  
| 
| ||||||||||||
 Tuesday, March 28
Editor's Note: The CNN Wire is a running log of the latest news from CNN World Headquarters, reported by CNN's correspondents and producers, and The CNN Wire editors. Olmert offers compromise with Palestinians: 'We will not wait forever' JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised to work toward a compromise with the Palestinians after his Kadima party led Tuesday's parliamentary elections, but warned, "We will not wait forever." Analysts said, however, that Kadima's weaker-than-expected showing in exit polls would make it harder for Olmert to continue the policy of unilateral withdrawals from Palestinian territory he inherited from Israel's incapacitated leader, Ariel Sharon. Israeli media was reporting that with 99.54 percent of votes counted, Kadima won 28 seats, Labor 20 and Shas, a Sephardi Ultra Orthodox party, 13. Yisrael Beitenu, the conservative Russian immigrant party, won 12 percent and Likud 11. Olmert has been interim leader since the January stroke that left Sharon in a coma. The former Jerusalem mayor has vowed to define Israel's permanent borders within four years -- with or without talks with the Palestinians -- by evacuating many of the smaller Jewish settlements in the West Bank and annexing the larger ones. (Updated 10:31 p.m.) Senate confirms Thad Allen as Coast Guard commandant WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Vice Adm. Thad Allen, who earned praise for his handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, as commandant of the Coast Guard. Allen's nomination -- which had been held up briefly by Nevada Sen. John Ensign -- was confirmed by unanimous consent. The Senate Commerce Committee had recommended his nomination to the full chamber March 16. Allen replaced former Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown as the head of the federal government's response to Katrina a week after the storm hit Aug. 29. Brown had been widely criticized for his response to the disaster, and resigned soon afterward. President Bush nominated Allen to lead the Coast Guard in January. He is scheduled to replace the current Coast Guard commandant, Adm. Thomas Collins, on May 25. (Posted: 8:52 p.m.) Duke suspends men's lacrosse team play amid assault allegations (CNN) -- Duke University on Tuesday said it was suspending play for its highly ranked men's lacrosse team amid allegations three of its players sexually assaulted an exotic dancer at an off-campus party earlier this month. "In this painful period of uncertainty, it's clear to me, as it was to the players, that it would be inappropriate to resume the normal schedule of play," Duke President Richard Brodhead told reporters at the university in Durham, N.C. "Sports have their time and place, but when issues of this gravity are in question, it's not the time to be playing games." Brodhead said he met earlier in the day with three of the team's captains, who admitted to "errors of judgment" during the March 13 party, such as having exotic dancers present and underage drinking taking place. However, Brodhead said the players adamantly denied the rape allegations. He noted that no charges have been filed, and it is not clear precisely what happened. Forty-six members of the lacrosse team, including those who did not attend the party, have been compelled to provide DNA samples, he said. "We need to learn the full truth as quickly as possible." (Posted: 8:51 p.m.) More bone fragments found atop 'ground zero'-area building From CNN News Assistant Katy Byron NEW YORK (CNN) -- Construction workers have discovered human bones on the roof of a building near the World Trade Center, the New York medical examiner's office told CNN Tuesday. Medical Examiner Ellen Borakove said that the two bone fragments found Friday atop the former Deutsche Bank building are human remains. The building is adjacent to the site of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. "Everybody is presuming that these remains are of a victim of 9/11, but until we have a DNA profile, we can't say for sure" Borakove said. She said DNA test results would not be available for several months. (Posted: 8:49 p.m. ) Defense Dept. withdraws appeal challenging release of Abu Ghraib photos WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Department of Defense has withdrawn its appeal challenging a district court order requiring it to turn over to the American Civil Liberties Union 74 photographs and three videotapes depicting images of abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, officials said Tuesday. The ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the department in October 2003, before the release of the first images of abuse nearly seven months later, looking for documents related to abuse of detainees held in U.S. custody abroad. That lawsuit has resulted in the release of over 90,000 pages of government documents on issues of detainee treatment in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay and Afghanistan. The decision to abandon the appeal means that a ruling by Judge Alvin Hellerstein in the Southern District of New York issued in September 2005, ordering the military to turn over the photographs and videotapes, will stand. In that ruling, Hellerstein wrote, "Publication of the photographs is central to the purposes of FOIA because they initiate debate, not only about the improper and unlawful conduct of American soldiers, 'rogue' soldiers, as they have been characterized, but also about other important questions as well -- for example, the command structure whose failures in exercising supervision may make them culpable along with the soldiers who were court-martialed for perpetrating the wrongs." -- From CNN's David de Sola (Posted 7:28 p.m.) Bush: Weinberger was 'dedicated public servant' WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former U.S. Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, who died Tuesday at 88, was "an American statesman and a dedicated public servant," President Bush said in a statement. "He wore the uniform in World War II, held elected office and served in the cabinets of three Presidents. As secretary of defense for President Reagan, he worked to strengthen our military and win the Cold War," Bush said. "In all his years, this good man made many contributions to our nation. America is grateful for Caspar Weinberger's lifetime of service. Laura and I send our condolences and prayers to the entire Weinberger family." (Posted 7:18 p.m.) FedEx makes unplanned delivery: 'I'm just happy no one was injured' NEW YORK (CNN) -- A FedEx DC-10 made a delivery Tuesday it absolutely, positively should not have. "I found a four-foot-long piece of metal six feet from my front door," Bob Suchocki told CNN. "I am just happy that no one was injured, especially my daughter, who came home from work about an hour after the pieces fell from the sky." The plane, owned and operated by the package deliverer, dropped engine pieces over Nutley, N.J. The parts landed at about 2 a.m., shortly after the plane took off from Newark Liberty International Airport en route to Oakland, Calif. -- From CNN Assignment Editor Jennifer Styles (Posted: 7:15 p.m.) Defense wraps case, tries to recoup from defendant's testimony ALEXANDRIA, Va. (CNN) -- A day after Zacarias Moussaoui admitted prior knowledge of and participation in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks, his lawyers portrayed him as a liar and a bumbler as they rested their case Tuesday. Closing arguments are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET Wednesday; jurors are expected to begin deliberations by the end of the day. No witnesses took the stand Tuesday, but the jury heard written summaries of what key captured al Qaeda leaders have told their interrogators about Moussaoui and the conspiracy to hijack and crash planes into prominent U.S. buildings. -- From CNN Senior Producer Phil Hirschkorn (Posted 6:45 p.m.) NYC beefs up security in subway tunnels NEW YORK (CNN) -- The Metropolitan Transit Authority board will decide Wednesday on plans to strengthen New York City's underwater subway tunnels in the event of another terrorist attack. On Monday, an MTA committee approved a $17.1 million contract with the Staten Island company Spearin, Preston & Burrows to reinforce the city's 14 underwater subway tunnels against flooding. The committee also approved $80 million to install 300 surveillance cameras and 425 motion sensors in the subway system. -- From CNN Assignment Editor Cheryl Bronson (Posted 6:10 p.m.) Yemeni expatriates, NY lawyers charged with extortion, money laundering NEW YORK (CNN) -- Fourteen people were indicted on federal charges of operating an unlicensed money laundering business that authorities said smuggled more than $5 million to Yemen in the past two years. The 14 men were also charged with using extortion to collect loans from members of the Yemeni expatriate community residing in the New York metro area. Federal authorities said the plots had no direct connection to terrorist activity, although Yemen remains a "country of interest" because of its past ties to terrorism. (Posted 5:14 p.m.) High court skeptical over planned Guantanamo military trials WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Lawyers for the Bush administration struggled Tuesday to justify using executive authority to create special military tribunals for suspected foreign terrorists held overseas, in what could prove a landmark case over the president's power in a wartime setting. A majority of five justices questioned whether the government had properly charged an accused personal assistant to Osama bin Laden, one of 10 men facing military prosecution. Ahmed Salim Hamdan, a Yemeni native captured in Afghanistan in 2001 is accused of conspiracy, which his lawyers say is not an internationally approved charge. His lawyers argue that President Bush exceeded his authority by setting up military commissions that don't give terrorist suspects full protection of military law. The issues before the high court are three-fold: whether the planned tribunals are a proper exercise of presidential authority; whether detainees facing prosecution have the right to challenge the procedures of those tribunals and their overall detention; and whether the Supreme Court has the jurisdiction to hear such appeals. -- From CNN Supreme Court Producer Bill Mears (Posted 5:13 p.m.) Moussaoui defense rests ALEXANDRIA, Va. (CNN) -- The defense has rested in the sentencing trial of confessed al Qaeda member Zacarias Moussaoui, and closing arguments are scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday. (Posted 5:10 p.m.) Police search park in missing boys case (CNN) -- Milwaukee police on Tuesday searched a city park as part of their investigation into the whereabouts of two boys, ages 11 and 12, who have been missing more than a week. "We continue to search for these boys," said police spokeswoman Anne Schwartz. "We have not found them." Quadrevion Henning, 12, and his friend Purvis Parker, 11, were last reported seen March 19 as they headed off to play ball at a park near their homes in north-central Milwaukee. Despite searches and numerous tips, police are