world

Former 9-11 commissioners say United States at risk for more terror attacks

By Alyson Brodsy and Hope Yen · Monday, Dec. 5,2005 11:37 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The United States is at great risk for more terrorist attacks because Congress and the White House have failed to enact several strong security measures, members of the former Sept. 11, 2001, commission said Sunday. "It's not a priority for the government right now," said the former chairman, Thomas Kean, ahead of the group's release of a report Monday assessing how well its recommendations have been followed.

Al-Qaida agent assumed dead from U.S. missile

By Alyson Brodsy · Monday, Dec. 5,2005 11:36 a.m.

MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan -- Shrapnel that appeared to be from an American-made missile was found Sunday at the house where Pakistan said a top al-Qaida operative was killed in an explosion, although President Bush's national security adviser declined to confirm the death.

Former Iraqi leader confronted by crowd

By Alyson Brodsy and Hamza Hendawi · Monday, Dec. 5,2005 11:36 a.m.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- An angry crowd confronted Iraq's former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi at a Shiite shrine south of Baghdad on Sunday, forcing him to flee in a hail of stones and shoes. Allawi called the attack an assassination attempt.

Troop reductions to come as early as next year

By Alyson Brodsy and Nedra Pickler · Monday, Dec. 5,2005 11:35 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The United States could be ready to reduce troops in Iraq next year if Iraqis continue making progress at the current rate, President Bush's national security adviser said Sunday.

Some FEMA trailers in state of disrepair

By Elisha Sauers · Monday, Dec. 5,2005 11:34 a.m.

GULFPORT, Miss. -- Melvin Barkum is, in one respect, a lucky man. After his Gulfport home was damaged by Hurricane Katrina, he got a trailer from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But all in his FEMA trailer is not as well as it could be. After he switched on his trailer's thermostat, he lifted the lid of a storage bench and illuminated a water pipe with a flashlight. Within a moment, the visibly leaking water was pattering onto the high-pitched smoke alarm.

Key U.S. allies in Iraq mull withdrawals, reductions

By Alyson Brodsy and William J. Kole · Friday, Dec. 2,2005 9:08 a.m.

VIENNA, Austria -- Two of America's allies in Iraq are withdrawing forces this month and a half-dozen others are debating possible pullouts or reductions, increasing pressure on Washington as calls mount to bring home U.S. troops.

Riot police block off some polling sites in Egypt

By Alyson Brodsy · Friday, Dec. 2,2005 9:07 a.m.

SANDOUB, Egypt -- Riot police battled voters Thursday, killing one person and blocking entry to polling stations in opposition strongholds in the third and final round of Egypt's legislative elections.

Landmark vote puts 2 Saudi women on board of Jiddah chamber of commerce

By Abdullah AlShihri · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 1:17 p.m.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Two businesswomen have become Saudi Arabia's first female elected officials, a historic step in a deeply conservative country where women are largely barred from public life. Saudi officials said Wednesday that Lama al-Sulaiman and Nashwa Taher had won election to the board of Jiddah's chamber of commerce. Little information was available about the two women, who could not be reached for comment. The chamber's weekend elections were the first polls in Saudi Arabia in which women were allowed to run and to vote.

Alito attacked Roe v. Wade

By Alyson Brodsy and Jesse J. Holland · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 12:15 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- As a Reagan administration lawyer in 1985, Samuel Alito made clear his hope that the Supreme Court would one day overturn a landmark ruling that established abortion rights. Alito, now a Supreme Court nominee, argued against an all-out assault on the Roe v. Wade ruling, fearing such an assault would fail. Instead, he recommended a policy of "mitigating its effects" by trying to persuade justices to accept state regulations on abortions.

Journalist's documentary leads to kidnapping in Iraq

By David A. Nosko · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 12:14 p.m.

One digital photograph too many of an Iraqi marketplace almost cost New York documentary filmmaker Micah Garen his life. Garen and his Iraqi translator, Amir Doshi, were kidnapped from a gun market in Nasiriyah and held captive for 10 days by members of the Iraqi militant group Martyrs Brigade, which threatened to behead him.

Shimon Peres quits Israel's Labor Party

By Alyson Brodsy and Ravi Nessman · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 12:12 p.m.

