world

Musharraf acts to ease tension with India

By Alyson Brodsy and George Jahn · Tuesday, Jan. 8,2002 11:16 p.m.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- President Pervez Musharraf is close to unveiling a "bold and principled" initiative aimed at easing the threat of war with India, U.S. senators said Tuesday.

Bush looks to lower pollution standards

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Jan. 8,2002 11:15 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is considering relaxing clean-air standards for power plants, which environmentalists and Northeastern states strongly oppose and the energy industry favors.

Sharon: Iranian-Palestinian ties threaten Israel

By Alyson Brodsy and Greg Myre · Tuesday, Jan. 8,2002 11:13 p.m.

JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called Iran the "center of world terror" and said Tuesday a recently captured arms shipment showed that Iran and the Palestinians were collaborating to strike at Israel.

U.S. troops capture two al Qaeda fighters

By Alyson Brodsy and Susanne M. Schafer · Tuesday, Jan. 8,2002 11:09 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. troops captured two senior al Qaeda fighters and confiscated their computers and cell phones near a huge underground cave complex used by Osama bin Laden\'s terrorist network, the nation\'s top general said Tuesday.

U.S. soldiers head to Cuba, prepare to police prisoners

By Alyson Brodsy and John J. Lumpkin · Sunday, Jan. 6,2002 11:03 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- About 1,500 soldiers are heading to the U.S. Navy base in Cuba to prepare for the arrival of al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners. The biggest prize -- Osama bin Laden -- remains uncaptured, though there's a growing belief he's gone to Pakistan, two U.S. senators said Sunday. About 1,000 troops -- many of them military police -- from bases all over the United States have received orders to go to the Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the prisoners will be held under maximum security, Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said Sunday. Another 500 U.S. troops will go to the base in the coming weeks.

American bombers hit Tora Bora caves

By Alyson Brodsy and Chris Tomlinson · Monday, Dec. 10,2001 12:49 a.m.

TORA BORA, Afghanistan -- American bombers pounded the hills and caves of Tora Bora on Sunday, trying to soften al-Qaida defenses for a ground assault by Afghan tribesmen. Pakistani forces moved to seal off escape routes on their side of the border.

Parties discuss recession plans

By U Jae Kang · Sunday, Dec. 9,2001 10:52 p.m.

Democrats and Republicans are wrangling over solutions for the current recession, and each party has its own ideas.

Afghanistan recieves relief from Uzbeks

By Alyson Brodsy · Sunday, Dec. 9,2001 10:48 p.m.

HAIRATON, Afghanistan -- A train rumbled across the only bridge from Uzbekistan into Afghanistan for the first time in four years Sunday, carrying humanitarian aid for refugees battling winter cold, disease and hunger.

Arafat's actions spark anger

By Alyson Brodsy and Ibrahim Barzak · Friday, Dec. 7,2001 1:05 a.m.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Israeli warplanes bombed a police post in Gaza early Friday, keeping pressure on Yasser Arafat to arrest suspected terrorists. The attack came hours after 1,500 Hamas supporters battled Palestinian riot police to protest Arafat's crackdown.

Taliban offers conditional surrender

By Kathy Gannon · Friday, Dec. 7,2001 12:09 a.m.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The Taliban agreed Thursday to surrender Kandahar, their last bastion and birthplace, if their warriors were not punished and safety was guaranteed to leader Mullah Mohammed Omar who once vowed to fight to the death. America said it would not accept any deal allowing the cleric to go free. The promise to give up the city and begin handing over weapons as early as Friday marked the final collapse of the militant movement that imposed strict Islamic rule on Afghanistan for five years.

Afghans decide on interim leaders

By Alyson Brodsy and Tony Czuczka · Wednesday, Dec. 5,2001 11:11 p.m.

