Jerusalem

Israeli police arrest nuclear whistle-blower

Heavily armed police commandos stormed a Jerusalem church compound and arrested nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu on Thursday, drawing harsh condemnation from the Anglican Church to which he belongs.

Vanunu, who was released seven months ago after completing an 18-year prison sentence for treason, was arrested on suspicion of revealing classified information, police said.

Analysts said the arrest of Vanunu — who has repeatedly defied orders to not give interviews — might be an Israeli attempt to suppress discussion of its nuclear program at a time of increasing international efforts to block Iran from going nuclear.

Vanunu, 49, was released from prison in April after spending much of his sentence in solitary confinement for disclosing secrets he learned as a technician in the 1980s at the Israeli nuclear reactor in the southern town of Dimona.

Ivory Coast

Peace talks begin as evacuation builds

Ivory Coast’s people emerged from their homes Thursday to survey the wreckage of five days of violent upheaval and stock up on food.

France and other Western nations flew out hundreds of their nationals in a second round of evacuations, while South Africa convened urgent talks, warning the crisis could destabilize West Africa.

The commercial capital, Abidjan, experienced the first day of calm since anti-foreigner mobs took to the streets after a sudden, deadly clash between the forces of Ivory Coast and its former colonial ruler, France.

Netherlands

Lawmakers seek new terror protections

Dutch lawmakers accused the government Thursday of underestimating the threat from Islamic terrorists and failing to protect a filmmaker slain by a suspected Muslim radical.

In a parliamentary debate about Theo van Gogh’s Nov. 2 murder, lawmakers from both opposition and government parties urged Premier Jan Peter Balkenende to take urgent steps to increase public safety and restore confidence in the law.

The killing triggered a cycle of retaliatory attacks on Islamic buildings and Christian churches that shocked this traditionally peaceful and tolerant nation.

On Thursday, the government said the main suspect in the killing, Mohammed Bouyeri, 26, was a peripheral figure in an Islamic terrorist network in Amsterdam who merited no close surveillance.

United Nations

WHO panel endorses engineered smallpox test

An influential World Health Organization committee is sending shock waves through the scientific community with its recommendation that researchers be permitted to conduct genetic-engineering experiments with the smallpox virus.

The idea is to be able to better combat a disease that is considered a leading bioterror threat though it was publicly eradicated 25 years ago.

The WHO had previously opposed such work for fear that a “superbug” might emerge. Because the disease is so deadly, the WHO has even at times recommended destroying the world’s two known smallpox stockpiles, kept in secure labs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and in the former Soviet Union.

The World Health Assembly — the ruling body of the 192-nation WHO — would make a final decision on whether to approve the experiments.

Austria

U.N. nuclear agency details S. Korean tests

South Korean nuclear experiments revealed earlier this year produced minute amounts of plutonium and near-weapons grade uranium, but there was no evidence linking them to an attempt to make nuclear arms, the U.N. atomic watchdog agency said Thursday.

The report, drawn up by the International Atomic Energy Agency, followed up on revelations that South Korea sporadically dabbled in uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing from the early 1980s to 2000.

Uranium enriched to weapons grade and plutonium can be used to make nuclear warheads. Officials acknowledged the experiments earlier this year amid agency queries but insisted they were small-scale and conducted by scientists who never informed the government.

Cuba

Three Guantanamo soldiers punished

Three more U.S. soldiers have been punished for mistreating inmates at the Guantanamo prison, among them an Army officer who mishandled the case of a guard who threw a solvent on a detainee, the military said Thursday.

At least one case occurred while an independent fact-finding team was investigating the scope of detainee abuses worldwide for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

In that case, a private first class at the Camp Delta prison threw a cleaning solvent on a detainee, left the island on a regular rotation and was already at Fort Dix, N.J., when he was brought back to face discipline.

The soldier was demoted to private in June, reassigned to new duties and fined $300. His company commander was given a letter of reprimand.

In the other case, a sergeant was busted down to specialist last month, reassigned to new duties and fined $500 for slugging a captive who spit on him and tried to bite him.

Phoenix

More states consider immigration measures

Now that Arizona has passed a ballot measure to keep illegal immigrants from obtaining some government services, groups in several other states are considering similar proposals.

