world

Bush lowers nationwide alert

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, Sept. 25,2002 1:37 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- Two weeks after putting the nation on high alert, President Bush on Tuesday lowered the nationwide terror alert back to code yellow because of disruptions in the al Qaeda terrorist network.

Israeli troops raid Gaza City

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, Sept. 25,2002 1:36 p.m.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Israeli troops backed by dozens of tanks raided Gaza City on Tuesday to destroy several weapons workshops, killing nine Palestinians in gun battles in two neighborhoods of the Palestinians' largest city.

Request for force discussed on TV

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Sept. 24,2002 1:55 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers are close to giving President Bush the congressional authorization he wants to take on Saddam Hussein, saying they will limit the mandate to Iraq to satisfy Democrats' unease about Bush's request to restore security to the whole region. On Sunday's television talk shows, Democrats also said Bush needs to more aggressively explain his plans in order to win domestic and international support for any action.

U.S. coast could get hit

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Sept. 24,2002 12 a.m.

MERIDA, Mexico -- Residents of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula began sweeping water out of their homes and repairing rooftops early Monday after Hurricane Isidore ripped up trees, knocked out power and left at least two people dead. Isidore was downgraded to a tropical storm as it dumped rain across the peninsula and battered the region with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph. At 11:00 a.m. EDT, Isidore was 55 miles south of Merida and slowly drifting eastward.

Arafat won't release names

By Alyson Brodsy · Monday, Sept. 23,2002 11:45 p.m.

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Yasser Arafat on Monday rejected Israel's demand that he provide a list of everyone holed up with him in his besieged office, a Palestinian negotiator said after meeting with Israeli officials in the first face-to-face contact in the five-day standoff. In the divided West Bank city of Hebron, one Israeli was killed and three others were wounded by Palestinian gunfire, settlers and the military said. The Palestinians fired at a Jerusalem family walking to the city's disputed holy site, the burial cave of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the military said.

Schroeder wins close election

By Alyson Brodsy and Tony Czuczka · Monday, Sept. 23,2002 1:18 a.m.

BERLIN -- Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats won Germany's closest postwar election Sunday, after a campaign that focused on fears of a war with Iraq and unleashed anti-American rhetoric.

Bush offers aid to states in drought

Friday, Sept. 20,2002 2:31 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is announcing a relief package worth about $750 million for states hit by the West's worst drought in a century, two officials said. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman planned to announce details of the package at an afternoon conference. Lawmakers, including Rep. John Thune, R-S.D., were to participate. On Sept. 10, senators voted to add $6 billion to it to help farmers and ranchers battered by the drought, despite objections from Bush that the aid would increase federal red ink. Bush said that to prevent reborn federal deficits from getting worse, aid for farmers and ranchers with parched lands should come from the $180 billion, six-year farm bill enacted in May or from other budget savings.

Hurricane Isidore headed for Keys

Friday, Sept. 20,2002 2:46 a.m.

HAVANA -- Hurricane Isidore gathered strength and moved slowly Thursday toward Cuba's western tip and its small Isle of Youth, prompting the government to board up schools and move tens of thousands of people to safer areas. Isidore, the second Atlantic hurricane of the 2002 season, was expected to drench Cuba's western half through the weekend, with a possible 2 feet of rain, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Bush seeks approval for military initiative

Friday, Sept. 20,2002 2:19 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush asked Congress Thursday for authority to use military force to disarm and overthrow Iraq's Saddam Hussein, saying the United States will take action on its own if the U.N. Security Council balks. The president was sending to Capitol Hill his proposed wording for a resolution, a late draft of which would, according to White House officials, give him permission to use "all means he determines to be appropriate, including military" to deal with Saddam.

Hussein tells U.N. Iraq has no nukes

Friday, Sept. 20,2002 2:18 a.m.

UNITED NATIONS -- Saddam Hussein told the United Nations in a speech read Thursday by his foreign minister that Iraq is free of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. It was the first comments attributed to the Iraqi leader since Iraq's surprise announcement this week that it would accept the unconditional return of international weapons inspectors nearly four years after they left. The decision, which followed a tough speech on Iraq last week by President Bush, has divided the major powers on the U.N. Security Council.

Suicide bomber kills at least 5

Friday, Sept. 20,2002 1:58 a.m.

