June 4, 2002
Bomb strapped to victim

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Medical examiner O.C. Smith, who has worked on some of the city's most puzzling deaths, is at the center of another perplexing case: He was attacked over the weekend, bound with barbed wire and left with a bomb tied to his body.

Court aids death row inmate

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court delivered a victory Monday to a death row inmate who said his lawyer snoozed through much of his trial, a possible prelude to broader examination of the quality of legal help available to poor defendants facing the death penalty.

Empty Superfund halts cleanups

WASHINGTON — The loss of corporate taxes supporting the Superfund has left the federal environmental cleanup machine of the 1980s and'90s foundering.

India dismisses Pakistan talks

ALMATY, Kazakhstan — As their armed forces exchanged fire across the line dividing the disputed region of Kashmir, the leaders of Pakistan and India came face-to-face this morning for the first time in five months, but they drew no closer to defusing the conflict that threatens to engulf the two nuclear-armed nations.

Islamic court delays stoning of woman

LAGOS, Nigeria — An Islamic high court on Monday postponed the execution by stoning of a woman convicted of having sex out of wedlock until she weans the baby born of the liaison.

Longtime MCA head Wasserman dies

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Lew Wasserman, one of the last old-time movie moguls who helped build an entertainment empire while keeping company with presidents and the most glittering of Hollywood stars, died Monday. He was 89.

Nuclear war would do little damage in U.S.

WASHINGTON — A nuclear war between Pakistan and India could dwarf any catastrophe in world history, killing up to 12 million people in South Asia, but the radioactive fallout likely would not harm Americans half a world away.

Sept. 11 inquiry to begin

WASHINGTON — President Bush said Monday that intelligence agencies and the FBI must do a better job tracking and catching terrorists, emphasizing pursuit of "this shadowy enemy" on the eve of congressional hearings into the Sept. 11 attacks.

Tenet begins Mideast mission

JERUSALEM — CIA Director George Tenet met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Monday, beginning a tough Mideast mission in which he wants assurances Yasser Arafat will revamp the Palestinian security forces to prevent attacks on Israel.

Three-hour concert pays tribute to queen

LONDON — Buckingham Palace rocked Monday night with screaming guitars, cheering fans and pop stars led by Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton in a concert celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's 50 years on the throne.

American/World scene

The Bush administration is turning aside a call by airport officials to reconsider a Dec. 31 deadline for mandatory screening of all checked baggage.

People in the News

SHAFTSBURY, Vt. — A nonprofit group hopes to open Robert Frost's former home as a museum this fall.

June 3, 2002
'Millie' brings home six Tonys

NEW YORK — "Thoroughly Modern Millie," the Jazz Age tale of an ambitious flapper, tapped its way to six Tony Awards including best musical on Sunday, while "The Goat," Edward Albee's comic drama about the unpredictable nature of love, was named best play.

Administration acknowledges global warming damage

In a stark shift for the Bush administration, the United States has sent a climate report to the United Nations detailing specific and far-reaching effects that it says global warming will inflict on the American environment.

Afghanistan agencies urge donors to keep funding flowing

Afghanistan agencies urge donors to keep funding flowing

Airport execs pressing for new deadline on screening

Airport execs pressing for new deadline on screening

Blaze disrupts Golden Jubilee

LONDON — A fire broke out at Buckingham Palace on Sunday, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people and marring the high-spirited, four-day celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's 50 years on the throne.

CIA had earlier information on hijacker

WASHINGTON — The CIA possessed disturbing information about one of the Sept. 11 hijackers months before it previously disclosed and could have used that knowledge to prevent him from renewing his visa to enter the United States prior to the attack on the Pentagon and World Trade Center, a senior administration official said Sunday.

Foreign policy tested in 'overload'

WASHINGTON — As Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld prepares to head to South Asia in hopes of defusing the mounting tension between India and Pakistan over the disputed region of Kashmir, he faces an enormously difficult — and critical — task.

Hamas offered Cabinet posts

JERUSALEM — Yasser Arafat has offered Cabinet posts to Hamas and other militant groups involved in suicide attacks against Israelis as part of a government reshuffle he plans to announce in coming days, Palestinians said Sunday.

Masai offer cattle in sympathy over 9/11

ENOOSAEN, Kenya — Skyscrapers are a foreign concept to the Masai people who live in this corner of Kenya, where the tallest things on the vast horizon are the acacia trees and the giraffes that feed on them.

Officials: 9/11 not preventable

WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence agencies could have better analyzed information that pointed to Sept. 11, but they probably could not have prevented the attacks, the attorney general and FBI director said Sunday.

Pakistan suggests Russian mediation

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — With India's prime minister unwilling to meet with Pakistan's president at a summit in Kazakhstan this week, the Pakistani leader held out the possibility Sunday that Russia could serve as a mediator in the crisis over disputed Kashmir.

