International Red Cross worker killed in Haiti

GENEVA -- A worker for the International Committee of the Red Cross was kidnapped and killed in Haiti, the agency said Friday. Joel Cauvin, a Haitian, was abducted Wednesday evening and found dead near his home Thursday, the ICRC said. It said its 45 staff members in Haiti would continue to administer humanitarian aid despite the escalating violence in the country.

Aruba defends handling of Holloway investigation

ORANJESTAD, Aruba -- The Aruban government defended its handling of the investigation into Natalee Holloway's disappearance, saying Friday that many of the criticisms arise from misunderstandings of the Dutch legal system used on the island. Police have been criticized for letting more than a week go by without detaining the three young men last seen with Holloway and for waiting 16 days after she went missing before searching the home of one of them.

Suspected bomber killed by Turkish police

ANKARA, Turkey -- A suicide bomber who tried to enter the Justice Ministry on Friday was shot to death by police as he fled when metal detectors went off. The man, a member of a banned Marxist group, balked when security personnel tried to search him and pressed the detonator as police handcuffed him. The bomb failed to explode, and the bomber ran from the building. Police shot him in the leg, but as he collapsed hunched on the ground, he tried again to set off the bomb, while a policeman shot him repeatedly at close range, the Anatolia news agency said.

Vatican says the late Pope could be a martyr

ROME -- Vatican officials are no longer dismissing outright the notion that Pope John Paul II could be declared a martyr, a step that could remove the need for a confirmed miracle to beatify the late pontiff and make it easier for him to become a saint. Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, said Friday it was up to groups of theological experts to decide if the May 13, 1981, attempt on John Paul's life -- as well as his long, public suffering before he died -- warranted a declaration of martyrdom.

Water plant fire adds to misery in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A mortar attack sparked a fire Friday that forced authorities to shut down a water plant, leaving millions of weary Baghdad residents with dry taps in 100-degree heat, Iraqi officials said. The blaze at a power station north of Baghdad cut off electricity to a water plant serving northern and western parts of the capital, officials said. The fire halted all distribution from the waterworks. The U.S. military press office initially quoted Iraqi engineers as saying the fire was triggered by a defective transformer. However, an Iraqi municipal official said at least two mortar rounds struck the power station. A U.S. spokes-man for Task Force Baghdad said later that unexploded ordnance was found in the area but "we're still not sure" what triggered the fire.

--From wire reports