world

Security Council conflicted on Iran issue

UNITED NATIONS -- U.N. Security Council members sought to break a deadlock over Iran's suspect nuclear program Wednesday after Britain and France could not get Russia and China to agree on how to pressure Tehran to stop enriching uranium, diplomats said. Nonetheless, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she was confident the council could come to an agreement. "We will come up with a vehicle, I am quite certain of that," Rice said during a trip to the Bahamas. "We have work still to do. This is the natural course of diplomacy. If it takes a little longer, I'm not really concerned about that."

ETA announces end to terrorist campaign

VITORIA, Spain -- The Basque militant group ETA ended a decades-long campaign of terror, announcing a permanent cease-fire Wednesday that closes the door on one of Western Europe's last armed separatist movements. In a videotaped statement, three shrouded ETA (Euskadi Ta Azkatasuna, Basque Homeland and Freedom) members said they were laying down their weapons to promote democracy in the northern Spanish region. The news prompted jubilation across Spain, where ordinary citizens say they could hardly believe the end had come for a group blamed for more than 800 deaths and $15.5 billion in damage since the 1960s. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who has made granting more rule to Spain's regions a key goal, expressed caution and hope at ETA's statement. He was evasive when asked if he would start negotiating with ETA under an offer he made last year, contingent on the group renouncing violence.

DEFENDING THE WAR

DEFENDING THE WAR -- President Bush speaks at a news conference at the White House on Tuesday in Washington. Bush said there will be "more tough fighting ahead" in Iraq, but denied claims that the nation is in the grips of a civil war three years after the U.S.-led invasion.

Abu Ghraib dog handler convicted of tormenting prisoners

FORT MEADE, Md. -- An Army dog handler at Abu Ghraib was convicted Tuesday of tormenting prisoners with his snarling animal and competing with a comrade to make the Iraqis soil themselves.

Deadly bird flu claims 5 lives in Azerbaijan

GENEVA -- The human death toll from the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu reached 103 after five people died from the disease in Azerbaijan, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.

Insurgents storm jail, kill 19 officers

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Insurgents stormed a jail around dawn Tuesday in the Sunni Muslim heartland north of Baghdad, killing 19 police and a courthouse guard in a prison break that freed dozens of prisoners and left 10 attackers dead, authorities said.

Plane crashes, kills 4 in Missouri

BRANSON, Mo. -- Even at midday, the streets of this resort town were bustling two weeks before the start of the tourist season. So when a twin-engine plane went down shortly after takeoff, authorities were grateful it narrowly missed the main drag of nightclubs, theaters and music halls, crashing instead into a self-storage facility. All four people aboard the Piper Seneca were killed, but the plane caught fire and exploded a safe distance from the busy street, near a Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum, a pair of motels and a string of musical theaters bearing the names of such entertainers as Andy Williams and Bobby Vinton.

GAZA GUN BATTLE

Bush says he has 'confidence in our strategy' in Iraq

CLEVELAND -- President Bush cited success Monday in stabilizing an insurgent stronghold in northern Iraq, saying he has "confidence in our strategy" and critics should look beyond the images of violence to see clear signs of progress. Bush tried a new tactic to boost sagging support for the war, relating to his audience in Cleveland a lengthy story about a campaign to rid the northern city of Tal Afar of terrorism against civilians. Success there "gives reason for hope for a free Iraq," he said.

Thousands feared homeless after cyclone hits Australia

CAIRNS, Australia -- Metal roofs littered streets, wooden houses lay in splinters and banana plantations were stripped bare after the most powerful cyclone to hit Australia in three decades lashed the country's eastern coast Monday. Amazingly, the storm caused no reported fatalities, and only 30 people suffered minor injuries. But the damage from Cyclone Larry, a Category 5 storm with winds up to 180 mph, was expected to run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Christian convert faces execution

KABUL, Afghanistan -- An Afghan man is being prosecuted in a Kabul court and could be sentenced to death on a charge of converting from Islam to Christianity, a crime under this country's Islamic laws, a judge said Sunday.

Eight civilians dead after troops clash with insurgents

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- On the eve of the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion, American troops clashed with gunmen north and west of Baghdad Sunday as insurgents lobbed a mortar round into the holy city of Karbala where a million Shiite pilgrims assembled for a major religious commemoration.

Dubai company will abandon U.S. port deal

WASHINGTON -- Bowing to ferocious opposition in Congress, a Dubai-owned company signaled surrender Thursday in its quest to take over operations at U.S. ports. "DP World will transfer fully the U.S. operations ... to a United States entity," the firm's top executive, H. Edward Bilkey, said in an announcement that capped weeks of controversy.

IU professors take on Iranian nuclear crisis

International efforts to stall Iran's nuclear program appear to have failed as the issue is now being referred to the U.N. Security Council, opening the prospects of political or economic sanctions, according The Associated Press. The move is another in a series of steps taken by Tehran since new Iranian President Mohammad Khatami assumed office that have included further intentions to pursue uranium enrichment for a nuclear program and calls for the destruction of Israel.

Bush attempting to quell port furor

WASHINGTON -- The White House has spent more than three weeks trying to calm bipartisan outrage in the House and Senate over a Dubai-owned company's efforts to operate some U.S. port terminals.

Three arrested for Alabama arsons

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Three college students were arrested Wednesday for a string of nine rural Alabama church arsons last month that allegedly were set first as "a joke" and later as a diversion, federal agents said.

Iran threatens U.S. "harm and pain" for role in U.N. referral

VIENNA, Austria -- Iran threatened the United States with "harm and pain" Wednesday for its role in hauling Tehran before the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear program and for plans to push fellow council members to impose tough measures against the Islamic republic.

Bush expected to sign Patriot Act after House approval

WASHINGTON -- The House renewed the USA Patriot Act in a cliffhanger vote Tuesday night, extending a centerpiece of the war on terrorism at President Bush's urging after months of political combat over the balance between privacy rights and the pursuit of potential terrorists.

Profs: South Dakota bill unlikely to overturn Roe

When the governor of South Dakota signed a bill Monday banning almost all abortions, he started the country down a road that could possibly lead to the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the end of abortion in many states, including Indiana.

South Dakota governor signs legislation banning most abortions nearly all abortions

PIERRE, S.D. -- South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds signed legislation Monday banning nearly all abortions in the state, setting up a court fight aimed at challenging the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. The bill would make it a crime for doctors to perform an abortion unless the procedure was necessary to save the woman's life. It would make no exception for cases of rape or incest. Planned Parenthood, which operates the state's only abortion clinic in Sioux Falls, has pledged to challenge the measure.