world

Virginia, Maryland natives anxious about Isabel's outcome

By Holly Johnson and Holy Johnson · Thursday, Sept. 18,2003 2:01 a.m.

Hurricane Isabel's threat might be more than 750 miles from IU, but the effects will reach close to home today. Junior Lauren Brand is from Virginia Beach, Va. -- one of the cities in the direct path of the hurricane along the eastern seaboard.

Fierce storm closes in on Outer Banks

By Alyson Brodsy and Emery P. Dalesio · Thursday, Sept. 18,2003 2:01 a.m.

NAGS HEAD, N.C. -- Hurricane Isabel closed in on North Carolina's Outer Banks Wednesday with 105 mph winds and the potential for up to a foot of rain, threatening to cause ruinous flooding across a huge swath of the already soggy East. Isabel had weakened to a Category 2 hurricane from a Category 5, 160-mph monster, but was still expected to be dangerous when it hit the barrier islands Thursday morning with a storm surge of up to 11 feet.

U.S. vetoes U.N. resolution

By Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, Sept. 18,2003 1:35 a.m.

UNITED NATIONS -- Yasser Arafat dismissed the United States' veto of a U.N. resolution against Israel's threats to expel him, saying Wednesday that the step will not "shake us." Arabs expressed anger, saying Israel may see the veto as a green light to move against the Palestinian leader. Washington says it opposes expelling Arafat from the West Bank. But it said the U.N. resolution calling for Israel to halt its threats was "lopsided" and didn't condemn terrorist groups attacking Israel.

Spanish judge indicts bin Laden, terrorists

By Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, Sept. 18,2003 1:34 a.m.

MADRID, Spain -- A Spanish judge indicted Osama bin Laden and 34 others Wednesday on charges of terrorism, including the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.

Gunman suicide ends standoff

By Alyson Brodsy and Woody Baird · Thursday, Sept. 18,2003 12:49 a.m.

DYERSBURG, Tenn. -- A gunman took at least a dozen people hostage in a college classroom Wednesday afternoon before killing himself, police said. Two hostages were wounded during the nine-hour standoff.

Thousands urged to evacuate as Hurricane Isabel nears East Coast

By Alyson Brodsy and Emery P. Dalesio · Wednesday, Sept. 17,2003 1:12 a.m.

MANTEO, N.C. -- Traffic surged off the Outer Banks island chain Tuesday as nearly 100,000 people were urged to evacuate the North Carolina coast before the arrival of Hurricane Isabel, which had weakened but remained a dangerous storm on a track toward land. The National Hurricane Center posted a hurricane watch from Little River Inlet, S.C., to Chincoteague, Va., including Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds and a large part of Chesapeake Bay.

IU reacts to recall appeal

By Andrea Minarcek · Wednesday, Sept. 17,2003 1:11 a.m.

IU students and faculty reacted strongly to the announcement Monday that a federal appeals court had ordered California officials to halt preparations for the gubernatorial recall election, originally slated for Oct. 7.

East coast residents prepare for Hurricane Isabel

By Alyson Brodsy and Estes Thompson · Tuesday, Sept. 16,2003 2:18 a.m.

TOPSAIL BEACH, N.C. -- Residents up and down the East Coast boarded up windows and stocked up on supplies Monday, while Navy ships prepared to head to sea and the Air Force readied to fly planes out of harm's way as Hurricane Isabel churned toward land with 125 mph winds.

California recall vote postponed

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Sept. 16,2003 1:45 a.m.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court threw California's tumultuous recall campaign into complete turmoil Monday by postponing the Oct. 7 election, citing the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore in ruling that punch-card ballots could lead to some votes not being counted.

Police chief killed west of Baghdad

By Alyson Brodsy and Hamza Hendawi · Tuesday, Sept. 16,2003 1:38 a.m.

