Around the Nation

’Dirty bomb’ suspect’s release appealed

The Bush administration asked a federal court yesterday not to force the release of a U.S.-born suspected terrorist and said it will immediately appeal the case to the Supreme Court.

The administration wants the high court to take on the case of Jose Padilla, a former gang member and convert to Islam who was arrested in Chicago in May 2002 in connection with a purported plot to detonate a radioactive “dirty bomb.”

The Justice Department filed a late request with a federal appeals court in New York, asking that Padilla’s release be put on hold. An appeal was expected later yesterday at the Supreme Court, Deputy Solicitor General Paul D. Clement told the appeals court judges.

“The president, in the exercise of his commander-in-chief power during wartime, has determined that Padilla’s detention as an enemy combatant is necessary to prevent him from aiding al Qaeda in its efforts to attack the United States,” Mr. Clement wrote.

The 2nd Circuit’s Dec. 18 decision gave the government 30 days from the date of its final order to release Padilla. The order is not final, so that clock has not yet begun to run.

Rep. Harris won’t run for Senate

SARASOTA, Fla. — Rep. Katherine Harris, the one-time Florida election official vilified by Democrats for her role in the 2000 presidential recount, announced yesterday she will not run for the Senate.

Mrs. Harris said she has unfinished business in the House and will seek re-election this year, instead of seeking the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Bob Graham. She said that no one tried to prevent her from running for the Senate.

As Florida secretary of state, Mrs. Harris oversaw the disputed count that gave Mr. Bush a crucial 537-vote victory over Al Gore in Florida.

Polls showed Mrs. Harris as the early front-runner for the Republican nomination.

Ex-Beatle’s estate settles guitar suit

NEW YORK — The estate of George Harrison has settled its lawsuit against a doctor it accused of coercing the dying ex-Beatle into signing a guitar belonging to the doctor’s son.

The guitar “will be disposed of privately” and Harrison’s estate will give a new guitar to Ariel Lederman, the 14-year-old son of the doctor who treated Mr. Harrison for cancer two weeks before his death, according to a joint statement read aloud yesterday in federal court. No further details were available.

Mars rover snaps close-ups of soil

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s Spirit rover reached out to Mars yesterday, extending its robotic arm to snap a series of tight close-ups with a combination microscope and camera that reveal the rust-colored soil of the planet in unprecedented detail.

The black-and-white images show a tiny area, 1.44 inches square, that includes clumps of fine particles that may be stuck together by the Martian equivalent of Epsom salt. The images show features nearly as small as the diameter of a human hair.

“This is the highest resolution by far we have ever seen Mars at,” said Ken Herkenhoff of the U.S. Geological Survey and the lead scientist for the microscopic imager on Spirit.

NASA cancels Hubble missions

NASA is canceling all space shuttle servicing missions to the Hubble Space Telescope, a decision that, in effect, will cause the powerful observatory to slowly degrade and eventually become useless, officials said yesterday.

NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe made the decision to cancel the fifth space shuttle service mission to the Hubble when it became clear there was not enough time to conduct it before the shuttle is retired.

The decision was influenced by President Bush’s new space initiative, which calls for NASA to start developing the spacecraft and equipment for trips to the moon and later to Mars.

From staff reports and wire dispatches