Wyoming: Snowstorm socks two states

A blizzard Tuesday paralyzed parts of Wyoming and Colorado, shutting down state government, airports and hundreds of miles of highway as snowdrifts piled up to 5 feet high.

About 1,000 people were stranded at Denver International Airport, where United canceled all flights until today. Other airlines followed suit.

Residents were advised not to travel in Cheyenne, where the wind-driven snow piled into deep drifts and forced all state offices, schools and the U.S. Postal Service to close. F.E. Warren Air Force Base at Cheyenne was closed to all but essential personnel. The University of Wyoming canceled classes and postponed its NIT men’s basketball game from today to Thursday.

Washington, D.C.: Tractor standoff continues

A tobacco farmer who said declining subsidies were forcing him out of business held police at bay Tuesday from his tractor in a pond near Washington’s monuments. Streets were closed for blocks, and traffic was snarled for miles.

“I’m going to get my message out or die trying,” Dwight Watson, 50, of Whitakers, N.C., said in an interview posted on the Washington Post Web site. “I’ve got the rest of my life to stay right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

Police, armed with automatic weapons, said Watson had claimed to have explosives, and they cordoned off a large area near the Washington Monument, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.

The incident began around noon Monday.

Cuba: U.S. diplomats curtailed

Cuba’s communist-run government announced Tuesday night it had rounded up several dozen opponents and confirmed new restrictions on U.S. diplomats amid worsening relations between the two countries.

An official statement read on state television’s evening news accused the chief of Washington’s diplomatic mission in Havana, James Cason, of trying “to foment the internal counterrevolution.”

Offices at the U.S. Interests Section were closed late Tuesday and attempts to reach American diplomats here for comment were unsuccessful. The U.S. State Department last week had reported the travel restrictions on its diplomats in Havana, but the Cuban government did not confirm the new measures until Tuesday.

West Bank: Prime minister post created

The Palestinian parliament created the post of prime minister Tuesday, taking a major step toward U.S.-sought reforms and rebuffing Yasser Arafat’s attempts to retain a say in forming the next Cabinet.

Before Tuesday’s session, Arafat dropped a demand to retain a say over appointing Cabinet ministers. Arafat now has to sign the legislation, and today, he will appoint Mahmoud Abbas, the No. 2 leader in the PLO, to the post. After his appointment, Abbas will have three weeks to name his Cabinet and win approval of parliament.

“It’s the beginning of a transition — it is certainly a turning point and a qualitative shift in the political culture,” said legislator Hanan Ashrawi. “Now we have power-sharing that is clearly spelled out.”