mystified by their disappearance. (Posted 4:26 p.m.) Two U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Two U.S. soldiers were killed in combat in Iraq on Tuesday, the U.S. military said. The first, assigned to Multi-National Division - Baghdad, was killed by small-arms fire south of Baghdad, the military said. The second soldier died when a Humvee was struck by a roadside bomb outside Habbaniya. Three other soldiers were wounded in the incident, which took place as the soldiers were returning to Baghdad in a convoy, the military said. The soldiers' names were withheld pending notification of relatives. Since the start of the Iraq war, 2,324 U.S. troops have died. (Posted 4:23 p.m.) Students rally against immigration reform as issue goes to Senate this week WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Students and other immigration supporters rallied Tuesday against proposed restrictions they view as fundamentally un-American as debate swirled in Washington regarding immigration reform. Student walkouts, marches and rallies took place in California, Texas, Arizona and Nevada, among other states. A group of Houston high school students walked to City Hall in protest. In Los Angeles, more than 8,000 students participated in walkouts, prompting city government and education officials to announce that students who continue the walkouts will be cited for truancy beginning Wednesday. The Senate, meanwhile, was expected this week to begin discussion on a bill that passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday. It was unclear, however, if the panel's bill has enough support to survive intact. The committee's bill -- which would create a guest worker program and give nearly 12 million immigrants already in the United States illegally the chance to work toward legal status -- passed 12-6, with eight Democrats and only four of the panel's 10 Republicans voting in favor. (Updated 9:23 p.m.) Gulf Coast can expect massive hurricane evacuations as 2006 season approaches BATON ROUGE, La. (CNN) -- The Gulf Coast -- still rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina -- can expect quick and massive evacuations during the upcoming hurricane season, even if the approaching storm is minimal, federal and state officials said Tuesday. "We have probably 94,000 travel trailers out there with families in them spread across three states and these people have to be evacuated, during even a Category 1 hurricane," said David Paulison, acting director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Paulison met with Louisiana officials and representatives from six coastal parishes to hammer out federal, state and local coordination for the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, which begins on June 1 and lasts until the end of November. (Posted, 3:20 p.m.) Olmert's Kadima leads Israeli election by smaller-than-projected margin, polls report JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima Party will lead a new government after Tuesday's elections, but its weak showing makes it harder for him to continue the policies he inherited from incapacitated leader Ariel Sharon, Israeli analysts said. Kadima -- the four-month-old centrist party founded after Sharon's break with the conservative Likud -- was expected to win 29 seats in the 120-member Knesset, according to exit polls conducted by Israel's Channel 1 television. The leftist Labor Party won a better-than-expected 22 seats, making it Olmert's likely partner in a new coalition government. In another surprise, the conservative Russian immigrant party Yisrael Beiteinu was projected to win third place in Tuesday's balloting, gaining 14 seats, while the remnant of Likud -- the party that has dominated Israeli politics since the 1970s -- was projected to win just 11. Other exit polls gave Kadima up to 32 seats, still short of the 40 Olmert said he had been seeking. Voter turnout was 63.2 percent, election officials reported -- far lower than the country's last elections, which saw nearly 68 percent turnout, and a historic low in parliamentary balloting. (Updated 4:30 p.m.) Entwistle indicted for murder (CNN) -- A Massachusetts grand jury on Tuesday indicted British national Neil Entwistle for murder in the January killings of his wife and infant daughter. Tuesday's indictment, which moves the case from district court to Middlesex Superior Court in Cambridge, also charges the 27-year-old with one count of illegal possession of a firearm and one count of illegal possession of ammunition. The indictment does not specify the degree of murder. That would be up to a jury to decide. If convicted of first-degree murder, Entwistle would face a sentence of life in prison without parole. A second-degree murder conviction would result in a prison sentence of up to 15 years with the possibility of parole. Massachusetts does not have the death penalty. Police in Hopkinton, Mass., discovered the bodies of Rachel, 27, and 9-month-old Lillian Entwistle in the master bedroom of their home on January 22, after responding to a missing-persons report filed by the victims' relatives. (Posted, 2:55 p.m.) Central bank boosts rates by a quarter-point NEW YORK (CNN) -- The Federal Reserve raised a key short-term interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point Tuesday, the 15th consecutive increase since June 2004 and the first since Ben Bernanke took over as chairman of the central bank in February. In its widely watched statement, the Fed indicated that more rate hikes may be necessary in the next few months. That news sent stocks, which were trading modestly higher before