Haiti

Rebels attack police station

Haiti’s rebellion spread to the central city of Hinche on Monday as rebels aided by former soldiers attacked a police station and killed at least three officers, including the police chief.

The rebels descended on the police station in Hinche, about 70 miles northwest of Port-au-Prince, according to a Haitian security official who spoke on condition of anonymity. They killed district police chief Maxime Jonas, pushed police out of the city and threatened government supporters, the official said.

At least 56 people have died since the rebellion aimed at ousting President Jean-Bertrand Aristide exploded Feb. 5 in the city of Gonaives.

Washington

Border crossing closed after grenade found in car

One of the U.S.-Canada border’s busiest crossings was closed for about an hour Monday after guards found a grenade in the glove compartment of a car leaving the United States, Canadian officials said.

The driver, a woman from Houston, was taken into custody but released after interviewers determined she hadn’t known the grenade was in the car, Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokesman Tim Shields said. The woman’s husband works for the U.S. military and is apparently stationed at Fort Lewis, south of Tacoma, he said.

“According to her, she was intending to drive toward Vancouver, Wash., not Vancouver, British Columbia,” Shields said. Vancouver, Wash., is on the state’s border with Oregon, about 250 miles south of the Canadian city.

“She was apparently new to the area,” he said.

Atlanta

AT&T Wireless takes look at rival offers for ownership

Cingular Wireless and Britain’s Vodafone Group PLC boosted their bids to $38 billion for AT&T Wireless Services Inc. on Monday, as the board of the nation’s third-largest mobile phone provider mulled which company would ultimately buy it, according to people familiar with the talks.

Vodafone matched Cingular’s offers in each stage of the process and did so again Monday, a source said on condition of anonymity.

A deal with Cingular, whose latest offer is an 18 percent premium over the AT&T Wireless closing share price Friday of $11.82, could slim the field of national wireless carriers from six to five, possibly easing the price wars battering the industry.

Iowa

Suspicious powder found at mail center

A plant that processes bills and magazine subscriptions sent workers home Monday after a suspicious white powder fell out of an envelope, authorities said. The powder apparently was not dangerous.

“After a preliminary analysis it would appear this substance is harmless,” Jim Saunders of the Department of Public Safety said late Monday. He said the Iowa Hygienic Laboratory in Iowa City needed to confirm the analysis.

“The focus now turns to investigation of the individual or individuals who mailed this letter,” Saunders said.

A woman who sorted the mail and handled the envelope at the Boone plant was sent to a hospital as a precaution, and the work area was closed off.