world

Boston plane halted at takeoff

BOSTON -- A Delta Air Lines flight from Boston to Florida was aborted before takeoff Thursday after a passenger demanded to be let out and allegedly made a threat. The plane was on the runway and was supposed to head to Orlando, Fla. Instead, it taxied back to the terminal area and its 118 passengers were taken off the plane.

Arafat announces cease-fire support

JERUSALEM -- Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Thursday he was ready to work for an immediate, unconditional cease-fire with Israel, but he stopped short of declaring a truce in the Mideast conflict. More violence erupted Thursday night when suspected Palestinian gunmen opened fire at Eilon Moreh, a Jewish settlement near the West Bank town of Nablus, killing three people and wounding two, the Israeli military said.

U.S. to seek the death penalty

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department told a court Thursday it will seek the death penalty against Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks against New York and Washington. Moussaoui deserves to die because he helped plot "the largest loss of life resulting from a criminal act in the history of the United States," prosecutors said in a filing with the trial judge in suburban Alexandria, Va.

Arab summit showcases anger, not peace

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- At a tumultuous summit opening marked by angry words and walkouts, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah proposed Wednesday that the Arab world offer Israel "normal relations" and security in exchange for full withdrawal from Arab lands held since 1967 and the right of return for Palestinian refugees.

U.S. troops help Afghan quake relief, slowed by aftershocks

NAHRIN, Afghanistan -- A strong aftershock sent boulders tumbling across mountain roads on Wednesday, blocking efforts to rush relief supplies to tens of thousands of homeless Afghans after a devastating earthquake. Officials said the death toll was in the hundreds, not the thousands originally feared.

Arafat won't attend

JERUSALEM -- Yasser Arafat decided Tuesday not to attend a key Arab summit, and his Cabinet accused Israel of trying to "blackmail" the Palestinian leader with tough conditions for letting him go. Arafat's absence could undermine Arab support for a Saudi peace overture being presented in Beirut.

Lawsuit filed for slavery reparations

NEW YORK -- A federal lawsuit seeking unspecified reparations for the 35 million descendants of African slaves was filed Tuesday against the Aetna insurance company, the FleetBoston financial services group and railroad giant CSX.

Earthquake rocks Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan -- An earthquake devastated mountain villages in northern Afghanistan, where officials Tuesday estimated at least 1,800 people died and thousands more were injured in a region already hard-hit by hunger, drought and war. At the scene, the military commander from the Baglan region said the Monday night quake collapsed 20,000 mud-brick houses. Gen. Haider Kahn estimated between 600 and 1,000 people remained trapped and said the death toll could hit 2,000.

Israel intelligence suspects Palestine-Iran link

JERUSALEM -- Israel said Palestinian and Iranian officials met in Moscow last year and forged a new alliance in which the Palestinians were to receive millions of dollars worth of heavy weaponry in exchange for allowing Iran more influence and intelligence information about Israel.

Bombing in Peru kills 9

LIMA, Peru -- A car bomb exploded outside the U.S. Embassy in Lima, killing at least nine people and injuring dozens in an audacious late-night attack just three days before President Bush visits the Andean capital. U.S. officials said Thursday that Shining Path rebels were suspected.

Campaign finance passed

WASHINGTON -- Congress approved the most sweeping changes to the nation's campaign finance system since the Watergate scandals on Wednesday, ending years of gridlock and clearing the bill for President Bush's signature. Critics promised a swift court challenge.

Tribunals differ from earlier trials

WASHINGTON -- Terror suspects tried before military tribunals would have many of the legal rights given defendants accused of other crimes, but prosecutors could use evidence that would probably be tossed out of an ordinary American court, a U.S. official said Wednesday.

Sharon considers allowing Arafat to leave

JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Tuesday Yasser Arafat will be free to travel to an Arab summit next week if the Palestinian leader agrees to a cease-fire but hinted Arafat may not be allowed back if the violence persists while he is gone.

States seek Microsoft penalties

WASHINGTON -- Monday, nine states asked a judge to impose tougher penalties against Microsoft, citing internal memos as evidence the software giant had persisted in thwarting competitors even as it was being found guilty of antitrust violations. The states asked U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to force Microsoft to create a stripped-down version of its flagship Windows software that could incorporate competitors' features and to divulge the blueprints for its Internet Explorer browser.

Mideast talks point to possible truce

JERUSALEM -- Israeli troops pulled out of biblical Bethlehem and a neighboring village early Tuesday, witnesses said, edging Israel and the Palestinians closer to a cease-fire in the 18-month-old Mideast conflict. The pullback came during a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney, winding up a tour of the region that concentrated on the U.S.-led campaign against world terrorism. Concerned that Palestinian-Israeli violence would disrupt the effort, Cheney called on both sides to end their conflict.

Depression-era employment program fails to reach many jobless

WASHINGTON -- As many as 4 million people could receive extended unemployment benefits under the economic recovery package signed into law by President Bush. But Anthony Walker, who was laid off in January, will not be one of them.

Russia may soften on U.S. weapons pact

U.S operation under scrutiny

BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- The plan was to seal all escape routes from the Shah-e-Kot valley and then slowly squeeze al Qaeda and Taliban fighters who had massed in the frigid hills of eastern Afghanistan.

Ex-priest rape charges dropped

BOSTON -- A judge threw out two child rape charges against the former Roman Catholic priest at the center of the Boston Archdiocese sex scandal Thursday, saying too much time had passed between the alleged assaults and the indictment. John Geoghan, who is serving a 9- to 10-year sentence for fondling a 10-year-old boy, said 1999 charges that he twice raped another boy in the mid-1980s came after the statute of limitations had expired.

Bush urges responsibility

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, demanding corporate responsibility amid the Enron bankruptcy scandal, said Thursday the federal government should strip company chief executives of ill-gotten bonuses and create an agency to monitor the accounting industry. "A good business always respects the boundaries of right and wrong," he told business executives.