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Soldier stabbed in Jerusalem violence

JERUSALEM, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Tight security was in evidence Monday at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City as thousands of Jews gathered to attend a priestly blessing.

An Israeli military police officer was stabbed in the throat in the afternoon as he boarded a bus that stopped at a security checkpoint north of Jerusalem. Israeli soldiers manning the position nabbed the assailant, said to be a 16-year-old Palestinian from Einata, Ynetnews.com reported.

In another incident, Israeli police patrolling the Temple Mount compound discovered wheelbarrows loaded with stones at a number of sites, apparently prepared by Muslim worshipers to throw at Israeli security forces or Jewish worshipers, Maariv reported.

More than 100 Arabs clashed with Israeli security forces Sunday near the Temple Mount, prompting Israeli police to impose restrictions in the area to prevent further violence for Monday's prayer, the Yedioth Aharonoth newspaper reported.

To restore calm during the Sukkot holiday, police permitted Muslim women of all ages and Muslim males more than 50 years of age to pray Monday at the Temple Mount.

Earlier Monday, Israeli security forces contained stone-throwing by Muslims in the Old City, Israel Radio reported.

Jordan summoned Israeli Ambassador Yaakov Rosen late Sunday to protest Israel's actions in response to the violence, the newspaper said. Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said his country views Jerusalem as a "red line," and accused Israel of digging underneath the Temple Mount and allowing extremist Jewish settlers to dictate the tone, Maariv said.

Arab worshipers Sunday refused an Israeli request to leave the al-Aqsa mosque in the Temple Mount compound, Yedioth Aharonoth said. The Muslim worshipers were reportedly acting in response to a plea by leaders from the Islamic Movement who ordered them to remain in the compound because of an "attempted Jewish takeover," the newspaper said.

Despite the outcry, Haaretz said, the status quo in the plaza surrounding the al-Aqsa mosque has not changed since 2003, and Jews and tourists are permitted to visit the Temple Mount for a restricted period each day without coordinating with authorities

Five die in suicide blast at WFP building

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- A suicide bomber, dressed as a security guard, exploded in the World Food Program building in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing five people, police said.

Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that the bomber was wearing the uniform of a paramilitary unit assigned to guard diplomatic missions in the area and asked to use the bathroom, the BBC reported.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The five victims -- four Pakistanis and one Iraqi -- worked for the organization, World Food Program Executive Director Josette Sherran said in a statement. The agency said several others were injured in the blast, two critically.

"All of the victims were humanitarian heroes working on the frontlines of hunger in a country where WFP food assistance is providing a lifeline to millions," Sherran said. "This is a tragedy -- not just for WFP -- but for the whole humanitarian community and for the hungry."

Ishrat Rizvi, spokeswoman for United Nations operations in Islamabad, said all of the organization's offices in Pakistan were closed as a precaution.

"This is a temporary arrangement to ensure the safety and security of our staff," she told The New York Times.

About 80 people work at the World Food Program facility, a fortified three-story building in a residential neighborhood, the Times said.

"This is a terrible tragedy for the U.N. and for the whole humanitarian community in Pakistan," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement issued in Geneva, Switzerland, where he is on an official visit. "This is a heinous crime committed against those who have been working tirelessly to assist the poor and the vulnerable on the frontlines of hunger and other human suffering in Pakistan."

Ohio execution temporarily blocked

AKRON, Ohio, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- A U.S. appeals court panel in Cincinnati Monday temporarily blocked Thursday's scheduled execution of an Ohio deathrow inmate.

Lawrence Reynolds was sentenced to death for the 1994 killing of Loretta Mae Foster, 67, a neighbor in Cuyahoga Falls, a suburb of Akron and Cleveland, the Akron Beacon Journal reported. Reynolds had argued in federal and state courts that the state could not ensure he would be subjected to lethal injection without pain, saying that was a violation of the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishments.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected that argument in 2008. The Ohio Supreme Court rejected Reynolds' appeal last week.

In blocking Reynolds' execution, the appeals court panel cited the case of Romell Broom, the newspaper said. Ohio tried to execute death row inmate Broom last month, but could not find a usable vein for lethal injection. Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland intervened and stopped the execution.

In the Reynolds case, the federal appellate panel said the execution should be delayed because of Ohio's ''failure to have a contingency plan in place should peripheral vein access be impossible,'' ''issues related to the competence of the lethal injection team'' and ''other potential deficiencies'' in the execution process, the Beacon Journal reported.

There was no immediate word on whether the state would ask the full U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals for a rehearing.

High court won't review La. death penalty

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court, in the case of a woman claiming fetal alcohol syndrome, refused to review the constitutionality of Louisiana's death penalty process.

The justices rejected the case without comment.

Lawyers for 29-year-old Brandy Holmes had argued that her mental condition, affected by fetal alcohol syndrome when she was in the womb, should prevent her execution. They say Holmes has the mentality of a 10- to 12 year-old child, CNN reported. The high court has banned the execution of the mentally retarded.

Holmes is only one of two women set for execution in Louisiana, CNN reported. She was sentenced to death for the killing of a retired minister near Shreveport, part of a crime spree in 2003.

Monday was the first day of the Supreme Court's 2009 term.

N.Y. lawyer accused of adoption scam

MINEOLA, N.Y., Oct. 5 (UPI) -- At least 16 couples say they were suckered into paying thousands of dollars into an alleged adoption scam run by a New York lawyer.

The couples and prosecutors accuse attorney Kevin Cohen, founder of the now-defunct Adoption Annex, a non-profit adoption services organization, of misrepresenting himself as a legal expert on adoption proceedings, ABC News reported Monday.

Court documents indicate authorities allege Cohen, 41, of Rosslyn, N.Y., collected between $20,000 and $40,000 from couples who thought the money would pay for medical expenses for pregnant women who would give their children up for adoption.

"This is among the most morally disgusting thefts I have ever witnessed as a prosecutor," Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice told the U.S. broadcaster. "He preyed on the emotions and the hopes of couples at their most vulnerable time."

ABC said Cohen last month pleaded not guilty to larceny and fraud charges. His lawyer, Matin Emouna, said he couldn't discuss the allegations until the district attorney's investigation was completed.

Early fall snow socks Idaho, Montana

FEATHERVILLE, Idaho, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- A snowstorm stretching from Idaho to the Dakotas dumped up to 2 feet of snow created dangerous driving conditions and power outages, officials said Monday.

Snow was expected to blanket the area between the northern Rockies into the High Plains through Monday, and could leave up to another foot of snow in southwest and south-central Montana, eastern Idaho, and northwest Wyoming, AccuWeather.com reported.

Areas west of Featherville, Idaho, already were covered by 2 feet of snow, while many other high peaks in Idaho and Montana received up to a foot or more of the white stuff. Some final snow totals could reach 3 feet, forecasters said.

The heavy, wet, early-season snow created electrical and phone outages in the northern Rockies, weighing down trees onto utility lines, officials said. Fallen trees also littered roads in a few places.

Wind gusts between 40 mph and 50 mph whistled over areas northwest of the storm reducing visibility by blowing snow around, officials warned.

As the storm headed northeast across the Upper Midwest Tuesday, snow was expected to taper off over most areas, AccuWeather.com said. Toward the middle and end of the week, a cold front from Canada could bring snow to parts of the northern Rockies.

Snow showers were expected to end Monday in parts of southeast Oregon and northeastern Nevada.