Around The World

UN summit focuses on children's rights\nUNITED NATIONS -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan opened the first U.N. children's summit Wednesday with a stinging rebuke to "the grown-ups" of the world for failing "deplorably" to uphold the right of every child to grow up free of poverty and war and receive a quality education. Addressing several dozen world leaders and representatives from over 180 countries, Annan said young people in every country have a right to expect the promises they made "to build a world fit for children" are kept.\nSEC approves new rules on analysts\nWASHINGTON -- The Securities and Exchange Commission today approved new rules proposed by Wall Street's self-policing bodies to curb conflicts of interest among financial analysts and restore investors' confidence in the wake of Enron's collapse. The rules, which prohibit firms from tying their analysts' compensation to related investment-banking business, have been criticized by consumer advocates as not going far enough. They come as the SEC has opened a probe into whether analysts at major brokerages rated certain stocks highly just so their firms could obtain lucrative investment-banking business.\nCardinal Law giving abuse case testimony\nBOSTON -- Cardinal Bernard Law is answering questions today in civil lawsuits that accuse him of negligence in supervising a pedophile priest whose case helped trigger the sex abuse crisis facing the church. A transcript of the morning portion of Cardinal Bernard Law's deposition should be made available about two hours after the participants break for lunch. The deposition is expected to last several days. \nRetired Boston-area priest pleads innocent to raping boy\nHAVERHILL, Mass. -- A former Boston-area priest who has admitted he "fooled around" with boys pleaded innocent Wednesday to raping an altar boy he had befriended, in a case the prosecutor compared to "incest-type of abuse." The former Rev. Ronald H. Paquin, 59, was ordered held on $100,000 cash bail, although prosecutors had sought to have him held on $1 million, saying he was a flight risk. He was arrested Tuesday at his home in Malden on one count of rape of a child under 16. A moving van with some of his furniture was parked outside.\nFBI says pipe-bomb suspect confesses\nRENO, Nev. -- The FBI said today 21-year-old college student Luke Helder confessed to planting 18 pipe bombs in rural mailboxes in five states. Six people were injured in the spree. Using a map, Helder pointed to towns where he placed eight bombs in Illinois and Iowa on Friday, FBI agent Mark Heavrin said in an affidavit. The bombs were planted along with notes that carried an anti-government message. Helder admitted he made 16 more bombs in a room at a Nebraska motel and placed 10 of them in Nebraska, Colorado and Texas during the weekend. The other six bombs were found with him when he was arrested yesterday.\nPentagon cancels army weapon system\nWASHINGTON -- The Pentagon today announced the death of the Crusader artillery system, an $11 billion weapon project highly prized by the Army but derided by critics as a Cold War relic. \n"After a good deal of consideration, I've decided to terminate the Crusader program," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told a Pentagon news conference. \nIt marks the first cancellation of a major weapons program by Rumsfeld, although some others, including the Marine Corps' V-22 Osprey hybrid helicopter-airplane, are said to be in jeopardy.