world

Police searching link to sniper shootings

By Abdullah AlShihri and Brian Witte · Tuesday, Nov. 5,2002 1:04 a.m.

BALTIMORE -- Authorities are investigating whether the suspects in the Washington-area sniper attacks may have shot and wounded two people a month earlier in the town where the ex-wife of one suspect lives. In one of the shootings, Paul LaRuffa was shot six times at close range after closing his restaurant on Sept. 5. Prince George's County police Capt. Andy Ellis said Sunday that the department is looking into whether the shooting in the town of Clinton is related to the sniper case.

Violence erupts across Israel

By Abdullah AlShihri and Greg Myre · Tuesday, Nov. 5,2002 1:02 a.m.

JERUSALEM -- In a pair of bombings Monday, a Palestinian suicide attacker killed an Israeli civilian and wounded 11 in central Israel, while two Palestinians died when a car carrying a wanted militant exploded in the West Bank.

Saudi Arabia won't give shelter if U.S. attacks unilaterally

By Aida Sultanova · Sunday, Nov. 3,2002 11:45 p.m.

CAIRO, Egypt -- Saudi Arabia will not allow bases on its soil to be used for an attack on Iraq even if the United Nations authorizes military action, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said in an interview broadcast Sunday. Saudi Arabia earlier ruled out the use of its territory for unilateral U.S. action against Iraq, but had indicated it would cooperate in some way if the U.N. Security Council approved. In the CNN interview, however, Saud said more clearly that Saudi cooperation would not include permitting use of its territory for strikes against Iraq.

Netanyahu will join if Sharon has elections

By Aida Sultanova and Greg Myre · Sunday, Nov. 3,2002 11:43 p.m.

JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sought to keep his imperiled government afloat Sunday by bringing former premier Benjamin Netanyahu into the Cabinet, while Netanyahu set a tough condition for joining -- early elections. Israel's two leading right-wing politicians, Sharon and Netanyahu, are trying to work out an alliance while also battling each other to lead the Likud Party into the country's next general election.

U.S. to North Korea: Scrap nuke quest

By Aida Sultanova and Scott Lindlaw · Sunday, Nov. 3,2002 11:42 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- The Bush administration showed little interest Sunday in renewing official dialogue with North Korea unless the communist government first scraps its nuclear weapons program. A senior North Korean diplomat was quoted as saying his country was willing to negotiate with the Bush administration over the newly disclosed weapons program, which violates a 1994 accord with the United States. "North Korea knows what it needs to do. It needs to dismantle its nuclear program and honor its treaty obligations," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said aboard Air Force One as President Bush headed to Illinois on a political trip.

U.N. resolution 'evil,' Iraq says

By Aida Sultanova and Dusan Stojanovic · Sunday, Nov. 3,2002 11:41 p.m.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq's foreign minister said Sunday that Baghdad may not accept a draft U.S. resolution on United Nations weapons inspections even with Security Council approval. "How can you expect Iraq to accept such an evil American resolution,'' Foreign Minister Naji Sabri told reporters. "This resolution is rejected by the international community, and it will never be accepted by anybody.'' Speaking at the Baghdad trade fair with visiting Austrian politician Joerg Haider, Sabri said the "whole international community rejects warmongering, the desire for killing ... by this evil administration in Washington.''

Red Cross to help 3 Afghan men

By Alyson Brodsy and Todd Pitman · Friday, Nov. 1,2002 3:59 p.m.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The International Red Cross is helping three Afghans freed from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay rejoin their families in far-flung regions of Afghanistan, an ICRC spokeswoman said on Thursday. The men were freed from the U.S. base last weekend and returned to the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Pedaling across state to protest tuition hikes

By Jackie Corgan · Friday, Nov. 1,2002 1:08 a.m.

When Dave Hennessy was a college freshman in the 1950s, he received free tuition and only had to work 21 hours a week at $1 an hour to pay his way through New York's Cortland State Teachers College. Today at the same school with a tuition rate comparable to that of IU, he said a student would have to work 59 hours a week at $5.50 an hour to get by.

Russia, France, China want to change draft

By Alyson Brodsy and Edith M. Lederer · Friday, Nov. 1,2002 12:21 a.m.

UNITED NATIONS -- The U.S. demand for speedy U.N. action on Iraq has run into strong opposition from Russia, France and China, who want Washington to change a draft resolution and eliminate any license for the United States to attack Baghdad on its own.

