Relatives seek answers about crash in Venezuela

MARACAIBO, Venezuela -- Scores of grieving relatives arrived in Venezuela from the French Caribbean island of Martinique on Friday, while experts used DNA samples and dental records to try to identify the remains of the 160 people killed in a plane crash earlier this week. Nearly 100 relatives and politicians from Martinique stepped off a Boeing 737 before dawn in an empty airport in the western city of Maracaibo. The crash was the deadliest in Venezuela's history, according to the Aviation Safety Network. Officials said they had removed virtually all the remains from the site and had ended their search. The United States had offered to send investigators to Venezuela to help.

Iraqi constitution talks stall over Islam, oil

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Talks on Iraq's new constitution have stalled over the role of Islam and the distribution of the country's oil wealth, negotiators said Saturday. The leadership of the country's Kurdish minority said it may drop its contentious demand for the right to secede. Iraqis have until Monday night to complete work on the draft constitution or else parliament must dissolve. The United States is putting intense pressure on negotiators to finish the charter, which Washington hopes will in time take the steam out of the insurgency.

Jordanians arrest several men in hunt for attackers

AQABA, Jordan -- Police officers detained several suspects on Saturday as the hunt widened for the attackers who fired and supplied the rockets that narrowly missed a U.S. Navy ship anchored in the bay of this Red Sea port best known for beach vacations and Mideast summits. Those arrested included Iraqis, Syrians, Egyptians and Jordanians, according to a Jordanian security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly. He would not give the number of detainees.

U.N. findings support Iranian claims on uranium

VIENNA, Austria -- U.N. nuclear agency tests have concluded that traces of highly enriched uranium on centrifuge parts were from imported equipment -- rather than from any enrichment activities by Iran, a senior Western diplomat said Saturday. The findings support Iran's claims that the material entered the country together with centrifuge parts provided by Pakistan. The diplomat who confirmed the results spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.

-- From wire reports

Kurdish rebel group announces cease-fire

ANKARA, Turkey -- A Kurdish rebel group fighting for autonomy in Turkey's southeast announced a one-month cease-fire Friday and said it planned to pursue indirect negotiations with the government. The Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, said it was ordering its forces to hold fire until Sept. 20 -- a dramatic step following a string of bombings at Aegean resorts claimed by militants and ambushes of Turkish troops in the southeast. But the rebels added that they would defend themselves if attacked by Turkish forces.