India: Second spy plane reported
An unmanned Pakistani spy plane invaded Indian air space Wednesday for the second time this week, broaching an area south of the capital of Jammu-Kashmir state, an Indian Army officer said.
Security forces fired at the drone but it returned to Pakistan unharmed after 10 minutes, the officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity. There was no immediate comment from Pakistan.
Also Wednesday, Indian security forces shot and killed a suspected Islamic militant after a three-hour standoff in a mosque in Kashmir.
India and Pakistan have been locked in a standoff since a Dec. 13 attack on the Indian Parliament in which 14 people were killed, including five assailants.
Vatican City: Auction to aid refugees
The Vatican will auction off items donated by bishops, priests and lay people today to raise money for Afghan refugees.
The auction was organized by the Vatican's Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and will be in the group's office in Rome,
The auction is a response to Pope John Paul II's appeals to help people suffering from the war in Afghanistan, the Vatican news service Fides said.
Washington, D.C.: CIA details missile threat
China is expected to have between 75 and 100 long-range nuclear missiles pointed at the United States by 2015, roughly quadruple the current number, according to a CIA report released Wednesday.
Many of those intercontinental ballistic missiles will be on mobile launchers, helping China maintain a nuclear deterrent against the vastly larger U.S. missile force, says the report, titled "Foreign Missile Developments and the Ballistic Missile Threat Through 2015."
Echoing earlier intelligence estimates, the report also says North Korea and Iran will probably have long-range missiles capable of reaching the United States by 2015. These assessments have been used to justify U.S. plans for multibillion-dollar missile defense systems capable of shooting down a limited ICBM attack on the continental United States.
Atlanta: FAA fines passenger $3,300
The Federal Aviation Administration has fined a man $3,300 for a security breach at Atlanta's airport that temporarily shut down the airport.
The FAA found that Michael Lasseter, 32, of Gainesville, violated security regulations when he ran past two security guards and down an up-escalator on Nov. 16 at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport.
The fine is the maximum allowable under FAA regulations.
Cleveland: Mosque attacker sentenced
A man was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison for ramming Ohio's largest mosque with his car six days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Common Pleas Judge Kathleen Ann Sutula sentenced Eric Richley, 29, of suburban Middleburg Heights, on burglary, ethnic intimidation and vandalism charges. He pleaded guilty to the charges.
He admitted driving a car up three steps and through two sets of doors of the Islamic Center of Cleveland, in nearby Parma. He smashed through a 3-foot wall, knocked over three pillars and landed on a fountain.
Richley denied the ramming was a case of ethnic or religious bigotry. He said he had been drinking at the time.
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