Around The World

College of Cardinals gathers at Vatican to discuss future\nVATICAN CITY -- Cardinals from around the world are gathering at the Vatican for a meeting opening tomorrow that will examine challenges facing the church in the coming years and offer the prelates a hint of who might be a future pope. Pope John Paul II asked all 183 cardinals to attend the three-day meeting shortly after appointing 44 new cardinals in February, making it the largest College of Cardinals in history. Speaking today to some 20,000 faithful in St. Peter's Square, the pope said the meeting would allow for reflection on the role of the Roman Catholic church in the third millennium.\nCheney appeals for mideast peace\nWASHINGTON -- Vice President Dick Cheney stopped short of urging Israel to halt its use of U.S.-made F-16 fighter planes in attacks against Palestinians but appealed today for an end to the escalating violence. "Both sides should stop and think about where they're headed here and recognize that down this road lies disaster," Cheney said. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, in comments published today, said his country will do "what it takes" to protect its people. during a bloody weekend, six Israelis and 16 Palestinians, including a suicide bomber who blew himself up outside an Israeli shopping center, have died.\nPowell tours Africa on weeklong trip to study AIDS\nJOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Mali Sunday to begin a weeklong trip to study Africa's AIDS epidemic, and he will find dozens of similar anti-AIDS programs paid for by U.S. grants. The United States is responsible for at least 50 percent of donations to fight AIDS in poor countries, according to rough estimates from UNAIDS, the United Nations agency leading the global fight against the disease. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called last month for the creation of a global "war chest" of $7 billion to $10 billion a year to combat AIDS in the developing world.\nSharpton to run for president in 2004\nNEW YORK -- The Rev. Al Sharpton is planning to run for president in 2004, Time magazine reported today. "I feel that the Democratic Party must be challenged in 2004 because it didn't fight aggressively to protect our voting rights in Florida," he said in the issue on newsstands Monday. "I think we need to look at running a black in the primary. I have said I would be available to do it." Sharpton denied that he was taking advantage of the Rev. Jesse Jackson's tarnished image. "I'm not one to think that Rev. Jackson's finished," he said.\nPassengers injured on cruise ship\nSEATTLE -- A cruise ship returned to Seattle Sunday after a voyage that included a sudden movement near the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca that injured a few passengers and shattered glassware. "It was like the Titanic. People were flying around in chairs, The gift shop was destroyed," said Sharon Suttle, a travel-consultant manager from Greensboro, N.C., said at dockside. "I was afraid for my life." Following Saturday's accident, 16 passengers were treated -- some for broken bones -- when the Norwegian Sky made a scheduled stop at Victoria, British Columbia.