world

Powell begins Middle East tour in Egypt

By Abdullah AlShihri and George Gedda · Thursday, July 29,2004 2:12 a.m.

CAIRO, Egypt -- Touching on two sensitive Mideast issues, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell repeated Wednesday calls for reform in the Palestinian leadership and urged pressure on Sudan to stop violence blamed on ethnic cleansing.

Suicide bombing kills 68 in Iraq

By Abdullah AlShihri and Hadi Awad · Thursday, July 29,2004 2:12 a.m.

BAQOUBA, Iraq -- A suicide car bomb exploded on a busy downtown boulevard in Baqouba Wednesday, reducing a bus full of passengers to a charred wreck, ripping through nearby shops and killing at least 68 Iraqis in one of the deadliest single insurgent attacks since the U.S. invasion.

Court to rule on medical drug law

By Priyanka Shewakramani · Tuesday, July 27,2004 11:05 p.m.

The Supreme Court has decided to hear the Bush administration's appeal of a case it lost last year involving the federal ban on marijuana and the use of the drug to treat medical ailments. The case was argued in the San Francisco 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in December of 2003. The court ruled that California patients whose doctors have prescribed marijuana for medicinal proposes are not subject to the federal laws outlawing the use of the drug.

Convention to kick off tonight

By Tony Sams · Sunday, July 25,2004 10:43 p.m.

BOSTON -- Amid the signs and cries of protesters, the possibility of city union workers striking, congested downtown traffic and the ever-present threat of terrorism, Democrats from around the country will converge on their national convention, which will open tonight at the FleetCenter in Boston.

Israelis split on Gaza Strip withdrawal plan

By Benjames Derrick and Benjamin Derrick · Sunday, July 25,2004 10:10 p.m.

An estimated 130,000 Israelis joined hands Sunday to form a human chain stretching from the edges of the Gaza Strip to Jerusalem to protest the Israeli government's plan to withdraw from the area. The Israeli government's unilateral withdrawal plan comes after years of fruitless negotiations between Israel and their Palestinian counterparts, years which have been frequently punctuated with violence and much blaming.

Around The World

By Alyson Brodsy · Sunday, July 25,2004 9:53 p.m.

Court rules sperm donor must pay child support HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A state appeals court ruled that a verbal agreement between a woman and her sperm donor was invalid, and ordered the man to pay child support for the woman's twins. The three-judge panel ruled Thursday that the deal between Joel McKiernan and Ivonne Ferguson -- in which McKiernan donated his sperm and would not be obligated to pay any support -- was unenforceable because of "legal, equitable and moral principles."

Sudan rejects U.S. claims of genocide

By Alyson Brodsy · Sunday, July 25,2004 9:47 p.m.

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Sudan's foreign minister, insisting his government is doing all it can to end the conflict in the country's western Darfur region, rejected a U.S. Congressional declaration that the bloodletting amounts to genocide. Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said Sudan agrees with the African Union, which has refrained from calling the atrocities genocide, a crime punishable under a 1948 U.N. convention.

Economy top priority among Democratic delegates

By Alyson Brodsy · Sunday, July 25,2004 9:45 p.m.

BOSTON -- It's the economy, John Kerry. That's what delegates to the Democratic National Convention say their presumed presidential nominee or -- they shudder to think -- President Bush should concentrate on first in 2005, an Associated Press survey of Democratic delegates found. Health care was the No. 2 issue, followed by the war in Iraq, according to the survey of some three-quarters of the 4,300-plus delegates.

U.N. reports global spread of AIDS epidemic continues

By Rynn Hagen · Wednesday, July 21,2004 10:58 p.m.

The United Naitons published its 2004 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic July 6, ahead of the 15th International Conference on AIDS, which was held in Bangkok, Thailand, last week.

P. Diddy encourages minority youth to vote

By Nekesa Moody · Wednesday, July 21,2004 10:46 p.m.

Trendsetters, fashionistas, rappers -- P. Diddy wants you. Specifically, he's looking for the "sexy people" to help him entice young people and minorities to vote in the presidential election as part of his new nonpartisan voting initiative called Citizen Change.

