Troops hike to quake-buried Chinese villages
MIANYANG, China (AP) -- Soldiers hiking over landslide-blocked roads reached the epicenter of China's devastating earthquake Tuesday, pulling bodies and a few survivors from collapsed buildings. The death toll of more than 12,000 was certain to rise as the buried were found....
Helicopter crash kills 4 in Canada
CRANBROOK, British Columbia (AP) -- A helicopter plunged to the ground and burst into flames in a residential neighborhood in western Canada on Tuesday, killing the three people aboard and one person on the ground, officials said....
Chelsea Clinton back in Puerto Rico to campaign
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Chelsea Clinton is back in Puerto Rico stumping for her mother, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton....
Rice says Mideast peace improbable, not impossible
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Ahead of a visit to the Middle East, President Bush expressed some optimism that an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement would be struck before his term ends while holding out little hope for a major breakthrough when he arrives in Israel on Wednesday....
Britain releases batch of files on UFO sightings
LONDON (AP) -- The men were air traffic controllers. Experienced, calm professionals. Nobody was drinking. But they were so worried about losing their jobs that they demanded their names be kept off the official report....
Israel Museum puts Dead Sea scroll on rare display
JERUSALEM (AP) -- One of the most important Dead Sea scrolls is going on display in Jerusalem this week - more than four decades after it was last seen by the public. The 24-foot scroll with the text of the Bible's Book of Isaiah had been in a dark, temperature-controlled room at the Israel Museum since 1967. It went on display two years earlier, but curators replaced it with a facsimile after noticing new cracks in the calfskin parchment....
Man accused of handing pot to court security
CLEVELAND, Tenn. (AP) -- A man was arrested after pulling marijuana from his pocket at a security check at a court. The man was visiting the courts section of the Bradley County Justice Center on Monday when he was asked to empty his pockets into a plastic bowl, a standard procedure....
'Darth Vader' spared jail in Jedi church attacks
HOLYHEAD, Wales (AP) -- A man who dressed up as Darth Vader, wearing a garbage bag for a cape, and assaulted the founders of a group calling itself the Jedi church was given a suspended sentence Tuesday....
Brazil's environment minister resigns
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) -- Environment Minister Marina Silva resigned Tuesday, ending an often stormy six-year term that put her in conflict with developers in the Amazon rain forest....
Police report 60 killed by bombs in western India
NEW DELHI (AP) -- A series of bombs exploded across the ancient city of Jaipur on Tuesday, killing at least 60 people and transforming busy markets, a jewelry bazaar and a Hindu temple into scenes of carnage....
British government documents accidentally seen
LONDON (AP) -- Two senior government ministers accidentally revealed confidential documents to sharp-eyed photographers on Tuesday - including proposals for Britain's prime minister Gordon Brown to star in a reality television show....
Emir who briefly ruled Kuwait dies at age 78
KUWAIT CITY (AP) -- Sheik Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah, who ruled this small oil-rich ally of Washington for just nine days before being removed for ill health, died Tuesday. He was 78....
Sudan: 200 died in Darfur rebel raid near Khartoum
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) -- More that 200 people were killed in fighting around Sudan's capital over the weekend, the defense minister announced Tuesday in the first official comment on casualties during the assault by Darfur rebels....
Colombian warlords extradited to US
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Colombia extradited 14 paramilitary warlords to the United States on Tuesday to stand trial on drug trafficking charges in a surprise move applauded by the Bush administration as evidence that Colombia deserves a trade deal....
Reports: Acquittals overturn in Vatican Radio case
ROME (AP) -- Italy's top criminal court overturned the acquittals of a Vatican cardinal and another top churchman accused of environmental pollution involving a Vatican Radio transmission tower near Rome, news reports said Tuesday night....
Deal on role for Islamic law in NW Pakistan area
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistan's government agreed to let judges consider advice from Islamic scholars in court cases in parts of the volatile tribal regions of the northwest, officials said Tuesday....
Palestinian PM criticizes Israel's celebrations
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad reprimanded Israel on Tuesday for triumphantly celebrating its 60th birthday before having reached a peace deal with the Palestinians....
Saudis sends sharp warning to Iran over Lebanon
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) -- Saudi Arabia sent Iran a sharp warning over Lebanon Tuesday, saying Tehran's support for Hezbollah will damage its relations with other Muslim and Arab countries....
Sept. 11 families fear war-crimes trial
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- People who lost relatives in the Sept. 11 attacks fear alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will use his upcoming war-crimes trial to boast about his role and rally support for al-Qaida....
Myanmar police block aid workers, food piles up
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Police barred foreign aid workers from reaching cyclone survivors in hard-hit areas Tuesday, while emergency food shipments backed up at the main airport for Myanmar's biggest city....
Bob Mitchell
