necessary, and now they were convinced the test can go forward.

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Facing criticism, White House circulates memo detailing its political help for Democrats

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing criticism from House Democrats, the White House circulated a memo Wednesday that details all the political help that President Barack Obama and administration officials have given to the party's candidates.

The White House portrayed the memo as a regular update of its political operation, but it came amid angry words between congressional Democratic leaders and administration officials. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lashed out over White House spokesman Robert Gibbs' recent comments that Republicans could win a majority, according to an aide who was present at Tuesday's closed-door meeting.

The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private.

On Wednesday, Gibbs defended his remark about the House, but hastened to add that he doesn't think that will happen.

"I don't think I said anything that was politically shocking," Gibbs said during his daily briefing with reporters.

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Cheney says he underwent heart surgery last week, recuperating after the procedure

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Vice President Dick Cheney announced Wednesday that he has undergone surgery to install a small pump to help his heart work, as the 69-year-old enters a new phase of what he called "increasing congestive heart failure."

"The operation went very well and I am now recuperating," Cheney said in a statement released by his office. The surgery took place last week at Inova Fairfax Heart and Vascular Institute in northern Virginia, where Cheney said he is currently receiving care.

A longtime face of the Republican Party, Cheney has dealt with heart problems much of his adult life, suffering five heart attacks since age 37. He said the latest step, the implanting of a pump called a left ventricular assist device, will allow him to resume an active life.

The kind of heart pump that Cheney received can be implanted next to the heart to help its main pumping chamber, the left ventricle, pump blood through the body. Such devices are used mainly for short periods, to buy potential transplant candidates time as they await a donor organ.

But they are being studied for use as a permanent therapy for people with severe heart failure who aren't transplant candidates.

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Afghan attacks kill 8 American troops in 24 hours as Taliban push back against op in south

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — American forces suffered a deadly 24 hours in Afghanistan, with eight troops killed in attacks including an audacious Taliban raid on a police compound in the key southern city of Kandahar, officials said Wednesday.

The U.S. and its coalition allies have warned that violence and troop casualties are likely to mount this summer as thousands of new forces fan out across southern insurgent strongholds in a bid to turn around the nearly 9-year-long war.

However, a top U.S. commander in the south said Wednesday that the new operation should start reducing violence in coming months.

So far in July, 45 coalition troops have died in Afghanistan, 33 of them Americans, continuing the upward trend of the previous month, which was war's deadliest for the NATO-led force, with 103 international soldiers killed.

A suicide attacker slammed a car bomb into the gate of the headquarters of the elite Afghan National Civil Order Police late Tuesday night in Kandahar, the international force said. Minutes later, insurgents opened fire with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

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Iranian nuclear scientist, purported defector, heads home, contending he was kidnapped

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An Iranian nuclear scientist who disappeared a year ago headed back to Tehran on Wednesday, telling Iranian state media that he was abducted by CIA agents who tried to bribe him into speaking out against his homeland. The U.S. says he was a willing defector who changed his mind.

Shahram Amiri's reappearance broke into the open an often-bizarre intelligence drama. U.S. officials have dismissed accounts of a kidnapping and suggested Amiri returned home because he missed or feared for his family. But much in the case remains mysterious, including the exact circumstances of how the defection fell apart and what information, if any, he provided about Iran's controversial nuclear program.

Also unknown is whether the 32-year-old scientist could face any punishment in his homeland after the State Department said he came willingly to the United States and was in contact with the government.

On Wednesday, Iranian state media were heavily promoting the account that he was the victim of a CIA kidnapping, and politicians were declaring a victory over the "terrorist state" America — suggesting that at least for now, the government would rather squeeze the return for propaganda value than overtly retaliate.

Amiri vanished in Saudi Arabia while on a pilgrimage to Islamic holy sites in June 2009, fueling speculation that he had defected and was spilling nuclear secrets. The United States and its allies accuse Tehran of seeking to build a nuclear weapon, a claim Iran denies, saying its program is for peaceful purposes.

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Arab TV airs video of suspected Times Square car bomber reportedly taped in Pakistan

CAIRO (AP) — The man who pleaded guilty to carrying out the attempted Times Square car bombing appeared in a video recorded before the failed attack that shows him meeting with senior Pakistani Taliban leaders and vowing to strike the U.S.

In the video, aired in segments Wednesday by the Dubai-based television station Al-Arabiya, Faisal Shahzad said the attack on the New York City landmark would avenge the deaths of Muslims killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"All the Muslim Arabs that have been martyred — I will take revenge on their behalf," he said. "I really wish that the hearts of the Muslims will be pleased with this attack, God willing."

