world

Senator Frist calls to block U.A.E. port sale

WASHINGTON -- Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist called Tuesday for the Bush administration to stop a deal permitting a United Arab Emirates company to take over six major U.S. seaports, upping the ante on a fight that several congressmen, governors and mayors are waging with the White House. "The decision to finalize this deal should be put on hold until the administration conducts a more extensive review of this matter," said Frist. "If the administration cannot delay this process, I plan on introducing legislation to ensure that the deal is placed on hold until this decision gets a more thorough review." But at the Pentagon, the UAE was praised as an important strategic military partner by both Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Supreme Court turns down college media censorship case

U.S. Supreme Court members announced Tuesday they would not hear the five-year college media censorship battle Hosty v. Carter, leaving university media advisers uncertain of the future of the First Amendment issue. The case centers around a 2001 controversy when Governors State University Dean Patricia Carter told the school newspaper's printer not to publish the paper until administration had approved its content.

Bush promotes energy plan on tour through Midwest

MILWAUKEE -- Seeking to fuel his own agenda, President Bush encouraged Americans to change their energy consumption habits and help move the nation away from its reliance on oil. "I think we're in an important moment in history," Bush said during his first stop of a Presidents' Day tour of the Midwest. "We have a chance to transform the way we power our economy and the way we lead our lives." Bush spoke Monday at the buildings division of Johnson Controls Inc., which sells products designed to make its customers' properties more energy efficient.

'Signs of life' detected at buried Philippine school

GUINSAUGON, Philippines -- High-tech gear detected "signs of life" Monday at the site of an elementary school buried under up to 100 feet of mud that swept down a hillside soaked by rain in the eastern Philippines, the provincial governor said. Sounds of scratching and a rhythmic tapping were picked up by seismic sensors and sound-detection gear brought in by U.S. and Malaysian forces, said South Leyte Gov. Rosette Lerias. Generator-powered lights were set up to allow teams of rescue workers to dig through the sludge during the night.

Explosion traps dozens of Mexican coal miners

SAN JUAN DE SABINAS, Mexico - A gas buildup in a northern Mexico coal mine triggered a pre-dawn explosion Sunday, trapping at least 65 coal miners underground with a limited supply of oxygen. Emergency officials were tunneling through the debris to rescue them.

McSecurity

Students take part in 'international' workshop

Instead of partying and sleeping in, 27 students chose to discuss pressing international issues last Friday night and Saturday morning. Gathered at round tables, the students had forsaken their friends and their beds to take part in a conference co-sponsored by the Hutton Honors College and the Wells Scholars Program called, "The View from Abroad: An Undergraduate Workshop on the Role and Image of the United States in the World."

Iraq investigates 'death squad' claims in its ranks

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The Shiite-dominated Interior Ministry announced an investigation Thursday into claims of death squads in its ranks as police found a dozen more bodies, bringing the number of apparent victims of sectarian reprisal killings to at least 30 this week.

U.N. urges U.S. to shut down Guantanamo

GENEVA -- The United States should shut down the prison for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay and either release the detainees or put them on trial, the United Nations said in a report released Thursday. The world body also called on the United States to refrain from practices that "amount to torture."

Democrats, GOP senators criticize Rice

WASHINGTON -- Republican and Democratic senators criticized the Bush administration Wednesday over its policies in Iraq, Iran and the Palestinian territories, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice delivered her first testimony on Capitol Hill in months. "I don't see, Madame Secretary, how things are getting better. I think they're getting worse in Iraq, they're getting worse in Iran," Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., told Rice as she appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Cheney speaks out for first time since shooting

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Dick Cheney on Wednesday accepted full blame for shooting a fellow hunter and defended his decision to not publicly disclose the accident until the following day. He called it "one of the worst days of my life." "I'm the guy who pulled the trigger that fired the round that hit Harry," Cheney told Fox News Channel in his first public statement since the shooting Saturday in south Texas. Cheney described seeing 78-year-old Harry Whittington fall to the ground after he pulled the trigger while aiming at a covey of quail.

U.S. and Israel deny plot to overthrow new Hamas regime

JERUSALEM - Hamas protested "interference" by the United States and Israel following reports Tuesday that the nations were exploring ways to topple the militants' incoming government unless they renounced their violent ideology and recognized Israel's right to exist.

House reports shows inadequate Katrina response

WASHINGTON -- Government at all levels took an indifferent stance toward disaster preparations after the 2001 terror attacks, leaving the Gulf Coast vulnerable to Hurricane Katrina and contributing to the death and suffering the storm inflicted, a House inquiry concludes.

Saddam tells court he is protesting with hunger strike

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Saddam Hussein and three former officials in his regime told the court handling their trial Tuesday that they were on a hunger strike in protest of the judge overseeing the proceedings.

Man Cheney shot suffers 'minor heart attack,' doctors say

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- The 78-year-old lawyer who was shot by Vice President Dick Cheney in a hunting accident suffered "a minor heart attack" Tuesday, hospital officials said after some birdshot became lodged in his heart.

Cartoon protesters attack Western businesses

LAHORE, Pakistan -- Thousands rampaged through two cities Tuesday in Pakistan's worst violence against caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, burning buildings housing a hotel, banks and a KFC, vandalizing a Citibank and breaking windows at a Holiday Inn and a Pizza Hut.

Saddam, co-defendants forced to attend new session of trial

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Saddam Hussein was forced to attend his trial Monday, looking haggard and wearing an Arab robe rather than his usual suit but walking in on his own, shouting "Down with Bush!" His top co-defendant and half brother Barzan Ibrahim -- dressed only in an undershirt and long underwear -- struggled with guards bringing him in and sat on the floor, his back to the judge, for much of the session . Chief judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman pressed ahead after the stormy start, sparked by his decision to order Saddam and his seven co-defendants to attend the session despite a defense boycott.

Homeland Security head defends Katrina response

WASHINGTON -- Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Monday rejected criticism that his agency is preoccupied with terror threats at the expense of preparing for natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina. "I want to tell you, I unequivocally and strongly reject this attempt to drive a wedge between our concerns about terrorism and our concerns about natural disasters," Chertoff said. His strong defense of his agency, in response to criticism by ex-federal disaster chief Michael Brown and others came as a congressional report blamed government-wide ineptitude for mishandling Hurricane Katrina relief.

Gunfire erupts during Haiti election protest

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Gunfire erupted Monday during protests over election results in Haiti and at least one supporter of leading presidential candidate Rene Preval was killed. Witnesses said U.N. peacekeepers opened fire on the crowd, but a U.N. spokesman denied that accusation. The protests erupted amid increasing anger at vote counts from Tuesday's elections showing that Preval, a former president and one-time protege of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, might have fallen short of the 50 percent needed to win outright and avoid a runoff.

Anger over 'offensive' caricatures spreads

After more than two weeks of protests, anger and violence surrounding purportedly offensive caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed, the uproar has continued to spread throughout the world and even to the IU community. "I'm mad that they even showed him, and then associated him and Muslims with terrorists," said junior Bashar Aburashed, who was born and raised in Saudi Arabia. "It would offend any Muslim."