Proposition 200 has motivated groups in states such as Georgia and Idaho. California and Colorado already are working to get immigration measures on the ballot in 2006.

Supporters argue a measure like the one Arizona approved Nov. 2 is needed because the government isn’t keeping illegal immigrants from obtaining food stamps, welfare and other social services.

Washington, D.C.

Democratic committee reports stolen checks

The FBI and U.S. attorney’s Office are investigating the apparent theft of about $350,000 in checks from a Democratic campaign committee, federal law enforcement and Democratic Party officials said Thursday.

The money was traced to a private bank account that bank records indicate was opened by Roger Chiang, who was employed by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

All but about $10,000 has been recovered, they said. Chiang, who was involved in fund raising, has been fired, the Democratic official said. No charges have been filed.

Wisconsin

Alleged ‘mall rapist’ gets 195-year sentence

A man was sentenced to 195 years in prison Thursday for sexually assaulting female mall workers and young children over several years.

James D. Perry, 34, received the sentence in Madison after pleading guilty to 25 out of the 51 counts authorities filed against him. The remaining charges were dismissed, but many were included in his record.

Authorities had hunted for years for an assailant who targeted female mall workers in south-central Wisconsin, accosting them in their stores as they worked alone or in mall parking lots.

Washington, D.C.

Senator aims to stop judicial filibusters

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on Thursday urged Democrats to stop blocking President Bush’s federal court nominees and hinted he may try to change Senate rules to thwart their delaying tactics.

Despite the GOP majority in the Senate, Democrats used the threat of a filibuster to block 10 of Bush’s nominees to federal appeals courts. The Senate did confirm more than 200 of the president’s choices.

Republicans hope their gain of four seats on Election Day will discourage Democrats from using filibusters again. But in a Senate next year with 55 Republicans, 44 Democrats and a Democrat-leaning independent, Democrats still will have the 40 votes necessary to uphold a filibuster.

Tokyo

Japan tracks submarine spotted in territorial waters

Japan’s military on Thursday shadowed an unidentified submarine that entered its territorial waters the day before, but officials said they had not yet figured out which country the intruder was from.

Tokyo put its navy on alert Wednesday after spotting the submarine off the southern island of Okinawa and sent a reconnaissance plane and destroyer to follow it.

The submarine, which spent two hours in Japanese waters before leaving, was heading north Thursday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said.

Japanese public broadcaster NHK said defense officials suspected it was a Chinese Han-class nuclear submarine, based on an analysis of the sounds it was making.

Washington, D.C.

Former Iraq policy adviser reportedly hurt embassy aide

Robert Blackwill, who resigned last week as the White House’s top official on Iraq policy, was recently scolded by national security adviser Condoleezza Rice after Secretary of State Colin Powell told her that Blackwill appeared to have verbally abused and physically hurt a female embassy staffer during a September visit to Kuwait, administration officials said.

The incident took place as Blackwill was rushing to return home after a visit to Baghdad to join a campaign swing planned by President Bush. As six officials describe the incident, he arrived at the Air France counter at the Kuwait airport and learned he was not on the flight manifest. Blackwill then turned in fury to an embassy secretary who had accompanied him to the airport and demanded that he be given a seat on the flight, grabbing her arm at one point, the officials said.

Powell found out about the incident and informed Rice.

Kentucky

Scientists excited by methane on Mars discovery

Methane gas detected on Mars could be a sign of extraterrestrial life, scientists announced Thursday.

But don’t get ready for E.T. just yet. There are many possible explanations for the methane, and tiny martian critters are just one.

Still, the detection of methane had scientists buzzing in Louisville at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society’s Division of Planetary Sciences.

Methane is a gas that, on Earth, is produced naturally by plants and animals, such as in wetlands and in the stomachs of cows. On Mars, methane is much rarer.

Philippines

Train derailment kills 10

A passenger train derailed early today and tumbled down a ravine in the northern Philippines, killing at least 10 people and injuring nearly 120 others, officials said.

Four cars of the Manila-bound train overturned several times as they bounced down the 40-foot ravine near the town of Padre Burgos, about 100 miles southeast of Manila, said police superintendent Leo Kison.

Rescue workers recovered at least 10 bodies, including those of a mother and her 1-year-old child, said civil defense administrator Elma Aldea.

Another 118 passengers were injured.