JERUSALEM -- Bitter over his ouster as Labor Party chief, Shimon Peres quit his political home of six decades Wednesday to campaign for Ariel Sharon's new party, saying the prime minister is the best choice to lead Israel to peace with the Palestinians. Peres' defection was an important coup for Sharon in the scramble by the major parties to recruit high-profile supporters during a political realignment the past three weeks as the country prepares for parliamentary elections in March.

Supreme Court tackles abortion law

By Alyson Brodsy and Gina Holland · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 12 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court wrestled Wednesday with a New Hampshire law that requires a parent to be told before a daughter ends her pregnancy, with no hint the justices were ready for a dramatic retreat on abortion rights under their new chief. The court is dealing with its first abortion case in five years, as well as the first in the brief tenure of Chief Justice John Roberts.

President Bush defends war in Iraq, no pullout timetable set

By Alyson Brodsy and Deb Riechmann · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 11:50 a.m.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- President Bush gave an unflinching defense of his war strategy Wednesday, refusing to set a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawals and asserting that once-shaky Iraqi troops are proving increasingly capable. Democrats dismissed his words as a stay-the-course speech with no real strategy for success.

Reporters get first peak of panda cub at National Zoo

By Alyson Brodsy and Jacob Adelman · Wednesday, Nov. 30,2005 8:03 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- Tai Shan, the giant panda cub, showed Tuesday that he is a quick study, prancing about in his den and otherwise mugging for hordes of camera crews in this city that's a veritable fishbowl for celebrities.

Virginia governor spares life of inmate

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, Nov. 30,2005 8:02 p.m.

RICHMOND, Va. -- Gov. Mark R. Warner on Tuesday spared the life of a convicted killer who would have been the 1,000th person executed in the United States since the Supreme Court allowed capital punishment to resume in 1976. The governor commuted Robin Lovitt's death sentence to life in prison without parole.

Vatican defends ban on priests

By Alyson Brodsy and Victor L. Simpson · Wednesday, Nov. 30,2005 8:02 p.m.

VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican defended a policy statement designed to keep men with "deep-seated" homosexual tendencies from becoming priests, but said there would be no crackdown on gays who are already ordained.

A Year of Worldwide Destruction

By David A. Nosko · Wednesday, Nov. 30,2005 8:01 p.m.

Worldwide earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornados and tsunamis have claimed more than a quarter of a million human lives since 2004.

300,000 homeless as winter approaches in post-earthquake Himalayan regions

By Alyson Brodsy and Steve Gutterman · Tuesday, Nov. 29,2005 5:51 p.m.

BAGH, Pakistan -- The baby boy survived the devastating earthquake in the Himalayan highlands. Then came the cold and the snow. On Monday, the 3-month-old became the first reported victim of what officials fear will be a new disaster for the 3.5 million Pakistanis who lost their homes last month: winter. "This is exactly what we had feared. Our position here is we need to continue to do as much as possible to help mitigate this situation and prevent, insofar as that's possible, any such occurrences in the future," said Stephanie Bunker of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

California congressman resigns, pleads guilty to taking bribes resigns

By Alyson Brodsy and Elliot Spagat · Tuesday, Nov. 29,2005 5:44 p.m.

SAN DIEGO -- Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, an eight-term congressman and hotshot Vietnam War fighter jock, pleaded guilty to graft and tearfully resigned Monday, admitting he took $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors to steer business their way. "The truth is I broke the law, concealed my conduct, and disgraced my office," the 63-year-old Republican said at a news conference. "I know that I will forfeit my freedom, my reputation, my worldly possessions, most importantly, the trust of my friends and family."

Saddam lashes out at U.S. 'occupiers and invaders'

By Alyson Brodsy and Hamza Hendawi · Tuesday, Nov. 29,2005 5:44 p.m.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A combative Saddam Hussein lashed out Monday at his treatment by American "occupiers and invaders" and lectured the chief judge about leadership as his trial resumed in a rambling and unfocused session. Two of the seven other defendants also spoke out during the two-and-a-half hour hearing, complaining of their treatment in detention or dissatisfaction with their court-appointed counsel. The court's tolerance of such comments drew sharp complaints from Shiite politicians who contend the tribunal is trying too hard to accommodate an ousted dictator who should have already been convicted and executed.