TEL AVIV, Israel -- A Palestinian blew himself up on a crowded bus Thursday in downtown Tel Aviv, killing at least five other people and wounding 49, the second suicide bombing in two days. In response, Israeli tanks charged into Yasser Arafat's West Bank headquarters. The shrapnel-studded explosives tore through the bus on Tel Aviv's Allenby Street while it was passing through the heart of a teeming restaurant and business district at lunchtime. The driver, his body blackened, slumped at the wheel. Passengers jumped out of shattered windows.

Illinois top lawyer suing to stop hearings

By Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, Sept. 19,2002 12:50 a.m.

CHICAGO -- The state attorney general sued to stop hearings for nearly 160 death row inmates seeking clemency, calling planned time limits on the procedures unfair and unconstitutional.

Suicide bomber wounds policeman

By Alyson Brodsy and Mark Lavie · Thursday, Sept. 19,2002 12:49 a.m.

JERUSALEM -- A Palestinian blew himself up at a bus stop in northern Israel during evening rush hour Wednesday, killing a policeman and wounding an officer and a bystander in the first suicide attack against Israelis in six weeks.

Airstrike angers Afghan leaders

By Alyson Brodsy and Todd Pitman · Thursday, Sept. 19,2002 12:48 a.m.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The Afghan government rejects the findings of a U.S. military report that cleared an American warplane crew in the deaths of dozens of civilians at a wedding party, but it doesn't plan to press the matter because of its sensitivity, officials said Wednesday.

Rumsfeld implores Congress to move on Iraq

By Alyson Brodsy and Matt Kelley · Thursday, Sept. 19,2002 12:47 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Congress must authorize the use of military force against Iraq before the U.N. Security Council votes on the issue, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told Congress Wednesday. "No terrorist state poses a greater and more immediate threat to the security of our people and the stability of the world than the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq," Rumsfeld told the House Armed Services Committee.

Inner-conflict disturbs some Catholic clergy

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, Sept. 18,2002 2:02 a.m.

Rudolph Kos. Gilbert Gauthe. James Porter. Paul Shanley. John J. Geoghan. Ronald H. Paquin. The list goes on. Their commonalities? All were accused of sexually abusing minors. And all were priests within the Catholic faith. The diagnosis to the ailment that seems to be plaguing America's Catholic churches varies as some say immaturity among priests is the problem. Others say homosexuality is too prevalent among the leaders of the faith. And while some say it's a direct result of these men having fallen victim to molestation as minors themselves (those in the list above were said to have been sexually abused as minors), one thing is for certain -- these acts against youths have had lasting effects.

U.N. Security Council discusses Iraq timetable

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, Sept. 18,2002 2:02 a.m.

UNITED NATIONS -- The U.N. Security Council met Tuesday to discuss Iraq, a day after Baghdad offered to admit U.N. weapons inspectors without conditions -- a concession made under the threat of U.S. military action and pressure from Arab states. The chief U.N. weapons inspector, Hans Blix, was to meet later Tuesday with Iraqi officials to discuss "practical arrangements" for the return of international weapons inspectors to Baghdad, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard announced.

Iraq: Inspectors will see truth

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, Sept. 18,2002 12:55 a.m.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq said Tuesday that returning U.N. weapons inspectors could learn the truth about the country's alleged weapons of mass destruction "within a reasonable time," but claimed the United States still might find a new reason to attack. It was the country's first public comment after bowing to Arab and world pressure and agreeing to allow the unconditional return of inspectors following a nearly four-year absence. Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz said Iraq had balked because it was not sure if U.S. and British demands were "a genuine concern or a pretext."

Fuel tanker with dynamite seized

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, Sept. 18,2002 12:54 a.m.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A fuel tanker seized over the weekend with sticks of dynamite attached to it was headed to Bagram Air Base, the headquarters of the U.S. military in Afghanistan, a peacekeeping spokesman said Tuesday. The truck was filled with aviation fuel when it was stopped Saturday by Afghan soldiers and international peacekeepers at a checkpoint in southern Kabul, said Squadron Leader Terry Hay, a spokesman for the multinational force. Two men in the truck were arrested, Hay said.

West Nile outbreak continues to spread

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, Sept. 18,2002 12:53 a.m.

CHICAGO -- Bob Meisenheimer liked to sit in his back yard with friends on sultry summer nights, wearing a T-shirt and trying to solve the world's problems. The one that killed him -- West Nile virus -- has authorities scrambling for answers. The mosquito-borne illness has hit Illinois harder than any other state this summer, with 399 cases so far, including 21 deaths. That is far worse than even hot, humid and swampy Louisiana, which has had 11 deaths.