One of the figures he praises as a martyr is Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the former leader of al-Qaida in Iraq who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Iraq in 2006.

Shahzad, 30, is seen in the video sitting on the ground in a black turban and olive-colored vest, with an AK-47 next to him. He calls jihad, or holy war, a pillar of the Muslim faith, and says "Islam will spread on the whole world and democracy will be defeated."

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3 New Orleans police officers plead not guilty in shootings of 2 on bridge after Katrina

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Three police officers charged in the killing of two unarmed residents on a New Orleans bridge after Hurricane Katrina and a cover-up that followed pleaded not guilty on Wednesday.

Sgts. Robert Gisevius and Kenneth Bowen and Officer Anthony Villavaso stood before a federal magistrate in green prison garb, shackled at the waist and ankles. They will remain jailed at least until a hearing Friday. A tentative trial date is set for Sept. 13.

Magistrate Louis Moore Jr. read the counts — 13 against Bowen, 11 against Gisevius and 10 against Villavaso. Former officer Robert Faulcon made his initial court appearance Tuesday in Texas, where he was arrested, but has not entered a plea.

The charges against the four carry a maximum sentence of life in prison or the death penalty, although U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said the Justice Department hasn't decided whether to seek the latter punishment.

The family of two victims — Ronald Madison, who was killed, and his brother, Lance, who survived — sat in the front row of the packed courtroom. Gisevius cried quietly as he stood with his lawyer.

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Experimental diet pill promising, with fewer health risks; one of 3 awaiting FDA approval

ATLANTA (AP) — An experimental diet pill helped about half the people who tried it lose some weight and keep it off a year later, without the heart problems that some earlier drugs caused, a study found.

Arena Pharmaceuticals' lorcaserin is one of three drugs that are boosting hope for a new generation of more effective weight-loss medicines. One gets a Food and Drug Administration review on Thursday and the others, later this year.

In the study, lorcaserin (lore-KASS-ah-rin) caused more people to lose at least 5 percent of their body weight over one year, more than twice the rate achieved by those on dummy pills.

Most people don't stick to diets. And diet pills have had bad side effects or can't be taken long-term. A low point came in 1997 when the popular "fen-phen" was pulled from the market after it was tied to heart valve problems.

But now comes lorcaserin, a round blue tablet that would be the first truly novel weight-loss pill in a dozen years if it wins approval. The drug targets the same appetite pathway fen-phen did but in a more selective, and perhaps safer, manner.

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New details revealed in Da Vinci's 'Virgin of the Rocks' after 18-month restoration

LONDON (AP) — A restoration project for Leonardo da Vinci's "Virgin of the Rocks" has revealed new details and suggest the Renaissance artist may have painted all the picture himself, instead of with his assistants as previously thought, a British gallery said Wednesday.

The 18-month conservation project involved removing much of some badly degraded varnish that was applied to the painting in the late 1940s, enabling experts to take a much closer look at the picture's brush strokes and styles, the National Gallery said.

The cleaning revealed the painting's full tonal range, especially in the darker areas, and resulted in a clearer sense of how the artist intended for space to recede through the rocky landscape, the gallery said.

It also affirmed that Leonardo likely painted the entire picture himself and intended for it to be unfinished.

The restored painting showed a range of completion from the barely sketched hand of the angel to the fully realized heads of the main figures — consistent with many of Leonardo's works. The Italian artist, said to be the "eternal perfectionist," is thought to have left his pictures unfinished because he wished to return to them later, gallery spokesman Thomas Almeroth-Williams said.

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Braves send Yunel Escobar to Toronto for Alex Gonzalez as part of 5-player deal

ATLANTA (AP) — The NL East-leading Atlanta Braves, looking to bolster their lineup for the second half of the season, acquired Alex Gonzalez in a swap of shortstops that sent Yunel Escobar to Toronto on Wednesday.

The Braves also traded left-hander Jo-Jo Reyes to the Blue Jays in the five-player deal while also adding left-handed minor league pitcher Tim Collins and minor league shortstop Tyler Pastornicky.

The 33-year-old Gonzalez is hitting .259 with 17 home runs and 50 RBIs. He is tied for fifth in the American League with 43 extra-base hits.

"He's an outstanding defensive shortstop and he's having a very good offensive season," Braves general manager Frank Wren said. "We think he can improve our run production. He immediately leads our team in home runs."

Troy Glaus had 14 homers to lead the Braves at the All-Star break.