U.S. planes drop 68,000 rations over Afghanistan

BERLIN -- Four American cargo jets dropped more than 68,000 packets of food over northern Afghanistan overnight in the ongoing U.S. effort to help civilians while attacking military targets, an Air Force spokesman said Sunday.

The latest mission by the C-17 planes brought the total of rations dropped to some 643,000 since the start of the operation, which coincided with the start of U.S. airstrikes, said Maj. Scott Vadnais, a spokesman for U.S. Air Force Europe at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

Each packet provides a 2,200-calorie meal of barley stew, rice, shortbread cookies and peanut butter. The packets are dropped out of boxes from the back of the cargo planes.

Former Yugoslav general surrenders to tribunal

PODGORICA, Yugoslavia -- A former Yugoslav army general charged with destroying much of the ancient port town of Dubrovnik during the Croatian war boarded a flight to The Netherlands on Sunday to answer to the U.N. war crimes court.

Retired Gen. Pavle Strugar, 68, and three other former Yugoslav army and naval officers are indicted on charges of suspected murder, plunder and the destruction of nearly 70 percent of Dubrovnik in an attempt to incorporate the 17th century town into Serbia, the dominant Yugoslav republic.

Strugar, who would be the first Yugoslav citizen to voluntarily surrender to the Netherlands-based court, left for The Hague from the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica.

'Concert for New York' benefits stricken city

NEW YORK -- Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Elton John, Billy Joel joined other performers Saturday in a "Concert for New York," which served as a benefit for the city while celebrating its resiliency in a time of crisis.

David Bowie kicked off the mammoth concert with a poignant rendition of Paul Simon's "America," then rocked a crowd that included thousands of firefighters, police officers and rescue workers with the appropriately titled "Heroes."

"It's an absolute pleasure to play for you tonight," Bowie told the crowd at "Concert for New York," which was broadcast from Madison Square Garden live on VH1.

Despite the tragic circumstances that led to the concert, the star-studded event was anything but somber -- instead, it was a raucous celebration.

Russian-French crew aims for space station

MOSCOW -- A Russian-French crew blasted off Sunday for the International Space Station, a mission control spokesman said.

The three-person crew, which includes French astronaut Claudie Haignere, took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakstan aboard a Russian Soyuz-TM33 spacecraft at 12:59 p.m. Moscow time, he said.

Haignere, who in 1996 became the first Frenchwoman in space, is serving as crew engineer during the 10 days in space with Russian cosmonauts Viktor Afanasyev and Konstantin Kozeyev.

Haignere, a 44-year-old rheumatologist and expert in neuroscience, will be responsible for mooring the Soyuz, which the team is traveling in, to the space station. The docking is expected Tuesday.

Columbine relatives sue anti-depressant maker

DENVER -- Families of five Columbine High School shooting victims are suing the maker of an anti-depressant that one of the student gunmen was taking when he opened fire.

A therapeutic amount of the drug Luvox was found in Eric Harris' system after he died, the Jefferson County coroner's office has said.

Solvay Pharmaceuticals Inc. makes the drug to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression. The lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court claims Solvay failed to warn Harris' doctor about side effects.

--From wire reports