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Web Site: 2nd U.S. Hostage Killed in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A posting on an Islamic Web site claimed Tuesday that the al-Qaida-linked group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has slain a U.S. hostage in Iraq, just 24 hours after grisly video showed the terror mastermind beheading another American captive. The posting was followed about two hours later by a claim on a different Web site threatening to kill a third hostage, a British man, if women prisoners in Iraq are not freed.
Bush Vigorously Defends War in Iraq
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - President Bush delivered an unapologetic defense of his decision to invade Iraq, telling the United Nations Tuesday that it "helped to deliver the Iraqi people from an outlaw dictator." Later, Bush condemned the beheading of a U.S. hostage by an Islamic militant. His speech to the U.N. General Assembly, running just 24 minutes, appealed to the world community to join together in supporting the new Iraqi interim government. Bush included an appeal for intensifying the global war against terrorism and for focusing energies on humanitarian missions, from helping to end the bloody violence in Sudan to combating AIDS in Africa.
Storm Floods Kill More Than 600 in Haiti
GONAIVES, Haiti (AP) - The death toll across Haiti from the weekend deluges brought by Tropical Storm Jeanne was at 620, with some 500 of them in Gonaives, but officials said on Tuesday they expected to find more dead. Blood swirled in knee-deep floodwaters as workers stacked bodies outside the hospital morgue. Carcasses of pigs, goats and dogs and pieces of smashed furniture floated in muddy streams that once were the streets of this battered city.
Airlines Told to Turn Over Passenger Data
WASHINGTON (AP) - Everyone who took a commercial flight within the United States in June will have his travel information turned over to the government so it can test a new system for identifying potential terrorists, federal officials announced Tuesday. The Transportation Security Administration plans to order airlines to turn over the information in November. Passenger names will be checked against watch lists maintained by the Terrorist Screening Center, which is administered by the FBI, as part of a new screening system called "Secure Flight."
Fed Raises Key Interest Rate 0.25 Point
WASHINGTON (AP) -With the economy moving ahead and the nation's payrolls picking up a bit, Federal Reserve policy-makers boosted short-term interest rates for a third time this year - but left economists split about when the next increase might come. Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and his Federal Open Market Committee colleagues - the group that sets interest-rate policy - increased the target for the federal funds rate from 1.50 percent to 1.75 percent. The funds rate is the interest banks charge each other on overnight loans and is the Fed's primary tool for influencing economic activity.
Goss Gets Senate Panel's OK for CIA Post
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Senate panel on Tuesday approved the nomination of Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., to head the CIA, overcoming Democrats' objections that Goss was too political for the job. In a closed meeting, the Senate Intelligence Committee voted 12 to 4, with three Democrats joining the committee's nine Republicans in approving the nomination and one Democrat making no recommendation.
Stewart Ordered to Prison Within 3 Weeks
NEW YORK (AP) - Martha Stewart must report to prison in less than three weeks, a federal judge ruled Tuesday in granting the celebrity homemaker's request to begin serving her sentence for lying about a stock sale. Her namesake company's stock surged 12 percent. The judge also suggested that Stewart, 63, be assigned to prison camps in Danbury, Conn., or Coleman, Fla. - the two Stewart had requested.
Gimmicks Can't Help Miss America Ratings
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - Skimpy swimsuits, a shortened telecast and a last-woman-standing talent competition couldn't help Miss America's TV ratings. A record-low 9.8 million people watched Saturday's pageant, about 500,000 fewer than last year, continuing a trend that threatens the event's future on network television. Broadcast by ABC, Miss America was television's most-watched program for the night, according to Nielsen Media Research, drawing a 6.4 rating and a 12 share.
Stocks Close Higher on Brokerage Earnings
NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks dashed higher Tuesday as investors welcomed strong earnings from financial services companies, upbeat economic data and some reassuring news from the Federal Reserve. The Fed's decision to raise short-term interest rates by another quarter-percentage point to 1.75 percent did not come as a surprise to the market. The widely anticipated decision and the statement issued alongside it were viewed as a signal that the central bank sees continued improvements in the economic outlook and inflation.
Europe Welcomes Locked Out NHL Players
TORONTO (AP) - European hockey has taken on an NHL look. With an NHL lockout in place, more than 150 players have signed to play in European leagues, including Markus Naslund with Modo (Sweden), Jaromir Jagr with Kladmo (Czech Republic) and Ilya Kovalchuk with AK Bars Kazan (Russia). Most of the players have lockout clauses that allow them to return to the NHL if and when the labor impasse ends. For now, European teams are taking advantage.
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