Justice Department to investigate Berger

By Alyson Brodsy and Curt Anderson · Wednesday, July 21,2004 10:44 p.m.

Former national security adviser Sandy Berger says he regrets the way he handled classified terrorism documents, calling the whole thing "an honest mistake." Republicans say the matter raises questions about whether the former Clinton administration official sought to hide embarrassing materials.

9-11 commission to release final report today

By Rami Chami · Wednesday, July 21,2004 10:43 p.m.

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States published the comprehensive findings of its 20-month investigation into the Sept. 11 attacks and the government's failure to prevent them today. The 10-member panel, headed by Chairman Thomas Kean, former governor of New Jersey, examined the response of government agencies and emergency response workers to the attacks and has made recommendations to prevent the occurrence of other attacks against the United States.

Stewart to appeal prison sentence

By Priyanka Shewakramani · Wednesday, July 21,2004 10:42 p.m.

Martha Stewart announced Monday in an interview on "Larry King Live" that she would write a book about her current legal battles. The famous homemaker was convicted Friday by a Federal Court in Manhattan on charges of lying to investigators about the sale of her stock in the biotech company Imclone Systems Inc. Stewart sold stock she held in the company shortly before the FDA rejected a drug the company wanted to sell in the United States.

U.N. General assembly calls for Israeli fence removal

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, July 21,2004 10:36 p.m.

Israel's construction of its West Bank barrier went ahead full force Wednesday, hours after the U.N. General Assembly called for the structure to be torn down in compliance with a world court ruling.

War on terror budget underestimated

By Alyson Brodsy and Alan Fram · Wednesday, July 21,2004 10:20 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon faces a $12.3 billion shortfall through September for the costs of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and its worldwide effort against terrorism, congressional auditors estimated Wednesday. The amount is triple what Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, projected in April he would need to make it through September. Lawmakers of both parties said at the time that his projection seemed too low, so the projection was not a surprise.

Martha Stewart sentenced to 5 months in jail

By Alyson Brodsy and Matt Apuzzo · Sunday, July 18,2004 9:53 p.m.

HARTFORD, Conn. -- The Danbury Federal Correctional Institution is only about 20 miles from Martha Stewart's home in Connecticut, but it will seem like a world away from her usual lifestyle. If Stewart loses her appeals, she will in all likelihood end up at the low-security prison that is home to 1,300 female inmates.

Indian families mourn school fire deaths

By Alyson Brodsy · Sunday, July 18,2004 9:52 p.m.

KUMBAKONAM, India -- Parents of the dead went home, silently weeping. Others sat in the sun Saturday outside a hospital, hoping their children will survive burns they suffered in a school fire in southern India that killed 90 children. Many were the first in their families to go to school, escaping generations of illiteracy in this country, where one-third of more than 1 billion people still can't read or write.

Hostage crisis changes Philippines policy

By Alyson Brodsy and Paul Alexander · Sunday, July 18,2004 9:51 p.m.

MANILA, Philippines -- Two weeks ago, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was one of Washington's best friends. Angelo dela Cruz was toiling in anonymity 5,000 miles away, starting a dangerous drive into Iraq with a truckload of fuel. Then, with a rattle of gunfire, Iraqi insurgents hijacked both their lives, setting off a chain of events that has left Arroyo isolated and criticized by her closest allies even as dela Cruz, a poor father of eight, has emerged as an unlikely national icon.

Arafat rejects prime minister's resignation

By Alyson Brodsy and Lara Sukhtian · Sunday, July 18,2004 9:51 p.m.

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Militants sacked and burned Palestinian government offices Sunday, the latest sign of growing anger over Yasser Arafat's decision to reach into his old guard and choose a loyalist relative as new security chief.

Canadian leader to select cabinet

By Sheeba Madan · Sunday, July 18,2004 9:50 p.m.

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin will talk to opposition leaders this month to plan the course for the country's new minority government. The prime minister is expected to announce his cabinet appointments Tuesday. Led by Paul Martin, the Liberal Party formed a minority government in Canada after the results of general elections were announced June 29. This is the first minority administration in Canada in the last 25 years.