Haiti

Police move to oust pro-Aristide militants

Using armored cars and earth movers, U.N. peacekeepers and Haitian police moved into an area early Sunday controlled by militants loyal to ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

One police officer was shot and killed, said Brazilian Col. Luiz-Felipe Carbonell, apparently in early resistance that ended when scores of troops moved in to Bel Air.

Brazilian troops and police arrived two days after the government said it would root out gangs that have blockaded areas of certain neighborhoods.

On Friday, interim President Boniface Alexandre called the gangs “terrorists” and urged people in several troubled neighborhoods to cooperate with authorities to “expel these bandits.”

Violence has left some 56 people dead in recent weeks.

Washington, D.C

CIA detainee report concerns senators

Leading senators expressed concern Sunday about a report that the CIA has secretly moved as many as a dozen unidentified prisoners out of Iraq in the past six months, a possible violation of international treaties.

Sen. John McCain said interrogations could help extract crucial information from detainees on plans for attacks against Americans. But international law, including the Geneva Conventions, must be followed, he said.

“These conventions and these rules are in place for a reason because you get on a slippery slope and you don’t know where to get off,” McCain, R-Ariz., told ABC’s “This Week.”

“The thing that separates us from the enemy is our respect for human rights,” he said.

Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., called for new leadership at the Justice Department.

The detainees were removed without notification to the International Red Cross, congressional oversight committees, the Defense Department or CIA investigators, The Washington Post said in Sunday editions, citing unidentified government officials.

Iraq

U.N. envoy discourages U.S. Fallujah offensive

The new U.N. envoy to Iraq warned Sunday that a U.S. offensive in Fallujah could further divide the nation as it struggles to prepare for January elections.

Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, the special representative for Iraq, said the United Nations was prepared to mediate a peaceful solution in Fallujah, the rebel stronghold that has been under almost daily bombardment by U.S. warplanes.

“There is a concern with respect primarily to civilian casualties which are taking place and the impact it could have for the political process,” said Qazi, former Pakistani ambassador to the United States.

Qazi expressed optimism that the Iraqi government would continue talks with leaders in Fallujah. Iraqi security officials said Saturday that negotiations had resumed after breaking down earlier in the month.

Qazi said the United Nations hoped to persuade all major parties to embrace the election process.

Ohio

Report: Army denies most Iraqi claims

The Army has denied most of the thousands of compensation claims Iraqis have made against the U.S. military, determining that combat accounted for most of the deaths, injuries and property damage, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The Dayton Daily News’ analysis of 4,611 civil claims in Iraq — hundreds alleging abuse and misconduct by American military personnel — showed just one in four resulted in some type of payment.

Because coalition forces are immune from civil lawsuits and criminal charges in Iraq, the only option left to Iraqis is filing for compensation under the Foreign Claims Act.

At least 437 claims seek compensation for Iraqi deaths and 468 for injuries, but those numbers likely are just a portion of the actual totals, the newspaper said.

According to the newspaper’s analysis, the average payment for a death in Iraq was $3,421.

Tokyo

Powell calls North Korea ‘terrorist state’ during trip

Secretary of State Colin Powell pressed North Korea on Sunday to return to nuclear disarmament talks even as he branded the communist country a “terrorist state” that has “no respect for human rights.”

Powell’s strong comments came after North Korea accused the United States of “evermore hostile acts,” including U.S. participation in a multinational naval exercise set to begin today off the Japanese coast.

The maneuvers are part of an effort to curb the smuggling of missiles and nuclear technology.

North Korea dominated Powell’s discussions in Japan with Prime Minister Junichiro and other officials. Later, Powell flew to China where he planned talks today with President Hu Jintao on North Korea, Taiwan and other issues.

Colombia

Troops destroy land mines

Colombia’s armed forces blew up 6,800 stockpiled land mines Sunday as President Alvaro Uribe, Queen Noor of Jordan and dozens of mine blast victims watched on large screens, launching an effort to eventually rid the country of the weapons.

The queen, U.S. Ambassador William Wood and other dignitaries gathered in Bogota’s main plaza as the land mines were destroyed in eight thunderous explosions at a rural area near the northern city of Barranquilla.

Ohio

Apartment fire kills 6 children

Fire raced through a Toledo apartment building Sunday afternoon, killing six children and critically injuring another, authorities said.

The six children died at area hospitals and another child remained in critical condition late Sunday, said Fire Chief Michael Bell. The victims were six girls and one boy, ages 6 months to 7 years old.

