Powell under pressure from Arab-Americans
WASHINGTON, April 3 (UPI) -- Arab-American leaders Wednesday pressed Secretary of State Colin Powell for information on the first U.S. casualties since Israeli defense forces began incursions into the West Bank last week. State Department officials confirmed Wednesday Soraida Farhan Saleh was shot and killed on March 29 in Ramallah. Israeli troops were poised to enter Nablus, the largest city on the West Bank.
Egypt limits ties with Israel
CAIRO, April 3 (UPI) -- Egypt Wednesday decided to cut all ties with Israel except those at the diplomatic level, the official Middle East News Agency reported. The decision came at a Cabinet meeting, Information Minister Safwat al-Sharif said. He said diplomatic ties with Israel would be maintained to "serve the Palestinian cause." Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab states that have diplomatic relations with Israel. Ties with Tel Aviv have been strained since Israel began an intensified military action in the Palestinian territories and confined Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to his Ramallah headquarters. That action came after a spate of suicide-bomb attacks against Israel.
US: No plans to torture Abu Zubaydah
WASHINGTON, April 3 (UPI) -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld strenuously denied Wednesday that U.S. officials have any plans to torture or allow to be tortured Abu Zubaydah, an alleged top-ranking al Qaida operative captured along with 50 others last week by Pakistani troops and FBI agents. Rumsfeld confirmed the United States is holding Zubaydah and that Zubaydah knows about future planned terrorist attacks. "He will be properly interrogated, by proper people," Rumsfeld said, angrily responding to a televised report that the administration was debating transferring Zubaydah to a third country that has no rules against torture.
North Korea resumes nuclear reactor talks
WASHINGTON, April 3 (UPI) -- North Korea told the United States Wednesday it would resume talks with an international organization overseeing construction of two nuclear reactors in the country that President Bush labeled as part of his "axis of evil." A spokesman for the National Security Council told United Press International that North Korea had understood that dialogue with the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization would have to resume before construction could continue on the two reactors. The United States and North Korea signed an agreement in 1994 under which North Korea agreed to freeze and ultimately dismantle its nuclear program.
Russian Communists stripped of Duma posts
MOSCOW, April 3 (UPI) -- Russia's Communist Party suffered a humiliating defeat Wednesday as the once-dominant party was stripped of leadership posts on committees, giving the Kremlin unprecedented control over the lower house of parliament. The State Duma voted 251-136 to remove Communists from seven of the nine committee chairmanships, and two others resigned.
Hydrogen-based system doable, but not easy
ARLINGTON, Va., April 3 (UPI) -- The United States could shift its energy and transportation systems to a hydrogen-based infrastructure within a few years with a "Manhattan Project" style approach but it would not be an easy switchover, speakers at an investment forum said Wednesday. Hydrogen's abundance and its ability to be used as a engine fuel or electricity source in a fuel cell make it the only natural resource that can permanently replace today's fossil fuels and nuclear power, said Harry Braun, chairman of Phoenix-based Sustainable Partners, a holding company exploring several renewable power alternatives, including hydrogen. "It's a universal fuel. It can run cars, trucks, locomotives, ships, power plants or a camping stove on a mountaintop," Braun told the Hydrogen Investment Conference.
GM recalls 1.9 million passenger cars
DETROIT, April 3 (UPI) -- General Motors is recalling nearly 2 million 1995-97 Chevrolet Cavalier, Pontiac Sunfire and 1996-1997 Buick Skylark, Pontiac Grand Am and Oldsmobile Achievas because of a faulty ignition switch that could start a fire in the steering column. There have been no reports of fires caused by a damaged switch but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said, "If the switch is damaged ... a fire could occur in the steering column, even with the engine off and the key removed." GM said some fires had occurred after a car had been unattended for a long period and there had been claims of smoke inhalation.
Dow falls 115 points, Nasdaq lower
NEW YORK, April 3 (UPI) -- Stock prices on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market plunged Wednesday, pressured by bearish concerns over oil prices, accounting and corporate earnings and tensions the Middle East. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average, which lost 48.99 points Tuesday, lost another 115.42 points, or 1.1 percent, to 10,198.29 on volume of 1.19 billion shares. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index, which dropped 58.22 points in the previous session, was down 20.05 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,784.35.
Crenshaw, Jacklin to world hall of fame
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla., April 3 (UPI) -- Ben Crenshaw and Tony Jacklin were elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame Wednesday, adding their worldwide success and Ryder Cup experience to a collaboration of the best players in history. After narrowly missing in 2001, Crenshaw was elected through the PGA Tour designation, receiving the necessary 65 percent of votes on ballots returned by the 207-member voting body. "I am humbled by the news of my selection to the World Golf Hall of Fame and honored to be joining the golfers previously admitted," the 50-year-old Crenshaw said. The 57-year-old English-born Jacklin was elected from the international category, accumulating 66 percent of votes from 154 ballots. "I'm thrilled," said Jacklin, a four-time Ryder Cup captain who played in the event on seven occasions.
