Chretien to step down as Canadian prime minister\nTORONTO -- Prime Minister Jean Chretien announced Tuesday he will step down on Dec. 12 after attending a commonwealth meeting in Nigeria.\nChretien, who turns 70 in January, previously said he would retire as prime minister by February 2004. His former finance minister, Paul Martin, was chosen leader of the governing Liberal Party last week and automatically becomes prime minister when Chretien leaves office.\nChretien was expected to leave before February to comply with the desires of Martin, the Liberal Party and opposition parties for the transition to proceed.
Police capture Kurdish protesters\nISTANBUL, Turkey -- Police stormed Istanbul's main courthouse Tuesday to end a half-hour standoff with about two dozen Kurds who raided the building and took hostages to demand the release of imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan.\nInterior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said authorities fired tear gas canisters inside before detaining the unarmed protesters, who had occupied the courthouse in Istanbul's historic Sultanahmet Square.\nAyse Ozeler, one of the hostages, said the protesters blocked a corridor in the building by overturning file cabinets, preventing those inside from leaving.\nOzeler said his captors indicated they would not harm them, "but we were scared."
Police search Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch\nLOS OLIVOS, Calif. -- Officers conducting a criminal investigation searched Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch on Tuesday. The purpose of the search was not disclosed.\nMore than 20 investigators from the Santa Barbara County sheriff's and district attorney's offices served a warrant as part of an "ongoing criminal investigation," Sgt. Chris Pappas said. No immediate arrests were made. The district attorney's office had no comment.\nJackson and his three young children were not at the ranch at the time, his spokesman, Stuart Backerman, told The Associated Press. They have been in Las Vegas, where Jackson is making a video, he said.
Judge refuses to dismiss 2 charges against Stewart\nNEW YORK -- A federal judge refused Tuesday to dismiss a securities fraud charge that accuses Martha Stewart of deceiving her stockholders when she publicly declared her innocence in the insider-trading scandal.\nEight weeks before the home-decorating authority goes to trial, U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum brushed aside defense arguments that the charge violates Stewart's free-speech rights under the First Amendment.\nThe judge also refused, for now, to dismiss an obstruction of justice charge. She said it would be appropriate for the defense to make such a request only after the government had presented its case to a jury.
