Colorado: Teens charged in wildfire

Arson charges were filed Tuesday against three teen-agers accused of starting a wildfire that burned 2,600 acres and forced hundreds of people to evacuate.

Two of the accused boys are 14 and one is 15, Deputy Dist. Atty. David M. Thorson said.

The fire started April 23 in Bailey, 35 miles southwest of Denver, and was contained five days later. No structures were destroyed, but the fire cost an estimated $2.6 million to fight.

Investigators have said the fire was started by a cigarette or a lighter. Witnesses reported seeing three boys run from a spot where the fire is believed to have started, behind a high school where smokers congregate.

Washington, D.C.: Bush will name Clinton to East Timor delegation

President Bush intends to include former President Clinton in a U.S. delegation to the May 20 celebration of independence for East Timor.

An administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Tuesday the White House plans to announce the selection once the delegation is completed. They cautioned that Bush’s decision won’t be final until the complete delegation is formed, and that could take a few more days.

East Timor is a former Indonesian territory that separated from Jakarta in 1999.

The mission marks the first time Clinton has been tapped by Bush for help. The former president has made no secret of his desire to help mediate the Middle East crisis, but White House officials have said the idea has not been given serious consideration.

Pakistan: Bomb kills at least 10

A powerful bomb destroyed a shuttle bus today in Karachi, killing at least 10 Europeans, police said. Another 25 people were injured, some of them seriously.

The 45-seat bus was parked outside the Sheraton Hotel when the bomb went off, tearing a large crater in the road.

Hotel workers first told police that the bus was taking German visitors to the Karachi seaport. But the German consulate and foreign ministry said they were unaware of any German deaths.

No Americans were believed to be involved, said Karachi Police Inspector Sayed Kamal Shah.

Pakistan: Taliban teacher arrested

A Muslim scholar who taught American-born Taliban soldier John Walker Lindh for six months has been arrested in a joint U.S.-Pakistan operation, a Muslim leader said Tuesday.

Mufti Mohammed Iltimas was arrested near the Afghan border in the village of Bannu, according to Qari Abdullah, a local leader of one of Pakistan’s largest Islamic groups, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam.

“Mufti Mohammed Iltimas and another teacher were arrested by the police, who were accompanied by some Americans,” Abdullah said.

Abdullah said he didn’t know whether the Americans were soldiers or civilian agents. But he said hundreds of people turned out in Bannu on Tuesday to protest the arrest and demand an end to the U.S. presence in Pakistan.