the announcement, into the red. Bond prices also sunk, pushing the yield on the 10-year Treasury up to 4.74 percent. The target for the federal funds rate is now 4.75 percent, the highest it has been in five years. This overnight bank lending rate affects the amount of interest consumers pay for various types of debt, including credit cards, auto loans and home-equity loans. (Posted, 2:55 p.m.) Rice asks Russia for investigation on Iraq intelligence WASHINGTON (CNN) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on Russia Tuesday to launch a "serious investigation" into reports that Moscow shared intelligence on US war plans in Iraq, according to the State Department. Rice called Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Tuesday about the reports that Moscow provided Iraq with information on US troop movements before the US-led invasion in 2003. On Sunday Rice told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in an interview that she would be raising the issue with Moscow after looking at the documents. "Any implication that there were those from a foreign government who may have been passing information to the Iraqis prior to the invasion would be, of course, very worrying." Rice said. "And we will talk to the Russians. I would think the Russians would want to take that very seriously as well." -- From CNN State Department Producer Elise Labott (Posted, 2 p.m.) Ex-Liberian leader 'disappears' LAGOS, Nigeria (CNN) -- Former Liberian President Charles Taylor vanished from the Nigerian villa where he lived in exile, just days after Nigeria had agreed to allow Liberian authorities to return him to Liberia, a Nigerian government spokesman said Tuesday. The United States is "deeply concerned" about the situation and is demanding answers from the Nigerian government, according to State Department spokesman Adam Ereli. Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo had set up a five-member panel to investigate Taylor's disappearance and had ordered the arrest of the security detail assigned to him, according to Nigerian government spokesman Femi Fani-Kayode. Taylor, who is wanted for war crimes by a court in Sierra Leone, vanished from the villa Monday night, he said. (Updated, 2 p.m.) Katyusha rocket, fired from Gaza, lands in Israel; no one hurt JERUSALEM (CNN) -- A Russian-made Katyusha rocket was fired from Gaza into Israel Tuesday, believed to be the first time the rocket, which has a range of about 12 miles (20 km), has been fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza. The rocket landed harmlessly after traveling only a few kilometers. (Posted, 1:40 p.m.) Thousands pack streets, stall transport systems to protest new French labor law; prime minister says he won't back down PARIS (CNN) -- Hundreds of thousands of protesters packed the streets of French cities and stalled the French transportation system Tuesday, protesting a controversial labor law that would allow employers to more easily hire and fire young workers. As the day wore on, police were ordered to clear the Place de La Republic, a large square in central Paris. On one side of the square, police fired tear gas and on another side of the park, police used water canons to fire jets of water at the protesters. Slowly, the crowds began to disburse. While the protesters scuffled with police in Paris, most of the demonstrations were peaceful and the French Interior Ministry said there were no serious injuries. In addition to Paris, protesters packed streets in a number of French cities including Lile, Marseille, Bordeaux and Rennes. Student and union leaders promised more protests. French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin told members of his party Tuesday that while is willing to modify the new law -- the contrat premihre embauche or CPE -- he will not back down despite the protests. Villepin has said the new law is necessary to create job opportunities for young people. He proposed the measure after riots last November by youth disaffected with the French way of life. (Updated, 2:55 p.m.) Former defense secretary Weinberger dead at 88 WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former U.S. Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger died of pneumonia Tuesday at the age of 88, his daughter, Arlin Weinberger, told CNN. She said her father died at 5 a.m. in Bangor, Me. Funeral arrangements are not set, Arlin Weinberger said, but her father wanted to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery and the family is working on that. Weinberger will probably best be remembered as defense secretary for President Ronald Reagan. He served from 1981 to 1987, and was known as the architect of that president's military build-up. Weinberger is also remembered for his involvement in one of the more prominent scandals of the Reagan era -- the Iran-Contra affair. (Posted, 12 p.m.) U.S. military reviewing assertions that mosque was attacked in Baghdad raid WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. military is investigating claims that coalition troops attacked a mosque during a weekend raid on a Baghdad compound, but the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday that Iraqi troops found weapons and a hostage in the compound. The Sunday raid killed at least 16 members of the Mehdi Army, the militia led by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the raid was led by Iraqi troops and aimed at uprooting a suspected kidnapping ring operating from the grounds of an old school. Pace said Iraqi forces found "a small minaret and a prayer room" when they entered one of the buildings. "Some