Around the World

Hawaiians check for quake damage HONOLULU -- Officials began inspecting bridges and roads across Hawaii early Monday following the strongest earthquake to rattle the islands in more than two decades, a 6.7-magnitude quake that caused blackouts and landslides but no reported fatalities. At least one stretch of road leading to a bridge near the earthquake's epicenter on the Big Island collapsed, Civil Defense Agency spokesman Dave Curtis said Monday.\nIsrael wants talks with Lebanon, \nnot Syria QB 'penciled in' JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday invited the Lebanese prime minister to begin peace talks following Israel's recent war against Hezbollah guerrillas, but Olmert ruled out peace talks with Syria at the present time, saying President Bashar Assad isn't a suitable negotiating partner. Olmert said Assad must halt his support for Palestinian militant groups before the two nations can hold peace talks, and he dismissed the Syrian leader's calls for negotiations as a "negotiating tactic." Syria hosts the top leaders of Hamas, the ruling Palestinian political party, which is committed to Israel's destruction.\nTamil rebels killing 93 sailors COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Tamil rebels rammed a truck packed with explosives into a convoy of military buses Monday, killing at least 93 sailors in one of the deadliest insurgent attacks since the 2002 cease-fire. The attack comes as a Japanese envoy met with the president Monday amid intensified diplomatic efforts to strengthen the peace process between the government and rebels ahead of scheduled talks between the two sides later this month in Switzerland.\nFBI raids home of Congressman's daughter MEDIA, Pa. -- The FBI raided the homes of Rep. Curt Weldon's daughter and a close friend Monday as it investigates whether the congressman improperly helped the pair win lobbying and consulting contracts. Earlier Monday, Weldon called the investigation politically motivated and called the timing suspect. A Republican locked in a tight re-election bid, he denied wrongdoing and said he gave his daughter no special help.\nGuatemala, Venezuela fail to win U.N. seat UNITED NATIONS -- Guatemala topped Venezuela in the first four rounds of voting Monday for a U.N. Security Council seat, but it failed to get the necessary two-thirds majority to win a two-year term on the powerful United Nations body. That result opened the door for others to join the race, in what could be a blow to both countries' chances for a seat. The results were an embarrassment to Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, who had waged a highly public campaign on the claim that his nation would use its seat on the council to speak out against the United States.