Police make arrests after massacre

SANTIAGO XOCHILTEPEC, Mexico — State officials said Sunday that 16 people were arrested in the massacre of 26 sawmill workers that apparently grew out of a decades-old land dispute.

Report: Al-Qaida plans more attacks

"We confirm our continuation in working to attack Americans and Jews, and targeting them, both people and buildings," Al-Hayat quoted Sulaiman Abu Gaith as saying in an article that the newspaper said was published on the Web site www.alneda.com. The site could not be accessed on Sunday.

Swiss voters support easing abortion laws

GENEVA — Swiss voters on Sunday overwhelmingly supported legislation making it easier for a woman to get an abortion within the first 12 weeks of a pregnancy.

Veterans mark 60th anniversary of key World War II naval battle

Veterans mark 60th anniversary of key World War II naval battle

American/World scene

More former state inmates are getting arrested again after being released from prison, the Justice Department reported Sunday.

People in the news

BEIJING — A charity created by Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates will donate $37.5 million to combat hepatitis B in China, where two-thirds of the disease's victims live.

June 2, 2002
A day after celebration, family buries executed son

GRAPELAND, Texas — A day after celebrating their youngest son's high school graduation, Ireland and Rena Beazley buried their oldest son, executed for committing a fatal carjacking.

Argentina announces plan to eventually phase out banking freeze

Argentina announces plan to eventually phase out banking freeze

Bush urges cadets to action

WEST POINT, N.Y. — President Bush told nearly 1,000 graduates at the U.S. Military Academy on Saturday that the Cold War doctrines of containment and deterrence were irrelevant in a world where the only strategy for defeating America's new enemies was to strike them first.

Can U.S. avert war and stop attacks?

WASHINGTON — The United States finds itself with two immense and sometimes conflicting challenges in trying to defuse the India-Pakistan crisis: averting a war that could go nuclear while still working to prevent terror attacks against Americans.

Castro denounces democracy

HOLGUIN, Cuba — In a blistering speech before hundreds of thousands of people in a drenching rain Saturday, President Fidel Castro said the democracy President Bush wants to see in Cuba would be a corrupt and unfair system that ignores the poor.

Concert opens Queen Elizabeth II's jubilee

LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II opened Buckingham Palace to 12,000 guests for an outdoor evening of classical music Saturday, kicking off a four-day celebration of her 50 years on the throne.

Depositions to begin in Boston church cases

BOSTON — An extraordinary procession of high-ranking church officials will answer questions under oath beginning Monday in two of the nation's most high-profile cases of priests accused of abusing children.

Early diagnosis provides insight into Alzheimer's

Until recently, a patient like Carolyn E. Hoard would never have been told she was progressing toward Alzheimer's disease. A 61-year-old mental health counselor in Kittanning, Pa., she reported nothing more than a mild loss of memory, particularly when it came to recalling what someone had said in conversation a few minutes ago. Her first neurologist told her she was fine.

FBI, CIA struggle to put history behind them

WASHINGTON — The war on terror is pressing the FBI and CIA, once two solitudes, to mesh in ways their operatives could not have imagined in scrappier days.

Former Afghan king to visit two major cities

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan's 87-year-old former king, who ended three decades of exile in April, is visiting two major cities in a trip expected to promote ethnic unity before a grand council chooses a new government.

Ground zero buildings' fate unclear

NEW YORK — Cleanup at ground zero is complete, but restoration is far from over at nine vacant and scarred office buildings nearby.

Harvard's Gates says he is not leaving — yet

TRENTON, N.J. — The head of Harvard University's black studies department said he would not join two colleagues leaving for Princeton in the coming academic year.

Israeli troops patrol Nablus

NABLUS, West Bank — Israeli forces patrolled the deserted streets of this Palestinian city Saturday with tanks, armored personnel carriers and armored jeeps as they searched for suspects in terrorist activities.

L.A. officials preparing for suicide bombers

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles law enforcement officials have begun preparing for possible suicide bomber attacks by traveling to Israel for training and passing along what they learn to other agencies.

Mount Hood's deadly day

TIMBERLINE LODGE, Ore. — The mountain beckons from afar, a snow-white pyramid that floats above the treed horizon like a cloud, and people cannot help themselves: They want to climb Mount Hood.

Nepal marks anniversary of royal massacre

KATMANDU, Nepal — The people of Nepal — jarred a year ago by the massacre of the royal family of this Himalayan kingdom — marked the anniversary Saturday with quiet tributes, a photo exhibit of the slain royals and a planned rally by schoolchildren.