people are calling it a mosque, but that's what they found when they got in," he said. Until now, the United States indicated it did not believe any of the buildings involved were religious sites. Pace said troops seized rocket-propelled grenades and bombmaking equipment from the compound, and a hostage held in the building identified two men captured during the raid as his kidnappers. (Updated, 2:55 p.m.) Bush announces chief of staff Card's resignation WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush announced Tuesday that White House Chief of Staff Andy Card has resigned and will be replaced by budget director Joshua Bolten. "Andy Card has served me and our country in historic times," the president said in making his announcement. "On a terrible day when America was attacked, during economic recession and recovery, through storms of unprecedented destructive power, in peace and in war." "In all these challenges and accomplishments, I have relied on Andy's wise counsel, his calm in crisis, his absolute integrity, and his tireless commitment to public service," Bush added. The president noted that Card worked tirelessly, often being "the first one to arrive in the West Wing and among the last to leave." The move comes after weeks of Republican pressure for the president, whose poll numbers are declining, to shake up his White House staff. Bush told CNNenEspanol that Card approached him two weeks ago and said he would like to step down after serving as the top White House aide for the last five-and-a-quarter years. The resignation takes effect on April 14, so there will be a transition of just over two weeks before Bolten steps up to the job of chief of staff, according to a senior administration official. -- From CNN White House Correspondent Ed Henry (Updated, 9 a.m.) 4 employees of U.S. security firm killed in roadside bombing in Afghanistan (CNN) -- A South African and three Afghans working for a U.S.-based security company were killed on Tuesday in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan, the company president confirmed. The incident took place around 10 a.m. in Nimroz province in the southwestern part of the country. It comes amid a protracted fight between Islamic militants and coalition forces and outrage at the Afghan government and the coalition among some Muslims over the release of an Afghan man who converted to Christianity. The four were part of a security detail working for construction companies building a road between Kandahar in the south and Herat in the west. They worked for the Houston-based U.S. Protection and Investigations company, said Barbara Spier, the company president. In another incident, British Defense Ministry said a British soldier died Monday in a traffic accident in southern Afghanistan. Seven British troops have died in Operation Enduring Freedom since it began in 2001. (Updated, 11 a.m.) Palestinian parliament OKs Hamas-led government; swearing-in slated for Thursday JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The Palestinian parliament approved Tuesday the new Hamas-led government for the Palestinian Authority. The vote was 71 in favor, 36 against with 2 abstentions and 22 absent. The new government of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh will be sworn Thursday at 11 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET). The ceremony was put off a day because Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is in Khartoum, Sudan for an Arab Summit meeting. (Posted, 9:40 a.m.) Israelis vote for new parliament JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israelis trickled to the polls Tuesday to elect a new parliament, facing a future without popular Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, but with a Hamas-led Palestinian government on its borders. Election Day is a national holiday in Israel, with polling stations open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. By 6 p.m. election officials said the turnout was 47 percent. That compares to 45 percent for the same time period in the last elections in 2003, according to the Israeli Knesset Web site. Pre-election opinion polls showed the neophyte Kadima party, led by acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, holding an edge over traditional power holders Labour and Likud. Kadima was founded by Sharon shortly before a debilitating stroke that left him in a coma. It will be the party's first election. If Kadima wins, the results will be historic. It will be the first time in Israel's history that a main left-wing or right-wing party has not won a national election. In its entire history, no single political party in Israel has ever managed to win a majority of the 120 Knesset seats. All Israeli governments have been based on a coalition of several parties, which was not expected to change after this vote. (Updated, 12 p.m.) Spanish PM meets opposition leader to discuss ETA cease-fire MADRID (CNN) - Spain's prime minister and the opposition leader on Tuesday held their first face-to-face talks on the Basque separatist group ETA's declaration of a "permanent" cease-fire last week. They were aiming to achieve a consensus on how to broker a lasting peace, despite their often bitter political disputes. "I think the meeting has been a good first step. But after nearly two years of notable differences, all Spaniards will understand that we have much work ahead," Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told reporters after the nearly three-hour meeting at his office. "I have offered my support to the government," said Mariano Rajoy, leader of the