world

Voters decide if Mexico becomes next country to move left

By Abdullah AlShihri and Traci Carl · Sunday, July 2,2006 10:15 p.m.

MEXICO CITY -- After a campaign that split open Mexico's deep class divisions, voters were deciding Sunday whether to elect a free-spending leftist who pledges to put the poor first or a conservative politician who says private investment and free markets are the keys to prosperity.

Terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi buried

By Abdullah AlShihri and Kim Gamel · Sunday, July 2,2006 10:14 p.m.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Slain terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been buried in a "secret location" in Baghdad, Iraq's national security adviser said.

Israel blasts Palestinian PM's office to pressure Hamas

By Abdullah AlShihri and Ibrahim Barzak · Sunday, July 2,2006 10:06 p.m.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Israeli aircraft sent missiles tearing through the office of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday in an unmistakable message to his ruling Hamas group to free an Israeli soldier.

Hussein's wife and daughter on Iraqi most-wanted list

By Abdullah AlShihri and Qassim Abdul Zahra · Sunday, July 2,2006 10:06 p.m.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq released a most-wanted list of 41 names Sunday, including Saddam Hussein's wife and eldest daughter, as well as the new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq and one of the ousted president's closest allies.

States can keep newspapers from certain inmates

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, June 28,2006 9:29 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Pennsylvania officials did not violate the free-speech rights of troublesome inmates by keeping secular newspapers and magazines away from them. Justices, by a 6-3 vote, said the state could use newspapers as incentives to get inmates in a high-security unit to behave themselves.

Storms sweep Northeast, thousands evacuated, 10 thought dead

By Alyson Brodsy and Roger Petterson · Wednesday, June 28,2006 9:28 p.m.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- The storm that drenched the nation's capital swept into the Northeast on Wednesday, forcing thousands of people from their homes, including more than 2,200 who fled from a rising Maryland lake. A section of interstate highway was washed out in New York state and least 10 deaths were blamed on the stormy weather. Three people were missing. After days of heavy rain and floods, the sun was shining in Washington, D.C. as the storm moved into New York and New England, but rivers were still rising in Virginia. Highways across the region were blocked by flooding and washouts.

Israelis pressure Palestinians in effort to win soldier back

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, June 28,2006 9:26 p.m.

RAFAH, Gaza Strip -- Israel turned up the pressure on Palestinian militants to release a captive soldier Wednesday, sending its warplanes to bomb a Hamas training camp after knocking out electricity and water supplies for most of the 1.3 million residents of the Gaza Strip. The Hamas-led Palestinian government called for a prisoner swap with Israel, saying the Gaza offensive would not secure the soldier's release. Hamas-affiliated militants holding the hostage previously made that demand, but this was the first time the government did.

Ruling could force change to Guantanamo trials

By Abdullah AlShihri and Ben Fox · Sunday, June 25,2006 10:52 p.m.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- A former driver for Osama bin Laden may help decide the fate of dozens of Guantanamo Bay detainees, and perhaps all of them, as the Supreme Court prepares to rule on his legal challenge to the first U.S. war crimes trials since World War II.

United States' population to hit 300 million this fall

By Abdullah AlShihri and Stephen Ohlemacher · Sunday, June 25,2006 10:46 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. population is on target to hit 300 million this fall and it's a good bet the milestone baby -- or immigrant -- will be Hispanic.

Chairman urges for investigation into newspaper's financial stories

By Abdullah AlShihri and Devlin Barrett · Sunday, June 25,2006 10:46 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee urged the Bush administration on Sunday to seek criminal charges against newspapers that reported on a secret financial-monitoring program used to trace terrorists.

North Korea wants direct talks with United States over missile test

By Abdullah AlShihri and Burt Herman · Wednesday, June 21,2006 7:17 p.m.

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea said Wednesday it wants direct talks with the United States over its apparent plans to test-fire a long-range missile, a day after the country issued a bristling statement in which it declared its right to carry out the launch.

Saddam's defense lawyer kidnapped then executed in string of violence

By Abdullah AlShihri · Wednesday, June 21,2006 7:16 p.m.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- One of Saddam Hussein's main lawyers was shot to death Wednesday after he was abducted from his Baghdad home by men wearing police uniforms, the third killing of a member of the former leader's defense team since the trial started some eight months ago.

7 Marines, sailor face kidnapping, murder charges

By Abdullah AlShihri and Robert Burns · Wednesday, June 21,2006 7:16 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- Seven Marines and a sailor have been charged with murder in the April death of an Iraqi civilian, the Marine Corps said Wednesday.

Weekend of violence in Iraq leaves more civilians, on-ground troops injured, dead

Sunday, June 18,2006 11:26 p.m.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Gunmen seized 10 workers from a bakery Sunday in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad, while a car bomb exploded near a university in the northern city of Mosul, killing a woman and wounding 19 other people, police said.

U.S. troops were taken away by masked gunmen

By Abdullah AlShihri and Kim Gamel · Sunday, June 18,2006 11:25 p.m.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A farmer claiming to have witnessed an attack on a U.S. military checkpoint said Sunday that insurgents swarmed the scene, killing the driver of a Humvee before taking two of his comrades captive.

U.S. says it expects N. Korea to honor moratorium

By Burt Herman · Sunday, June 18,2006 11:17 p.m.

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea vowed Sunday to increase its "military deterrent" to cope with what it called U.S. attempts to provoke war, amid signs the country was preparing to test a long-range missile that could reach the continental United States.

Father of Yemeni inmate at Guantanamo rejects suicide claim, accuses US of killing his son

By Abdullah AlShihri · Wednesday, June 14,2006 6:49 p.m.

TAIZ, Yemen -- The father of a Yemeni inmate recently found dead at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba rejected on Wednesday the U.S. military's claims that his son committed suicide and accused the prison authorities of killing him.

Lawmakers' finances come under scrutiny in year of scandal

By Abdullah AlShihri and Jim Abrams · Wednesday, June 14,2006 6:48 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, under federal investigation for possible insider trading, will have a nice nest egg to fall back on when he retires from Congress in January, recording income last year of more than $5 million from his largest blind trust.

Iraq authorities launch major security crackdown in Baghdad

By Abdullah AlShihri and Sameer N. Yacoub · Wednesday, June 14,2006 6:46 p.m.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Tens of thousands of Iraqi police and soldiers searched cars and secured roads Wednesday in Baghdad as the government launched a crackdown aimed at ending the violence that has devastated the capital.

Al-Qaida in Iraq threatens 'major attacks' after al-Zarqawi's death

By Abdullah AlShihri and Lee Keath · Sunday, June 11,2006 10:05 p.m.

CAIRO, Egypt -- Al-Qaida in Iraq vowed Sunday to carry out "major attacks," insisting in a Web statement that it was still powerful after the death of leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.