GOP sweeps Senate, House; Dems gain govs
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Republicans seized control of the U.S. Senate and retained their hold on the House Tuesday, giving President George W. Bush a historic victory in mid-term elections that traditionally go against the incumbent president. Democrats were expected to add three or four governorships to their total of 21. High-profile Senate races went to Republican Elizabeth Dole in North Carolina and Democrat Frank Lautenberg in New Jersey, where he was a late replacement for scandal-scarred incumbent Democrat Robert Torricelli, who withdrew.
Anti-bilingualism wins in Massachusetts
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- As polls in Massachusetts predicted, anti-bilingual education forces have won a massive victory on the "Question 2" initiative, which would have scrapped the state's current system of multi-year transitional bilingual education in public schools in favor of a single year of "English immersion" for students who don't speak English. With 96 percent of precincts reporting, the anti-bilingual education initiative was leading 68 percent to 32 percent. In contrast, a nearly identical measure in Colorado, Amendment 31, was on the verge of defeat. With 86 percent of the precincts counted, it was losing 56 percent to 44 percent.
Police interrogate 10 on Bali blasts
JAKARTA, Indonesia, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Ten people, including the owner of a van allegedly used in last month's bombings in Bali in which more than 180 people died, were being questioned but none was officially named as a suspect in the blasts, officials said Wednesday. Edward Aritonang, spokesman of the joint investigation team investigating the Bali blasts, said the 10 people were arrested at several places in Java. One of those arrested was a 30-year-old man, suspected of being the owner of a Mitsubishi L-300 van that was used to leave a massive bomb outside two discos in Kuta beach area Oct. 12. Most of those killed were foreign tourists.
Iraqi opposition groups oppose each other
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Squabbling among Iraqi opposition groups over the ethnic composition of the new government intended to replace Saddam Hussein could undermine the Bush administration's hopes of a smooth transition once the U.S.-led military operation against Iraq has been successful. On Tuesday, noted Iraqi-American writer and activist Kanan Makiya went public with internal differences in the Iraqi political exile community in an open letter blasting a forthcoming meeting of opposition leaders in Brussels on Nov. 22.
France train fire kills a dozen
PARIS, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- A dozen people, including five Americans died during an early morning fire that broke out on a train bound for Austria in the deadliest train accident in France in recent years. Early speculation by French officials suggested a short-circuit in the train's heating system might have triggered the fire, which broke out about 2:15 a.m. as the train was nearing the French town of Nancy. Those killed were asphyxiated by smoke, which enveloped the first and second carriages of the train. Agents from France's SNCF train service in Nancy noticed smoke curling from the train, and triggered an alarm, while also cutting off electricity fueling the train.
D.C. sniper suspects eyed in Arizona death
TUCSON, Ariz., Nov. 6 (UPI) -- The investigation into the unsolved March slaying of a 60-year-old man on a Tucson-area golf course was re-opened after the Washington-area sniper task force determined accused snipers John Muhammad and John Lee Malvo had been in the area at the time. Tucson police announced Tuesday they had been informed by the FBI last week the Montgomery County Task Force had learned the accused snipers had passed through the Arizona city at the time Jerry R. Taylor was found shot to death on the Fred Enke Golf Course. Muhammad and Malvo allegedly terrorized the area around the nation's capital last month.
SEC head Pitt resigns on election night
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Embattled Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt resigned Tuesday night amid a political row sparked by an appointment to a new accounting oversight board, the White House said. "The issues confronting our capital markets are enormous, and I am pleased I was able to play a role in starting to restore investor confidence," said Pitt in his resignation letter to the president. He referred to the slump in investor confidence sparked by the ongoing string of huge corporate financial scandals. Pitt came under fire for failing to reveal former FBI director William Webster was tied to a company under investigation for fraud before pushing for his appointment to the oversight board.
Asian, Pacific stocks higher
TOKYO, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Stocks closed higher across Asia and the Pacific as investors looked toward the U.S. Federal Reserve to cut interest rates at Wednesday's meeting. The Fed is expected to cut its key overnight lending rates to banks by 25 basis points, sending it to a level that has not been seen since the 1950s. The rate currently is 1.5 percent. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 closed up 0.18 percent at 8.953.29. Elsewhere, Hong Kong; Seoul, South Korea; Taipei, Taiwan, and Sydney, Australia, also were higher.