Official: Islamic terrorists turning to Asia

SINGAPORE — Islamic terrorists "have Asia in their sights," the Pentagon's No. 2 official told defense ministers from the region Saturday in an effort to rally support for the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

Only 10 applications submitted to Sept. 11 fund

NEW YORK — Only 10 families have completed applications for the federal government's Sept. 11 fund nearly nine months after the terrorist attacks that killed more than 3,000 people, the fund's administrator said Saturday.

Park visitors thought they could wait out deadly storm

Park visitors thought they could wait out deadly storm

Singers Smith, Moore take home MTV awards

LOS ANGELES — Pop stars rocked the MTV Movie Awards on Saturday, with rapper Will Smith winning the best actor award for "Ali" and singer Mandy Moore claiming breakthrough actress honors for "A Walk to Remember."

U.N. orders families to leave region

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan's president, stopping short of matching India's pledge not to use nuclear weapons first, said Saturday that no "sane individual" would let tensions between the two nations escalate into a nuclear war.

U.S. troops seize three men

BAGRAM, Afghanistan — U.S. troops Saturday seized three men who were found carrying weapons, documents and money and may have been involved in firing rockets at American forces in southeast Afghanistan, an American military spokesman said.

Ulster leaders give pep talk to two sides in the Mideast

Ulster leaders give pep talk to two sides in the Mideast

News shows

ABC's "This Week With Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts" — Attorney General John Ashcroft; Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa; Terry Lenzner, private investigator; retired Col. Sam Gardiner, National Defense University.

June 1, 2002
Afghan campaign gets new general

BAGRAM, Afghanistan — A new American general took control of the U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan on Friday, acknowledging in an interview with The Associated Press that the hunt for elusive al-Qaida and Taliban fighters has gotten tougher.

After years of ups and downs, queen rides high in jubilee

After years of ups and downs, queen rides high in jubilee

Americans unimpressed by warning to get out

NEW DELHI, India — Sipping drinks by the pool at their private club, several Americans said Friday night they aren't overly worried about war between India and Pakistan — much less a nuclear one.

Americans urged to leave India

NEW DELHI, India — The U.S. government arranged Friday for American diplomats and their families to leave India and urged the 60,000 Americans there to depart because of rising war tensions with Pakistan.

Bush considers joining peace process

WASHINGTON — President Bush is facing what may be his most momentous foreign policy decision so far: whether to put the full weight of the United States, and his presidency, behind a risky push for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Catholic bishops to decide ways to handle charges of sex abuse

Catholic bishops to decide ways to handle charges of sex abuse

Danish immigration law tightened

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Parliament voted Friday to tighten Denmark's immigration and asylum rules, making it harder for foreigners to seek asylum, get residence permits and welfare benefits.

EU ratifies global warming treaty

UNITED NATIONS — The 15 members of the European Union on Friday jointly ratified a treaty designed to reduce levels of greenhouse gases that cause global warming, raising the likelihood that the pact will become law before the end of the year despite U.S. opposition.

FBI letter writer described as courageous and honest

FBI letter writer described as courageous and honest

FBI report warned of agency problems

WASHINGTON — A secret report warned top officials of the FBI in the months before Sept. 11 the bureau faced significant terrorist threats from Middle Eastern groups like al-Qaida but lacked enough resources to meet the threat, senior government officials said.

Federal judges strike down Internet porn law

PHILADELPHIA — A special three-judge panel Friday morning invalidated Congress' third attempt at regulating the Internet, ruling that the Children's Internet Protection Act of 2000 requiring pornography filters on any library receiving federal funds violates the First Amendment rights of adult patrons.

Gay Methodist minister to stay on pulpit

SEATTLE — An openly gay Methodist pastor has been allowed to remain on the pulpit after a committee's investigation determined not enough evidence existed to sustain a charge of homosexuality against him under church rules.

Israeli forces detain refugees

NABLUS, West Bank — Israeli troops rolled into a refugee camp on the edge of Nablus on Friday, rounding up hundreds of Palestinian men, imposing a curfew and blowing up the home of a suicide bomber.

Kashmir land of beauty, bloodshed

Sanskrit poets described the seductive and exotic lands of Kashmir as "the benefactor of supreme bliss and happiness," but the mountainous region straddling northern India and Pakistan has been at the center of misery, warfare and increasingly bellicose rhetoric for the last half-century.

Military imbalance raises risk for India, Pakistan

Military imbalance raises risk for India, Pakistan

Survivors tell of deadly chain reaction on Mt. Hood

TIMBERLINE LODGE, Ore. — The deadly accident high on Mount Hood began with one false step by a climber who swept eight others with him into an icy crevasse after a terrifying chain-reaction near the 11,240-foot summit.

Swiss face referendum on vague abortion law

GENEVA — On the statute books, Switzerland has one of Europe's toughest anti-abortion laws. Doctors who carry out terminations can face five years in prison. Women who have abortions can get three-year jail terms.

