Nation/world briefs 1/14/04

Doctor blamed for killing patients found hanged

LONDON -- A British family doctor blamed for killing at least 215 elderly patients over several decades hanged himself with bed sheets in his prison cell, a prison spokeswoman said Tuesday. Dr. Harold Shipman was found hanging in his cell at Wakefield Prison in northern England at 6:20 a.m. He was pronounced dead about two hours later after attempts to resuscitate him failed, the Prison Service said in a statement. Shipman, 57, labeled "Dr. Death" by tabloid newspaper, preyed largely on elderly women, killing them with lethal injections. But a trial and a later formal investigation never determined why he committed the slayings that horrified the nation.

U.S. Apache shot down by hostile fire in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Hostile fire brought down a U.S. Army Apache attack helicopter Tuesday, the third aircraft lost this month west of Baghdad. Coalition troops killed three Iraqis in restive cities outside the capital, relatives and police said. And in Fallujah, also west of Baghdad, hundreds of Iraqis protested, shouting "Bush, you coward!" after American troops detained a woman while searching for a Saddam Hussein loyalist. -- From wire reports

Student in Netherlands kills economics teacher

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- A high school student walked into his school's crowded cafeteria Tuesday and shot an economics teacher point-blank in the head, fatally wounding him. The shooting came as a shock to many in this country, where gun violence is rare. The student, a 17-year-old with a reputation as a troublemaker, reportedly had been punished for misbehavior a few days earlier.

N.J. grants benefits to same-sex partners

TRENTON, N.J. -- Same-sex partners in New Jersey have been granted unprecedented legal, health-care and financial rights under a new bill, though the measure stops short of authorizing gay marriage. Gov. James E. McGreevey signed the state's Domestic Partnership Act, making New Jersey the fifth state to recognize same-sex partnerships and extend certain benefits to gay couples. Under the measure, domestic partners will gain access to medical benefits, insurance and other legal rights. New Jersey also will recognize such partnerships granted in other states.

Airliner crashes in Uzbek capital, at least 36 killed

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan -- A domestic airliner crashed Tuesday on approach to the airport in Uzbekistan's capital, the Interior Ministry said. At least 36 people, including the top U.N. official for Uzbekistan, were aboard and no survivors were reported. The plane was an Uzbekistan Airways Yakovlev-40 en route from Termez, in the country's far south along the Afghanistan border, said an Interior Ministry duty officer who declined to give his name. He gave no further details.

Students arrested in alleged Columbine-like plot

DUTCHTOWN, La. -- Two high school students were arrested and accused of creating an elaborate plan to re-create the bloody Columbine high school massacre on its five-year anniversary in April. Christopher Levins, 17, of Prairieville and Adam Sinclair, 19, of Geismar were each booked Monday with one count of terrorizing -- a felony punishable with up to 15 years in prison, Ascension Parish Sheriff Jeff Wiley said. Levins and Sinclair admitted some of the planning but called it a "fantasy" and a joke, and said they never really planned to go through with it, Lt. Kevin Hanna said.

World better prepared for SARS, but challenges remain

LONDON -- The world is much better prepared to handle SARS than it was the last time around, but efforts to refine diagnostic tests, develop the right treatment and trace where the virus is coming from remain serious challenges, experts said Tuesday. Veterans of last year's battle against severe acute respiratory syndrome, as well as other virus specialists, met in London to discuss the threat of emerging infectious diseases and the lessons to be learned from SARS. One of the most important tasks ahead, for SARS as well as other emerging infections, is to better understand where they come from, said Malik Peiris, a professor at the University of Hong Kong who discovered the SARS virus.

Palestinian Authority nears default on civil service wages

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Hit by waning support from fatigued donor nations, the Palestinian Authority has been forced to borrow from banks to pay salaries to its 125,000 employees and may be unable to meet its February payroll, the economy minister said Tuesday. With unemployment rampant outside the public payroll, Palestinians could be facing unprecedented economic collapse after three years of conflict with Israel.

Pakistan may have aided Libyan nuclear know-how

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration's success in persuading Libya to reveal its weapons of mass destruction programs has created a new and potentially embarrassing problem: Pakistan -- a vital U.S. ally in the war on terror -- appears to have been a main supplier of nuclear know-how to Libya, and possibly to North Korea and Iran. Libya pledged to name its suppliers when it announced last month it was giving up its nuclear, biological and chemical weapons programs. Officials say many of the names probably will be Pakistani. They say evidence points to Pakistani nuclear experts as the source of at least some technology Libya used in its nuclear weapons program. Similar reports have arisen about probable Pakistani assistance to Iran and North Korea, countries President Bush said comprised an "axis of evil" with Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

Rights group says U.S. may have committed war crimes

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A top human rights group Tuesday accused the U.S. military of committing war crimes by demolishing homes of suspected insurgents and arresting the relatives of Iraqi fugitives. The military denied the charges by Human Rights Watch, saying it only destroyed homes that were being used to store weapons or as fighting positions, adding that all Iraqis detained were suspected of taking part in attacks on coalition forces.

Spirit rover headed to nearby crater, distant hills

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA said Tuesday it has picked two locations on Mars for its Spirit rover to visit: a nearby crater and, later, a distant cluster of hills the explorer will reach -- or die trying. Spirit remained on track to roll onto the martian soil late today or early Thursday. The rover cut the last cable attaching it to its lander and began a three-part turn to line it up with the exit ramp it should use to reach the ground, flight director Chris Lewicki said. The rover also rolled for the first time, moving backward on the lander about 10 inches, he said.

-- From wire reports