FALLUJAH, Iraq -- Three assailants in red-and-white Arab headdresses gunned down the police chief of a city west of Baghdad Monday in an ambush that underscored the perils for Iraqis who join U.S.-backed security forces. The Americans hope those forces will gradually take over security from U.S. troops -- part of the effort to transfer sovereignty to Iraqis. The attack came three days after U.S. forces mistakenly killed eight Iraqi policemen in Fallujah in the worst friendly fire incident since major fighting ended.

Hurricane Isabel on course toward Atlantic Coast

By Alyson Brodsy · Monday, Sept. 15,2003 2:03 a.m.

MIAMI -- Hurricane Isabel plowed toward the Atlantic Coast on Sunday on a course that could slam the powerful Category 4 storm into the central East Coast late this week.

Israeli official says killing Arafat an option

By Alyson Brodsy and Mohammed Daraghmeh · Monday, Sept. 15,2003 1:59 a.m.

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- The second-ranking official in the Israeli government said Sunday that killing Yasser Arafat is an option, as thousands of Palestinians took to the streets across the West Bank and Gaza Strip promising to protect their leader. Israel blames Arafat for blocking peace efforts and preventing a crackdown against militants who have carried out two suicide bombings in the last week.

Around The Nation

By Alyson Brodsy · Monday, Sept. 15,2003 1:58 a.m.

NASA to smash Galileo probe into Jupiter for fear of contaminating its moon PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA plans to crash its $1.5 billion Galileo spacecraft into Jupiter next weekend to make sure it doesn't accidentally contaminate the planet's ice-covered moon Europa with bacteria from Earth.

On first visit to Iraq, Powell encouraged by progress

By Alyson Brodsy and George Gedda · Monday, Sept. 15,2003 1:54 a.m.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday he is convinced "the winds of freedom are blowing" across Iraq but acknowledged the possibility that terrorists are trying to make their way into the country and sabotage the process toward self-rule. Powell spent 12 hours in talks with the team of American officials guiding Iraq in the postwar period and with the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council.

Victims' families kneel at WTC site

By Alyson Brodsy and Sara Kugler · Friday, Sept. 12,2003 2:24 a.m.

NEW YORK -- Brokenhearted mothers knelt with weeping widows on the World Trade Center bedrock Thursday, resting their shaking hands on earth that may disappear under construction by the next anniversary.

Children lead solemn ceremony

By Alyson Brodsy and Larry McShane · Friday, Sept. 12,2003 2:24 a.m.

NEW YORK -- Two-by-two they stepped forward at ground zero Thursday. The sons and daughters, nieces and nephews, grandsons and granddaughters of the Sept. 11 victims mournfully recited the 2,792 names of the World Trade Center dead. "My mother and my hero," 13-year-old Brian Terzian said after reading the name of his mother, Stephanie McKenna. "We love you."

Chile, U.S. share bond after Sept.11 tragedy

By Jen Green · Friday, Sept. 12,2003 2:23 a.m.

Sept. 11 was a tragic date even before the terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001.

Two years later

By Colin Kearns · Thursday, Sept. 11,2003 2:01 a.m.

One year might have been too soon. Last year the ramifications of the Sept. 11 tragedy were still being realized as military confrontation divided the nation and heightened national security sparked concerns about invasion of privacy.

FDNY efforts to reform after Sept. 11 stunted

By Alyson Brodsy and Michael Weissenstein · Thursday, Sept. 11,2003 1:05 a.m.

NEW YORK -- Two years after scores of firefighters perished in the World Trade Center, the Fire Department's efforts to prepare for future terrorist attacks have been hobbled by dwindling resources and political battles, fire officials and others say.

Bush asks for wider anti-terrorism powers

By Alyson Brodsy and Terence Hunt · Thursday, Sept. 11,2003 1:05 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush told Congress Wednesday to "untie the hands" of law enforcement officials and arm them with wider legal powers to combat terrorists, saying the groups that struck America two years ago are wounded but still dangerous.