People in the news

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Grammy award winner Aretha Franklin is suing the Star tabloid magazine for defamation over a story that said the singer has a drinking problem that's threatening her career and life.

May 31, 2002
Arafat approves rights package

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has signed a package of laws granting basic rights to his people and regulating his government, officials said Thursday, just before world diplomats began arriving to press him for reforms.

Ceremony marks end of WTC cleanup

NEW YORK — Until Thursday, there was no room for silence at the World Trade Center. In the decades before its collapse, the streets echoed with the bustle of its commerce; in the eight months after, with the haunting roar from the haul of its rubble and the hunt for remains.

Climbers fall into crevasse; rescue helicopter crashes

Climbers fall into crevasse; rescue helicopter crashes

Clouds force delay of Endeavour launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Thunderstorm clouds forced NASA to call off Thursday's launch of space shuttle Endeavour on a mission to deliver a new crew to the international space station and fix the orbiting outpost's robot arm.

Early blooms evidence of warming, scientist says

WASHINGTON — Rising temperatures are causing plants to burst into bloom weeks earlier in the spring, according to British researchers who say the finding is strong evidence that global warming is changing biology.

FBI agents given freer hand

WASHINGTON — Saying that the FBI's own rules have provided terrorists with a "competitive advantage," Attorney General John Ashcroft Thursday unveiled new guidelines that will permit agents to more freely conduct surveillance at libraries, political rallies and religious gatherings, surf the Internet and mine commercial databases for information.

FBI rules probably pass legal muster

WASHINGTON — An FBI newly freed to spy on Americans may arouse alarm among civil libertarians, but it is not likely to run afoul of the federal courts.

Former dictator of Mali pardoned

BAMAKO, Mali — Mali's former dictator rebuffed a pardon from the West African nation's first democratically elected president Thursday — saying that even after 11 years' imprisonment, he would leave only when the outgoing president leaves office.

Neb. church admits to negligence

OMAHA, Neb. — The Omaha Archdiocese has admitted that negligent supervision of a Roman Catholic priest in the 1990s contributed to his sexually abusing a 14-year-old altar boy, a judge said Thursday.

New Cabinet minister a British first

LONDON — Prime Minister Tony Blair's latest government shuffle has given Britain its first black Cabinet minister — more than a century after the country elected its first nonwhite lawmaker.

New FBI guidelines

Highlights of guidelines giving the FBI new authority to conduct domestic surveillance in connection with the terrorist threat:

Pakistan shifts its troops

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — In a demonstration of his government's shifting priorities, Pakistan's president on Thursday began withdrawing troops helping fight al-Qaida terrorists on the Afghan border, and said he was considering moving them to Kashmir to face off against India.

Palestinian Basic Law excerpts

Following are excerpts from the Basic Law, signed this week by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The document contains a preamble and 112 articles. Palestinian officials confirmed Thursday that it had been signed, five years after it was passed by the Palestinian Legislative Council:

Palestinian woman tells of planned suicide bombing

JERUSALEM — Tawriya Hamamra, a young Palestinian woman, had barely an hour's training in preparation for a suicide bombing. All she really needed to remember was how to work the detonator button that rested on her hip.

Pearl's wife gives birth

NEW YORK — The widow of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl has given birth to a baby boy in Paris.

Pilot whose barge hit bridge had gotten little sleep

Pilot whose barge hit bridge had gotten little sleep

Police: couple drove bomber

JERUSALEM — A Palestinian and his Israeli wife drove a Palestinian suicide bomber to an Israeli city last week where he blew himself up, killing two Israelis and injuring 51, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said Thursday.

R.I.P. Punch: The day the satire died

Punch — the oldest English-language satirical magazine — has been pulled.

Reform sponsors alert for loopholes

WASHINGTON — Rules proposed by the Federal Election Commission to enforce the new campaign finance law would instead create loopholes in it, the law's sponsors say.

Study: Drug aids pregnant women

LONDON — Giving injections of magnesium sulfate to expectant mothers who have pre-eclampsia can halve their risk of dangerous seizures and save their lives, a new study has found.

U.N.: 10M in southeast Africa near starvation

LUSAKA, Zambia — With his people growing ever more desperate, Zambia's president has become the latest southern African leader to declare the regional food shortage a national disaster.

U.S. cluster bombs push back cleanup timetable

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — The use of cluster bombs during the U.S.-led attacks in Afghanistan has pushed back efforts to clear this mine-laden city by at least a year and raised doubts about a plan to rid the region of unexploded ordnance by decade's end, U.N. officials said Thursday.

American/World scene

Georgia Tech officials said 136 students have accepted punishment for cheating on a computer science assignment last fall, and 18 others are awaiting hearings before a student honor committee.

People in the News

LONDON — Two British tabloids carried photographs Thursday showing Chelsea Clinton being helped from a London nightclub by her boyfriend.