Washington, D.C.

U.S. prepares to send diplomatic team to Mideast

The United States will send a high-level team to Jerusalem next week to learn more about Israel’s plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, a mission that could result in a U.S. decision to endorse the pullout, administration officials said Friday.

Israel has said it may unilaterally remove 17 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip. While U.S. officials have advocated removing Jewish settlements from Palestinian areas, President Bush’s “road map” peace plan calls for negotiations leading to a Palestinian state. Gridlock between the Israelis and Palestinians has prevented some administration officials from rejecting Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s proposal outright.

Jamaica

Alleged police shooting sparks deadly riot

Hundreds of people rioted Friday in Jamaica’s capital, attacking a police station and setting cars ablaze after a policeman allegedly shot and wounded a high school student.

At least one man in his 20s was killed during the riot in Kingston, witnesses said. A soldier was shot and wounded, but his condition was not immediately known, police said.

Police and soldiers clad in riot gear used tear gas to repel rock-throwing residents in the west Kingston neighborhood of Denham Town.

The disturbance began around midday after a police officer shot a 14-year-old uniformed student in the head as he was eating lunch with classmates near his school, residents said. The boy was reportedly listed in serious condition.

Texas

Students protest Army probe after Islam conference

University of Texas law students and civil rights activists accused the Army of spying on a conference on Islam and denounced an investigation of conference participants as a “campaign of fear.”

Sahar Aziz, a UT law student, said Friday that organizers of the conference in Austin would not willingly turn over to Army investigators a partial list of participants or a video of the conference, titled “Islam and the Law: The Question of Sexism.”

Conference organizers said two Army agents visited the UT Law School on Monday and knocked on various doors in pursuit of a list of participants and a video of the conference, which took place last week.

The agents said they were following up on reports from Army lawyers who attended the conference and said they were approached by “suspicious” Middle Eastern men, according to Aziz.

Peru

Cabinet changes in the works

President Alejandro Toledo said Friday he would stick with his current Cabinet chief as part of a plan to escape his worst political crisis since taking office nearly three years ago.

Prime Minister Carlos Ferrero, who took over in December, will lead the new Cabinet to be named by Monday, according to a statement read by Toledo’s press secretary late Friday.

Toledo has pledged to name a politically independent Cabinet to appease critics calling for his resignation in the wake of a scandal that sent his approval rating to a mere 7 percent.