world

Sniper pattern puzzles police

By Alyson Brodsy and Calvin Woodward · Monday, Oct. 21,2002 12:56 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- There is almost certainly a pattern in the Washington-area sniper shootings. Finding it is the devilish detail. More than two weeks of frantic investigation and even more harried speculation have kicked up a storm of leads, theories, odd facts and false twists -- a mountain of meaninglessness that may contain telling information if it ever gets sorted out.

Paradise Lost

By Christina Galoozis · Friday, Oct. 18,2002 2:04 a.m.

Steven Raymer, a photojournalist and professor at the journalism school, recalled a beer he had in an Irish bar in Bali, Indonesia. Last week the same bar was destroyed in the terrorist bombing that killed nearly 200 people.

Shootings too close to home for two IU professors, fathers

By Samantha Thompson · Friday, Oct. 18,2002 2:02 a.m.

For sophomore Karli Penders seeing her hometown on television is not a common occurrence. Penders is originally from Potomac, Md. and has recently been glued to television reports about the sniper attacks that have been terrorizing the Washington D.C. area since Oct. 2.

Bush vows to be diplomatic in dealing with North Korea

By Alyson Brodsy and George Gedda · Friday, Oct. 18,2002 1:09 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The United States and South Korea, stung by North Korea's admission that it has a secret nuclear weapons program, are calling on Pyongyang to reverse course and abide by promises to renounce development of these armaments.

US compromises with UN on Iraq inspections

By Alyson Brodsy and Edith M. Lederer · Friday, Oct. 18,2002 1:08 a.m.

UNITED NATIONS -- Facing strong opposition from dozens of nations, the United States has backed down from its demand that a new U.N. resolution must authorize military force if Baghdad fails to cooperate with weapons inspectors, diplomats told The Associated Press Thursday.

Witness account falsified

By Alyson Brodsy and Allen G. Breed · Friday, Oct. 18,2002 1:08 a.m.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- A witness description of a cream-colored van at the Washington-area sniper's latest killing and descriptions of the suspect and weapons are not credible, investigators said Thursday.

Korea admits to weapons program

By Alyson Brodsy and George Gedda · Thursday, Oct. 17,2002 3:12 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- In a startling revelation, North Korea has told the United States it has a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of an 1994 agreement with the United States, the White House said Wednesday night.

Annan gives Iraq 'last chance' for inspections

By Alyson Brodsy and Edith M. Lederer · Thursday, Oct. 17,2002 12:31 a.m.

UNITED NATIONS -- Calling Iraq's failure to comply with U.N. demands to disarm a grave international challenge, Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Wednesday backed a new U.N. resolution that would toughen weapons inspections and urged Baghdad to use this "last chance."

Bush signs Iraqi war resolution

By Alyson Brodsy and Jennifer Loven · Thursday, Oct. 17,2002 12:30 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Wednesday signed Congress' war-making resolution and told wary world leaders to "face up to our global responsibilities" to confront Saddam Hussein.

Sniper still eluding police

By Alyson Brodsy and Allen G. Breed · Thursday, Oct. 17,2002 12:29 a.m.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- For the first time since the Washington-area sniper shootings began, more than one witness saw a man fire and flee in a white van, but investigators said Wednesday that the accounts from the latest slaying weren't clear enough to produce a sketch.

2 men questioned in Bali bombing

By Abdullah AlShihri and Tim Sullivan · Wednesday, Oct. 16,2002 6:30 p.m.

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesian officials interrogated a security guard and another man Tuesday about the deadly nightclub bombing in Bali and said traces of C-4 plastic explosives were found at the scene of the blast. With Indonesia under increasing international pressure to combat terrorism, a violent Muslim group with ties to Indonesia's military disbanded -- the first apparent sign the government was getting serious about moving against Islamic extremism.

Stocks surge spawns hope

By Abdullah AlShihri and Amy Baldwin · Wednesday, Oct. 16,2002 1:41 a.m.

NEW YORK -- Powered by a batch of surprisingly good earnings reports, stocks barreled higher Tuesday, lifting the Dow Jones industrials more than 290 points and back above 8,000. The Dow, which soared as much as 327 points, owed some of its lift to upbeat earnings from three of its components -- Citigroup, General Motors and Johnson & Johnson.

After quarter century, Japanese abductees return to Tokyo from North Korea

By Abdullah AlShihri and Hans Greimel · Wednesday, Oct. 16,2002 12:50 a.m.

TOKYO -- Five Japanese kidnapped a quarter-century ago by North Korean spies returned to Japan on Tuesday in the nation's most emotional homecoming since troops returned from World War II. The abductees' chartered jet touched down at Tokyo's Haneda airport after picking them up earlier in the day from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.

Government forces reclaim city in Ivory Coast cocoa belt

By Abdullah AlShihri and Clar Ni Chonghaile · Wednesday, Oct. 16,2002 12:48 a.m.

BOUAFLE, Ivory Coast -- After hours of gunfire and heavy explosions, government forces reclaimed a major city in the Ivory Coast cocoa belt--even as West African mediators pushed authorities and rebels to agree on a truce. Residents reached by telephone Tuesday said loyalist forces were circulating in Daloa, a city of 160,000 people whose capture Sunday was an important victory for rebels who have seized half the country.

Indonesian Muslim extremist group announces disbandment

By Abdullah AlShihri and Michael Casey · Wednesday, Oct. 16,2002 12:47 a.m.

BALI, Indonesia -- Indonesia's most violent Muslim extremist group announced Tuesday that it was disbanding, in what appeared to be the first sign that the government is cracking down on Islamic extremism following the deadly bombing of a Bali nightclub.

Sharon seeks US support on blocking Iraqi missiles

By Abdullah AlShihri and Steve Weizman · Wednesday, Oct. 16,2002 12:31 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is set to meet with President Bush hoping to hear about U.S. plans to block a possible Iraqi missile attack on Israel and to answer U.S. charges that his government is not doing enough to ease restrictions on the Palestinians.

FBI analyst latest victim in DC-area shootings

By Abdullah AlShihri and Matthew Barakat · Wednesday, Oct. 16,2002 12:29 a.m.

FAIRFAX, Va. -- An FBI analyst who studied terror threats is the latest victim of the Washington-area sniper, and investigators said Tuesday they were confident that detailed witness accounts from the scene will lead them to the person who has now killed nine people.

Astronauts fix space station

By Alyson Brodsy and Marcia Dunn · Tuesday, Oct. 15,2002 2:12 a.m.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Making the third and final spacewalk of their mission, shuttle Atlantis' astronauts finished installing a $390 million girder on the international space station Monday. "We're over the hill," spacewalker David Wolf said midway through the 250-mile-high construction job. "I mean, over the hill on the station." "No comment," his partner, Piers Sellers, jokingly replied. Both men are in their mid to late 40s. The two astronauts arrived with the 14-ton girder aboard space shuttle Atlantis last week.

Jewish center denies account

By Adam Aasen · Tuesday, Oct. 15,2002 2:12 a.m.

The Helene G. Simon Hillel Center, a Jewish campus organization, denies the account of a pig's head being left on its doorsteps which appeared in a column in the Oct. 14 issue of U.S. News and World Report.

Al Qaeda to blame for Indonesia attack

By Alyson Brodsy and Irwan Firdaus · Tuesday, Oct. 15,2002 12:21 a.m.

BALI, Indonesia -- Indonesia's defense minister blamed al Qaeda and its extremist allies on Monday for the massive bomb attack that killed more than 180 people at a nightclub on the resort island of Bali.