New Sept. 11 report shows U.S. blunders
WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- A previously undisclosed report from the U.S. Sept. 11 commission shows the risk of suicide aircraft attacks was known months prior to the 2001 attacks.
The report said the Federal Aviation Administration warned airports in the spring of 2001 if "the intent of the hijacker is not to exchange hostages for prisoners, but to commit suicide in a spectacular explosion, a domestic hijacking would probably be preferable," the New York Times reports.
The report criticizes the FAA for failing to invoke domestic security measures that could possibly have altered the events of Sept. 11, 2001, like toughening airport screening procedures for weapons or expanding the use of on-flight air marshals.
However, an agency spokeswoman defended the measures taken.
"We had a lot of information about threats," FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown told the newspaper. "But we didn't have specific information about means or methods that would have enabled us to tailor any countermeasures."
Completed last August, the report said FAA officials appeared more concerned with reducing airline congestion, lessening delays, and easing airlines' financial woes than deterring a terrorist attack.
North Korea says it will not join talks
PYONGYANG, North Korea, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- North Korea says it will indefinitely suspend participation in six-party talks on its nuclear program and claims it has built nuclear weapons for self-defense.
The statement by a Foreign Ministry spokesman Thursday, quoted by the official KCNA news agency, was Pyongyang's first official declaration that the country has manufactured nuclear weapons.
The statement said Pyongyang had built the weapons to cope with the Bush administration's policy of isolating and stifling North Korea.
It said there was no reason for North Korea to participate in talks with the United States, which had branded the country an "outpost of tyranny." The phrase was used by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a speech last month.
The move surprised the other participants in the six-party talks -- China, South Korea, Japan, Russia and the United States -- who had anticipated that North Korea would return soon to the negotiating table.
Rice calls for N. Korea to rethink talks
LUXEMBOURG, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged North Korea Thursday to reassess its decision to withdraw from nuclear disarmament talks.
Speaking to Europe's RTL television network in Luxembourg, Rice urged Pyongyang to reassess its announcement it is suspending its role in the six-party talks, saying there was "really no reason" for such a move and that it will only deepen North Korea's isolation.
Earlier Thursday, North Korean announced they had produced a small number of nuclear weapons to protect itself, primarily from the United States, and it was withdrawing from six-nation talks.
Rice told the network the United States has assured North Korea it has no intention of attacking and, at the six-party talks, has offered it multilateral security assurances.
The six-party talks, hosted by China, include Russia, the two Koreas, Japan and the United States. The last round of the talks was held in Beijing in June.
All the parties agreed to resume the discussions in September, but North Korea stayed away, amid speculation it was awaiting results of the U.S. presidential election, Voice of America said.
Pope to be discharged from hospital
VATICAN CITY, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- Pope John Paul II was cleared to leave a Rome hospital and return to the Vatican Thursday, the BBC reported.
"The pope's return to the Vatican is expected during the day," a Vatican spokesman told reporters Thursday.
The 84-year-old was rushed to the Gemelli hospital Feb. 1 with breathing difficulties caused by throat spasms. Doctors said it was a complication associated with the flu, as well as John Paul's frailty associated with Parkinson's disease.
He reportedly has regained some strength, and has said mass each day in his room, although for the first time in his 26 years as pontiff, missed conducting an Ash Wednesday mass to mark the beginning of Lent.
He appeared at his hospital window Sunday to wave to well-wishers, and Wednesday met and blessed in his room a young boy who is being treated for cancer at the hospital.
Prince Charles to wed Camilla in April
LONDON, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- Britain's heir to the throne, Prince Charles will marry his companion of 35 years, Camilla Parker Bowles in April, Sky News reported Thursday.
The couple will marry Friday, April 8, in St. George's Chapel, which is part of Windsor Castle. Former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey recently urged the couple to marry, apparently signaling the Church of England's blessing.
Charles's parents, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, reportedly gave the two divorcees their "warmest good wishes for their future together," a statement from Charles's residence, Clarence House, said.
Parker Bowles, 57, will never have the title of queen when Charles ascends the throne, but rather the princess consort. In the meantime, she will be called the duchess of Cornwall after marriage, stemming from Charles's role as the duke of Cornwall.
Charles, 56, married the late Diana at St. Paul's Cathedral July 29, 1981, and they divorced in 1996. She died the following year.
Charles had dated Parker Bowles after they met at a polo match in 1970. Although she later married cavalry officer Andrew Parker Bowles, she and Charles remained close. She was divorced in 1995.
