world

The Weekly Weird: Indiana teen making money off daylight-saving time

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - An industrious teenager is hoping time is money. Eighteen-year-old Evan Kelso is offering to change every digital clock in a customer's home or car after all of Indiana goes to daylight saving time this weekend for the first time in more than 30 years. His fee: $10.

American journalist released unharmed

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- American reporter Jill Carroll was set free Thursday, nearly three months after she was kidnapped in a bloody ambush that killed her translator. She said she had been treated well.

Bahrain ferry carrying 150 people capsizes

MANAMA, Bahrain -- A ferry carrying up to 150 people capsized Thursday night in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Bahrain, and at least 48 bodies were recovered, the country's coast guard chief said. American divers and a U.S. helicopter aided the rescue effort. Coast guard chief Youssef al-Katem said at least 63 people survived. A passenger on board the ferry calling from his cell phone was the first to alert officials that the ship was listing, he said.

Supreme Court hears case on immigration removal order

WASHINGTON -- After a 30-year struggle to live in the United States, Humberto Fernandez-Vargas said he thought he had finally earned his keep.

UPDATE: Journalist hostage released unharmed

American reporter Jill Carroll was set free Thursday, nearly three months after she was kidnapped in a bloody ambush that killed her translator. She said she had been treated well.

U.N. Security Council agrees on Iran statement

UNITED NATIONS -- The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council agreed on a statement Wednesday demanding that Iran suspend uranium enrichment, setting the stage for the first action by the powerful body over fears that Tehran wants a nuclear weapon. The 15 members of the council planned to meet later Wednesday to approve the statement, the text of which was not immediately disclosed. Uranium enrichment is a process that can lead to a nuclear weapon.

Former lobbyist sentenced to 5 years in federal prison

MIAMI -- Disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and a business partner were sentenced Wednesday to five years and 10 months in federal prison, the minimum they faced for fraud related to their 2000 purchase of the SunCruz Casinos gambling fleet. Abramoff and Adam Kidan both pleaded guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud, but they won't have to report to prison immediately. The judge postponed their reporting date for at least 90 days so the two can continue cooperating in a Washington corruption investigation and a Florida probe into the killing of former SunCruz owner Konstantinos Boulis. Both deny roles in the killing. Abramoff pleaded guilty in connection with the corruption probe but has yet to be sentenced.

CAST AWAY

CAST AWAY -- Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert casts his ballot in the Israeli general election in Jerusalem Tuesday.

24 Iraqis kidnapped after gunmen attack stores

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Masked gunmen, many in military uniform, stormed into a currency exchange and two electronic stores in broad daylight Tuesday, kidnapping 24 Iraqis and making off with tens of thousands of dollars.

Warlord disappears before trial

ABUJA, Nigeria -- Former Liberian warlord Charles Taylor slipped away just after Nigeria reluctantly agreed to transfer him to a war crimes tribunal, and the White House suggested Tuesday that President Bush might cancel a meeting with Nigeria's leader. The Nigerian government said Taylor vanished Monday night from his villa in the southern city of Calabar, where he had lived in exile since being forced from power under a 2003 peace deal that ended Liberia's civil war.

Chief of staff resigns position

WASHINGTON -- White House chief of staff Andy Card has resigned and will be replaced by budget director Joshua Bolten, President Bush announced Tuesday amid growing calls for a White House shakeup and Republican concern about Bush's tumbling poll ratings. Though there was no immediate indication of other changes afoot, the White House did not close the door on a broader staff reorganization. White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Bolten will have the authority to make personnel shifts if he deems them necessary. He declined to say whether top aides, such as the two current deputy chiefs of staff, Joe Hagin and Karl Rove, would remain in place.

Al-Qaida conspirator testifies in 9-11 death penalty trial

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui testified Monday that he and would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid were supposed to hijack a fifth airplane and fly it into the White House as part of the attack that unfolded Sept. 11, 2001. Moussaoui's testimony on his own behalf stunned the courtroom. His account was in stark contrast to his previous statements, in which he said the White House attack was to come later if the United States refused to release a radical Egyptian sheik imprisoned on earlier terrorist convictions.

IU follows Ukraine vote

In a country devoid of democracy for nearly all of its independent history, Ukraine's parliamentary election Sunday has been hailed as a resounding achievement in creating a representative government, while at the same time appearing to have created new obstacles for the country's party leaders to overcome. As international observers acclaimed it as the nation's most free and legitimate election, the country's voters failed to give any party a majority, and the splintered parties must now form coalitions before much of the new government can assemble.

Afghan court dismisses case against Christian convert

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A court on Sunday dismissed the case against an Afghan man facing possible execution for converting from Islam to Christianity, officials said, paving the way for his release. The move eased pressure from the West but raised the dilemma of protecting Abdul Rahman after his release as Islamic clerics have called for him to be killed.

Clash at Baghdad mosque reportedly kills 18 Iraqis

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Police and a top aide to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said Sunday that 18 people were killed in a clash involving U.S. and Iraqi army forces at a mosque in eastern Baghdad. The U.S. military said it had no information on the reported violence.

Congress takes up heated immigration debate

WASHINGTON -- Founded by immigrants and praised as a haven for the oppressed, the United States now is struggling to decide the fate of as many as 12 million people living in the country illegally. The Senate takes up the emotional debate on the heels of weekend rallies that drew hundreds of thousands of people protesting attempts to toughen laws against immigrants.

Alleged terrorist says he plans to testify

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Prosecutors rested their death-penalty case against al-Qaida terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui on Thursday after a former FBI agent testified that investigators might have been able to hunt down Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers if the defendant had confessed before the attacks.

Violence erupts in Paris as students protest law

PARIS -- Demonstrators hurled chunks of concrete at police, who responded by filling a picturesque Paris square with tear gas Thursday as protest marches over a contested jobs law erupted into violence.

WEST BANK DISSENT

Troops capture 50 insurgents after deadly 2-hour gunbattle

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Insurgents attacked a police station Wednesday for the second day in a row, but U.S. and Iraqi forces captured 50 of them after a two-hour gunbattle. About 60 gunmen attacked the police station in Madain, south of Baghdad, with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles, said police Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohammadawi. U.S. troops and a special Iraqi police unit responded, catching the insurgents in crossfire, he said.