Suspect arrested with poison

By Alyson Brodsy and Sarah Karush · Friday, Nov. 1,2002 12:17 a.m.

MOSCOW -- A suspected Chechen terrorist was arrested in Moscow carrying 18 pounds of poisonous mercury while allegedly planning a new attack, and Russian officials said Thursday that evidence gathered after last week's hostage siege implicated Chechnya's top elected leader.

Earthquake in south Italy

By Alyson Brodsy · Friday, Nov. 1,2002 12:07 a.m.

SAN GIULIANO DI PUGLIA, Italy -- An earthquake jolted south-central Italy on Thursday, sending a nursery school roof crashing down on a class of preschoolers during a lunchtime Halloween party. At least 10 children in the school and two women in nearby homes were killed.

Support diminishing for Sharon

By Alyson Brodsy and Laurie Copans · Wednesday, Oct. 30,2002 11:46 p.m.

JERUSALEM -- Labor Party ministers submitted their resignations Wednesday in a dispute over funding for Jewish settlements, breaking up Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's hardline government and paving the way for early elections.

Mondale to accept nomination

By Alyson Brodsy and Ashley H. Grant · Wednesday, Oct. 30,2002 11:44 p.m.

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Former Vice President Walter Mondale gave Democrats the answer they were looking for Wednesday, saying he will run for Senate in place of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone if nominated.

President OKs election reforms

By Aida Sultanova and Sandra Sobieraj · Tuesday, Oct. 29,2002 10:50 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- One week before Election Day, President Bush signed legislation Tuesday revamping the nation's voting system and guarding against the kinds of errors that threw his own election into dispute two years ago. "When problems arise in the administration of elections, we have a responsibility to fix them," Bush said as he gathered several Democratic and Republican lawmakers behind him at a signing desk. "Every registered voter deserves to have confidence that the system is fair and elections are honest, that every vote is recorded and that the rules are consistently applied.

Snipers could face death

By Aida Sultanova and Curt Anderson · Tuesday, Oct. 29,2002 10:49 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- The federal government plans to seek the death penalty in the Washington-area sniper case, Justice Department officials said Tuesday, setting up a legal joust with two states that already have filed capital charges in the case. The federal charges will be filed against John Allen Muhammad, 41, in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md. The charging complaint does not name the younger sniper suspect, 17-year-old John Lee Malvo, because he is not an adult. A juvenile can be charged with a federal capital offense but cannot be executed.

Ho Chi Minh City fire kills 54, others injured

By Becky Bartindale · Tuesday, Oct. 29,2002 10:47 p.m.

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam -- A fire swept through a building that houses offices of foreign companies, shops and a popular disco in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday, killing at least 54 people and injuring more than 100, officials and news reports said. At least one unidentified foreign man was among those killed, and six staff members of an American insurance company were missing, officials said. Dozens more people were believed trapped, firefighters said.

Virginia charges sniper suspects

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Oct. 29,2002 12:11 a.m.

RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia officials filed the state's first murder charges against the sniper suspects Monday and a prosecutor said the teenager in custody may have killed an FBI analyst during the spree.

American aid worker killed

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Oct. 29,2002 12:10 a.m.

AMMAN, Jordan -- An assassin pumped eight shots into an American diplomat outside his home Monday in the first known killing of a Western envoy in the Jordanian capital.

Wellstone family seeks Mondale replacement

By Aida Sultanova and Brian Bakst · Sunday, Oct. 27,2002 11:30 p.m.

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The family of late Sen. Paul Wellstone has asked former Vice President Walter Mondale to replace Wellstone on the Nov. 5 ballot, the state party chief said. A source who had spoken to Mondale said he was likely to accept. Wellstone's eldest son, David, made the request at a meeting Saturday at Mondale's law office, said Mike Erlandson, chairman of the state's Democratic-Farmer Labor Party. "Based on the family's request to him, it is highly likely he will run," a source in contact with Mondale told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

2 dead, 7 hurt in shooting rampage

By Aida Sultanova and NIck Trougakos · Sunday, Oct. 27,2002 11:29 p.m.

SALLISAW, Okla. -- A teenager apparently upset by complaints about his driving shot four neighbors, including a 2-year-old girl, then went on a 20-mile shooting spree, apparently targeting people at random, police said. Two of the victims died. Daniel Fears, 18, was arrested after losing control of his pickup truck and crashing near a police roadblock, authorities said. As police cars surrounded him, he threw out a rifle and surrendered, said Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Kym Koch.