KOENIGSWINTER, Germany -- With a war still being fought in their homeland, Afghan factions signed a pact Wednesday to create a temporary post-Taliban administration, putting aside differences over power-sharing to take the first step toward peace. Amid applause and embraces, exhausted envoys at a luxury hotel near Bonn agreed to a U.N.-brokered plan that allows for the deployment of foreign troops to secure the transition, stresses the inclusion of women and strives for a democracy. It offers Afghanistan its best chance in decades to escape a cycle of war.

Rain halts shuttle launch

By Alyson Brodsy and Marcia Dunn · Wednesday, Dec. 5,2001 2:14 a.m.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Rain clouds over the launch pad forced NASA to call off Tuesday's liftoff of space shuttle Endeavour on a flight to deliver a new crew to the international space station. It was the latest delay for Endeavour and its seven astronauts, held up last week by space station trouble. Launch managers said they would try again Wednesday.

Afghanistan peace talks reach final stretch as groups bend to U.S. pressure

By Alyson Brodsy and Tony Czuczka · Tuesday, Dec. 4,2001 11:29 p.m.

KOENIGSWINTER, Germany -- Talks on Afghanistan's future hit the final stretch Tuesday as Afghan factions and U.N. mediators turned to filling seats for an interim administration.

Bush puts Americans on high state of alert

By Alyson Brodsy and Ron Fournier · Tuesday, Dec. 4,2001 12:49 a.m.

WASHINGTON — President Bush put America on high alert Monday for possible terrorist strikes during the holiday season after U.S. intelligence officials reported an increase in credible threats.

Israel declares war on terror

By Alyson Brodsy and Ibrahim Barzak · Tuesday, Dec. 4,2001 12:39 a.m.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared war on terror Monday, and Israeli airstrikes destroyed two of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's helicopters in Gaza and hit West Bank security installations.

Bombings hinder Palestinian/Israeli peace efforts

By Alyson Brodsy and Associated Press · Sunday, Dec. 2,2001 11:16 p.m.

JERUSALEM -- After a series of suicide bombings against Israel that killed 25 people and wounded nearly 200, Yasser Arafat ordered dozens of Islamic militants arrested and promised harsh action. But Israel was deeply skeptical, with hard-liners calling for the removal of the Palestinian leader.

Troops move on Taliban

By Alyson Brodsy and Kathy Gannon · Friday, Nov. 30,2001 12:02 a.m.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Anti-Taliban fighters battled the Islamic militia Thursday on the outskirts of Kandahar, the ousted regime's last bastion, a key northern alliance commander said. The Taliban's supreme leader declared the decisive battle "has now begun."

Afghan factions approaching tentative deal at German peace talks

By Alyson Brodsy and Tony Czuczka · Thursday, Nov. 29,2001 10:57 p.m.

KOENIGSWINTER, Germany -- Afghan factions meeting to work out a post-Taliban government moved Thursday toward agreement on an interim administration to run the country, and the northern alliance dropped its objection to an international security force to secure peace there.

CIA agent killed in Afghanistan

By John J. Lumpkin · Thursday, Nov. 29,2001 1:12 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Rioting prisoners killed CIA officer "Johnny Mike" Spann at Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan, the agency said Wednesday. He was the first American killed in action inside the country since U.S. bombing began seven weeks earlier. Officials recovered his body from the prison compound Wednesday, only after northern alliance rebels backed by U.S. airstrikes and special forces quelled an uprising by Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners. Spann, at the compound to interrogate prisoners, was caught inside when the riot began and had been missing since Sunday. The CIA provided few details of the circumstances of his death. Spann had been in Afghanistan for about six weeks, said his father, Johnny Spann, during an afternoon news conference in the family's hometown of Winfield, Ala.

Cincinnati police kill black man

Wednesday, Nov. 28,2001 11:02 p.m.

CINCINNATI -- Police killed a black man Wednesday in the second such shooting since rioting erupted in April over another black man's death. Four officers, both black and white, were checking out a report of a gunman involved in an apparent robbery at a bus stop north of downtown and shot the suspect during a chase, authorities said.