U.N. nuclear chief makes journey to Iran to warn

TEHRAN, Iran -- U.N. atomic agency inspectors will visit any site considered necessary to check Iran's claims that it doesn't want to make nuclear weapons, the agency chief said today after arriving in Tehran for key talks.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei traveled to Iran to warn that an Oct. 31 deadline leaves the government little time to prove its claims.

Two weeks ahead of the ultimatum -- and the subsequent threat of possible U.N. Security Council sanctions -- there are "still outstanding issues to be resolved" before suspicions are dispelled, ElBaradei told The Associated Press after landing.

ElBaradei said it wasn't too late for Iran to assist U.N. nuclear inspectors. He would not give details of ongoing inspections, but suggested reviews of both military and civilian facilities.

Iraqis trade in old money for new on Wednesday

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Behind a shield of American armor, Iraqis began trading in their old money Wednesday, exchanging dinar notes bearing pictures of Saddam Hussein for new bills the U.S. occupation authorities hope will become the currency of a revived economy.

The anti-American insurgency continued, as U.S. forces reported killing "a small number of opposing forces" near the desert border with Syria, and killing two Iraqis in a clash north of Baghdad, in an area with lingering support for the fugitive ex-president Saddam.

"He's gone and now his picture is gone, too," said Bank of Baghdad worker Raghad Kandala, 28, as businessmen and other customers lined up to hand in their expiring "Saddam" banknotes.

Although it was the first day for the new bills, the flow of bank customers seemed nearly normal. Iraqis have until Jan. 15 to make the exchange, and many had already deposited old notes in bank accounts in recent weeks. "So there's no need for a stampede," said Mowafaq H. Mahmood, chief executive officer of the private Bank of Baghdad.

Retail sales dip by 0.2 percent in September

WASHINGTON -- America's shoppers took a bit of a breather in September, dropping sales at the nation's retailers by 0.2 percent.

Although the dip in retail sales reported by the Commerce Department on Wednesday was the first since April, it came after consumers, aided by President Bush's third tax cut, went on a buying binge in July and August.

Retail sales went up by a strong 1.4 percent in July and then by 1.2 percent in August, according to revised figures. The increase in August's sales turned out to be two times bigger than the 0.6 percent rise that the government first reported a month ago, and the advance in July also was slightly larger than previously estimated.

Separately, the Federal Reserve's survey of business conditions in September and early October found that the economy picked up speed.

President's son winning in Azerbaijan election

BAKU, Azerbaijan -- The son of Azerbaijan's ailing president won an overwhelming victory in elections to choose his father's successor, according to returns today. But western observers and the opposition alleged massive voting irregularities.

One observer said there were so many problems with Wednesday's election -- among them ballot-box stuffing and unmonitored voting -- that he stopped trying to record them all.

Violence flared during the vote, with police clashing with protesters twice during an hours-long standoff in the capital, Baku.

With more than two-thirds of Azerbaijan's 5,111 districts reporting, President Geidar Aliev's son, Ilham Aliev, had nearly 80 percent of the votes, according to preliminary results posted by the Central Election Commission. His closest rival, Isa Gambar, had about 11 percent.

As the count progressed, Aliev cleared a majority of the votes cast, meaning there would be no runoff with any of the other seven candidates, the commission said.

Aliev stood for the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan party after his father -- hospitalized in the United States -- pulled out of the race less than two weeks ago. More than 71 percent of the former Soviet republic's 4.4 million electorate voted, election commission chairman Mazahir Panahov said.

Feeding tube removed from comatose woman

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- The feeding tube keeping a severely brain-damaged woman alive was removed Wednesday, all but ending an epic, 10-year legal battle between her husband and her parents.

Terri Schiavo, 39, had the tube removed at the Tampa Bay-area hospice where she has lived for several years, said her father, Bob Schindler. Attorneys representing her husband, Michael Schiavo, said it will take between a week and 10 days for her to die.

The parents want Terri Schiavo to live, and her husband says she would rather die. She has been in a vegetative state since 1990, when her heart stopped because of what doctors said may have been a chemical imbalance.

Bob Schindler said he and his wife, Mary, went in to see their daughter shortly after the tube was removed and gave her a kiss and hugged her. He said his daughter was not as responsive as they claim she normally has been.

"She's OK for the next couple of days," said Suzanne Carr, Terri Schiavo's sister. "We are just going to try to work some magic."

Senators craft bipartisan challenge to Bush on Iraq

WASHINGTON -- A handful of Democratic and Republican senators defied President Bush and sought agreement Wednesday on an amendment to make part of a $20.3 billion Iraqi aid plan a loan.

The behind-the-scenes bipartisan effort came as the House and Senate debated similar $87 billion bills financing U.S. military action and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bush has insisted that the $20.3 billion he wants to reconstruct Iraq's electric system, postal service and other economic and government institutions must be in the form of grants rather than loans. Making the money a loan would feed suspicions that the United States wants to control Iraq's huge oil reserves, the administration and its congressional allies said.

To try snuffing out the move toward loans, Bush sent Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell to lobby GOP senators at their weekly lunch. Even so, with record federal deficits making lawmakers wince over the amount of Iraqi aid, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., seemed less than certain that the White House effort would succeed.

-- From wire reports