opposition conservative Popular Party, which initially criticized ETA's cease-fire as not going far enough. "The only priority is to confirm ETA's willingness to lay down its arms." ETA is blamed for more than 800 deaths in its 37-year-fight for Basque independence, but the cease-fire, announced last Wednesday and which took effect last Friday, has raised hopes across Spain for an end to the violence. --From CNN Madrid Al Goodman (Posted, 8:10 a.m.) Two Israelis killed in blast; 2 rockets fired into southern Israel in unrelated incident, IDF says JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Two Israelis from the Nahal Oz Kibbutz in southern Israel were killed Tuesday when they happened on an unexploded shell and it detonated, the Israel Defense Forces said. In a separate incident, the IDF said Palestinian militants in Gaza fired two Qassam rockets into southern Israel Tuesday. The militant group Islamic Jihad claimed of responsibility for the attack, Palestinian sources said. The IDF said the two incidents were not related. The incidents occurred on election day in Israel. (Updated, 8:45 a.m.) At least 19 whisked off streets in another day of kidnappings in Baghdad; more violence reported across Iraq BAGHDAD (CNN) -- Nineteen people were kidnapped in three separate incidents across Baghdad on Tuesday, the second day of abductions in the Iraqi capital. The kidnappings -- which occurred at two electronics stores and a currency exchange -- took place as violence raged over the last 24 hours -- two people died in shootings and four others were found dead. Attention has been focused on Western hostages, such as the Christian aid workers freed last week and journalist Jill Carroll, who is still in captivity. However, many Iraqis have been victims of abductions. Also, authorities found 25 more slain bodies in Baghdad on Tuesday amid persistent sectarian violence. Many of the bodies had been shot in the head. (Updated, 1:40 p.m.) Howard: Uranium agreement near between Australia and China SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- An agreement to sell Australian uranium to China could be concluded during a visit by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to Canberra in the next week, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Tuesday. Wen is due to arrive in Australia on Saturday and will leave on Tuesday. Howard told a news conference in Canberra the two sides were "making good progress" in negotiating a nuclear energy deal. "It's possible that the discussions could be satisfactorily concluded so that something could be said or signed when the Chinese premier visits Australia next week," he said. China wants to use more nuclear energy to power its fast-growing economy and to reduce its energy dependence on coal and oil. Australia holds about 40 percent of the world's known low-cost uranium deposits and agreed in principle during a visit by Howard to China in April last year to work on a nuclear safeguards agreement that would permit sales of uranium to China for peaceful purposes. (posted 12:55 a.m.) Afghan Christian convert is freed KABUL (CNN) -- An Afghan man threatened with the death penalty for converting to Christianity has been released from prison, senior Western diplomats said Tuesday. His whereabouts was not immediately known. Ahead of his release, Abdul Rahman requested asylum in a western country, according to the United Nations. He has lived in Europe at times. Rahman was held by Afghan authorities for his conversion from Islam to Christianity, punishable by death in Afghanistan, which follows Islamic law. Many Muslim clerics in the country called for his death, and said even if he were freed his life would be in danger. "Mr. Abdul Rahman has asked for asylum outside Afghanistan," a statement from the office of U.N. Special Representative to Afghanistan said Monday. "We expect that this will be provided by one of the countries interested in a peaceful solution to this case." (posted 12:55 a.m.) Reagan aide Lyn Nofziger dead at 81 (CNN) -- Franklin C. "Lyn" Nofziger, a longtime press secretary to President Reagan, died Monday. He was 81. Nofziger died late in the afternoon of cancer at his home in Falls Church, Va., said Eldon Girdner, a neighbor and fellow church member. Nofziger's wife, Bonnie, was at his side. "I was deeply saddened this afternoon when I heard of Lyn Nofziger's death," said Nancy Reagan in a written statement from Los Angeles. "Lyn was with us from the gubernatorial campaign in 1965 through the early White House days, and Ronnie valued his advice -- and good humor -- as much as anyone's." (posted 1 a.m.) Slain minister's wife charged with murder SELMER, Tenn. (CNN) -- The wife of a Tennessee minister gunned down in their home last week was arraigned Monday on a first-degree murder charge. Mary Winkler, 32, sat expressionless throughout the proceeding, which lasted only a few minutes, and did not enter a plea. After reading her her rights, the judge asked if she had any questions; she shook her head from side to side and answered, "No, sir." Bail issues will be discussed Thursday morning at a preliminary hearing. Dressed in a red jumpsuit and accompanied by her lawyer, Winkler then shuffled out of the courtroom, a chain attached to her ankles clanking. According to the arrest warrant, Winkler confessed to the crime after being apprehended Thursday in Alabama with her three daughters. (1 a.m.) 
|
| ||||||||||||
| © 2007 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map. |
 |
|
External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pay service with live and archived video. 
