Nation/world digest 07/11/06

Security Council delay vote on North Korea

UNITED NATIONS -- Supporters of a resolution that would impose limited sanctions on North Korea agreed to delay a vote Monday in the hope that China can pressure Pyongyang to return to six-party talks on its nuclear program and halt missile tests, U.S. ambassador John Bolton said Monday. Ambassadors from the five veto-wielding nations on the Security Council -- who are divided over sanctions -- met with Japan, which sponsored the resolution, as a Chinese delegation arrived in North Korea pledging friendship and deeper ties. On July 5, North Korea test-fired seven missiles.

Warlord behind Russian attacks killed

MOSCOW -- Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, responsible for modern Russia's worst terrorist attacks, was killed Monday when a dynamite-laden truck exploded in his convoy, Russian officials said. Basayev, 41, was behind some of Russia's worst terror attacks, including the seizure of a Moscow theater in 2002 in which dozens of hostages and militants died, and the 2004 school hostage taking in Beslan that killed 331.

Web wagering under attack in Congress

WASHINGTON -- Gamblers who prefer their laptops to blackjack tables won't like what Congress is doing. Today, the House plans to vote on a bill that would ban credit cards for paying online bets and could padlock gambling Web sites. The legislation would clarify existing law to spell out that it is illegal to gamble online. Some opponents of the legislation say policing the Internet is impossible, that it would be better to regulate the $12 billion industry and collect taxes from it. Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., is leading support for the ban in the Senate. The issue has so far not been debated in that chamber this year.

-- From wire reports