Firefighters arrived about a minute after receiving an emergency call but met heavy flames on a staircase as they fought to reach the children, Bell said. They contained the fire after pulling the children out, he said.

Bell said no adults were in the building when firefighters arrived, but he wasn’t sure whether adults were inside when the blaze broke out.

Washington, D.C.

Report: Internet users not as safe as they think

Internet users at home are not nearly as safe online as they believe, according to a nationwide inspection by researchers. They found most consumers lack firewall protection and have outdated antivirus software and dozens of spyware programs secretly running on their computers.

The study being released today by America Online and the National Cyber Security Alliance found that 77 percent of 326 adults in 12 states assured researchers in a telephone poll they were safe from online threats. Nearly as many people felt confident they were protected specifically from viruses and hackers.

When experts visited those same homes to examine computers, they found two-thirds of adults using outdated antivirus software.

Two-thirds of the computer users also were not using any type of protective firewall program, and spyware was found on the computers of 80 percent of those in the study.

Motorcycle, SUV crash at 56-59 junction

A Liberty, Mo., man was injured and flown to a Kansas City area hospital Sunday after a motorcycle and a sport utility vehicle collided at the junction of U.S. Highways 56 and 59 west of Baldwin.

The Kansas Highway Patrol identified the victim as the motorcycle driver, Christopher A. Bier, 24. No information was available late Sunday night about his condition at University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kan.

The driver of the Ford SUV, Ronald D. Proctor, 57, Baldwin, was not injured, the Highway Patrol said.

According to the accident report, Bier, riding a 1986 Kawasaki, was westbound on U.S. 56 when it struck the side of the 1991 Ford. The Ford was headed north on U.S. 59. Bier failed to stop at the stop sign, according to the Patrol report.

The accident was reported at 12:30 p.m.

San Diego

Five killed in crash of air ambulance plane

Search crews found three bodies and were searching for two more near the wreckage of a medical jet that crashed Sunday in rugged terrain near the Mexico border, killing all five aboard.

The Learjet was being used as an air ambulance when it crashed carrying two pilots, two paramedics and a nurse on a flight bound for Albuquerque, N.M.

The plane went down around 12:30 a.m. Sunday in a mountainous region about two miles east of the small San Diego airstrip where it had taken off, said Larry Levy, CEO and medical director of Albuquerque-based Med Flight Air Ambulance, which owned the aircraft.

Killed in the crash were pilot Karl A. Kolb, 56, co-pilot K. John Lamphere, 30, nurse Laura A. Womble, 47, and her husband, Donald, 45, a paramedic, all of Albuquerque, and paramedic Marco E. Villalobos, 33, of El Paso, Texas.

Washington, D.C.

Senate conferees fault House intelligence plan

The chairman and ranking member of the Senate conferees on the bill to revamp intelligence gathering said Sunday that a House Republican compromise proposal failed to provide the needed authority to a new national intelligence director and called for acceptance of their bipartisan counteroffer.

“The bipartisan counterproposal the Senate conferees unanimously offer the House answers the most critical question raised by the 9-11 commission: ‘Who is in charge of the intelligence community?'” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., said in a statement Sunday.

Key members of the conference are returning today to Washington with the belief that if a compromise is not reached on the powers to be given the national intelligence director and a National Counterterrorism Center by Tuesday, no bill will be passed before Election Day.

Australia

Reports: Six convicted in sex abuse trials

Six men were convicted of a string of sex attacks on the remote Pacific island of Pitcairn, media there reported today, after trials that exposed a culture of sexual abuse on the island home of descendants of the 18th century bounty mutineers.

Among those convicted was the island’s mayor, Steve Christian, who claims to be a direct descendant of mutiny leader Fletcher Christian.

He was cleared of four indecent assaults and one rape but convicted of five other rapes, according to New Zealand’s TVNZ television network.

The verdicts were read by judges sent to the island from New Zealand. They presided in makeshift courts in the Pitcairn community hall for the trials, which started Sept. 30.

The men were tried for a string of 51 sex attacks dating back up to 40 years.

Washington, D.C.

Donations to charities rebound, study says

Contributions to the nation’s biggest charities rose slightly last year after falling in 2002, the first decline in a decade, according to an annual survey by a publication that tracks nonprofit groups.

The study being released today by The Chronicle of Philanthropy found that donations to the 400 largest nonprofit organization increased by 2.3 percent in 2003, to more than $47 billion.

In the previous year, donations fell 1.2 percent, in part because of troubled economic times.